After the Fall A Leap into a Stranger's Arms novel Chapter 58

Catherine spent her afternoon getting up to speed with all the projects in R&D. As the developer behind Resonance AI, she had a rock-solid foundation and a knack for spotting issues before they even became problems. It didn’t take her long to catch two technical flaws, and she quickly sent out plans for her team to fix them.

Around three, her phone buzzed. Magee was calling, asking her to head upstairs for a meeting about the Resonance AI lawsuit.

She walked to the conference room, pushed open the door and spotted Magee sitting at the head of the table. Lawrence was there too, right beside him.

Catherine paused for a moment, caught off guard, and met Lawrence’s eyes before pulling herself together and taking a seat.

Magee stood as she entered. “Catherine, this is Jarrett, our legal director.”

She gave Jarrett a quick smile and nod. Magee then gestured to Lawrence with a slight grin. “And I think you already know this guy.”

Trying not to laugh, Catherine just nodded again.

Since the lawsuit was still under wraps, only the legal director was brought in for the discussion.

Jarrett got right to it. “Based on the evidence we have, the core code for the James Group’s Resonance AI matches almost exactly with what you developed at Veridian. But the James Group beat us to the patent, which puts us in a tough spot.”

Lawrence flipped through some papers and turned to her. “Catherine, can you walk us through exactly how you lost the original files?”

Up until now, only Magee and Lawrence knew the whole story. With a serious look, Catherine explained how she’d lost the USB drive with the original code and the flawed prototype system in the lab years ago.

“And there’s something else,” she added. “Shirley, who holds the Resonance AI patent now, is my half-sister. She was also a PhD student with the same advisor as me. There’s a good chance she used that lab too.”

“So you’re saying Shirley probably took the USB drive from the lab, the one with your original code and the prototype on it?” Magee’s eyes were sharp and focused.

Lawrence spoke up. “You once told me you have two habits when you write code.”

Catherine’s face brightened. “Yeah, I do. First, I always leave comments in the algorithm sections. And I have this special symbol I add at the end of every block of code as my personal signature. I bet Shirley never even noticed.”

“If she knew how valuable your code was, she probably wouldn’t have touched a thing,” Lawrence said.

“Exactly. If we can find those markers, we can prove I’m the original author.”

Lawrence looked straight at her. “We have to keep this completely secret. If the James Group finds out, they could destroy the evidence.”

The authority in his voice left no room for doubt.