Chapter 4: The Single Email

The moment of retribution had arrived. The digital executioner’s axe, forged in the fires of Chloe’s tears and Elara’s icy rage, was complete. The final draft of the email shimmered on Elara’s primary monitor, a testament to cold, professional lethality. Beside it, the dossier—Project Annihilation—was compiled, compressed, and ready for deployment.

Elara took a slow sip of ice water, her gaze unwavering. The untouched scotch from hours ago sat on the credenza, a relic of a different emotional state. That was the drink of a woman celebrating a corporate victory. This was different. This was a righteous cleansing. She thought of Chloe’s terrified voice, the choked sobs of a gentle soul who had been targeted and terrorized. Elara had made a promise: "He will never contact you again." This email was the fulfillment of that vow.

Her fingers moved with deliberate precision. She clicked the paperclip icon. A file browser window opened. She selected the meticulously organized files, her creations of the past hour.

Petrov_Dossier_Summary.pdf Exhibit_A_Corporate_Espionage.zip Exhibit_B_Workplace_Misconduct.zip Exhibit_C_Harassment_Visuals.zip

Each filename was a nail being hammered into Adrian Petrov’s professional coffin. Each attachment uploaded with a soft chime, a note in a funeral dirge only she could hear.

Next, the recipients. This was not a weapon to be aimed at a single soldier; it was a bomb to be dropped on the entire chain of command. A complaint to a single HR manager could be buried. An accusation sent to a CEO and an entire board of directors could not. It created an immediate crisis of liability where every executive would be scrambling to cover themselves, and the only way to do that was to excise the cancer immediately and publicly.

Her fingers danced across the keyboard, populating the ‘To:’ field.

Hans Richter, Chief Executive Officer, Euro-Tek Solutions. Katarina Beck, Vice President of Human Resources, Euro-Tek Solutions. Dietrich Adler, Chief Operating Officer, Euro-Tek Solutions.

She didn't stop there. She added the corporate distribution list for the entire executive board and the senior partners of the firm. She was creating a circle of witnesses. There would be no quiet exits. No hushed settlements.

The body of the email was a masterclass in controlled devastation. It was devoid of emotion, which made it all the more terrifying. It read like a legal filing, a cold recitation of facts that painted a picture of a man who was not just an employee, but a clear and present danger to the company’s reputation, security, and financial stability.

“Dear Mr. Richter, Ms. Beck, and Members of the Board,” it began.

“This letter serves as formal notification regarding the illicit and criminal activities of your employee, Mr. Adrian Petrov. On behalf of my client, who wishes to remain anonymous at this time, we have compiled a dossier detailing a pattern of extortion, corporate espionage, and severe workplace misconduct.”

She summarized the revenge porn threat against Chloe, citing the relevant German and international laws he was violating. She then moved to the corporate malfeasance, detailing his boastful confession of stealing trade secrets from their competitor, Opti-Logistics—a company she subtly noted was a former client of her own prestigious firm. She let the implication of that connection hang in the air.

Finally, she detailed the contents of Exhibit C, describing the collection of non-consensual photographs taken of his female colleagues on company property as “a pattern of systematic sexual harassment that creates a hostile work environment and exposes Euro-Tek Solutions to significant legal and financial jeopardy.”

She had built the cage. Now, she would lock it and throw away the key. The final paragraph was the masterstroke, designed to turn corporate panic into sheer terror.

“While we are currently pursuing all available civil remedies, the severity of these actions—particularly the extortion and Mr. Petrov’s stated intent to travel to the United States in the near future—obligates us to escalate this matter. We have, therefore, forwarded this complete dossier to our contacts within the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cybercrime Division. We trust they will be prepared to greet Mr. Petrov with the appropriate legal welcome upon his arrival on U.S. soil.”

It was done. Every word was a razor. Every sentence a turn of the screw. She re-read it one last time, a faint, merciless smile on her lips. It was perfect.

Her finger hovered over the mouse, over the ‘Send’ button. The city lights of Veridia sprawled below, oblivious. In a silent, glass-walled office seventy-two floors above them, a woman was about to detonate a man’s life a continent away. The thought brought her a profound and chilling sense of satisfaction.

She clicked.

The button depressed with a soft, final sound. The email vanished from her outbox, shot across the globe through sub-oceanic cables, destined for a server in Munich, Germany. The warhead was launched.

For a moment, there was only silence. The hum of her computer was the only sound. She watched the screen, her heart beating a steady, controlled rhythm. She had sown the wind. Now, she would watch the whirlwind.

Less than sixty seconds passed.

Ding.

A small, sharp notification appeared in the corner of her screen. A read receipt. It wasn't from HR. It wasn't from some junior partner.

Your message to Hans Richter was read on [Date] at [Time].

The CEO himself. He had opened it. The missile had struck the command bunker. Elara allowed herself a small, triumphant breath. The first tremor.

She was about to lean back in her chair when her inbox pinged again. This was not a read receipt. It was a new email, its subject line a frantic beacon of panic. It wasn't from the CEO. It wasn't a ‘Reply All’ from the board. It was a direct, panicked message from a name she hadn't even included on the initial list.

From: Ulrich Mann [email protected] Subject: URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL - Regarding Your Notification - PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY

Elara’s eyes scanned the signature at the bottom of the short, desperate message.

Dr. Ulrich Mann General Counsel & Head of Legal Affairs Euro-Tek Solutions

They were in full-blown crisis mode. They had bypassed HR, bypassed the entire executive committee, and thrown their top lawyer at her. The message itself was three sentences of pure, unadulterated corporate terror, begging for an immediate and private channel of communication.

A slow, predatory smile spread across Elara Vance’s face. It was the smile of a shark that has just tasted blood in the water.

They were afraid. Good. They were just beginning to understand the gravity of the situation. And she was just getting started.