KATHLEEN
The SafeHaven boardroom hummed with tension.
Kathleen stood at the head of the table, her knuckles pressed to the polished wood, staring down Julian Thorne. The man lounged in *her* chair like he owned it—*arrogant bastard*—his tailored navy suit and ice-blond hair a deliberate contrast to Carl's dark intensity.
"Let's skip the theatrics," she said. "You want control? Prove you deserve it."
Julian smiled, slow and venomous. He tapped his tablet. The screen behind them lit up with Lionel's prison interview.
*"—Palmer's been lying from the start. Her 'brilliant' encryption? Stolen. From *me*."*
Gasps rippled through the room.
Kathleen's pulse roared. *Bullshit.*
Julian stood, circling the table. "Twenty years ago, my godfather funded a little research project. The lead scientist? Dr. Elena Vasiliev." He paused. "*Your mother*, Kathleen."
The room spun.
Carl was halfway out of his seat when Julian dropped the photo—a younger Lionel with a woman who shared Kathleen's sharp cheekbones and defiant stare.
*Mom.*
Her knees threatened to buckle.
Julian leaned in. "She died before filing the patents. Convenient, wasn't it?"
Kathleen's voice was deadly calm. "My mother was hit by a *drunk driver*."
"Orphaning you in foster care." Julian's gaze flicked to Carl. "Where you *just happened* to meet the Harris heir. Almost like… it was *arranged*."
Carl's chair crashed to the floor.
---
JULIAN
Julian had waited a decade for this moment.
Kathleen Palmer, *finally* on the ropes. Carl Harris, his control slipping. And the board—*useful idiots*—leaning in, hungry for scandal.
He savored the crack in Kathleen's armor. "Your 'life's work' was built on stolen code. SafeHaven belongs to *me*."
Then—
A tiny voice piped up from the doorway: "Nuh-uh."
Alina marched in, clutching Ava's hand and a glitter-covered folder. She stomped up to Julian and thrust the papers at him. "You're a *liar*."
Ava smirked. "We did some digging. That 'research project'?" She nodded to the screen, now displaying a document. "*Terminated* by Lionel for being 'too risky.' Elena's work was *abandoned*—until Kathleen reinvented it."
Julian's mask slipped. "That's—"
"*And*," Alina added, "you *stealed* money from your own company!" She pointed to a line in the files. "*See?*"
The room erupted.
Julian's perfect plan crumbled—
Because a *six-year-old* had outmaneuvered him.
---
CARL
Carl watched Julian's empire of lies collapse in real time.
The board members turned on him, shouting about fraud. Legal teams scrambled. And Julian—*pale, furious*—locked eyes with Carl.
*This isn't over.*
Carl mouthed back: *Try me.*
Then Kathleen knelt beside Alina, her voice thick. "You saved me, солнышко."
Alina beamed. "I know."
Ava clapped her hands. "Alright, drama's over. Someone arrest this clown."
As security dragged Julian out, Carl pulled Kathleen close. "You okay?"
She trembled against him. "He *used* her. My mother—"
Carl kissed her temple. "We'll make him pay."
Not with money.
Not with power.
But by *living*—loudly, happily—in the future they'd stolen back.