THE BILLIONAIRE’S DAUGHTER FELL IN LOVE WITH HER UBER DRIVER
Chapter 4
Ethan arrived twenty minutes later.
Sophia got into the car.
He looked at her.
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“What did he tell you?”
“That you worked at Atlas Aviation.”
“I did.”
“That you reported maintenance fraud.”
Ethan glanced at the road.
“I did.”
“And that someone buried the report.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Sophia studied him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You never asked.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is.”
She crossed her arms.
“What happened?”
Ethan drove in silence for several seconds.
Then he spoke.
“Atlas was cutting corners.”
“How?”
“Parts were being reused past approved limits.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“Did someone get hurt?”
Ethan’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“A cargo aircraft lost an engine.”
Sophia’s breath caught.
“Was anyone killed?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“The aircraft landed safely.”
He paused.
“But it exposed a larger problem.”
Ethan had discovered falsified inspection records.
He reported them internally.
Nothing happened.
He reported them to senior management.
Nothing happened.
Finally, he filed a formal safety report.
Three weeks later, his supervisor asked him to withdraw it.
He refused.
Two months later, Atlas announced layoffs.
His position was eliminated.
The company said it was financial restructuring.
Ethan knew better.
“They fired you because you reported them.”
“Yes.”
“Did you sue?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I had Lily.”
Sophia looked at him.
“I couldn’t afford a long legal fight.”
“So you became a driver.”
“Until I could figure out what to do next.”
Sophia looked out the window.
She was angry.
Not at Ethan.
At her father.
“How is my father connected?”
“I don’t know.”
“He says he invested in Atlas.”
“He did.”
“Did he know about the safety problems?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Sophia looked at him.
“But you suspect he did.”
“Yes.”
The car stopped at a red light.
Ethan turned toward her.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The night before my firing, I found a folder.”
“What folder?”
“Maintenance records from a fleet owned by a company connected to your father.”
Sophia froze.
“My father?”
“I thought the records were suspicious.”
“What happened to the folder?”
“It disappeared.”
“Who took it?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophia felt a chill.
Then her phone rang.
Charles.
She declined the call.
It rang again.
She answered.
“What?”
“Where are you?”
“Out.”
“With him?”
Sophia looked at Ethan.
“Yes.”
Charles went silent.
“Bring him to my office.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then explain it.”
“Not over the phone.”
She ended the call.
Ethan looked at her.
“You should go home.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone is clearly scared of what you know.”
He shook his head.
“Sophia, this isn’t your fight.”
She looked directly at him.
“Maybe it is.”
She didn’t know what she was beginning.
She only knew she wasn’t going to let her father intimidate the first man who had ever treated her like a person instead of a billionaire’s daughter.
That night, Sophia and Ethan met at a quiet diner.
They reviewed everything he remembered.
Names.
Dates.
Companies.
Aircraft.
Then Ethan stopped.
“There was one person.”
“Who?”
“A senior executive named Victor Hale.”
Sophia frowned.
“Who is he?”
“He worked with Atlas.”
“Where is he now?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Bennett Capital.”
Sophia’s blood went cold.
“He works for my father?”
“Yes.”
And suddenly, the mystery wasn’t about an old aviation company.
It was about her family.
