She Laughed at His $500 Bid—Then the Auctioneer Said, “The Factory Is His.”
Chapter 5
The motel room smelled of bleach and stale cigarettes.
Ethan locked the door twice.
Vivian stood beside the window, watching headlights move across the wet parking lot.
“You still haven’t told me the truth.”
“I know.”
“Then start.”
Ethan placed the leather folder on the bed.
“My father worked for yours.”
Vivian turned.
“Your father?”
“Daniel Cole.”
She searched her memory.
The name meant nothing.
“He died when I was twelve.”
“How?”
“Factory accident.”
Vivian’s eyes narrowed.
“My father told me there was an accident.”
“He told you there was.”
The distinction hung between them.
Ethan removed another document.
“This was the original accident report.”
Vivian read it.
Then read it again.
The factory machine hadn’t malfunctioned.
It had been deliberately sabotaged.
And Daniel Cole had discovered it.
“He was going to expose someone,” Ethan said.
“Who?”
“My father never got the chance.”
Vivian looked at the report.
“Why didn’t my father tell me?”
“Because he believed whoever caused the accident was still inside the company.”
She looked at him.
“Who?”
Ethan hesitated.
Then he said a name.
“Richard Vale.”
Vivian stopped breathing.
Richard Vale had been her father’s closest business partner.
He had helped manage Mercer Industrial Works after her father’s death.
He had also been the person who convinced Vivian to sell her remaining shares.
She suddenly understood why Ethan had looked afraid when the gray-suited man appeared.
“Where is Vale now?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Instead, he opened the motel room’s television.
The local news was already broadcasting.
A reporter stood outside the factory.
Behind her, police vehicles filled the parking lot.
“Authorities are investigating an attempted shooting during today’s liquidation auction of Mercer Industrial Works…”
Vivian stepped closer.
Then the reporter said:
“Sources indicate that the former owner may have concealed significant financial assets before his death.”
Ethan turned off the television.
Vivian stared at him.
“My father wasn’t broke.”
“No.”
“Then why did we lose everything?”
Ethan looked directly at her.
“Because someone wanted you to believe he was.”
