“The board meets tomorrow morning. I have the votes. By noon, Hayes Renewables will have new leadership.”

Wendell became very still.

“You already knew about Jaylen.”

A pause.

Then Lawson said,

“You should teach your assistant more about information security.”

The call ended.

A moment later, the sedan’s headlights came on.

Two men stepped out.

Wendell recognized one as a member of corporate security.

Lorna immediately reached for Jaylen.

“Inside. Both of you.”

Wendell moved toward the door.

Jaylen remained near the kitchen table, staring at his small power-control prototype.

“Jaylen,” Lorna said.

“Trust me, Mama.”

Wendell watched the boy make several quick adjustments to the equipment he had built.

The lights flickered.

Something outside reacted.

The sedan’s alarm suddenly began screaming.

Its lights flashed.

Then the vehicle shut down completely.

One of the men outside swore.

Wendell stared at Jaylen.

“What did you do?”

Jaylen looked toward the window.

“I confused its safety system.”

Wendell waited.

Jaylen gave a small shrug.

“Machines can panic too. If enough parts tell them something is wrong, sometimes they protect themselves by stopping.”

Wendell almost laughed.

A system believing a lie.

The irony was impossible to miss.

Lorna began laughing too.

Not because anything was funny.

Because years of fear had finally cracked somewhere inside her.

Wendell opened the front door.

The two men stood outside beside the disabled vehicle.

“Go back to Lawson,” Wendell said calmly.

“Mr. Hayes, we have instructions—”

“So do I.”

His voice changed into the one that had silenced boardrooms for decades.

“Tell Elliot I have the original Georgia records.”

The men stopped.

“I have Caleb Tate’s warning. I have Lawson’s signature. And I have the internal memo.”

Neither man spoke.

“Tell him tomorrow morning’s board meeting may not go the way he expects.”

They looked at each other.

Then left.

Wendell returned inside.

Jaylen suddenly looked thirteen again.

The adrenaline was gone.

Lorna sat at the table with one hand against her chest.

Wendell found a candle, lit it, and placed it between them.

“I’m going to tell both of you the truth,” he said. “Because you’ve dealt with enough people who didn’t.”

Lorna remained guarded.

“Tomorrow morning I’m going back to my board.”

He looked at Jaylen.

“And I intend to fight Lawson.”

Then at Lorna.

“But whether I win or lose has nothing to do with what my company owes your family.”

“We’re not asking you for money.”