Part 6

I took a slow sip of coffee, pulled the manila folder toward me, and opened the clasp.

The criminal proceedings against Stephanie and Luca had concluded three weeks earlier. Faced with indisputable digital forensic trails, server access logs, and recorded voicemails, neither of them had the standing to contest the charges.

Luca Reed, who had paid the computer science student to breach the university’s testing server, pled guilty to felony conspiracy and unauthorized access to a protected computer system. Given his lack of prior criminal history, he received two years of supervised probation, three hundred hours of community service, and a permanent felony record that effectively ended his chances of pursuing a career in corporate finance. His family had quietly paid his legal fees before shipping him off to live with an uncle in Ohio, desperate to distance themselves from the public humiliation.

Stephanie’s path had been slightly different. Because she was the primary instigator behind the scheme to falsify academic records and had used our parents’ home network to execute the breach, the prosecutor had initially pushed for jail time. However, as part of a negotiated plea agreement, Stephanie pled guilty to misdemeanor evidence tampering and harassment. She received eighteen months of intensive probation, court-mandated psychological counseling, and a fine that wiped out the small savings account my parents had built for her.

My parents had tried to intervene before the sentencing hearing.

Two months after graduation, my father had sent an email to my corporate work address—the only point of contact I hadn’t blocked. It was a long, rambling plea filled with the same old familiar manipulation:  “She’s your sister, Jessica. She made a foolish mistake out of insecurity. If she has a criminal record, her life is ruined. Is this really what you want? To destroy your own family over a bitter grudge?”

I remembered reading those lines sitting at my desk in the office, surrounded by colleagues who respected my work and superiors who valued my intellect.