Chapter 5 - THE NAME EMMA NEVER USED
Emma resigned the next morning.
Adrian found the letter beside Lily’s breakfast plate.
He read it twice.
Then went looking for her.
She was packing.
“No.”
Emma glanced up.
“No what?”
“I don’t accept.”
“It isn’t a hostage negotiation.”
Despite everything, Adrian almost smiled.
“You didn’t cause this.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to live inside it.”
“I can protect you.”
Emma stopped folding.
“That sentence is part of the problem.”
He frowned.
“You have cameras.”
“Security.”
“People.”
“Money.”
She looked around the room.
“And I still ended up on the floor being accused of stealing.”
Adrian said nothing.
Emma zipped one suitcase.
“I need space.”
He nodded reluctantly.
“At least let Marcus arrange somewhere secure.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“I have family.”
Adrian had never heard her mention them beyond a younger brother.
“Where?”
“My aunt’s.”
“Okay.”
He handed her the resignation letter.
“Keep this for forty-eight hours.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily will murder me.”
Emma laughed despite herself.
Then Adrian noticed the signature.
Emma Hayes-Ryan.
Ryan.
The surname pulled at an old memory.
“Your full name is Hayes-Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“Matthew Ryan?”
Emma went still.
Adrian’s pulse changed.
“Did you know him?”
She looked at him slowly.
“He was my stepfather.”
Adrian sat down.
Matthew Ryan.
Cryptography engineer.
One of Cole Systems’ earliest senior researchers.
Six years earlier, Matthew had been accused of leaking source code.
Evidence appeared overwhelming.
His login.
His terminal.
His security credentials.
No criminal charges were filed because the stolen files were never definitively traced.
But Matthew resigned.
He died eight months later in a highway accident.
Adrian remembered the scandal.
He remembered doing almost nothing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emma laughed without humor.
“Would I have gotten the nanny job?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know that.”
He wanted to disagree.
Couldn’t.
“My mother thought he was innocent.”
“So did Matthew.”
“And you?”
Adrian looked away.
“I thought there wasn’t enough proof.”
“But you let everyone treat him like there was.”
The words hit accurately.
“Yes.”
Emma stared.
“My mother died believing his name was ruined.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that.”
Adrian did not defend himself.
“What happened to the files he was accused of leaking?”
Emma asked.
Adrian thought.
“A competitor obtained similar technology.”
“Which competitor?”
He already knew before opening the old case file.
The startup was called Kinetic Shield.
It had been purchased eleven months later.
By VantaCore.
Grant Mercer.
Adrian’s stomach turned.
Vanessa had not been Grant’s first attempt at stealing from Cole Systems.
Maybe she was not even his second.
He called Diane.
“Reopen Matthew Ryan.”
“Why?”
“Because I think we punished the wrong man.”
May you like
Emma stared at him.
For the first time since the Rolex accusation, she forgot about herself.
