“That Car Is Worthless” the CEO Said — Then a Single Dad Did the Impossible
Chapter 6
Victoria’s house was larger than Ethan’s entire neighborhood.
Lily stood in the foyer looking around.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“This place has more bathrooms than my school.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Victoria appeared carrying blankets.
“Guest room is upstairs.”
Lily smiled.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
Later that night, Ethan and Victoria sat in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” Victoria said.
“For what?”
“Your daughter is in danger because of my company.”
“No.”
“This started because of Sterling.”
“It started because someone wanted the technology.”
Victoria looked down.
“Still.”
Ethan reached across the table.
“You didn’t do this.”
She looked at his hand.
Then at him.
Their fingers touched.
Neither moved away.
“I don’t know how to do this,” Victoria whispered.
“Do what?”
“Care about someone without trying to control everything.”
Ethan smiled.
“Neither do I.”
Victoria looked surprised.
“You?”
“I’ve been a single dad for six years.”
“That doesn’t qualify you for emotional expertise.”
“No. It qualifies me for exhaustion.”
She laughed.
It was the first time Ethan had heard her laugh without restraint.
They stayed at the table until nearly two in the morning.
They talked about Emma.
Victoria talked about her childhood.
Her father had built Sterling from a small manufacturing company into a global corporation.
He had taught Victoria that weakness invited failure.
So she became stronger.
Then colder.
Then successful.
But success hadn’t made her happy.
Ethan had never imagined that the powerful woman he’d seen on magazine covers was lonely.
The next morning, Lily walked into the kitchen.
She stopped.
Her father was making pancakes.
Victoria was drinking coffee.
“This looks like a family breakfast.”
Ethan almost dropped the spatula.
Victoria nearly choked.
Lily grinned.
“I said what I said.”
A few days later, the threat escalated.
Someone broke into Ethan’s garage.
Nothing valuable was stolen.
Only his engineering notebooks.
Victoria moved quickly.
Security teams surrounded the lab.
The police opened a formal investigation.
Ethan was furious.
“They took years of work.”
“We have digital copies.”
“Not everything.”
Victoria saw the pain in his face.
“Ethan.”
He looked at her.
“We’ll rebuild it.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Ethan’s voice broke.
“My wife believed I could build something that mattered.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“She was right.”
That sentence nearly destroyed him.
He looked away.
Victoria touched his arm.
“You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
Ethan turned back.
For a moment, they were only inches apart.
Then Lily called from the hallway.
“Dad?”
They immediately stepped apart.
“I need help with my homework!”
Ethan exhaled.
“Coming.”
Victoria smiled.
“Saved by algebra.”
Ethan looked back at her.
“Maybe.”
Later that evening, the police found a partial fingerprint at the garage.
It belonged to an employee in Sterling’s intellectual property department.
A young analyst named Aaron Blake.
Aaron disappeared before investigators could question him.
And suddenly Victoria understood something.
The sabotage wasn’t about the prototype.
It was about ownership.
Someone inside Sterling wanted the technology.
And they were willing to destroy anyone who stood between them and billions of dollars.
