Chapter 7 - GRANT CAME TO THE HOUSE
Grant Holloway arrived uninvited.
That was stupid.
He passed the outer gate because Martin had issued him a temporary executive credential weeks earlier.
Nico almost admired the arrogance.
Grant entered the front foyer at 6:03 p.m.
Damien met him before he reached the stairs.
“You should leave.”
Grant smiled.
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“About Nora.”
Damien's face changed.
Grant noticed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason this isn't business anymore.”
Damien said nothing.
Grant continued:
“She does this.”
Old tactic.
“She makes men think she needs saving.”
Nora appeared at the top of the stairs.
“I really need to improve my technique. It took Damien months.”
Grant looked up.
His smile vanished.
“Nora.”
“Grant.”
For three years she had imagined this moment.
She had thought she'd scream.
Maybe shake.
Instead she felt tired.
Grant said:
“You're making a mistake.”
“No.”
“I can still fix your license.”
Nora almost laughed.
“You mean stop obstructing it?”
His face tightened.
“You don't understand what you're risking.”
“I do now.”
He looked at Damien.
“Can we speak privately?”
Nora answered:
“No.”
Grant's jaw moved.
“This concerns proprietary data.”
“It concerns my work.”
“Your work belonged to BrightPath.”
“Parts were licensed.”
“Everything you developed under collaboration—”
“Was subject to attribution clauses you removed.”
Grant went silent.
Nora knew.
His eyes showed it.
Digital files had exposed more than score manipulation.
BrightPath's flagship tactile-learning module still contained source text from Nora's original curriculum.
Copyright timestamps predated company incorporation.
Damien said quietly:
“You stole from her.”
Grant turned.
“This is complicated.”
“It usually becomes complicated when guilty people explain simple things.”
Nora almost smiled.
Grant stepped closer.
“Do you know who she was when I found her?”
Damien's expression cooled.
Nora said:
“Careful.”
Grant ignored her.
“Overweight schoolteacher with a dying mother and student loans.”
Silence.
Damien's eyes changed.
Nora felt shame rise automatically.
Old shame.
Then anger replaced it.
Grant continued:
“I gave her access.”
Nora walked downstairs.
“No.”
He stopped.
“You gave me a website.”
She came closer.
“I gave you the method.”
“You couldn't scale it.”
“You couldn't understand it.”
That landed.
“You turned children into before-and-after charts because you never understood the part that mattered.”
“What part?”
“Trust.”
Grant laughed.
“Trust doesn't build companies.”
“No.”
Nora looked at him.
“It teaches children.”
Silence.
Grant changed tactics again.
“You loved me.”
“Yes.”
Damien looked at Nora.
She did not hide it.
“I did.”
Grant seemed surprised.
Nora continued:
“That is why what you did worked.”
His confidence returned slightly.
“You still—”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Love explains why I trusted you.”
Then:
“It does not mean I owe you another chance.”
Grant's face hardened.
“You'll regret this.”
Damien stepped forward.
Nora lifted one hand.
He stopped.
Grant noticed.
That bothered him.
Nora said:
“No threats needed.”
Then she held up her phone.
“My attorney is already receiving everything you say.”
Grant's eyes widened.
Not recording secretly.
Call active.
Attorney listening.
Nora had learned.
Grant walked out.
At the front door he turned.
“This company will destroy you both.”
Damien almost smiled.
“You should spend less time worrying about my company.”
Grant frowned.
“Why?”
Nico entered from the side hall.
“Because federal agents are executing a warrant at BrightPath headquarters.”
Grant stopped breathing.
May you like
That was the moment his confidence finally broke.
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