SENT IN ERROR
Caitlyn Ross had always believed that the worst things in life didn’t happen with explosions—they happened quietly. A whisper. A click. A send button.
It was a Friday afternoon, and the office buzzed with the slow exhale of an ending week. Caitlyn, the ever-efficient assistant director at a high-profile PR agency in Mumbai, was polishing a confidential report meant only for her superior. The contents? A brutal audit of the company's senior managers—flaws, errors, and even potential fraud.
She had drafted it meticulously, labeling each concern with tactful caution. The email, typed in a fury after a heated phone call with her boss Sameer, read:
“Sameer,
Here’s the full breakdown. As expected, Shalini’s misuse of the funds is worse than we thought. Also, Nikhil’s been leaking pitches to his cousin’s firm—proof is attached. We should act before the media gets a sniff. If this gets out, we all burn.
C.”
But Caitlyn didn’t send it to Sameer.
She sent it to Shalini.
THE DROP
The moment her thumb tapped “send,” she knew something was wrong. Her inbox refreshed. Subject line: “RE: Internal Audit - URGENT.”
To: Shalini Patel.
Her heart stopped.
She stared at the screen, each word now a loaded gun. Shalini was more than a senior manager—she was calculating, deeply connected, and fiercely protective of her image. A scandal involving her would explode across LinkedIn faster than a rumor in a newsroom.
Panic clawed at Caitlyn’s throat. She tried recalling the email. Outlook failed her.
Then came the call.
“Caitlyn,” Shalini’s voice was silk over steel. “Interesting read. We need to talk.”
THE CONFRONTATION
The meeting was private. A corner glass room that looked out on the Mumbai skyline.
Shalini stood by the window, arms crossed. “So… embezzlement?”
“I—I made a mistake,” Caitlyn stammered.
“Sending the email, or writing it?”
Caitlyn met her gaze. “Both.”
Shalini let out a cold chuckle. “Honesty. That’s rare.” She stepped forward. “Listen carefully. You’re going to go back into your little report. You’ll change the language. Drop the fund section. You’ll submit a clean version to Sameer. In exchange, I forget this ever happened.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You’ll be out of a job. And maybe more. We both know I know people.”
Caitlyn walked out, dizzy. What had she uncovered? And how deep did it go?
THE SPIRAL
Over the weekend, Caitlyn received a couriered envelope. No return address. Inside: printed WhatsApp screenshots. A chat between Nikhil and an unnamed contact, discussing client data and rates. Her audit was correct.
Someone was helping her.
Then a message arrived on Telegram:
“Finish the report. Send it to legal. Don’t back down.”
Was it Sameer? An ally in legal? A whistleblower?
Caitlyn’s mind raced. She pulled late nights at her laptop, cross-referencing files, screenshots, and timelines. She encrypted the report. She added footnotes, receipts, digital trails. Every accusation now had weight.
On Tuesday morning, she sent the final version to the company’s legal head—Priya D’Souza—and BCC’d Sameer.
Then she waited.
THE STORM
By Thursday, the company froze all financial projects involving Shalini. An internal memo leaked. PR teams scrambled.
Shalini tried calling Caitlyn. Then texting. Then showing up at her apartment. But Caitlyn had already gone to her sister’s house outside the city.
That weekend, The Economic Times published a story:
“Senior PR Executive Under Investigation for Corporate Misconduct”
The firm’s reputation took a hit—but not a fatal one. Within weeks, a silent reshuffling took place. Shalini resigned. Nikhil disappeared from LinkedIn.
Caitlyn was offered a new position. Head of Internal Ethics. A title no one expected, least of all her.
EPILOGUE: THE STRANGER
Three months later, Caitlyn received a message from an unknown number:
“You played that well.”
—R
She smiled. Somewhere out there, her accidental email had found an unexpected ally.
She replied:
“Thank you. Whoever you are.”
“Sometimes, mistakes lead us to truth. Be careful. And next time—double check.”
“Always.”
She stared out at the skyline, her phone still warm in her hand. That one mistaken click had almost ended her—but instead, it exposed the rot.
And in doing so, it gave her power.
Moral:
A single wrong message can destroy a life—or illuminate the truth hidden in silence. Consequences don’t wait. But neither does courage.
part two
A second part (a sequel or new twist)?
Title: Sent in Error – Part II: The Whisper Trail
THE WHISPER TRAIL
It had been six months since Caitlyn Ross exposed the internal rot at Mavenir PR. With her new role as Head of Internal Ethics, the shadows seemed thinner—but not gone. Power doesn’t vanish; it waits.
Every so often, Caitlyn would receive another encrypted message from “R.” Each one was more unsettling than the last. Short, vague, and always referencing something just out of reach:
“Not over. Look at March files.”
“Watch Priya. Quiet doesn’t mean clean.”
“You’ll see the trail. Follow whispers, not noise.”
Her life had become an endless balancing act—between duty, fear, and the need to know who R really was. Was R someone inside legal? A former whistleblower? Or worse—a manipulator?
THE DISCOVERY
One evening, sorting archived reports from Q1, Caitlyn found a folder marked “Client: Calypso Media – March 2024.” The campaign had seemed normal: ad rollouts, influencer contracts, billing projections.
But buried in a zip file labeled “ScopeChanges_v3” was a payment schedule. One name stood out—“Shelby Futures Trust”—a Cayman-based fund she’d never heard of, receiving ₹22 lakh in unexplained fees.
She ran the fund through offshore databases. Its registration listed a familiar name.
Priya D’Souza.
The same legal head who championed Caitlyn’s report. The same woman who’d protected her. Now, caught in a payment funnel that smelled of money laundering.
Her stomach dropped. R was right again.
BETRAYAL IN SILENCE
That night, Caitlyn met with Sameer in a quiet café near Nariman Point. He looked older. Tired.
“I think Priya’s in deeper than we realized,” she said, sliding the flash drive across the table.
Sameer didn’t touch it. “What makes you say that?”
She hesitated. “A source. The same one who tipped me off about Shalini.”
He leaned in. “Then trust me, Caitlyn. Be careful. If Priya goes down, she won’t go alone.”
She blinked. “What are you saying?”
“She was never working alone.”
THE STRATEGY
Caitlyn knew she couldn’t go through legal this time. Instead, she sent an anonymous tip to the Financial Crimes Unit, attaching documents, IP logs, and the fund trails.
The fallout was swift. By morning, headlines screamed:
“Mavenir PR Legal Head Investigated for Offshore Fraud”
Priya resigned immediately. The board launched a full audit. A second wave of firings shook the company.
And Caitlyn? She received one last message:
“You saw the whispers. You listened. That’s rare.”
—R
“Who are you?”
“A mistake. Just like your email. And like most mistakes, I led to truth.”
“Are you still watching?”
“Only if you stop listening.”
Then silence.
EPILOGUE: CONSEQUENCES MULTIPLY
Caitlyn kept the messages saved. Not as proof. But as warnings.
One wrong message changed everything.
One unknown ally kept the rot from regrowing.
In a world where every click echoes—Caitlyn had learned the oldest truth:
The shadows aren’t always behind you. Sometimes, they walk beside you.
