Chapter 9 - THE WEDDING BECAME A COMPANY PROBLEM
The wedding couple learned what had happened only after returning from their honeymoon.
They were furious.
Not because Claire had caused a scene.
Because Aster Vale representatives had initially described the flash as a “personal electronic malfunction.”
That wording came from Evelyn.
The bride, Daniel’s cousin Allison, called Claire.
“My mother told me it was a phone battery.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Allison continued.
“Why would Aunt Evelyn lie about that?”
“To keep the company out of it.”
“That was my wedding.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
That mattered more than Claire expected.
The venue’s insurer formally requested technical documentation.
Aster Vale’s retailer partners paused discussions around the unreleased monitor line.
The board’s independent committee hired outside product-safety counsel.
Daniel was placed on temporary administrative leave.
Evelyn remained chair but lost authority over the internal review.
For the first time in decades, other people were making decisions around her.
She hated it.
Daniel hated it more.
He came to Rebecca’s house during a scheduled visit looking hollow.
Claire watched him sit with Noah on the rug.
Noah grabbed Daniel’s tie and laughed.
Daniel laughed too.
Then his face collapsed.
Claire looked away.
After Noah fell asleep, Daniel said:
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After the financing.”
“About the pilot?”
“Everything.”
Claire waited.
Daniel rubbed both palms over his knees.
“The executive mode was for investor demonstrations.”
“What did it do?”
“It increased data collection and reporting frequency.”
Claire did not need technical detail.
She needed the choice.
“You put that mode on Noah’s device.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We needed uninterrupted real-world performance.”
“You had other households.”
“Not with the same usage consistency.”
Claire stared at him.
“Our baby was convenient.”
Daniel winced.
“That isn’t how I saw it.”
“That is exactly how the company saw him.”
“I was monitoring it.”
“You’re not an engineer.”
“I had dashboards.”
Claire laughed once.
It sounded ugly even to her.
“A dashboard.”
Daniel looked down.
Claire remembered something.
“The night before the wedding, you were awake at three.”
He looked up.
“You told me you had indigestion.”
No answer.
“You were checking the device.”
Daniel swallowed.
“The numbers looked wrong.”
Claire felt cold.
“What numbers?”
“Temperature.”
There it was.
He had seen a warning before the wedding.
Again.
“What did you do?”
“I removed the original unit in the morning.”
“And replaced it with the one from the office.”
“Yes.”
“The one you thought was safe.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Claire sat very still.
Three different moments now formed a pattern.
The engineering hold.
The strange overnight readings.
The wrong serial number.
Each time Daniel encountered information that should have stopped him.
Each time he found a reason to continue.
Then he said:
“The original blue-taped unit wasn’t overheating.”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
“That isn’t why I removed it.”
“Then why?”
Daniel looked toward the room where Noah slept.
“Because it had recorded something I couldn’t let the board see.”
Claire stared.
“What did it record?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I can’t tell you yet.”
Claire stood.
“Then this visit is over.”
His face changed.
“Claire.”
“You keep thinking you get one more secret.”
“I’m trying to protect—”
“No.”
She pointed toward the door.
“You’re protecting whatever you’ve always been protecting.”
Daniel left.
The next morning, the board committee requested the blue-taped unit from his attorney.
Daniel’s attorney responded that the device was missing.
May you like
Claire read the message twice.
The one piece Daniel had personally carried out of the ballroom had disappeared.
