Criminal charges?

This was almost beyond anything she’d imagined.

She’d thought she was just going in to answer a few questions-nothing more.

Even after climbing into her car, Sylvie’s hands and feet felt cold and numb. None of this was what she’d expected. She’d already filed a lawsuit against VistaLink Technologies, and now, at this critical moment, she found herself entangled in the case-facing possible jail time?

Terrence’s sudden disappearance-wasn’t that just running away?

The police had made things perfectly clear. If they couldn’t track down Terrence, as the company’s CEO and their main point of contact, Sylvie would be held jointly responsible, even if she hadn’t masterminded anything herself. To make matters worse, VistaLink Technologies alleged that the latest system from Neural Intelligence had used their leaked source code and technical solutions, resulting in a clear case of infringement.

Each new revelation struck like a hammer blow, one after another.

Sylvie could barely keep her composure. Her chest tightened as she tried, unsuccessfully, to steady her breathing. The shock was so overwhelming she could hardly string her thoughts together. After all, this was the first time in her life she’d faced something so serious.

If things had gone as she’d hoped, Elodie would have been branded a fraud in the tech world by now-her reputation in ruins.

It took Sylvie a long minute to pull herself together. Then she quickly sent out instructions to track down any trace of Terrence.

Once everything was in motion, she started her car again, heading for The Silverstein Group’s downtown office. She needed to hear what Jarrod thought.

Criminal liability…

She had no way to handle that on her own.

After VistaLink Technologies released their official statement, the industry was thrown into chaos.

Rumors flew, and the whole tech sector was buzzing. VistaLink Technologies’ phone lines lit up once again-those who’d rushed to take sides earlier now scrambled to switch allegiances.

Alexander filtered out most of the calls, only taking those from steady partners who were waiting to see how things played out.

Esmeralda swept into the office, practically beaming. “Just in-Sylvie’s been to the authorities. She must finally understand how serious this is!”

Elodie nodded. “The rest of Neural Intelligence’s employees will probably be questioned too. This is going to do a lot of damage to their reputation.”

If it had just been a civil lawsuit, that would have been one thing. But now it was a criminal matter. Elodie wanted to make sure the other side understood-mistakes woul@come with real consequences.

Alexander found the whole situation rather amusing. “Isn’t this what they call hoisting yourself on your own petard? I checked with the police-Terrence is almost certainly on the run.”

Now, all that mess was Sylvie’s to clean up.

“You think Terrence set up Sylvie?” Esmeralda asked, her schadenfreude barely disguised.

Elodie thought it was possible, but she said, “Whatever the reason, this was the only chance Sylvie had to try to drag VistaLink Technologies and me down with her. She knows exactly what she’s doing.”

Sylvie probably hadn’t expected Elodie to produce proof of her

claims-especially since only on

new autopilot system had only. on the market for less than a month, and the company itself had only existed for four years. Terrence’s so-called “evidence” from two years ago would have sounded convincing to anyone.

But right now, the real priority was to find out how Elodie’s source code and

technical solutions had been leaked in the first place.

Elodie’s phone buzzed.

She glanced at the screen-a number she didn’t recognize.

She picked up without a second thought. “Hello?”

There was a brief silence on the other end before a quiet voice replied, “It’s me.”

Elodie’s brow furrowed. The moment Jarrod’s voice registered, she hung up.