Chapter7
1169 Words
Under the Surface
The email came so casually it might have been a memo about office coffee.
IT Security Alert: Your account needs verification. Please reset your password immediately to avoid system lockout.
Eva squinted at her screen. The Hartford & Co. logo sat proudly at the top, the font matching every official company notice she’d ever seen. There was even that tiny disclaimer at the bottom no one actually read.
Why do these things always happen when I’m about to finish something important? she thought, tapping her pen against her desk.
She had three open spreadsheets, an unread message from Clara about lunch plans, and at least five mental reminders floating in her brain like lost balloons. Her department head had been grumbling all morning about quarterly targets. She didn’t need another problem.
With a resigned sigh, she clicked the link.
A neat little page opened, prompting for her new password.
“Let’s make this quick,” she muttered, typing fast.
She barely had time to notice that the “thank you” page flickered oddly before it closed itself.
By the time she took her next sip of coffee, the moment was gone from her mind.
---
The chaos didn’t start with fireworks. It began with whispers.
By mid-morning, rumors were darting across the office like fish in a crowded tank. Someone in finance couldn’t access archived contracts. Marketing’s shared folders had mysteriously vanished. An entire project proposal had been scrambled into nonsense characters.
Eva overheard two analysts by the coffee machine.
“Could be a cyberattack,” one said.
“Or an inside job,” the other replied, lowering his voice.
She rolled her eyes and walked past. Hartford & Co. thrived on drama; this was probably another system update gone wrong.
Still… the IT department didn’t look like it was handling a routine glitch. Half the team was huddled in the glass-walled conference room, screens glowing with scrolling code. Ethan passed by once, phone to his ear, his face carved in lines of concentration. Lucas lingered near the reception desk, unusually quiet. Even Vivian was in the building — her presence as rare as a solar eclipse — sweeping through the hall like she owned the place.
Which, technically, she did.
---
Around noon, Eva’s phone buzzed.
Clara: Lunch? Or are you “too busy climbing the corporate ladder” again?
Eva: You say that like it’s a bad thing. Meet me in 10.
Clara was already at their usual café table, sipping iced tea and scrolling through her phone. She looked up with a smirk.
“So,” she said, “on a scale of one to ‘office apocalypse’, how bad is it?”
Eva laughed. “Oh please. Half the people here think rebooting their computer is hacking.”
“Mm-hmm.” Clara leaned in. “Well, I heard from someone in HR that Ethan Hartford is in full-on crisis mode. Which, frankly, is kind of hot.”
Eva nearly choked on her sandwich. “Clara!”
“What? Brooding men under pressure are attractive. It’s science.”
Eva shook her head, but heat crept into her cheeks before she could stop it. She’d been noticing Ethan lately — in ways she hadn’t intended.
---
Back at the office, things escalated.
Security personnel began checking random workstations. Eva’s heart thudded uncomfortably when two of them approached her desk.
“Just a quick system scan,” one of them said politely.
She nodded, trying to look casual while her stomach did backflips. They plugged in a small device, tapping away at the keyboard. For a horrifying moment, a strange folder flashed across the screen — one she didn’t remember creating.
But then, just as quickly, it vanished.
The security tech frowned, tapped a few more keys, then shrugged. “Looks clean. You’re good.”
Eva exhaled so slowly it felt like she was deflating.
What she didn’t know was that, two floors below, a hooded figure in the server room was deleting every trace of the breach from her profile.
---
That evening, Eva was curled on the couch at her mother’s small apartment, trying to relax. Elena was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, humming softly to some old Spanish ballad.
“You look tired, mi amor,” Elena said, peeking into the living room.
“It’s been… a day,” Eva admitted.
Before she could elaborate, her phone rang. Sophie.
“Hey, you’ll never believe this!” Sophie’s voice practically fizzed through the speaker. “There’s a temp job opening at Hartford & Co. — cleaning staff, but it pays way better than my café gig. Guess who’s already applied?”
“That’s great!” Eva said honestly, though she hesitated before adding, “There’s also a junior admin position opening next week… I was going to tell you about it.”
There was a pause. “Admin? As in… sitting at a desk, wearing nice clothes, smiling at handsome bosses all day?”
Eva laughed. “I mean… yes? But it’s not exactly a fairytale.”
“Mmh,” Sophie murmured, but Eva caught the edge of jealousy in her tone. “Well. Good for you if you think you can get it.”
Eva frowned as they hung up. She hated tension with Sophie, but she also knew how much competition Hartford & Co. attracted.
---
The next morning, Vivian appeared at Eva’s desk, a vision in a cream pantsuit and pearls.
“Miss Moore,” she said, her tone smooth as satin. “I’d like those budget revisions sent to me before lunch.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Vivian’s gaze lingered a moment longer than necessary. “You’ve been… busy lately.”
Eva blinked. “Just doing my job.”
Vivian’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course. Let’s keep it that way.”
As she glided away, Lucas strolled up, grinning. “Careful,” he murmured. “When Vivian starts using her polite voice, it means she’s planning something.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the tip.”
---
By Friday, Alexander — the company’s head of security — was making the rounds. Tall, with an ex-military bearing and a voice that could freeze boiling water, he stopped at Eva’s desk.
“Ms. Moore,” he said. “If you notice anything unusual on your system, report it to me directly. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
His gaze lingered just a second longer than needed, as though trying to read something in her expression, before he moved on.
Eva turned back to her screen, but her mind was elsewhere. Something was happening under the surface at Hartford & Co. — something dangerous.
And for reasons she couldn’t explain, she had the sinking feeling it was far from over.
---
Meanwhile, across town, the hooded hacker sat in a dimly lit apartment, sippi
ng coffee and scrolling through Hartford & Co.’s stolen files.
On their screen, a profile picture stared back at them.
Eva Moore.
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