Northstar’s Missing Engineers
Chapter 11 - Northstar’s Missing Engineers
The audit revealed that Adrian was not Malcolm’s only victim.
Seven engineers who opposed surveillance contracts had been dismissed after the crash. Two lost patents. One was accused of theft. Another died believing his work had failed because Malcolm altered testing data.
Ethan invited them to the mansion.
They arrived cautiously.
Some were elderly.
Some were angry.
One refused to enter until the Cross security logo was removed from the gate.
The glass living room became a testimony hall.
Dr. Lena Park described Adrian’s plan for privacy-protecting technology.
Marcus Bell showed original sketches of the watch.
Rosa Ortiz carried her father Samuel’s notebooks.
A software engineer named Theo James produced emails showing Malcolm ordered secret customer tracking.
Ethan listened.
The company story had celebrated two founders: Adrian the visionary and Malcolm the businessman who saved the dream.
The witnesses described a different structure.
Dozens built Northstar.
Adrian received too much credit.
Malcolm converted shared work into private control.
Even restoring everything to Ethan would repeat that mistake.
Mara presented the trust options. Ethan could take a controlling vote at nineteen, remove every Cross executive, and appoint his own board.
The room expected him to do it.
He refused.
“I inherited evidence,” he said. “Not everyone’s consent.”
He proposed an interim council with engineers, employees, customers, and independent trustees. His shares would remain locked until the crash investigation and labor review concluded.
Financial advisers called the decision reckless.
The engineers called it a beginning.
Damon watched the meeting online from a hotel room. For the first time, he saw wealth offered without performance. Ethan did not speak like a conqueror. He asked questions, admitted uncertainty, and allowed people to criticize Adrian.
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That disturbed Damon more than revenge would have.
If power could look like restraint, then everything Damon built his identity around was wrong.
