Chapter 6 - The Sabotage That Backfired
By the next morning, the fallout was inevitable. Connor, feeling the walls closing in, made a desperate move. He broke into the digital server where my team stored the project’s proprietary structural data, intending to corrupt the files. It was a classic "scorched earth" tactic—if he couldn't win the contract, he’d ensure no one could.
However, he hadn't accounted for the security measures I had implemented after our first encounter at the hospital.
I was at my desk when the alarm triggered on my secondary monitor. I watched in real-time as his IP address attempted to bypass the firewalls. I didn't stop him. Instead, I rerouted his access to a "honey pot"—a folder containing misleading, albeit plausible, structural flaws that would have destroyed his credibility if he presented them as his own.
When the board convened the following day to review the final schematics, Connor stepped forward, acting the role of the "concerned professional." He presented a "review" of my work, claiming he had found fatal errors.
The lead board member, a woman known for her icy temperament, listened as Connor spoke with feigned empathy about "safety concerns." When he finished, she looked at him with profound disgust.
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"Mr. Fleming," she said, tapping her tablet. "Your analysis is based on files that were encrypted and inaccessible to everyone except the lead architect. The fact that you have these files—and that you believe they are valid—suggests a significant breach of ethics and, quite frankly, a misunderstanding of the structural integrity we've already vetted."
Connor froze. He looked at me. I wasn't smirking; I was simply watching, waiting for the inevitable. He had walked right into the trap.
