CHAPTER FORTY FIVE - THE COST OF SECRETS

Ava found Max in his office, looking as if he hadn't slept in days. He looked up as she entered, surprise evident on his face. "Ava? What are you doing here so late?" "I found something, Max," Ava said, trying to keep the excitement from her voice. "I think I know who's behind the leak." Max's eyebrows shot up. "Already? Ava, are you sure about this?" Ava spread her notes across his desk. "Look at this pattern in the data breaches. It's not just my files – whoever did this had access to a wide range of company documents." Max leaned in, his brow furrowed as he examined her findings. "Okay, I'm following you so far. But how does this prove your innocence?" "Because," Ava said, pulling up a final document, "when I traced the IP addresses and access times, they all led back to one place: Victor Langston's company." Max's eyes widened. "Victor Langston? Are you saying..." Ava nodded grimly. "This is corporate espionage, Max. They're trying to take us down from the inside, and they