Synopsis : Cassandra Riley, a young and powerful rising star in the business world, meets her match in a coworker, Jane. Pushed into taking drastic, unethical action to thwart her rival, Cassandra finds herself at the mercy of Jane.
Author note : The following story is the beginning of an ongoing, multi-part series.
It is a work of fiction. All characters, places, etc are completely made up, as is the plot.
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Chapter 2 : Cassy's Gets Caught
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Fuck.
That's all I could think.
Fuck, fuck, fuck -
I'd been caught, red handed.
"You look like a deer caught in headlights, Cass," my coworker, Jane, smirked as she crossed the floor of her office towards me, "Although I guess you kind of are. Breaking into my office... using my computer... not very profession, is it?"
I sprung into action. Still standing behind Jane's desk, I reached down towards her computer, fumbling to find the power button. I had to turn the machine off! The screen was still displaying the fruits of my nefarious labors. My illicit, backdoor program was still running... there were windows open everywhere -- banking information, private emails, and a slew of fabricated evidence I'd been planting, which would have framed Jane for a multitude of infractions and crimes.
"Don't bother," Jane laughed as I powered the machine down, "I already know what you've been doing. I've been monitoring you. You're not the only one with friends in the tech department, you know."
I went white. She knew what I'd been doing? Surely not.
I'd bribed someone in the tech department to create the program I'd been using. I'd been assured it was a master system, capable of overriding any type of detection-
"Are you wondering how your tech friend let you down?" Jane said, mocking a pout, "Because you should be used to that sort of thing. People around here hate you, Cassy. You treat the tech guys like you're better than them -- they were happy to sell you down the river!"
"Jane," I began, standing up from her desk, "I don't know what you're thinking, but I assure you, this isn't what it looks like. I was simply conducting a routine inspection-"
"Oh, cut the bullshit, you phony tramp!" Jane said, stunning me into silence with the sharpness of her tone.
"I know exactly what you were doing." she said, leaning on the opposite side of desk, staring me down, "You thought you could find some sort of evidence of wrongdoing on my computer. You wanted to get me fired. When you couldn't find any evidence, you decided to create some, using your crafty little program. I was monitoring you when you hacked into my personal files, and I was monitoring you when you tried to forge my financial records!"
I didn't know how to respond. She was correct, of course. I'd been doing exactly what she was accusing me of doing. She'd obviously really been monitoring me... watching as I performed all of my illicit deeds.
How had I been so stupid, I wondered? Why had I thought this was a good idea? Had I really been so desperate to rid myself of Jane that I'd taken such a fatal risk?!
"Oh, Cassy..." Jane clucked her tongue, "You look like you brain is going to explode. Why don't you take a seat, and I'll tell you what ELSE I know."
I was too shocked to respond, so I followed Jane's suggestion, and slumped down into the chair behind her desk.
Jane was still leaning against the opposite side of her desk, smugly looking down at me.
Despite the horror of the situation I was facing, I couldn't help but notice she looked extremely sexy at the moment.
She was still wearing the same outfit she'd been clad in earlier ; a cheap business skirt with a blazer that didn't quite match, but somehow, she looked like she'd transformed.
It must be her hair, I pondered. Before, her dark locks had been pulled into a tight attempt at a professional ponytail. But now, her hair tumbled down to her shoulders, and her long bangs were carelessly hanging just above the tops of her sharp-witted eyes. Even her emerald nose stud looked fitting now, a sexy little blip dotting her smooth face.
She exuded a sort of confidence I wasn't used to. I wasn't used to the position I was in, slumped in a chair, with somebody else looming over me.
Normally, I was the one in charge. But not right now. Even my expensive clothes couldn't help blunt the fact that I was huddled in Jane's office chair like a child that had been caught swiping a cookie from the jar.
"So, let's go over the facts..." Jane said, pushing off of her desk and beginning to pace casually as she spoke to me, "You tried to frame me, Cassandra. But you failed. Everything you've been typing, I've been recording -- and none of it has actually been entered into the system. I have, of course, saved it all to a secure server... as evidence of YOUR wrong doing. I don't have to tell you that what you tried to do would have gotten me fired. Worse, embezzlement would have sent me to jail!"
I was still speechless. Jane turned to me, her grin evaporating into a frown that shook me to my core.
"Of course, you know all about embezzlement laws," she said, and my heart sunk. I prayed she wasn't going where I thought she was, but her next comment dashed that prayer to shreds, "You've been running your own little scheme for a long while now, haven't you?"
Oh. My. God.
"Jane-" I began, "You can't prove that I've been doing-"
"I told you," Jane interrupted me, "Your tech friend betrayed you. I know exactly what you've been up to. I know you've been siphoning funds into your own personal account, stealing from Illuminate Media's funds. I know you've been using your back door access to manipulate your way into your position. You've created quite the trail for me to follow... forging documents to get people in your way let go, tweaking numbers to inflate your own department and ruin other people's hard work..."
I was beginning to sweat now, my rigid composure failing to mask the fact that Jane's every words were true.
It was all as she said it was. I'd been ruthless behind the scenes, doing whatever it took to put myself in the position I was in. From bribery to blackmail, I'd done everything I'd needed to do to ensure my own success.
"Jane, everything I've done has been for the good of the company! " I began, desperate to regain control of the conversation, "I needed to right the ship. Illuminate Media was running itself into the ground when I started here, and I -"
"And you just figured you were the smartest tool in the shed," Jane laughed, "And for your efforts, I'm sure you figured you deserved some extra rewards, huh?"
I was quiet again. Once more, she was right.
But the truth was, I did deserve a little extra, didn't I? So I'd ruined some careers along the way. Most deserved it, and the ones that hadn't had given up their jobs for the greater good! Even without my manipulated performance numbers, I was still a stellar stand out in the tech world! I'd made this company millions -- surely I'd deserved a little piece of that pie for my efforts!
"Well, I guess the gig's up," Jane continued, "I'll have no choice but to go to the authorities with all of this. Maybe you can plea for a light sentence, only get a few years behind bars? You're pretty enough. I'm sure if you grease a few wheels... maybe find the right lawyer, they'll let you off easy-"
"Jane," I said, suddenly snapped back into action by the mention of her reporting me, "I'm sure we can be reasonable here. I -- clearly you... have reason to be upset with me. I was horrible to you, and I'm truly sorry. But if you tell the authorities about this... I'll be ruined!"
I straightened myself out, standing from the chair and steeling myself as best I could.
