Chapter 5 - Emily Carter Stops Running
By sunrise, Emily had made three decisions.
She would not hide.
She would not let Alexander solve everything.
And she would never again allow Mason to decide what version of her the world saw.
At 8:00 a.m., she walked into Carter Manufacturing through the employee entrance.
Smoke still stained the upper windows.
Two hundred workers waited inside the assembly hall.
Some had been with her family longer than Emily had been alive.
They had seen the wedding clips online.
Of course they had.
Someone had posted Mason's accusation within minutes.
The internet had done what it did best.
Turned pain into entertainment.
Emily stepped onto a wooden shipping pallet.
No microphone.
No prepared statement.
“My wedding didn't happen yesterday.”
A few nervous smiles appeared.
“I'm guessing most of you already know.”
More smiles.
“Unfortunately, Mason was right about one thing. This company is in serious trouble.”
The room quieted.
“We owe too much. We lost contracts. We trusted people we shouldn't have trusted.”
She paused.
“But nobody here is losing a job today.”
A machinist near the front called, “How do you know?”
Emily answered honestly.
“I don't.”
That surprised them.
“I can't promise what I don't control. What I can promise is that nobody will lie to you anymore.”
Alexander watched from the back.
He said nothing.
Emily liked him better there.
For the next twelve hours, she worked.
She met engineers.
Called customers.
Reviewed Northstar designs from physical backups.
She discovered her mother had insisted years earlier that every major patent drawing be archived off-site.
By evening, they had recovered eighty percent of the project.
At 7:40 p.m., Alexander placed coffee beside Emily.
She looked up.
“You've been standing there for five minutes.”
“Four.”
“That's still strange.”
“I didn't want to interrupt.”
“You own companies on four continents. Don't you have something billionaire-ish to do?”
“I canceled it.”
Emily raised an eyebrow.
“All of it?”
“Most of Europe.”
She laughed despite herself.
He sat across from her.
The office was quiet.
Emily noticed how tired he looked.
“You really knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“She asked me not to.”
“Why?”
Alexander looked at the old photograph on Emily's desk.
“Your mother hated debts that couldn't be measured in dollars.”
Emily smiled.
“That sounds like her.”
“She said if I ever helped you, you should never feel obligated to me because of her.”
Emily studied him.
“Is that why you made that ridiculous proposal?”
Alexander grimaced.
“I was wondering when we would revisit that.”
“You proposed to your nephew's bride approximately thirty seconds after he dumped her.”
“Technically, I said ‘then marry me instead.’”
“That is a proposal.”
“It lacked several traditional components.”
“Like sanity?”
He almost smiled.
Emily leaned back.
“Why?”
The humor disappeared.
Alexander was silent long enough that she thought he might refuse.
Then he said, “Because Mason wanted you to believe no one would choose you once they knew about the debt.”
Emily's throat tightened.
“I wanted his last memory of that moment to be someone proving him wrong.”
She looked down.
“That may be the strangest kind thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“It was still inappropriate.”
“Extremely.”
“Your slap communicated that.”
Emily laughed.
Alexander did too.
It was quiet.
Unexpected.
And dangerous in a completely different way.
Their eyes met.
Neither looked away.
For one suspended second, the factory disappeared.
Then Emily's phone rang.
Her father.
She answered.
“Dad?”
“Emily, turn on the news.”
A financial reporter was discussing Carter Manufacturing.
Mason Whitmore had issued a statement.
He denied sabotage allegations.
Then came the real blow.
He announced Whitmore Capital had acquired exclusive rights to a thermal-control patent.
Emily stared at the television.
A diagram appeared.
Northstar.
“That’s ours.”
Alexander stood.
Emily's chief engineer rushed in.
“Emily, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The patent number.”
He handed her a tablet.
Emily compared it with Carter's files.
Her stomach dropped.
The patent had been filed eighteen months earlier.
By a company called North Lake Innovations.
Owned by Mason.
“How could he patent our design?”
“He couldn't,” the engineer said. “Unless someone inside Carter gave him the technical specifications.”
Emily looked around the office.
Someone inside.
Someone trusted.
Her father appeared in the doorway.
And behind him stood Daniel Price.
Carter Manufacturing's chief financial officer.
Emily had known Daniel since she was twelve.
He had attended her mother's funeral.
He had walked her down the aisle at her college graduation when Robert was recovering from surgery.
Daniel looked at the patent on the screen.
Then at Emily.
His face went pale.
Alexander noticed.
“So,” Alexander said quietly, “who gave Mason the files?”
Daniel took one step backward.
Emily's heart sank.
“Daniel?”
May you like
He turned.
And ran.
