She Hired a Poor Mechanic to Fix Her Car… Then Discovered He Was a Billionaire!
Chapter 4
Daniel sat in the back of the SUV.
The man beside him was Michael Grant, his chief financial officer.
“You can’t keep doing this.”
Daniel looked out the window.
“Doing what?”
“Pretending to be broke.”
“I’m not pretending.”
Michael sighed.
“You’re driving a twenty-year-old pickup.”
“I like it.”
“You’re repairing cars.”
“I enjoy it.”
“You own Carter Automotive Holdings.”
Daniel smiled.
“Technically.”
Michael shook his head.
“You’re worth twelve billion dollars.”
Daniel looked at him.
“And?”
“And the board is waiting for you.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“I’ll attend the meeting next week.”
“They need you now.”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“I said no.”
Michael fell silent.
Daniel had built Carter Industries from nothing after inheriting his father’s small manufacturing company at twenty-four.
He expanded into automotive technology.
Energy.
Logistics.
Real estate.
Within fifteen years, Carter Industries had become a global empire.
But Daniel hated what wealth had done to his life.
People didn’t see him anymore.
They saw his money.
Every conversation had an agenda.
Every friendship had a question behind it.
So six months earlier, Daniel had disappeared from public view.
He rented the old garage owned by his uncle.
He repaired cars.
He ate at local diners.
He wore cheap clothes.
And for the first time in years, strangers treated him like a normal person.
Then Emma appeared.
She had looked at him without knowing his name.
She had complained about her car.
She had argued about fifty dollars.
And she had thanked him.
Daniel liked that.
But now there was a problem.
Someone had sabotaged her car.
Michael handed him a folder.
“We traced the person.”
Daniel opened it.
The name was Victor Shaw.
A senior executive at Reynolds Development.
Daniel frowned.
“Why would he target Emma?”
Michael shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked at the report.
Victor had been secretly communicating with a competitor.
The competitor wanted the redevelopment contract.
Daniel closed the folder.
“Keep investigating.”
“What about Emma?”
Daniel looked out the window.
“I’ll handle it.”
Michael raised an eyebrow.
“Personally?”
“Yes.”
“You’re getting involved.”
“I already am.”
Michael sighed.
“That girl has no idea who you are.”
Daniel smiled.
“That’s exactly why I like her.”
Meanwhile, Emma was investigating her own company.
She discovered something alarming.
The environmental report she’d been given contained altered data.
Someone had changed several figures.
The changes made the project appear less profitable.
Emma checked the original files.
They were different.
Someone inside Reynolds Development was sabotaging the proposal.
She went to her father’s office.
“Dad.”
Richard looked up.
“What?”
“Who has access to my project files?”
“Your team.”
“Anyone else?”
“Finance.”
“Victor Shaw?”
Richard froze.
Emma noticed.
“Why did you stop?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
Richard stood.
“Emma, leave it alone.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then explain it.”
He didn’t.
Emma walked out.
For the first time in her life, she wondered whether her father was part of the problem.
And she remembered Daniel.
The poor mechanic who somehow knew exactly when something was wrong.
She decided to find out who he really was.
