Chapter 13 - Noah’s Decision
At exactly noon, Derek Sloan walked back into Apex Luxury Motors.
Nobody welcomed him.
The moment he crossed the glass doors, conversations stopped.
A junior salesperson named Emily stared at him as if he had carried a snake into the building.
Two technicians near the service corridor openly shook their heads.
Derek expected it.
He wore a plain white shirt, inexpensive slacks, and shoes with cracked leather around the toes.
No suit.
No watch.
No arrogance.
Noah Evans waited beside the red-car display where Thomas Bennett’s Heritage GT had once stood.
He was wearing a fitted charcoal blazer now.
Derek stopped ten feet away.
“Noah.”
“Derek.”
Neither man offered a hand.
Derek looked around the showroom.
“You changed things.”
“We’re trying.”
“I heard.”
Noah folded his arms.
“Claire said you wanted a job.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Derek nodded.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
Derek remained silent.
Noah stepped closer.
“You blocked my promotion applications twice.”
“I know.”
“You told Marcus customers didn’t want someone like me.”
“Yes.”
“You cut my hours when I complained about commission fraud.”
Derek’s head snapped up.
Noah’s eyes hardened.
“You didn’t think I knew?”
Derek swallowed.
“You remember Julio Ramirez?”
Derek looked down.
Julio had been a junior salesperson who resigned after six months.
“You stole two of his commissions,” Noah said.
“I reassigned the sales.”
“You stole them.”
Derek whispered, “Yes.”
“And Emily?”
Derek said nothing.
“Three deals?”
“Yes.”
Noah nodded slowly.
“So don’t stand here pretending one bad afternoon ruined your career.”
“I’m not.”
“It was years.”
Derek’s voice cracked.
“I know.”
For the first time, Noah saw something unfamiliar in him.
Not fear.
Remorse.
Derek reached into his pocket and placed a folded envelope on the desk.
“What’s that?”
“A list.”
“Of what?”
“Every commission I manipulated. Every customer complaint I buried. Every employee I sabotaged.”
Noah stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Marcus’s internal review won’t find everything.”
Noah opened the envelope.
His expression changed as he read.
There were dates.
Names.
Amounts.
Managers.
Some entries stretched back six years.
“Derek…”
“I was good at making numbers disappear.”
Noah looked furious.
“People lost money because of you.”
“Yes.”
“Families.”
“Yes.”
“Then why should anybody help you?”
Derek’s answer came quietly.
“They shouldn’t.”
That stopped Noah.
Derek stepped back.
“I came because Claire told me to apologize to you before asking anyone for anything.”
He looked directly at Noah.
“I’m sorry.”
Noah didn’t speak.
“I hated you because customers liked you.”
Derek continued.
“You knew cars better than I did. People trusted you. I knew if you got onto the sales floor, eventually everyone would realize I wasn’t special.”
His voice shook.
“So I kept you down.”
Noah’s jaw tightened.
“That’s not insecurity. That’s cruelty.”
“I know.”
Derek turned toward the exit.
“Wait.”
Derek stopped.
Noah stared at the envelope.
“I said there’s no sales job.”
“I heard you.”
“There may be something else.”
Derek turned.
Noah walked toward Marcus’s office.
“Come with me.”
Twenty minutes later, Claire arrived.
Marcus, Noah, and Derek were seated around a conference table.
Claire entered.
“What happened?”
Noah handed her the list.
She read three pages.
Then looked at Derek.
“You documented your own misconduct?”
“I documented the truth.”
Marcus looked sick.
“If this is accurate, I’ve got at least nine employees owed compensation.”
“Eleven,” Derek corrected.
Marcus stared at him.
Claire slowly sat down.
Noah spoke.
“I want to hire him temporarily.”
Marcus nearly choked.
“As what?”
“Internal audit assistant.”
Derek blinked.
Noah continued.
“He knows where the bodies are buried because he buried some of them.”
Claire almost smiled.
Marcus did not.
“And when the audit ends?”
Noah looked at Derek.
“That depends on what he does while nobody owes him forgiveness.”
Claire nodded.
It was fair.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
His face changed immediately.
“What?”
Everyone watched.
Marcus stood.
“Who authorized that?”
He listened.
“No. Lock the server room. Right now.”
Claire rose.
“What happened?”
Marcus lowered the phone.
“Someone tried remotely deleting the dealership’s employee complaint archive.”
Derek went pale.
Noah asked, “Can they?”
Marcus looked toward the back offices.
“They already deleted thirty percent.”
Derek stared at the computer screen.
Then whispered two words.
“Victor Hale.”
Claire turned sharply.
“How do you know?”
May you like
Derek’s face had lost all color.
“Because I met him two months ago.”
