“It’s Chrysanthemum Goji Tea with a bit of honey.I had her put an ice cube in it, but it’s still very hot.Be careful.”
“Thank you,” I said, accepting the cup.
He flashed an acknowledging smile and left, followed by Gail.
Konni came over again.
“I would rather you stay right here until we resolve this.I’ll keep the door open.”
“Thank you,” I said, grateful he wasn’t making me return to my workstation while a cloud of suspicion still hung over my head.
“Sophia, I?—”
I shook my head and took a careful sip of my tea.I didn’t want to hear anything that started with my name.Not with the door open and not with my hands still shaking.
He sighed and went to sit behind his desk.
Forcing myself to relax into the couch, I listened to one-sided phone calls as he dug for answers.
Almost thirty minutes later, one of Konni’s assistants came in with a printout.
“Garth updated it with your notes,” he said, handing the paper to Konni.
Konni read it, passed it back to him, and nodded toward me.
The assistant brought it over for me to read.
Following our internal investigation, we have determined that Ms.Elmantas was the victim of a deliberate attempt to frame her for corporate espionage.Her corporate credentials were used without authorization by parties seeking to damage both her reputation and our company.Ms.Elmantas has been completely exonerated and continues to have our full confidence and support.
As a demonstration of our commitment to protecting our employees from such malicious attacks, Ms.Elmantas will receive full compensation for the distress caused by this violation of her professional integrity.We will not tolerate attempts to harm our valued team members and are pursuing all legal remedies against those responsible.
Steele Corporation stands firmly behind Ms.Elmantas and will continue to support her as she moves forward from this incident.
I looked up at Konni.
“Do we know who did it?”I asked.
“No.There were too many people on this floor with access to your workstation to say who it was specifically.”
“But there’s a security camera.”
“All the cameras on this floor were down until nine this morning.IT was aware of the problem and actively working to correct the issue.”He frowned slightly.“I don’t believe in coincidences.Someone timed this.”
I looked at the letter again.Did Konni really not believe Lianna could be behind this?Who else would have the connections and clearance to pull off something on this level?Was he covering for her, or was he like my dad, playing two sides?
“I don’t need compensation,” I said instead of voicing any of my real thoughts.
He looked at his assistant.“Please arrange for someone to drive Ms.Elmantas home.”
The assistant left, closing the door behind him.
I stared at it for a moment before facing Konni.He wasn’t behind his desk anymore.He was leaning against the front of it.I didn’t like that he could move so quietly.Or quickly.I also didn’t like the closed door.
“Someone is trying to frame you, Sophia.I’ve been asking myself why.You don’t know anything that would be a threat to anyone, do you?”
A laugh escaped me.“Like what?That Whitney is a closet sugar whore who has a daily word quota?Or that it’s taken Shana two weeks to mention she has two kids?How would I know anything?No one talks to me here, and when they do, it’s with contempt or aversion.”
He nodded.“If it’s not because you know something, then it means you’re being used as a scapegoat.We’re looking into TAS Solutions and trying to figure out why they would be interested in our bidding information.”
