All Chapters of A beggar who became a billionaire : Chapter 111
- Chapter 114
114 chapters
Chapter 111: The Original Report
Priya read Isaac's nine pages twice, then laid beside them the report Halden had filed with Harlow. She said nothing for a full minute. That was how Andre knew it was bad."They are not two versions of one inspection," she said at last. "They are opposites. Same building, same dates, same bays. One says sound. One says structural concerns.""Can we prove which one is real?""Not by looking at them. We need provenance." She counted on her fingers. "When Isaac wrote it. Who held it. Whether Halden's version used his findings or invented its own. And a signed statement from Isaac, in his own words."Isaac came to her office that afternoon, in a clean shirt, holding his cap. He answered every question with the same flat patience he used on compressors. Yes, Mr. Brandt had arranged the inspection. Yes, Brandt Cooling had a standing maintenance agreement with Harlow, so no one had questioned his access. No, he had never seen the report Halden filed."One thing," Priya said. "The folder had
Chapter 112: Eighteen Days
Andre did not trust the phone, so he called Walter Brandt himself."It is true," Walter said, sounding older than he had a week ago. "Halden's lawyer rang yesterday. They want to close early. They are offering a bonus if I agree.""Will you?""I have no reason to say no. My knees are not getting better." He paused. "Mr. Reyes, I am sorry about Isaac. I did not know what they were.""You do not need to be sorry," Andre said. "Take their money. I only wanted to hear it from you."He hung up and sat very still. The compressor was due in two weeks. Brandt Cooling serviced every freezer in the building. In nine days, Halden would own the only company that knew the machines by sound, and Andre still did not know what Halden really wanted.Isaac was waiting in the cold floor office, wearing his coat against the chill."If Halden owns Brandt," he said, "three things change. Parts come from Brandt's stock. Emergency calls go through Brandt's phone line. And Brandt's technicians answer to Halde
Chapter 113: The Box on the Wall
Andre reached the facility in eleven minutes. He ran the last block.Isaac stood in front of bay one with a flashlight, his coat buttoned to the chin. The cold floor glowed blue in the emergency lights, and the temperature board above the door read six degrees and rising."Show me the box," Andre said.It was small and black, the size of a deck of cards, screwed to the wall beside the main power panel. A single green light blinked slowly. A thin wire ran from it to the panel's monitoring port."It is listening to the power," Isaac said. "Or controlling it. I cannot tell which."Do not touch it yet. Fix the bay first."Isaac nodded. He had already found the cause. A relay in bay one's control circuit had been loosened, not broken, just enough to fail under load. It took him twelve minutes to reseat it. The temperature board dropped to four degrees, then two, then held.Imelda Okoro arrived as the last number settled, a heavy bag over her shoulder and a tired scowl on her face."Nobody
Chapter 114: One Hundred and Forty Meters
Andre did not cross the road. He stood at the office window with the first light coming up grey over the lot, and he looked at the brick building across the street, and he made himself do nothing.Two months ago he would have run over there. Now he called Priya."The fragment is not behind the old brick building," he said. "It is closer. About one hundred and forty meters from my freezers.""Say that again, slowly."He did. She was quiet for a while."Then Halden did not buy the contractor to hurt you," she said. "They bought it to get inside your building. From your building they can watch the fragment, or reach it.""Or they were watching the fragment before I ever bid.""Yes. Which means you did not stumble on this. You were handed it." Her voice sharpened. "Do not go near that property. Not tonight. Not alone.""I was not planning to.""You were thinking about it."He laughed, tired. "A little."By noon, Harlow's lawyer had traced the black box. The serial number belonged to a bat