|#24. The Mishap & a Lesson|

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Ruhana is shocked as she watches television and sees a news report involving her name in a scam. The news states that a company is hacking the systems of renowned companies and stealing important and sensitive data. Some of these companies are Ruhana's clients, and they have accused her of being behind it all because they believe she is arrogant, rude, and works in her own way. They also claim that Ruhana can go to any lengths for profit.

Ruhana is beyond shocked; she doesn't know how to react. The culprit hasn't been identified, but her name is everywhere. She immediately calls Vineet, and she's walking in anticipation, waiting for him, when someone rings the doorbell. She opens the door, and an inspector enters the house. She's shocked and asks him his purpose for coming.

"Ms. Ruhana Bisht, I have a warrant against you. You're under arrest!"

"For what? Listen, all of this news is false. Someone is planning against me; I have not hacked anything."

"Ms. Bisht, there's no use in giving any explanations. Many people have complained about you. You asked them to invest in some company, ByteForge, and after that, the companies complained of hacking in their system. And as far as I know, ByteForge is the company you have dealt with," Inspector Vikrant explains in a firm voice.

"ByteForge? Yes, but I — I just made the deal with them. Why is my name out there?" She's baffled.

"Because this was done to trap you, Ruhana. I told you to cross-check; I warned you many times, but you didn't listen to me."

"I told you to check the authenticity and then finalize the deal, but you didn't listen to me. Here's the outcome." It's Vineet, who now stands beside Ruhana, and he accuses her.

"If you knew about it, why didn't you stop her?" Inspector Vikrant now turns to Vineet.

"Well, even I was unsure about them. I have just researched it, and I will ask you to go find Kunal, the one who claimed to be the owner of Byteforge company," Vineet replies confidently.

"Alright, but she will have to come to the police station. There's a warrant against her, you know the drill, right?" The inspector responds.

"Alright, inspector. You can follow your rules, but please find Kunal first. He needs to be arrested," Vineet says.

Vikrant feels that he's right, so he leaves, not before warning Ruhana that she has to appear at the police station and give her appearance.

Ruhana nods, and as Vikrant leaves, she breaks into tears. The reality dawns upon her, and at the same time, her mobile beeps. As she checks the message, she's shocked to find that all her bank accounts are empty. She has different accounts due to business, but all of them are empty right now; her hard-earned money is all gone. She glances at Vineet and asks him to call the bank and find out the details.

When Vineet calls the bank, he's told that the money has been transferred to the accounts of ByteForge Solutions. This leaves Ruhana shocked. She calls Kunal, but he doesn't pick up her call. She tries to call other clients, but no one answers, and those who do accuse her of hacking their systems and causing them loss.

Ruhana is trying to compose herself, and that's when her phone rings again. It's another call from a client who demanded her to repay them, and she couldn't do anything rather than agreeing to them. At this moment, she's at a loss for words. If it had been any other time, she'd have responded to them in the same tone that they used with her. But right now, she knows that she is at fault.

She breaks into tears as reality dawns upon her. The latest meeting with ByteForge comes to her mind, and she glances at Vineet.

"Did you know about ByteForge?"

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