“What?”
“Billionaire finally remembers money.”
Serafina laughed.
It changed her face completely.
Kellen noticed.
He wished he had not.
“How much?”
She named a rate.
Kellen coughed.
“That’s obscene.”
“You said you needed groceries.”
He stared.
“You remembered?”
“Yes.”
He thought of Amara.
Rent.
Transmission work.
Then the email on the screen.
“All right.”
Serafina smiled.
“Tomorrow.”
Kellen pointed toward her.
“Temporary.”
“Of course.”
“No executive nonsense.”
“Define executive nonsense.”
“You’ll know when I complain.”
“I’m already looking forward to it.”
David sighed.
“I regret introducing either of you.”
Over the next two weeks, Kellen returned to Vale every day.
Not in the bad suit.
Jeans.
Work boots.
Button-down shirt.
He brought technical knowledge the investigation lacked.
He identified old test codes.
Explained system architecture.
Recognized people in access logs.
Found patterns.
Exceptions related to power control.
Battery thermal systems.
Autonomous braking.
Small issues individually.
Together, evidence of a culture.
Trevor Hale had not simply buried one report.
He had built an unofficial process for preventing safety concerns from delaying executive milestones.
Problems were not deleted outright.
Too obvious.
They were downgraded.
Reclassified.
Moved into service channels.
Deferred into later software updates.
Engineers who pushed too hard became “difficult.”
One transferred.
Another resigned.
Kellen was the only one framed.
Why?
Because his exception threatened an immediate validation deadline worth nearly two billion dollars in market valuation.
Serafina worked beside him more often than necessary.
At least that was what David claimed.
“You have six executives who can review those files.”
Serafina looked at him.
“I prefer primary sources.”
David looked toward Kellen.
“Apparently six foot one and sarcastic is now a primary source.”
Kellen almost choked on coffee.
Serafina said:
“Leave.”
David smiled.
“Gladly.”
Their relationship began in details.
Not declarations.
Serafina learned Kellen drank terrible vending-machine coffee with two sugars.
He learned she removed expensive heels under the conference table during long meetings.
She learned he checked his phone every afternoon at 3:05 because Amara’s school bus app updated.
He learned Serafina’s father died when she was twenty-six.
Private plane crash.
Mechanical failure unrelated to Vale.
After that, control became her preferred language.
She checked itineraries.
Reviewed maintenance.
Read contracts personally.
Trusted reluctantly.
Kellen understood more than he said.
One evening they worked until eight.
Kellen looked at the clock.
“Damn.”
“What?”
“I promised Amara pizza.”
Serafina closed the laptop.
“Go.”
“She’s at Marcus’s.”
“Still.”
Kellen gathered papers.
Serafina hesitated.
Then:
“Can I buy the pizza?”
He looked at her.
“That sounds suspiciously like charity.”
“It is bribery.”
“For?”