Chapter 12 - The Breach
By sunrise, Meridian’s headquarters had become an emergency command center.
The stolen files belonged to employees who had used the new family support program. They included applications for childcare, parental leave, adoption assistance and private medical benefits.
No information had appeared publicly yet.
That did not make the breach less dangerous.
Daniel Cole, Meridian’s director of cybersecurity, projected the access history onto the conference-room wall.
“The attacker didn’t break through the external system,” he explained. “They entered with an authorized credential.”
“Whose credential?” Victoria asked.
Daniel enlarged the final line.
The account belonged to Arthur.
Victoria stared at the screen.
Arthur’s access had been removed during the divorce. Every password, security badge and company device connected to him had been disabled.
Daniel agreed.
“But this wasn’t his normal account. It was a legacy payment credential connected to the corporate-card system.”
“The gold card?”
“The physical account is closed. The digital token was never deleted.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Who could reactivate it?”
“Someone with executive-level authority.”
Only seven people possessed that authority.
Victoria was one of them.
The others were sitting around the table.
Board chairman Julian Cross demanded that Daniel repeat the explanation.
“You’re suggesting one of us helped Arthur steal employee records?”
“I’m saying the credential was restored from inside this building.”
The room fell silent.
Victoria ordered the seven executives’ access suspended until the investigation was completed.
Julian objected immediately.
“You cannot remove the entire leadership team because your former husband found an old password.”
“This breach targeted families who trusted us,” Victoria replied. “No one is above the investigation.”
Her phone rang before Julian could respond.
Arthur’s name appeared on the screen.
May you like
Victoria answered.
“Brooke disappeared last night,” he said. “And before she vanished, she left something for you.”
