‎"I’ll give you a choice."

‎My voice was calm as I looked at him.

‎"If you tell me the truth now, I might consider letting you resign quietly."

‎I paused—just long enough for the weight of my words to settle.

‎"But if you continue lying..."

‎My gaze darkened.

‎"I’ll hand you over to the police."

‎Silence.

‎"And with what you’ve done—" I added coldly, "you won’t just lose your job. You’ll pay for the damages... and then serve jail time."

‎His face drained of color.

‎"I... I’ll talk," he stammered quickly. "I’ll tell you everything. Just—please don’t take my job away..."

‎I raised a brow.

‎"So you’d rather go to prison?"

‎"That’s not what I meant, CEO Blackwood!"

‎"Then speak."

‎

‎He swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly.

‎"When... when Sophia returned from New York... she wasn’t in a good state."

‎He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

‎"She was angry. And... she blamed Director Alicia for everything."

‎My expression didn’t change.

‎But my gaze sharpened.

‎"She came to me crying," he continued, voice lower now. "Asking why things turned out this way... saying Director Alicia ruined her chances..."

‎A beat.

‎"And you decided to help her."

‎It wasn’t a question.

‎He lowered his head.

‎"...Yes."

‎"Continue."

‎

‎"At that time... Lucas Summer approached Sophia. He wanted to work with her—to target Director Alicia."

‎My fingers stilled slightly against the desk.

‎"But Sophia couldn’t get involved directly," he rushed to add. "So... I took it upon myself."

‎"On your own?" I asked flatly.

‎"...Yes."

‎"I arranged for someone from the technical department to access internal data," he said.

‎"He used his brother’s credentials... got into the system when no one was around... and passed the information to me."

‎His voice grew quieter.

‎"I then contacted Échelon Industries."

‎"They were interested."

‎"So I sold it."

‎

‎The room fell silent.

‎Cold.

‎Heavy.

‎

‎"At first, no one noticed," he continued nervously. "But when Director Alicia returned..."

‎He hesitated again.

‎"I used information Sophia had mentioned—that she often came to your office during lunch."

‎His eyes flickered up briefly.

‎"I used that to... shift suspicion."

‎

‎My gaze turned icy.

‎"You made it look like she leaked it."

‎His voice dropped to almost a whisper.

‎"...Yes."

‎

‎Silence stretched.

‎This time

‎he didn’t dare speak again.

‎

‎I leaned back slightly in my chair, studying him.

‎So this was how it was done.

‎Not clever.

‎Not even careful.

‎Just... calculated enough.

‎

‎"Is that everything?" I asked.

‎He nodded quickly. "Yes—yes, that’s everything!"

‎I watched him for a moment longer.

‎Then

‎I smiled faintly.

‎

‎"You’ve just confessed to corporate espionage, data theft, and defamation."

‎His body stiffened instantly.

‎"And you think this ends with resignation?"

‎

‎His lips trembled.

‎"CEO Blackwood, I" I pressed the intercom

‎"Jane, have the securities come inside."

‎"Yes, sir."

‎The door opened immediately.

Two securities came in along with jane following behind them.

‎"Hand him over to the police."

"And find the employee that helped him". 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

‎My tone didn’t change.

‎"Include every piece of evidence."

‎I paused.

‎Then added

‎"Make sure the charges stick."

‎"Understood."

As he was dragged out, his voice broke into panic.

"CEO Blackwood! You said!"

I didn’t look at him.

"I said I’d consider it."

A beat.

"And I did."

The door shut.

Silence returned.

I stared at the empty space in front of me.

Unmoving.

Jason had always been a capable employee.

Loyal. Efficient.

If it had been anything else

I might have let it go.

But this...

This crossed a line.

Betrayal wasn’t a mistake.

It was a choice.

And anyone willing to sell out the company for personal motives—

would do worse, given the chance.

I couldn’t allow that risk.

Not to the company.

And definitely not...

to Alicia.

Because in the middle of it all

She was the one always caught in between.

<<<<>>>>>

A moment later, Jane returned.

"CEO Blackwood, here’s the file you asked for."

I glanced up briefly. "Does it contain everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"Leave it there."

She nodded and placed the documents on my desk.

Only then did I notice the phone in her hand.

Alicia’s phone.

"Is that Alicia’s phone?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. The police returned it from the station."

Earlier, the police had taken Alicia’s phone as evidence to investigate the harassing calls and messages she had received. Since the device contained confidential company documents, I had arranged for one of my secretaries to accompany them.

"Leave it with me," I said calmly. "I’ll return it to her myself."

"Understood."

Jane placed the phone on the desk before quietly leaving the office.

The moment the door closed, my gaze fell back onto the phone.

After a brief pause, I picked it up and powered it on.

I entered the password.

The screen lit up instantly with countless unread notifications.

Then I saw the first message.

"Alicia, you deserve to die!"

My expression darkened.

I opened the messages.

Insults.

Curses.

The screen was flooded with vicious attacks, one after another.

The deeper I scrolled, the colder my face became.

A suffocating fury burned in my chest.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Alicia must have felt reading all of this alone.

Yet even while enduring such disgusting abuse, she had continued working as if nothing had happened.

That thought alone made something tighten painfully in my chest.

And while I was still looking through the messages, more continued pouring in.

I opened WhatsApp next.

As I scrolled through the chats, something suddenly came to mind.

Freddy.

I searched for his conversation but found nothing.

She had probably deleted it after blocking him.

But Alicia was careful.

If something happened, she would definitely keep evidence.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I opened her screenshots folder.

Sure enough, I found it.

The evidence she had saved.

I tapped on the image.

Then my gaze froze on the final message.

"Meet me at the hotel."

Crack.

The pen in my hand snapped instantly.

How dare he?

My expression turned terrifyingly cold.

I locked the phone and tossed it onto the desk before picking up my own.

Then I dialed a number.

The call connected quickly.

"CEO Blackwood." John’s enthusiastic voice came through immediately. "What an honor to hear from you."

Freddy was merely the production manager.

John was the real person in charge of the show.

"I heard your company is preparing to launch a new program," I said indifferently.

"Yes, yes. Are you interested in investing?"

"I was."

I let the silence linger for a second.

"But after your manager openly harassed my director..."

My voice turned colder.

"How exactly am I supposed to trust your production enough to invest in it?"

The other end instantly fell silent.

Then John’s panicked voice rang out.

"What? CEO Blackwood, I—I sincerely apologize on his behalf. I had no idea this happened. Please rest assured, I’ll handle this matter immediately."

"Mm."

I leaned back slightly in my chair.

"When you’re done dealing with him, we can discuss the investment again."

I hung up without waiting for his response.

Freddy had just lost the only future he had left in this industry.

Exactly what he deserves for messing with Alicia.

I stood up and grabbed the file on the table, then walked out of the office.

One last thing to do.....