Page 69 of How to Play the Player

“Given the timing of when you say the issues started,” Nathan says, his voice grim, “this could have been happening since before the NorthStar leak.”

My stomach drops as the implications sink in. The timeline aligns perfectly. The laptop issues, the leak, Bethany’s sudden change in behavior.

Nathan’s expression darkens. “Bethany had full access to set everything up?”

“I guess so. I didn’t think much of it at the time. She was the computer genius of the two of us,” I confirm, the weight of my naivety hitting me. “Bethany insisted on upgrading each other’s laptops,” I say, the pieces starting to click into place. “She kept both of them for a weekend. Said it was for updates and optimization.”

His expression hardens as he watches me begin to panic.

“Oh, god!” I gasp. “My emails, my files—everything?”

“Everything,” Nathan confirms grimly.

A chill runs all over my body. “They could see into my office? My home?” Every late conversation, every confidential document I viewed, every time I’d brought work home…all potentially monitored, recorded, exposed.

“That’s how NorthStar got leaked,” I realize, everything finally starting to make sense. “The night you told me about it, you were at my apartment. I had my laptop there because I was planning to pull an all-nighter after you left. It was open.”

“They saw and heard everything,” Nathan says, the color draining from his face. “Every word of the NorthStar leak, everything I confided in you, was seen by someone else.”

“And they used it to make it look like it was me,” I finish, my voice hollow.

Our eyes meet, the revelation cementing a new understanding between us. Nathan is finally seeing the completetruth and I’m getting the true vindication I deserve. This confirms someone deliberately set me up.

“If the laptop came from Bethany, and she took care of your equipment, it had to have been her.”

I exhale a shaky breath. “Bethany.” I whisper her name, the betrayal cutting deep. As if screwing me over wasn’t enough, she had to invade my privacy and let me take the fall for something she did. “Why would she do this to me?”

“We can’t know for sure it was her. She looks good for the crime, but there’s nothing concrete showing she installed that spyware herself.”

“That’s true. What should we do?”

“Tell me about her,” Nathan says, his attention fully on me now. “When did things start going south between you two?”

“After the NorthStar deal collapsed and you and I had split,” I admit. “She started questioning my judgment, my decisions, and began micromanaging me not long after. Then clients I’d cultivated started mysteriously preferring to work with her instead of me.” I pause, another realization dawning. “Oh, my god. She was probably using information from my laptop to poach clients even before the NorthStar leak. Do you think she used it to get into my phone too?” My anxiety starts to rise.

He pulls me against his chest, steadying me. “No, baby. From what I can tell, the spyware is designed to monitor specific devices, not entire networks.”

I take in a breath. “Small mercies, I guess.”

Nathan’s eyes narrow as he quickly reaches for his phone.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Wait a minute.” His fingers move quickly across the screen. “I had Scott run a background check on you and others around you when you were first hired by my brother. That included Bethany.”

I’m not surprised, but that doesn’t mean I’m not pissed off. I slightly pull away from him. “Seriously?”

“I was skeptical of you. I wanted to cover my bases. I just didn’t have time to fully look into it. And now that I do…” He finds what he’s looking for and begins to read out loud from his screen. “Bethany Wilson. Twenty-nine. BA in communications with a minor in computer science from UT Austin. Multiple certifications in digital security. And”—he pauses briefly—“her ex works for SecureTech Solutions, one of the top security firms in Dallas.”

“That’s right,” I confirm, even more pieces are starting to come together in my mind. “Mercer helped set up our entire office network when we first started our business. He was always hanging around, supposedly doing maintenance. Of course she had the knowledge and the resources to do this,” I confirm to him. “She had Mercer.”

“And the NorthStar leak presented the perfect opportunity to destroy your credibility completely.”

The realization sends a chill through me.

“Now the question is why.”

I wrap my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold despite the warm hallway. “So what do we do now? Can we just wipe the laptop clean?”

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