Blackmail
1463 Words
The boardroom felt like it had dropped 20 degrees.
All eyes were on me. All eyes were on Ethan.
The maintenance man's accusation hung in the air like smoke.
"She paid me to delete the files," he repeated, pointing at me. "50,000 dollars. Cash. I have proof."
CEO Park's face was stone. "Proof?"
The man pulled out his phone, fumbling with trembling fingers. He played a voice note.
My voice came through, distorted but recognizable:
"...make sure the files are gone by tonight. The money will be in the locker."
Silence.
I stared at the phone like it had grown a second head.
"That's not me," I said. "That's AI. Someone used AI voice cloning."
"AI doesn't leave fingerprints on cash transfers," the man shot back.
Ethan stepped forward. "Check the locker. Check the cameras. Check the bank records. If there's a transfer, it won't be under Olivia's name."
Marcus Hale laughed. "Convenient. You two are covering for each other now?"
CEO Park raised a hand, and the room quieted.
"Enough. Security, take Mr. Henderson into custody. IT, freeze all accounts linked to this case. We will investigate."
Henderson. So that was his name.
As security dragged him out, he glared at me.
"You'll regret this, Rivera!"
The doors closed.
CEO Park turned to us. "Explain. Now. Both of you."
Ethan looked at me. Really looked at me.
"I'll go first," he said. "Because I'm the one being blackmailed."
The room went dead silent.
---
Ethan exhaled, like he'd been holding it in for months.
"Six months ago," he started, "I received an email. Anonymous. It had photos of my sister. She was 19, drunk at a party, making out with a guy who works for our biggest competitor."
My stomach dropped.
"The photos were never public," Ethan continued. "But the sender said if I didn't step down from the Meridian Project, they'd leak them. Ruin her reputation. Ruin my family's."
CEO Park's jaw tightened. "Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because the sender said they were watching," Ethan said. "One wrong move, and the photos go live. I thought if I handled it quietly, it would go away."
"And did it?" I asked.
Ethan shook his head. "No. Two weeks ago, they escalated. They demanded I sabotage the Meridian Project from the inside. Lose the bid on purpose. I refused."
"That's when the files got deleted," I realized.
Ethan nodded. "I think so. They're trying to make it look like I failed. Or like you framed me."
CEO Park leaned back, processing. "And the video? The voice note?"
"Deepfakes," Ethan said. "I've seen the original footage. Olivia was talking to Maya about a contract clause. Someone stitched it together."
I felt sick. Someone had been playing us against each other for months.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly.
"Because I didn't trust you," Ethan said bluntly. "And because I thought I could handle it alone. I was wrong."
For the first time since we met, he looked vulnerable.
CEO Park stood up. "This changes things. The board will postpone the final decision on Head of Development until we find out who's behind this."
Marcus Hale stood up, furious. "You can't do that! The deal is signed! They won!"
"The deal is signed," CEO Park said coldly. "But the leadership of the project is under review. If either of you are compromised, Park Industries loses more than 400 million. We lose credibility."
Marcus slammed his hand on the table and stormed out.
CEO Park looked at us.
"You two have 72 hours. Find out who's blackmailing Ethan. Prove Olivia's innocence. Or I'll have to remove both of you from the project."
72 hours.
We walked out of the boardroom together, silent.
---
The elevator doors closed.
Alone again.
"So," I said. "Blackmail. That's why you were working late every night last month."
Ethan nodded. "I was trying to trace the emails. I got close twice. Then the sender wiped their servers."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because if I told you, you'd be a target too," he said. "I couldn't risk it."
I crossed my arms. "Well, congratulations. We're both targets now."
He actually smirked at that.
"Looks like it."
The elevator dinged. We stepped out onto the 42nd floor.
The office was a mess. Papers everywhere, coffee stains on the whiteboard, my jacket thrown over a chair. It looked like a war zone.
And it was ours.
"So what now?" I asked.
"Now we work together," Ethan said. "For real this time. No secrets. No holding back."
I hesitated. Then I nodded.
"No secrets."
He pulled up a chair next to mine. "First step: we find out who sent that email. I have the header data. It was routed through three countries, but the origin was here. Manila."
My heart skipped.
"Manila?"
"Yeah," Ethan said. "Someone in this city wants us to fail."
I thought about Maya, about my old coworkers, about Marcus Hale.
Anyone could have done it.
"Okay," I said. "Then we start with the people who had access to the files."
Ethan nodded. "IT gave me a list. 12 people. Including us."
I stared at him.
"You think I did it?"
"I think someone wants us to think you did it," he corrected. "There's a difference."
For the first time, I believed him.
We spent the next six hours going through the list.
Calling in favors. Checking access logs. Cross-referencing who was in the building when the files were deleted.
At 11 PM, we had it narrowed down to three names.
And one of them was Maya.
---
I stared at her name on the screen.
Maya Chen. Best friend. Roommate. The only person I trusted completely.
"No," I said. "No way."
Ethan didn't argue. He just pulled up the access logs.
"Maya logged into the system at 6:58 PM. Two minutes before the files were deleted. Her account was used to send the phishing link to IT."
My hands were shaking.
"That doesn't mean she did it. Someone could've stolen her login."
"Her phone was also used to make a call to an untraceable number 10 minutes later," Ethan said gently. "Olivia… I'm sorry."
I stood up so fast my chair fell over.
"I'm going to talk to her."
"Alone?" Ethan asked.
"Yes," I said. "If she's innocent, I don't want her scared. If she's guilty… I need to hear it from her."
Ethan nodded. "I'll be outside. If you don't come out in 20 minutes, I'm coming in."
I grabbed my bag and left.
---
Maya's apartment was 15 minutes away.
I didn't knock. I used the spare key.
She was on the couch, watching a drama, eating ice cream. Like nothing had happened.
"Olivia?" she sat up, confused. "Why are you here? It's almost midnight."
I closed the door behind me.
"Did you delete the Meridian files, Maya?"
Her face went blank.
Then she laughed.
"Oh my god. You actually think I did it?"
I held up my phone, showing her the access logs.
"Your account, Maya. Your phone. Explain."
Her laughter stopped.
She set the ice cream down.
"Olivia… I can explain."
"Explain," I said. "Right now."
She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw fear in her eyes.
"It wasn't me," she whispered.
"But I know who did it."
---
"Who?" I said.
Maya swallowed hard.
"Your dad, Olivia."
The world stopped.
"My dad's been dead for eight years," I said.
"Not him," Maya said quickly. "Your dad's brother. Uncle Marco."
I went cold all over.
"Uncle Marco is in prison."
"He got out three months ago," Maya said. "And he's been calling me. Threatening me. He said if I didn't help him ruin you and Ethan, he'd tell the police about… about the night your dad died."
I felt like I'd been punched.
"The car accident wasn't an accident, was it?" Maya whispered.
I couldn't breathe.
Uncle Marco had been the one driving that night. Drunk. He'd blamed me for years. Said if I hadn't asked my dad to pick me up, he'd still be alive.
"You were supposed to frame Ethan," Maya said, tears in her eyes. "But when you found out about the blackmail, you changed your mind. So he came after both of you."
I sat down hard on the couch.
Everything made sense.
The deleted files. The deepfakes. The timing.
Uncle Marco wanted revenge.
And he was using me to get it.
I looked at Maya.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because he said he'd kill you if I did," she whispered.
The door burst open.
Ethan stood there, face pale.
"We need to go. Now."
I stood up.
"Why?"
"Because Uncle Marco just called me," Ethan said.
"He has your mom."
- Writer
