Chapter 8 - The Encrypted Secret
The words "encrypted files" hit Chloe like a physical bullet. She gasped, staggering backward until her back hit the kitchen cabinets.
"Chloe?" the father asked, his anger faltering as he finally noticed his eldest daughter's sheer panic. "Chloe, what is she talking about?"
"She... she's making it up!" Chloe stuttered, her voice high and desperate. "She's a stupid kid! She doesn't know anything!"
Nora reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small, silver USB drive. She set it gently on top of the legal folder.
"Aunt Chloe borrowed my mom's old laptop two years ago because hers was 'broken,'" Nora explained calmly to her grandparents. "When she gave it back last month, I wanted to play games on it. But it was running really slow. So, I looked through the hard drive to clear up space."
Nora pointed a small finger at the USB drive. "I found a hidden folder. It was password protected, but Aunt Chloe uses the name of her old cat for everything. It took me five minutes to unlock it."
The mother in the beige cardigan stepped forward, her hands shaking. "What was in the folder, Nora?"
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"Expulsion letters from her university dated three years ago," Nora stated plainly, exposing the brutal truth. "She was kicked out for academic fraud. She never got a PhD."
👉 What else did Nora find on that computer that proves Chloe is stealing from the family?
