Then grew serious.
“Yesterday…”
“What?”
“The road.”
“I wasn’t crying because tire.”
“I assumed.”
“My engagement ended.”
Caleb stopped.
He looked.
Vivienne nodded.
“Three hours before you found me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“He was wrong person.”
“That doesn’t make leaving painless.”
Caleb said nothing.
Vivienne continued.
“We were together five years.”
“He worked for Vale Holdings.”
“Operations.”
“My mother never trusted him.”
“That made me trust him harder.”
Caleb almost smiled sadly.
“Familiar.”
“He wanted me to prove I wasn’t living under her shadow.”
“So I ignored things.”
“Then I learned he had been using my approval access to push contracts through.”
“Not illegal exactly.”
“Not clean either.”
She looked toward garage doors.
“I confronted him.”
“He told me I was only useful because of my last name.”
Caleb’s eyes hardened.
Vivienne shrugged.
“Then I left.”
“Drove toward family chalet.”
“Tire failed.”
“Cried.”
“And a man in a terrible truck appeared.”
Caleb looked offended.
“Truck did nothing to you.”
“It wounded me aesthetically.”
He laughed.
That was first time since Russ mentioned Marisol.
Vivienne smiled.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not asking yesterday.”
“Sometimes strangers earn privacy faster than family.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then returned upstairs.
By the end of three days, Caleb and Eddie Salazar had inspected forty-three vehicles.
They found discrepancies in twenty-nine.
Not all dangerous.
Some minor.
But pattern unmistakable.
Twelve vehicles billed for premium new components had remanufactured or lower-tier replacements.
Nine had services billed but apparently not performed.
Seven had wheel fasteners significantly outside recommended torque ranges.
Three had brake work whose invoices did not match installed parts.
One shuttle had tires billed as new the previous month but carrying manufacturing codes from four years earlier and wear inconsistent with new installation.
Caleb placed the report before Helena.
She read for thirty minutes.
Vivienne sat beside.
Darren stood.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Helena looked up.
“How much?”
Darren answered.
“Preliminary overbilling across eighteen months: at least two hundred eighty thousand.”
“Potentially more.”
Helena’s expression hardened.
“And safety?”
Caleb answered.
“I would pull seven vehicles from service until corrected.”
“We already did.”
“Good.”
Helena closed binder.
“Mr. Reyes.”
“Yes.”
“You were mocked for driving that truck?”
Caleb blinked.
“What?”
Vivienne smiled.
Helena continued.
“My daughter told me.”
Caleb looked at her.
“Traitor.”
Vivienne shrugged.
Helena said:
“I want you to understand something.”
“I have hired men with degrees, manufacturer certifications, polished reports, and offices larger than your house.”
“Some excellent.”
“Some not.”
“Paper proves training.”