Chapter 3 - The Name Buried in the Files
Clarina spent the next three days sleeping almost not at all.
By sunrise, she was still analyzing Christian's telemetry.
By noon, she was serving coffee.
By midnight, she was reading old documents she had sworn never to open again.
Riker Templeton's identifier could have been coincidence.
Clarina didn't believe in coincidence.
The data showed that someone had accessed the vehicle through a third-party maintenance gateway.
The gateway had been compromised using credentials connected to a supplier.
That supplier had worked with the company Clarina once served.
Christian arrived at the diner on the fourth evening.
He wasn't wearing a suit.
That alone surprised her.
He wore dark jeans and a black sweater.
Without the suit, he looked less like a billionaire and more like a tired man who hadn't slept.
He sat at the counter.
"Coffee."
Clarina poured.
"Your car?"
"Fine."
"Then why are you here?"
"I wanted to ask you something."
She waited.
"Who is Riker Templeton?"
The coffee pot stopped midway.
Clarina slowly set it down.
Christian watched her.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"In your report."
"You read my report."
"Yes."
"You broke the agreement."
"I read everything connected to the interference."
She looked away.
"I should quit."
"No."
"You knew my past."
"I didn't know enough."
Clarina laughed softly.
"Nobody ever does."
Christian looked serious.
"Tell me what happened."
She refused.
He didn't push.
Instead, he said something she did not expect.
"I know what it's like to have someone rewrite your story."
Clarina looked at him.
"My father founded Adler Hutton," he said. "When he died, the board tried to strip me of control. They said I was reckless, too young, and incapable."
"Were you?"
"Yes."
She almost smiled.
He continued.
"I spent ten years proving them wrong."
"And now?"
"Now I'm the man they created."
Clarina didn't know what to say.
Christian looked down at his coffee.
"I've destroyed companies."
"Yes."
"You hate me."
"I don't know you well enough."
He looked surprised.
"That's probably the first honest answer I've heard all year."
Silence settled between them.
Finally, Clarina opened her laptop.
"Riker wasn't alone."
She showed him the documents.
"The cooling prototype that failed in Spain was rushed into production despite my warning."
Christian looked at the records.
"Who approved it?"
"Riker."
"Who signed off?"
"A vice president named Douglas Vale."
Christian's expression changed.
"Douglas Vale."
"You know him?"
"He sits on the board of one of my investment targets."
Clarina looked at him.
"Then we're both looking at the same problem."
They began working together.
The deeper they went, the stranger it became.
Riker had built a network of shell suppliers.
Several companies had been quietly purchasing patents from firms after engineering controversies.
The pattern was clear.
Create a failure.
Blame an engineer.
Destroy the engineer's reputation.
Acquire the damaged technology cheaply.
Then rebuild it under another brand.
Clarina stared at the screen.
"He didn't just ruin me."
"No."
"He stole my work."
Christian nodded.
The room suddenly felt colder.
"You were the engineer behind several cooling-system patents."
"I contributed to them."
"Your name isn't on the final filings."
"Because the company owned them."
Christian's jaw tightened.
"Not legally."
She looked at him.
"What?"
He turned the laptop toward her.
"These patents were filed using a shell subsidiary."
Clarina stared.
The subsidiary had been created months before the prototype fire.
The listed inventor was Riker Templeton.
Her breathing became shallow.
"He stole everything."
Christian nodded.
"And he may be doing it again."
Clarina didn't understand.
Christian showed her a list of companies.
Three were currently being dismantled.
Two had recently purchased technology from the same supplier.
The third was connected to a company Christian was planning to acquire.
"Riker has expanded."
Clarina felt something she had not felt in years.
Not fear.
Anger.
Christian noticed.
"What do you want to do?"
She looked at him.
"I want evidence."
"How much?"
"Enough that he can't destroy it."
Christian nodded.
"Then let's get it."
Their investigation took them to Los Angeles.
There, Clarina met an old colleague.
Dr. Lena Brooks.
Lena had once worked beside her.
When she saw Clarina, she froze.
Then she began crying.
"I thought you were gone."
Clarina hugged her.
"I almost was."
Lena handed her a file.
"We knew your version was true."
"Why didn't anyone say anything?"
"We were threatened."
"By Riker?"
Lena nodded.
"He had investors, lawyers, and board members."
She looked at Christian.
"Why is he with you?"
"Because our interests align."
Lena gave Christian an unreadable look.
"That's not what I heard."
Christian raised an eyebrow.
"What did you hear?"
"That billionaire men don't usually spend their nights helping waitresses."
Clarina rolled her eyes.
"I'm not a waitress when I'm working with him."
Lena smiled.
"That's better."
That night, someone broke into Lena's apartment.
Nothing was stolen.
Only one thing had been left behind.
A photograph of Clarina.
On the back were six handwritten words.
Stop digging, or lose him too.
Clarina stared at the message.
"Who is him?"
Christian asked.
She couldn't answer.
Because the only person that threatened message could possibly refer to was Toby.
Christian saw her expression.
He immediately understood.
"Your brother."
Clarina nodded.
The next morning, Christian arranged private security for Toby.
She was furious.
"I told you not to interfere."
"I am not interfering."
"You hired security."
"Yes."
"You had no right."
"I have every right if someone is threatening you because of me."
Clarina stared at him.
"No. You have money. That's different."
Christian's expression softened.
"Then teach me the difference."
She didn't answer.
But that evening, when she called Toby, she heard a security officer mention that the hospital bill had been anonymously paid.
Clarina's heart stopped.
She confronted Christian.
"Did you pay it?"
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"I told you I didn't want your money."
"I didn't do it to buy anything."
"What did you do it for?"
Christian looked at her.
"Because I know what it feels like to be one emergency away from losing someone you love."
For the first time, Clarina saw the man behind the billionaire.
May you like
And she hated how much that frightened her.
Because trust was far more dangerous than anger.
