The Kiss of the Dark Night
Chapter One
The day I got out on bail and went back to
the office, my mother–in–law dropped to her
knees the second she saw me.
“Ethan, honey, we were wrong about you this
past year! Please, you gotta help the
company.”
Even my icy ex–wife, Brittany, was all smiles
and apologies, standing next to her.
I just laughed.
“A year ago, I fixed the massive security hole
her golden–boy childhood friend left wide
open, saving the company from going under.”
<
“But because of one lie from that jerk, she
twisted everything around and pressed
charges against me.”
“He became the hero who saved the day, and
I was the criminal who caused the damage.”
“So now, you want me to fix his mistakes
again, so you can throw me back in the
slammer?”
I tossed a divorce agreement onto the table.
“Sign it.”
1.
“Ethan, I already apologized. What more do
you want?”
<
Brittany’s smile faded as she looked at the
divorce papers on the desk.
“Sign it.”
I said it again, cold as ice.
Even now, she didn’t want to believe I wasn’t
the one who screwed things up a year ago.
A year ago…
I was dragged down to the company’s
security office and left to rot all night before
Brittany finally showed up.
“Ethan, what the hell were you thinking? If
Chad hadn’t found it in time and covered up
your tracks, you’d be doing serious time, you
く
Every word Brittany said made sense, but
somehow they didn’t make sense together.
“Brittany, what are you talking about? What
do you mean, Chad covered up my tracks?”
“Ethan, come on, don’t play dumb. I’ve got
proof you sold the company’s source code to
our competitors. And you were crazy enough
to try to take the whole company down with
you!”
“You know that’s a felony, right?”
Brittany was screaming at this point.
I tried one more time, saying what I’d already
said a million times.
“Brittany, I got a call from the cleaning quv.
<
Mr. Henderson, in the middle of the night!
Call Mr. Henderson, and you’ll know I’m telling
the truth.”
“I’ve said it a million times, I went back to the
office because the server was down. I fixed
the vulnerability. Before me, Chad was the
only one in the server room.”
“Mr. Henderson’s on vacation. It’s just like
Chad said, you’re trying to blame some guy
we can’t get a hold of to buy yourself some
time.”
“And now you’re trying to pin it on Chad? If
he hadn’t covered for you, you’d be looking at
fifteen years minimum!”
“Ethan, I’m so disappointed in you.”
I don’t even remember leaving the office that
night.
I just remember feeling numb.
The next morning, there was an
announcement on the company’s internal
message board.
“Ethan Hayes, head of Network Security,
made a critical error, leading to a server
breach and the theft of company source
code.”
The company’s stock tanked after the breach.
Everyone’s bonuses were canceled, and their
performance–based pay was cut in half.
Suddenly I was public onomy pupe
Suddenly, I was public enemy number one.
I kept calling and texting Brittany, but she
wouldn’t answer.
Finally, late that night, she came home,
smelling like booze.
And I saw it, clear as day: a fresh hickey on
her neck.
“Brittany, I need to talk to you.”
I said it straight away when she got in.
She just gave me a cold look, didn’t say a
word, and went straight to the bedroom,
locking the door behind her.
I sat on the couch all night, and the first thing
I saw when I unlocked my phone in the
morning was a trending headline.
“ColdTech Heiress Brittany Coldwell and Tech
Whiz Chad Matthews Join Forces to
Revolutionize Cyber Security.”
The article included a photo of the two of
them at some fancy gala, raising glasses to
the crowd. Brittany was wearing a low–cut
dress, Chad’s arm wrapped around her waist.
They were standing close, looking into each
other’s eyes, all lovey–dovey.
It hit me like a punch to the gut.
Brittany finally came out of the bedroom, all
made up and dressed to kill.
Г
She was obviously going to meet him.