A CEO Promised to Marry Whoever Fixed Her Engine, Never Expecting the Janitor’s Secrets — Part 2

Previously: When Elizabeth’s multi-million dollar prototype failed, she desperately offered her hand in marriage to anyone who could repair it. She never expected Charles, the humble janitor, to accept—and actually know how.

The Unmasking of a Genius

Julian, the chief engineer and Elizabeth’s fiancé, stepped forward, his face flushed with anger. "Get away from that machine, Charles!" he shouted, motioning for the security guards standing by the door. "You’re going to ruin a multi-million dollar prototype with your grease-stained hands!"

But Charles didn't stop. His fingers flew across the manual override keyboard, bypassing security protocols that only the original architect of the system should have known. Elizabeth watched the diagnostic screens in astonishment. The red error messages that had plagued her team for days were rapidly turning green.

A CEO Promised to Marry Whoever Fixed Her Engine, Never Expecting the Janitor’s Secrets

"How do you know that override sequence?" Elizabeth whispered, stepping closer to the table. "That code was classified five years ago after the lead designer disappeared."

"He didn't disappear, Elizabeth," Charles said, his voice calm as he tightened a valve on the primary manifold. "He was framed. His research was stolen, and he was blacklisted from the industry so someone else could take the credit—and the promotion."

Julian’s eyes widened in panic. "Don't listen to this garbage! Guards, drag him out of here right now!"

The guards moved in, but Elizabeth raised her hand, freezing them in their tracks. Her gaze was locked on the screen, where a hidden partition of the operating system had just been unlocked. The creator's digital signature flashed on the monitor: Dr. Charles Vance.

"Charles Vance..." Elizabeth breathed, looking at the man in the grease-stained overalls. He was the legendary prodigy who had vanished half a decade ago, the man whose patents had built Apex Dynamics from the ground up.

"Yes," Charles said, turning to face Julian. "And the reason your engineers couldn't start this engine is because Julian programmed a deliberate logic bomb into the core software. He wanted Apex to fail so he could buy the company's assets for pennies on the dollar with his offshore partners."

The lab erupted into chaos as Julian backed away, realizing his entire scheme had just collapsed in front of the woman he was supposed to marry.