The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 636

Karina completely broke down. "Are you out of your mind?! You're treating me like this over some woman? I'm your family!"

Stefan hung up.

Karina sat there, trembling with a volatile mix of rage and terror. She knew Stefan better than anyone; he absolutely meant what he said.

But apologizing to Winona? She couldn't stomach it. She was the heiress of the Shepherd family. Winona was just some gold digger using her body to climb the social ladder. How could someone like that be worthy of an apology?

***

After leaving the police station, Winona briefed Mr. Harper on the situation.

Jericho Harper was emphatic. "Handle this exactly as you see fit. I don't care if she's a Shepherd; she violated our lab's security and stole our intellectual property. The evidence is solid, and she needs to face the law. Our lab will not compromise on this. We must hold our ground."

With her mentor's full backing, Winona felt completely secure pushing forward with the lawsuit. She reviewed the next steps with Hayes Yarwood before finally heading into the bathroom to wash up.

When she stepped out, Stefan was home.

She was about to bring up the ordeal, but Stefan beat her to it. "Karina's been spoiled rotten her whole life. She's pulled a lot of stunts, but crossing a legal line is new. Handle it however you want. She needs a harsh reality check."

Winona smiled. "I know."

She had never doubted he would have her back.

"However," Stefan added, "my uncle and my mother dote on her. I'm worried they'll fly into Riverton to harass you. If they show up, you have every right to refuse to see them. I've already told Ezra to stick to you like glue and ensure your safety."

Winona realized she no longer felt the old anxiety when dealing with the Goddards. "I can handle them."

Her career and Stefan's unwavering support had given her a profound sense of confidence. She knew her worth. Margaret's vicious smear campaign was entirely rooted in her own petty biases. If Margaret had a problem with her relationship with Stefan, that was Margaret's issue to work through.

"If there's no room for growth here, I'm definitely moving on."

Listening to the exchange, Winona instantly connected the dots back to Karina. Karina hadn't executed the hack herself; Eloise was the one who had installed the virtual machine on Winona's laptop.

Winona walked back to the main office area, marched straight to Eloise's desk, bypassed her login password, and started digging through her files. Sure enough, the installation package for the virtual machine software was sitting right there.

Her expression hardened.

Eloise was a core member of the project. She knew exactly how devastating a data breach could be, yet she had done it anyway.

Eloise no longer had the right to be part of this team.

"Winona, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Eloise demanded, storming back from the breakroom. Furious, she lunged forward to shove Winona away from the desk.