The company director fired me in front of everyone. Two hours later, he called and said, “Dress nicely and meet me by the lake. Don’t tell anyone we’re meeting.” When I arrived, he asked me to take a photo with him… and the next morning, that photo was hanging on the door of his office

I still didn’t understand what any of this had to do with me.

He turned toward me.

“Two weeks ago, you accidentally sent me a report that contained three numbers no one else had noticed.”

I remembered.

It had seemed like an ordinary Excel spreadsheet.

“Those three numbers led us to start an internal investigation,” he said. “And yesterday, we needed one final piece of evidence.”

“That’s why you fired me?”

“Yes.”

The room fell silent.

He opened the folder.

“If the person stealing the money believed Emily was no longer working here—and believed she had some kind of personal connection to me—they might panic and assume I had told her something. We wanted to see who would be the first person to try to wipe the system or remove documents.”

My heart was pounding.

“And the photo?”

Mr. Wilson smiled faintly.

“Bait.”