“They showed the board a video of me supposedly tampering with the formula,” I said, my voice rising. “It was fake, and you knew it.”

“I know it was fake,” Andrew said.

I stared at him, the anger in my chest faltering.

“You knew?” I asked.

“Of course I knew,” he said, his voice softening. “The digital signature on the video file didn’t match our lab security protocols.”

“Then why did you agree with them?” I asked. “Why did you ban me from the building?”

“Because Julian and Victoria wanted to do much worse,” he said.

He took another step toward me, reaching out as if to touch my shoulder, then letting his hand drop.

“They wanted to bring in the police,” he whispered. “They wanted to file formal charges of industrial espionage against you.”

I felt a chill run down my spine, my skin prickling under my coat.

“If you were arrested, I wouldn’t have been able to protect you,” he said. “The board would have taken control of the investigation.”

“So you sidelined me instead,” I said.