CHAPTER 9: The Man Who Wanted the Name

The masked man dragged Luis toward the car, but the truck had entered a courtyard filled with cameras, police, and security officers.

He dropped the device and ran. Officers caught him before he reached the building.

Victor moved in the opposite direction, using the panic as cover. Celeste stepped into his path.

“You destroyed my brother and made me blame the wrong family.”

Victor’s face finally lost its public smile. “Move.”

“No.”

He grabbed her arm.

Daniel crossed the distance between them, but Celeste twisted free before he arrived. Security surrounded Victor.

Naomi kept the livestream focused on the scene.

Victor pointed at Daniel. “This is theater. He brought a malfunctioning car into a crowd and needs someone to blame.”

Luis, bruised but conscious, spoke from beside the truck.

“I can identify the men you hired. I can identify the account that paid me. And I can identify the command you gave before Owen died.”

Victor looked at him with contempt. “You sold your silence. A jury will hear that first.”

“Yes,” Luis said. “They should.”

Priya retrieved the dropped control device. Its screen displayed a live connection to the Vesper and an authorization chain signed by the counterfeit second key.

The duplicate key in Daniel’s pocket had not enabled the command. Victor had brought another copy.

That meant someone inside Hart Automotive had supplied him with current encryption.

Daniel’s chief operations officer, Aaron Vale, stood near the stage. When security called his name, he ran into the building.

Daniel followed with two officers.

They found Aaron in the executive office trying to destroy a laptop. He had worked beside Daniel for eight years and had delivered the toast at Daniel and Celeste’s engagement party.

“Why?” Daniel asked.

Aaron laughed bitterly. “Because your father treated me like family until it was time to divide the company. You inherited everything. I inherited a salary.”

“You owned stock worth millions.”

“I wanted the name on the building.”

Aaron admitted giving Victor internal access, copying Daniel’s signature, and arranging the fire. He had also sent Victor the old security layout that allowed Celeste to enter Daniel’s office unseen—except the system had been upgraded days earlier.

Police led Aaron back into the courtyard.

Victor saw him and understood that the last wall had collapsed.

Naomi’s livestream audience climbed past five million.

Daniel stood beside the Vesper, the duplicate key in his hand.

“This car was supposed to honor everyone harmed by a lie,” he told the crowd. “Instead, we almost let another lie destroy us.”

He placed the key on the hood again.

This time, he did not offer it to Celeste.

He offered it to the police as evidence.