Chapter 5

"You know exactly how expensive that equipment is.

"And you two are supposed to be getting married." Brent's fist tightened.

He looked at me.

"I don't need a self-important idiot.

"You can't get anything done, and you ruin everything you touch!"

Those last words.

He forced them out through his teeth.

I stayed where I was, propped up, dazed.

Watching the way he looked at me.

Like he was looking at an enemy.

The accident was serious.

In the end, the higher-ups decided to send down an investigation team.

They restored the lab's surveillance footage and badge records.

"The records show that the only person in the lab that day was Gladys Winfield."

The investigator continued.

"After that, in the early hours of the next morning, Meryl Pruitt went in with a flashlight."

My forehead was still wrapped in gauze.

I sat in the front row of the conference hall.

Head down, listening to the investigator lay it all out.

Brent spoke up.

"Which means the person who switched off the ground-fault breaker was either her or Gladys.

"So I'd like all of you to think about something."

Brent stood.

He pointed at the footage on the big screen.

It still showed me going down into the lab with a flashlight.

That was the only camera the storm hadn't destroyed.

It only reached the doorway.

You couldn't see the ground-fault breaker in it.

Brent's voice went cold.

"Do you all believe our company's top marine science expert would make a mistake like that?

"Or that a petty little salesgirl who understands nothing, eaten up with jealousy, would do something like this?"

For a moment.

Everyone in the hall.

Including the investigators, frowned.

"I did switch off the ground-fault breaker that day!"

Gladys spoke up right on cue.

"I'm certain of it!"

"Tsk, if Gladys says so, then it's probably true."

They exchanged looks.

"Right, someone like Gladys would never make such a basic mistake."

"And Meryl Pruitt, too. What business does a salesperson have in the lab? Not only did she destroy all of Gladys's hard work, she nearly got herself killed."

"Serves her right."

The team lead nodded.

"As it stands, there's no one this could be but Meryl Pruitt."

Brent nodded. "Thank you, team lead."

They pulled me to my feet.

Two people took me by either side and led me away.

As I passed Brent.

He said, quietly,

"You really went too far this time.

"A little lesson will do you good."

I didn't answer.

Not long after.

One of the investigation team members reached out to me.

"That thing you asked us to look into, we actually did turn something up. Sending it over for you to confirm."

I quickly opened the zip file.

The moment I saw the photos inside.

My heart pounded.

Brent.

This time.

You and Gladys really are about to lose everything you've built these past years.