Chapter 2 - The Hidden DocumentThe ballroom’s glittering lights felt like a staging ground for a tragedy. Camille Crowe stared at the mechanic, Warren Brooks, her breath caught in her throat. The man who had saved her daughter from the flames—the man she had spent three years searching for—had been right under her nose, silenced by her own company.
“What did you say?” Camille demanded, her voice cutting through the murmurs of the stunned guests. “What contract?”
Warren didn't answer immediately. He looked down at his scorched flannel sleeve, then at his young son, Calvin, whose eyes burned with a fierce, protective anger.
“Ask your board of directors, Ms. Crowe,” Warren said, his voice deep and rough from years of inhaling smoke and dust. “Ask them who authorized a five-hundred-thousand-dollar hush fund three days after the fire. Ask them why my garage was targeted by arson investigators two weeks later when I tried to call your office.”
Camille’s phone buzzed continuously. The media had already caught wind of the live stream from the gala. Headlines were flashing across screens nationwide: Billionaire Philanthropist’s Company Accused of Buying Silence Over Daughter’s Rescue.
“I didn't know,” Camille whispered, taking a step back. “I swear to God, Warren, I didn't know.”
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“Of course you didn't,” Warren replied bitterly, standing up and wiping his grease-stained hands on his jeans. “People like you don’t look down at the foundation of your towers. You only look at the top floor.”
He picked up his heavy metal toolbox, grabbed Calvin’s shoulder, and walked toward the edge of the valet court, melting into the snowy Seattle night before security could even process what had happened.
