The CEO’s Jet Broke Down Again — Her Assistant Whispered, “I Think She Just Wants the Mechanic Back”
Chapter 11
The meeting took place at an abandoned marina outside the city.
Ava arrived with Mason and Lily.
An old fishing boat rocked against the dock.
A man stood at the end of the pier.
He looked older.
Thinner.
But Ava knew him instantly.
“Dad?”
The man turned.
Her father began to cry.
Ava ran to him.
She held him so tightly that neither spoke for several seconds.
Mason stood back.
He understood that some reunions belonged only to family.
Eventually Ava stepped away.
“You’re alive.”
“I had to be.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I thought it was the only way to keep you safe.”
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
Her father looked at Mason.
“Because they were watching him too.”
Mason stepped closer.
“So you hired me.”
“Yes.”
“To protect Ava.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let me leave?”
Her father looked ashamed.
“I didn’t.”
Mason froze.
Ava frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Victor was ordered to fire you.”
“But Ava told me—”
Her father shook his head.
“She was never supposed to know.”
Ava stared.
“You manipulated me?”
“I tried to protect you.”
“You made me hurt him.”
“I know.”
Mason looked away.
Her father lowered his voice.
“The board knew Ava cared about Mason. They believed they could use that attachment against her.”
“So they created distance.”
“Yes.”
“Then the jet failures…”
“Were designed to bring him back.”
Ava’s eyes narrowed.
“By Richard?”
Her father nodded.
“He wanted Mason alive because Mason knows aircraft systems better than anyone.”
Mason looked confused.
“Why keep me alive?”
Her father handed him a folder.
Inside were aviation schematics.
Mason examined them.
Then his face changed.
“These aren’t aircraft plans.”
“No.”
“They’re server cooling systems.”
Her father nodded.
“The theft wasn’t about money.”
Ava stared.
“What were they stealing?”
“Technology.”
Mason flipped through the documents.
“Military-grade encryption.”
“And they used Sterling’s infrastructure to hide it.”
Her father nodded.
Richard and the board members were secretly moving classified technology through shell companies.
The money laundering was only one layer.
The deeper crime was technology trafficking.
Ava’s voice was quiet.
“Then why bring Mason back?”
Her father looked at them.
“Because only he can prove which systems were altered.”
Mason closed the folder.
“Then we finish it.”
Her father nodded.
But suddenly headlights appeared beyond the marina.
Several vehicles.
Richard’s men.
Her father grabbed Ava’s arm.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I can handle myself.”
“No.”
Mason stepped forward.
“We leave together.”
Her father smiled.
For the first time, he looked at Mason not as an employee.
But as the man who loved his daughter.
“Then drive.”
