Kellen looked at her.
She continued:
“And I’m scared that every kind thing I do now will feel like compensation.”
“Because part of me does want to compensate you.”
“For what Vale did.”
“For what happened.”
“For everything.”
“But another part…”
She swallowed.
“Another part just wants to know what your apartment looks like when there isn’t an investigation waiting tomorrow.”
Kellen felt his anger loosen.
Not disappear.
Change shape.
He asked:
“What happens when Vale is fixed?”
Serafina smiled sadly.
“Companies are never fixed.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
She thought.
“I stay.”
“In your life?”
“If you want.”
Kellen looked toward the hallway.
Amara was almost certainly listening behind her bedroom door.
He knew his daughter.
He lowered his voice.
“I’m not looking for someone to rescue us.”
“I know.”
“I won’t let Amara become some billionaire charity story.”
“I know.”
“I don’t need a house.”
“A car.”
“A job.”
“I know.”
Serafina took another step.
“What do you need?”
Kellen looked at her.
“Honesty.”
“I can do that.”
“Consistency.”
She nodded.
“Slower.”
A small smile.
“I can try.”
“And if you disappear because this gets uncomfortable…”
“I won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
She stopped.
Corrected herself.
“You’re right.”
“I can promise I won’t disappear without telling you what changed.”
Better.
Kellen smiled faintly.
Then the bedroom door cracked.
Amara whispered loudly:
“Just kiss her.”
Kellen closed his eyes.
Serafina burst out laughing.
“Go to your room.”
“I am in my room.”
“Close the door.”
“Fine.”
The door shut.
Serafina looked at him.
“Permission from management.”
“Apparently.”
Kellen touched her face.
Paused.
She leaned slightly into his hand.
Then he kissed her.
Not like the ending of anything.
Like the beginning of something both of them understood could still go wrong.
The board fired Owen Mercer.
Trevor Hale.
Malcolm Voss.
Three other executives.
Vale disclosed the suppressed safety reports to regulators.
Delayed the autonomous platform.
Stock fell twenty-one percent in two weeks.
Financial media called Serafina reckless.
One analyst said:
“Vale may be manufacturing a crisis larger than the underlying technical issue.”
Serafina responded publicly only once.
“If safety information is inconvenient enough to damage our valuation, then our valuation was based on incomplete information.”
That quote spread.
Kellen hated how much he liked it.
Vale offered him reinstatement.
He declined.
Then Serafina offered something different.
Independent director of technical integrity.
Reporting to the board.
Protected authority.
Kellen stared at the offer.
“You’re insane.”
“Probably.”
“I have no executive experience.”
“You have seven years engineering.”
“Three years repair.”
“And more practical failure analysis than half my leadership team.”
“You’re biased.”
“Yes.”