“Please,” Ann looked at her pleadingly. “I’ll get fired otherwise. I have a mortgage, a kid. I can’t lose this job.”
Sarah couldn’t say no. She opened a new file and started on the presentation, though she had no idea what the clients needed.
By seven PM, well after the official workday had ended, Sarah was still at her computer. Her head was splitting, her eyes watery from fatigue. She had completed dozens of tasks, helped half the office, and signed documents whose contents she didn’t even know. Finally, she turned off her computer, gathered her things, and in her exhaustion, she completely forgot about the recorder. It remained attached under her desk.
It was already dark outside. Sarah walked to her car and just sat behind the wheel for a few minutes, trying to collect herself. Her first day had been a nightmare. But she had survived. She had made it through. Tomorrow will be easier, she told herself.
At home, her mother was already asleep. Sarah tiptoed to her room, changed, and collapsed onto the bed. Sleep came instantly.
The phone rang in the middle of the night. A sharp, piercing sound that shattered the silence. Sarah shot up, disoriented. She grabbed the phone; the screen glowed with the name “Victor Collins.” She answered, still half-asleep.
“Hello?”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” The director’s voice blasted through the phone. He was shouting so loudly she had to pull it away from her ear.
“Mr. Collins, what are you talking about?” Sarah sat up in bed, trying to make sense of what was happening. “I don’t understand…”
“You don’t understand?!” he continued to yell. “You put your signature on documents that transferred three million dollars out of the company! Three million, do you hear me?!”
Her heart stopped. Sarah felt the world start to spin.
“What? That can’t be… I didn’t…” and then she remembered. Veronica. The flash drive. The documents she had signed without reading. “Veronica gave me the documents, she said…”
“Veronica?” the director’s voice got even louder. “What Veronica?! You signed the documents using the access you were given! You are responsible!”
“But I didn’t know!” Sarah’s voice broke. “She said it was urgent, that you authorized it… I was just doing my job!”
“Your job?” He laughed, a vicious, hysterical sound. “You stole three million dollars from this company, and you call that doing your job?!”
Tears streamed down her face. Sarah remembered how Veronica had rushed her. How she wouldn’t let her read the documents. How she had pressured her, threatening to fire her.
“Mr. Collins, please, listen to me,” she tried to speak through her sobs. “It was Veronica. She brought the flash drive, she said it was urgent…”
“You liar!” he cut her off. “You’re a damn liar! I’m suing you. You’re going to prison for this. You’ll pay for every dollar you stole.”
“No, please…” Sarah wept, clutching the phone. “I didn’t steal anything. I didn’t know…”
“Be at the office tomorrow!” he snapped. “And get ready for a visit from the police. I hope you rot in jail.”
He hung up. Sarah kept the phone to her ear, staring into the darkness. Her world had collapsed for the second time. Only this time, it was worse than a divorce. This time, she was facing prison. She lowered the phone and buried her face in her hands. Sobs shook her body.
How had this happened? How had she fallen into another trap?
And then she remembered. The recorder. It had been recording everything that happened in her office.
Sarah leaped out of bed and started frantically getting dressed. It was three in the morning, but she had to get to the office. Immediately. She had to get the recorder before anyone found it. It was the only proof of her innocence.
Her mother woke up from the noise.
“Sarah, what’s going on?” her sleepy voice called from the next room.
“Nothing, Mom, go back to sleep!” Sarah yelled, pulling on her jacket.
She ran out of the apartment and sprinted to her car. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely get the key in the ignition. She sped through the empty streets, running red lights, breaking every rule. A single thought pounded in her head: get there in time. Get the recorder. Prove your innocence.
She made it to the office in twenty minutes. The building was dark and deserted. Sarah used the access card they had given her yesterday and went inside. The elevator crept slowly to the seventh floor. Every second felt like an eternity.
Finally, the doors opened. The hallway was dark, with only the dim glow of emergency lighting. Sarah walked to her office. The door was unlocked. She went in, flipped on the light, and rushed to her desk. She dropped to her knees, reaching her hand underneath the desktop. Her fingers found the recorder. It was there. She pulled it off its magnetic clip and clutched it in her hand. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks. She had proof. She had a chance.
Sarah stayed in the office until dawn. She sat at her desk, plugged the device into her computer, and opened the audio file. Her fingers trembled as she clicked play.
First, she heard the sounds of her own work. The clacking of keys, the rustling of papers. Then footsteps. The door opening.
“Sarah, I need these documents signed immediately…” Veronica’s voice came through the speakers, clear and undistorted.
Sarah listened as yesterday’s conversation unfolded. Every word from Veronica, every one of her own doubts, every threat from the finance VP—it was all recorded.
The recording continued after the workday had ended. Veronica entered the office after Sarah had already gone home.
“Yes, Mr. Collins,” Veronica’s voice sounded completely different now—fawning, almost tender. She was clearly on the phone. “She signed everything. We can move the money now.”
A pause. Veronica laughed…
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