The CEO’s Jet Broke Down Again — Her Assistant Whispered, “I Think She Just Wants the Mechanic Back”
Chapter 6
By morning, Ava had locked Victor out of the company’s financial systems.
She did not fire him.
Not yet.
“Until we know what we’re dealing with,” she told the board, “everyone remains in place.”
Mason watched from the back of the conference room.
He had never seen her like this.
Calm.
Precise.
Dangerously focused.
After the meeting, she found him in the hallway.
“I need you.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“For the investigation.”
“Of course.”
She almost smiled.
They drove together to the private hangar where Mason’s old workshop was still preserved.
Ava had never been there.
The moment she stepped inside, she stopped.
His tools were arranged exactly as she remembered.
A coffee mug sat on the bench.
Her name had been written on it with a marker.
CEO’s Cup. Do Not Touch.
She looked at him.
“You kept this?”
Mason shrugged.
“I forgot it.”
“For six months?”
“I forget things.”
She smiled despite herself.
He noticed.
“You still laugh.”
“When?”
“When you’re tired.”
Ava’s smile faded.
“I missed this.”
Mason looked away.
“So did I.”
The silence between them felt different now.
Less angry.
More fragile.
They opened the old maintenance database.
Mason discovered something buried in the system.
A private access key had been used to alter aviation records.
The access belonged to Ava herself.
She stared at the screen.
“No.”
Mason frowned.
“Your credentials were used.”
“I never accessed these files.”
“I believe you.”
“But the system doesn’t.”
Mason studied the logs.
Then he froze.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“The access wasn’t from your office.”
“Where?”
“The old executive aircraft lounge.”
Ava looked confused.
“That room hasn’t been used in years.”
They went there.
Behind an unused cabinet, Mason found a small server.
Ava stared.
“What is that?”
“A hidden relay.”
“Why would anyone install one?”
Mason checked it.
“Because someone wanted access without leaving obvious fingerprints.”
They opened the data.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Maintenance records.
Financial transactions.
Board communications.
And one encrypted folder.
Ava’s heart stopped when she saw the label.
Project Meridian.
“What is Meridian?”
Mason didn’t answer.
He opened it.
The first document was an old proposal written by Ava’s father.
It described a plan to quietly move ownership of several Sterling subsidiaries into a private trust.
But the trust’s beneficiary was not Ava.
It was Victor Hall.
Ava stepped back.
“My father would never do that.”
Mason looked at her.
“The document is signed.”
“Signatures can be forged.”
“Yes.”
He opened another file.
It contained an audio recording.
A man’s voice spoke quietly.
“We’ll need Ava to become CEO. She trusts Victor. Once she’s in place, the transfers will be easy.”
Ava covered her mouth.
The voice was unmistakable.
Her father.
But the date was wrong.
He had died two years before.
Mason looked at her.
Ava whispered,
“How could he have said that after he died?”
