Chapter 9 - The Ultimatum
The lawyer kicked the burner laptop off the cheap motel desk, smashing it to pieces on the floor.
I screamed as two of the tactical officers aggressively pinned Greg against the wall.
The lawyer casually adjusted his tie and smiled down at me.
He told me that hacking into someone's cloud storage was a severe federal offense.
He claimed his security systems flagged the intrusion instantly, and he had friends on the tactical squad willing to do a favor.
Rachel walked into the room a moment later, looking around the dingy motel with extreme disgust.
She told the officers to let Greg go, claiming she only wanted to speak to me.
Greg stumbled forward, rubbing his shoulder, his eyes burning with pure rage.
Rachel looked at me and issued her final ultimatum.
She said I had twenty-four hours to sign divorce papers, sign over my half of the house to her, and leave the state forever.
If I did that, she would drop the hacking charges and let Greg keep his freedom.
If I refused, she would hand the hacked laptop over to the police, and we would both go to federal prison for cybercrimes.
She smiled and said she would even buy me a bus ticket out of town.
I looked at Greg, my heart breaking at the thought of losing him after everything we built.
Greg looked back at me, and to my absolute shock, he gave a tiny, almost invisible nod.
I took a deep breath, looked Rachel dead in the eye, and told her I would sign the papers.
Rachel laughed triumphantly, clapping her hands together like a spoiled child.
She and her lawyer turned around and walked out of the room, calling off the tactical goons.
The door slammed shut, leaving Greg and me alone in the wreckage.
I collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably at our defeat.
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But Greg calmly walked over to the smashed laptop, reached into the battery compartment, and pulled out a tiny, intact flash drive.
He smiled coldly and said he was counting on them destroying the computer.
