The lawyer swung open the SUV door. Noah climbed inside, expecting a smooth ride to a shiny corporate penthouse.
Instead, the driver circled the block and parked right back in front of the diner.
The neon sign was dark. Two unmarked police cruisers idled by the curb.
Inside, the cruel manager who had fired Noah just hours ago was handcuffed to a booth, trembling and pale. Sitting across from him wasn’t a frail vagrant, but a man in a ruthless, bespoke charcoal suit.
Arthur Bennett.
Arthur was calmly tapping the exact same modern smartphone Noah had seen him clutching in the freezing rain.
“Have a seat, Noah,” Arthur commanded. His voice wasn’t weak anymore; it was cold steel.
“What is going on?” Noah asked, staring at his former boss in handcuffs.
Arthur slid the smartphone across the counter. The screen didn’t show a viral video. It displayed lines of encrypted code and offshore bank transfers.
“He was embezzling millions,” Arthur said, gesturing to the sweating manager. “I suspected it for months. But his internal security system was air-gapped. To clone his phone and breach the network, my cyber team needed a localized proxy. And to do that, I needed a massive, chaotic distraction right outside his window.”
Arthur’s sharp eyes locked onto Noah. “I didn’t fall on that wet pavement by accident. I needed an employee to break protocol, step outside, and cause a scene to draw him out while the data transferred. Your kindness wasn’t just touching, kid. It was the perfect Trojan horse.”
The lawyer stepped forward, dropping a heavy silver briefcase on the table.
“I don’t just reward good deeds; I invest in flawless execution,” Arthur whispered, a dangerous smile crossing his lips. “You’re not getting your old job back, Noah.”
Arthur tossed the diner’s master keys onto the counter.
“You’re taking his.”