CEO Made Her Nephew Lead Mechanic Over a Single Dad—Then the Whole Crew Walked Out
Chapter 4
The sabotage became harder to ignore.
A diagnostic computer disappeared.
An expensive scan tool was returned damaged.
A customer’s vehicle was moved to the wrong bay.
Then an engine part was ordered under Mason’s employee number.
Claire started asking questions.
Tyler had an answer for everything.
“Mason is difficult.”
“Mason refuses to follow instructions.”
“Mason thinks he owns the place.”
The same story repeated.
Soon, Claire noticed something strange.
Every complaint against Mason came from Tyler.
Not customers.
Not other mechanics.
Not service advisers.
Tyler.
So Claire checked the records.
The complaints were verbal.
No documentation.
No witnesses.
Nothing she could verify.
That afternoon, she found Mason working alone on a classic Mustang.
“You like that one?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Simple.”
She smiled.
“Of course.”
Mason looked at her.
“You’ve been checking my records.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I haven’t found much.”
He nodded.
“Because there isn’t much.”
She watched him work.
“What made you become a mechanic?”
“My father.”
“Was he good?”
“The best.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
She nodded.
“You lose people.”
“Yes.”
“Does it make you afraid of getting close to anyone?”
Mason stopped.
“Why are you asking?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Claire lowered her gaze.
Then her phone rang.
It was the hospital.
Her expression changed.
She answered.
“What?”
She listened.
Then looked at Mason.
“I have to go.”
“Everything okay?”
“My mother collapsed.”
Mason straightened.
“Do you need help?”
“No.”
She left.
That evening, Claire sat beside her mother’s hospital bed.
Her mother, Margaret Bennett, opened her eyes.
“Tyler.”
“What?”
“Where is Tyler?”
“Home, probably.”
Margaret frowned.
“You promised.”
“Promised what?”
“That you’d take care of him.”
Claire looked confused.
“I am.”
“No.”
Her mother’s voice was weak.
“You said he’d never be pushed aside.”
Claire remembered.
Years ago, when Tyler was a teenager, his father had died.
Margaret had made Claire promise she would look after him.
Claire had interpreted that promise as helping him build a career.
But perhaps she’d been protecting him too much.
“I gave him the lead mechanic role.”
Her mother nodded.
“Good.”
Claire hesitated.
“He doesn’t deserve it.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Sometimes family needs a chance.”
Claire looked away.
That sentence had shaped everything.
The next morning, she officially announced that Tyler would have full authority over the garage.
Mason was standing near the parts counter.
He listened.
Then slowly removed his name badge.
Ray stared.
“Mason?”
Mason handed it to him.
“I can’t work under this.”
Tyler smiled.
“Then don’t.”
Mason looked at Claire.
“Is that what you want?”
She hesitated.
“I want you to support your lead.”
Mason nodded.
“Understood.”
He took off his work gloves.
Luis stepped forward.
“I’m with Mason.”
Claire looked surprised.
Ray followed.
“So am I.”
Then another mechanic.
Then another.
Within seconds, half the crew had stepped away from their bays.
Tyler’s smile disappeared.
Claire stared.
“What are you doing?”
Ray answered.
“We’re not quitting because Mason lost the title.”
He looked at Claire.
“We’re quitting because you just told us skill doesn’t matter here.”
The room went silent.
One by one, the mechanics placed their tools on the benches.
Then walked out.
Mason was the last.
He looked at Claire.
There was disappointment in his eyes.
Not anger.
That somehow hurt more.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
Then he followed the crew.
Claire stood frozen in the center of her own garage.
Tyler looked around.
For the first time, he wasn’t smiling.
Because he had just inherited leadership of a garage with almost nobody left to lead.
