Chapter 4: The Password My Mother Gave Away
The university administrator led us into a conference room behind the ballroom.
Evelyn closed the door while Leah placed Vanessa’s phone in a signal-blocking pouch.
“You cannot take that,” Vanessa said.
“You handed it to campus security voluntarily,” Leah replied.
“Three witnesses saw you.”
“I want an attorney.”
“That is your right,” Evelyn said.
“But Claire deserves one answer.
Who sent those instructions?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I don’t know.”
Dad set his phone on the table.
“Play the recording again.”
Mom caught his wrist.
“Richard, please.”
“Did you give Vanessa Claire’s password?”
Mom stared at the carpet.
“Answer him,” I said.
Her shoulders dropped.
“Claire left an old laptop at our house.
Her passwords were written inside a notebook.”
“They were childhood passwords.
Meridian required a new one.”
Mom twisted her wedding ring.
“Vanessa asked me the name of your first school and the street where you grew up.”
My breath caught.
“Those were my recovery questions.”
“I didn’t understand what she planned to do.”
“You watched her destroy my offer.”
“I was trying to keep both my daughters.”
“No.
You were helping one daughter break the other.”
Mom struck the table with her palm.
“You always land on your feet!
Vanessa doesn’t.”
The words emptied the room.
I gripped the back of a chair.
Dad moved toward me, but I stepped away.
“So that makes it acceptable?”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“You gave her access because you decided I could survive whatever she did.”
Mom’s face folded.
“Claire—”
Vanessa leaned back in her chair.
“She finally admitted it.
You don’t need everyone protecting you.”
Evelyn placed herself between us.
“This meeting is over.”
A knock sounded.
A tall man in a dark suit entered without waiting.
“Evelyn, the board has been notified,” he said.
“I’m Owen Price, corporate compliance director.”
Vanessa’s gaze dropped too quickly.
I pointed at her.
“She knows him.”
Owen set a folder on the table.
“I interviewed Claire during recruitment.
Unfortunately, I have messages suggesting she requested confidential material.”
“That’s a lie,” I said.
He opened the folder and pushed printed emails toward Evelyn.
The messages carried my name, my address, and my electronic signature.
One asked Owen to send internal financial records so I could “secure a better starting package.”
“I never sent these.”
Owen looked almost regretful.
“The server records say otherwise.”
Leah examined the pages.
“If these are authentic, protocol requires us to suspend Claire’s access.”
Vanessa’s mouth curved at one corner.
Evelyn looked at me.
“Until we establish the truth, your start date must be placed on hold.”
Mom touched my shoulder.
“Maybe this is for the best.
Perhaps you shouldn’t take the job after all.”
Something inside me gave way.
I pulled off my graduation cap and set it on the table.
“Was there ever one day when you chose me?”
Mom began to cry.
“I love you both.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Dad came around the table and placed the cap back in my hands.
“I choose you now,” he said.
“And I should have done it years ago.”
Owen gathered the documents.
“Meridian will contact you after the investigation.”
As he reached the door, I noticed a pale blue mark at the bottom of the last page.
“Wait.”
Owen stopped.
I lifted the email toward the light.
“That symbol belongs to a test program I wrote during my internship.
It never existed on Meridian’s live server.”
Leah took the page from me.
“What does that mean?”
“It means these records came from my private demonstration files.”
Vanessa’s chair scraped backward.
May you like
Then Leah’s tablet chimed.
“The original download was authorized from Owen Price’s office.”
