Chapter 2 - The Piano Teacher Who Knew More About Mara's Company Than Any Man on Her BoardSaturday arrived with clear skies and temperatures low enough to turn every breath white.
Mara arrived at the small neighborhood music hall ten minutes early.
She had dressed casually by her standards.
Dark jeans.
Cream sweater.
Black boots.
No boardroom jacket.
No designer heels.
No laptop.
The last one had been the hardest.
She had almost brought it.
Then she had stopped herself.
Wesley was performing that evening.
June sat near the front.
When she spotted Mara, she smiled and waved enthusiastically.
"You came."
Mara laughed.
"Of course."
Wesley walked onto the stage a few minutes later.
He looked different behind the piano.
More relaxed.
He played a piece Mara did not recognize.
There was nothing flashy about it.
No desperate attempt to impress.
Just emotion.
By the time he finished, the audience was silent for one breath before applauding.
June leaned toward Mara.
"Good, isn't he?"
"Very."
"He plays better when he cares."
Mara looked at her.
"About the music?"
June smiled.
"Sometimes."
After the performance, Wesley joined them.
June immediately stood.
"I'm going home with Mrs. Lang."
Wesley frowned.
"What?"
Mrs. Lang, June's longtime neighbor, appeared beside her.
"We arranged it."
"You did?"
"Yes."
June smiled at Mara.
"You two go."
Wesley looked helpless.
"Mom."
"I'm old enough to leave my son unattended."
Mara laughed.
Wesley shook his head.
"She's impossible."
"She's wonderful."
He looked at Mara.
"She likes you."
"I noticed."
They went to a quiet bookstore café.
For two hours, they talked.
Wesley told her about teaching.
About losing his father young.
About caring for June.
About how music had become the only part of his life that stayed uncomplicated.
Mara surprised herself by sharing things too.
She told him she had started Asterline from a tiny apartment.
That she had slept on a couch during the first year.
That her mother had died before the company became successful.
That she had never known how to stop working because work had always been the thing she could control.
Wesley listened.
He did not interrupt.
When she finished, he asked one question.
"Are you happy?"
Mara looked down at her coffee.
"Sometimes."
"That's not the same as yes."
"No."
He nodded.
"I understand."
"What about you?"
"Happy?"
"Yes."
Wesley smiled.
"Sometimes."
She laughed.
"You stole my answer."
"I improved it."
For the first time in years, Mara considered that happiness might not have to be another goal on a list.
It might be something she noticed while living.
When they left the café, Wesley walked her toward her car.
Then he stopped.
"There is something I should tell you."
Mara looked at him.
"What?"
"My mother knows your family."
Mara's expression changed.
"My family?"
"Your father."
The smile disappeared from her face.
"How?"
"I don't know everything."
"How much?"
"Not enough."
Mara crossed her arms.
"Wesley."
"I swear I'm not hiding something from you."
"You just said you were."
"I said I don't know everything."
She stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I didn't know whether it mattered."
"It clearly matters."
"I know."
Mara took a step back.
"What did my father have to do with your mother?"
"Business."
She froze.
"What kind of business?"
Wesley exhaled.
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
Before Mara could ask more, his phone rang.
June.
He answered.
"Mom?"
Her voice was weak.
"I can't find the envelope."
Wesley's face changed.
"What envelope?"
"The one I told you about."
Mara noticed.
"Where are you?"
June gave the address.
Wesley looked at Mara.
"I have to go."
"I'll come with you."
"No."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what this is."
"Exactly."
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
They drove together.
At June's house, she was standing beside the kitchen table.
Her hands were shaking.
"I found it."
She held the yellowed envelope.
Wesley took it.
Mara remained several feet away.
June looked directly at her.
"I'm sorry."
Mara's heart began racing.
"For what?"
June swallowed.
"For keeping this from both of you."
Wesley opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
His father's handwriting.
Wesley read.
Mara watched his expression change.
"What does it say?" she asked.
He looked up.
"My father knew yours."
"How?"
"They were partners."
Mara stared.
"My father never mentioned him."
"Mine did."
"Why?"
Wesley looked down.
Then continued reading.
His father's letter described a technology project they had attempted together decades earlier.
The project failed.
The partnership ended.
But not because of money.
Because someone had stolen their research.
Someone inside the company.
Mara's father had blamed Wesley's father.
Wesley's father had blamed Mara's father.
Both men had spent years believing the other betrayed him.
June whispered, "They were wrong."
Mara's skin prickled.
"What do you mean?"
June reached for another document.
"The thief wasn't either of them."
"Who was it?"
June looked at Wesley.
"Daniel Vale."
Mara froze.
Richard Vale's brother.
The man who was now trying to acquire control of Asterline.
Her world suddenly became much smaller.
Wesley read further.
His father's final sentence was underlined.
If the Ellisons ever build that company, protect their family before Vale tries to take it.
Mara stared at the page.
"That project became Asterline."
Wesley looked at her.
"Apparently."
She sat down.
Everything she believed about her company's origin had been incomplete.
Her father had always said Asterline was his daughter’s idea.
His greatest regret had been never living long enough to see it grow.
She had believed she had built it alone.
Maybe not.
Maybe the foundations had been laid years before she ever opened a laptop.
And the man now trying to take her company was connected to the theft that had broken both their fathers.
The next morning, Mara called Priya.
"Cancel my Sunday."
"Why?"
"We need a full audit of Asterline's founding records."
"Why?"
"Because I think someone is trying to repeat something that started thirty years ago."
Priya's voice sharpened.
"Who?"
Mara looked at the documents on her desk.
"Daniel Vale."
Silence.
Then Priya said:
"You're kidding."
"I wish I were."
May you like
The war had begun.
And neither Mara nor Wesley yet understood how personal it would become.
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