100 Chapter 6 Marcus couldn't handle it . His call came to Vivian almost the instant the Bar Association notice went out . ] " Get Harper on the phone ! " he was screaming , voice full of desperate madness . [ ] Vivian put it on speaker so I could hear . ] ] " Marcus , you wanted to talk ? My voice was ice - cold . ] toy me ? ' 1 " Harper ! You released the diary ? You want to destroy me ? I just returned the truth to the public " I answered calmly . " Truth ? What truth ? " he shrieked . " Do you know Sterling's stock tanked because of your truth ? " " My partners want me out ! I'm finished ! Are you happy now ? " " Marcus , " I cut him off , " when you stole my case strategy to help your girlfriend destroy my career , you should have seen this coming . " I " When you let her wear my robe in our bed , you should have seen this coming " ] " This isn't something I did to you . This is what you chose , " Long silence on the other end . ] Then Marcus's voice , thick with tears , begging . " Harper , I'm sorry , I'm so sorry ! " " Come back , okay ? We can start over . " " I'll get rid of Nora immediately , cut her off completely . " My sunshine , just give me one more chance ... "] ] Listening to his pathetic act made me sick " Marcus , I'm not your sun . " " When you chose her , your world already went dark . " I hung up and finally had peace . [ ] But this was far from over . ] Vivian's investigation had a breakthrough "I looked into every case Nora ever handled . " Vivian set a file on my desk . " Found something very interesting . " " Three years ago , right after joining Sterling , she independently handled a massive commercial fraud case . " [ ] " The defendant was a tech company about to go bankrupt . " ] " Nora represented the plaintiff , won spectacularly , made her reputation overnight . " I looked through the files , frowning . " What's wrong with this case ? " ] " Everything . " Vivian pointed to a piece of evidence . " This was the plaintiff's key evidence - internal emails showing the defendant company falsifying financial data . " ] " I had someone recover the original email data . " ] " Guess what ? " My heart sank " The emails were faked . " Vivian's voice was quiet but devastating " Actually , the emails were real , but the timestamps and some content were artificially altered . " ] " This kind of manipulation requires serious technical skills , definitely not something a new attorney could pull off . " I understood immediately . " Marcus . " " Exactly . " Vivian nodded . " And I found an encrypted folder in Nora's diary cloud drive . " ] " It was called ' Dark History . " " I tried several passwords , finally got it open with Marcus's birthday . " ] My hands started shaking slightly . Vivian turned her laptop toward me On screen were the folder contents . Chat logs , altered original files . Clear documentation of how Marcus had methodically taught Nora to forge evidence and frame that tech company . This wasn't just professional ethics anymore . ] This was criminal . Perjury and obstruction of justice . I looked at Marcus's smug instructions and Nora's adoring responses on screen Suddenly , I saw a familiar name . [ ] " Ocean Tech . " The client Nora mentioned when explaining the lipstick order . I scrolled down immediately . ] ] The chat logs showed Marcus and Nora using the same methods against one of Ocean Tech's competitors . [ ] And that " client gift " Nora claimed to buy with Marcus's account ? The recipient wasn't anyone from Ocean Tech . [ ] It was someone called " VP Lee . " [ ] He was a vice president at Ocean Tech's competitor . My head was spinning . ] A terrifying thought emerged . ] This wasn't just cheating and plagiarism . This was a setup . ] A complex scheme orchestrated by Marcus , using Nora as his pawn , employing unethical competitive practices for massive profits . And me , along with my " Pacific Industries v . TH Corp " case was just the most insignificant piece in their plan .