When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

The employees behind me fell silent, their eyes widening in disbelief as they stared at me. If he truly had authorization, even they might be out of a job.

I stepped forward, glanced at the document in his hand, and let out a scoff, "You call this a signature? It looks like a child's doodle. Clyde was out cold at the time. Who knows how you got this signed? Was a lawyer present? Could any medical staff vouch for its legitimacy? Clyde himself said he didn't authorize this. You dare to forge his signature?"

Clyde doesn't remember, so as far as I'm concerned, it never happened. He was barely conscious; even if it was his signature, it wouldn't hold up. I knew it, and so did York.

York glared at me venomously, "Clyde signed this himself. You think I'd dare to break the law so blatantly?"Text © owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

"Since you claim he's awake, I'll just go and confront him myself. Let's go!"

He sure knew how to save face, actually walking off with his tail between his legs. As Laird tried to shoulder past me, Jade swiftly pushed him aside.

"Jerk," she muttered under her breath.

I quickly tugged at her arm. She still had to work at the Patterson Group, after all. It was better not to make enemies unnecessarily.

With that drama behind us, I told everyone to go back to their desks and start their day. There were compensations to arrange for the victim's family, lawsuits to file against Apex Group, and a public relations nightmare to handle, especially with the mess York had made of things lately. I needed to clean it up, and fast.

Merritt called to tell me Clyde was back home, which finally put my mind at ease.

"Melanie, why don't you come back to Patterson Mansion? I can send someone for you."

"Merritt, I'm staying at a hotel near the office for a while. There's too much work."

He didn't press further after hearing my reason. Seeing as Clyde and I were headed for a breakup, it made sense to steer clear of the Pattersons. Jade almost always stayed late with me, worried about my health, even sharing my hotel room. Somehow, my work performance had actually improved, and my appetite was returning.

Especially when we won the bid for the overpass project, I was over the moon. This project had been in the Patterson Group's pipeline for months. The original design hadn't been right, rejected several times. Recently, I'd been tweaking the proposal in my scant free time, leading the project to a successful bid.

Jade wanted to celebrate by taking me out for barbecue, but I hesitated.

"Let's just work through. They need a detailed summary of the proposal, and I think..."

"The bid's won, we can relax a bit. My treat, let's get some ribs!"

After ensuring everyone else had left, she dragged me out. Before leaving, though, I activated a security feature on my laptop that would turn on the webcam if anyone tried to enter a password. Fool me once, shame on you.

Pet

We'd barely ordered when my phone buzzed with a security alert. Sure enough, someone was tampering with my computer. All the crucial data was on that laptop, locked in my drawer, and yet someone had managed to open it?

Checking the app, I saw Paul at my desk, on the phone.

"Just remotely crack the password, will you? I'm paying you five hundred for this. Hurry up before anyone comes back. Idiot!"

He plugged something into the computer and managed to break into my system. I didn't make a scene; instead, I quietly called Clyde's security to head upstairs, while Jade and I rushed back to the office.

By the time we arrived, Paul was already detained. He looked at me furiously, "Ms. Crawford, what is this about? I just came back for some documents."

"Coming to the director's office for documents? That's bold."

A guard handed me a device. "Signal jammer."

I smirked at Paul, saying, "Quite prepared, aren't we? So, how long do you think you'll last in jail?"

Paul was always concerned about

his image. He appeared nonchalant

but was highly competitive. He'd initially led the overpass project but lacked the skill to secure it. Seeing me succeed where he failed must've been a bitter pill to swallow. Berhaps he wasn't trying to sabotage the project out of malice but rather out of a desperate desire not to let Patterson Group succeed.

He scoffed, "Go ahead, call the cops. They won't find any evidence. You haven't lost any data."

Nodding, I agreed that at most it would be considered attempted crime. My system was secure; he wouldn't have had time to find any crucial data or designs. Yet, seeing his smug look, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Paul, you and Mack's little scheme you didn't think no one would find out, did you?"

His eyes widened in shock. "What do you know?"

I set the jammer aside, meeting his gaze with a cold stare.

"Come clean now, and you might just see a way out of this."