Chapter 6 - The Story Tyler Tried to Sell
By the time Caroline left the hospital, Tyler and Charlotte had already created their version of the accident.
A company statement described it as an unfortunate traffic incident caused by severe weather.
It asked the public to respect the family’s privacy.
Tyler sent flowers to Caroline’s hospital room but never visited.
The card read:
Rest and recover. We will discuss your behavior after the gala.
Caroline read it once and handed it to Officer Hayes.
Tyler also instructed the company’s legal department to postpone Caroline’s access to internal systems for medical reasons.
Charlotte contacted several board members and suggested that Caroline had become emotionally unstable because of stress.
The strategy almost worked.
Then Caroline’s attorney, Maya Chen, delivered copies of the original Beacon records to the board’s independent audit committee.
The records were overwhelming.
Caroline’s university archives showed that she had designed Beacon’s foundational system two years before joining Irwin Dynamics.
Her notebooks matched the source code.
Her private patent submission predated Tyler’s claim.
The version history showed thousands of hours of work under Caroline’s account and almost none under Tyler’s.
Most damaging of all were the internal messages between Tyler and Charlotte.
Remove her name from the gala materials.
Make sure the investors believe the system is company-owned.
Caroline will not challenge us publicly.
She cares too much about embarrassment.
The board scheduled an emergency meeting.
Tyler refused to attend.
He claimed the accusations were the result of Caroline’s confusion after the accident.
Meanwhile, Officer Hayes obtained security footage from the company garage.
The recording showed a maintenance employee opening the hood of Caroline’s car after closing hours.
The employee was identified as Grant Pike, a contractor hired through Charlotte’s office.
When questioned, Grant insisted he had only been asked to inspect the vehicle.
Then police discovered a payment from a private account controlled by Charlotte.
Grant changed his story.
Charlotte had told him to create a mechanical problem that would frighten Caroline and delay her from contacting the board.
She claimed no one was supposed to be hurt.
Grant had loosened the wrong connection.
Officer Hayes did not accept that explanation.
Neither did Caroline.
But Caroline asked that no arrests be made before the gala unless someone posed an immediate danger.
Maya objected.
“They nearly killed you.”
“I know.”
“Then why wait?”
Caroline looked at the invitation on her hospital table.
Because Tyler planned to stand before the entire city and announce that Beacon belonged to him.
May you like
Caroline wanted the truth delivered in the same room.
“He built a stage,” she said. “Let him stand on it.”
