Chapter 2: What Nova Saw
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The little memory card sat in Maya's trembling hand.
Vanessa stared at it as if it were a loaded weapon.
I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.
She wasn't angry anymore.
She was afraid.
“Give me that,” Vanessa said.
Maya immediately stepped behind me.
“No.””
“It's my house,” Vanessa snapped.
“You don't get to record people without permission.””
I looked at her.
“Why are you worried about a recording?””
“Because it's private!””
“Then there shouldn't be anything to worry about.””
Vanessa reached for the card.
I stepped between them.
“Don't touch her.””
Brielle grabbed her mother's arm.
“Mom, just leave it.””
Vanessa turned sharply.
“Go inside, Brielle.””
“But—”
“NOW!””
Brielle hurried toward the back door.
I watched her disappear into the house before turning to Maya.
“Can the card still work?””
Maya nodded.
“Maybe. The casing protected it from the heat, but I don't know if the data survived.””
“Where can we play it?””
“My laptop.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“No. Absolutely not.””
I picked up the black folder.
“Then I suggest you stop telling us what we can and cannot do.””
Maya and I walked toward the garage.
The moment I opened the door, I understood why my daughter had been so upset.
The place was a mess.
Her carefully labeled boxes had been emptied. Several drawers were open. A soldering iron lay on the floor, its cable torn away from the power supply.
Someone had moved the workbench.
A large cardboard box sat in the middle of the room.
Inside were Maya's notebooks, sketches, and printed circuit designs.
I picked up one of the notebooks.
Every page was covered in Maya's handwriting.
Except for the front cover.
Someone had crossed out her name with a thick black marker.
In its place, someone had written:
*BRIELLE'S INVENTION PROJECT.*
I looked at Maya.
“Who did this?””
She stared at the floor.
“Brielle.””
“When?””
“Last Thursday.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Mom said you were busy with work. She said if I bothered you, you might decide I was too much trouble.””
I closed the notebook.
“Your mother said that?””
Maya nodded.
I had spent years traveling for work, convincing myself that every missed school event was temporary.
Every missed dinner.
Every missed birthday party.
I had promised Maya that the sacrifices would pay off.
I had never imagined that while I was earning money to give her a better life, someone inside our home was making her feel unwanted.
I pulled a chair toward the workbench.
“Let's see what Nova recorded.””
Maya connected her laptop to the small monitor.
Her fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.
The memory card appeared.
There were seventeen video files.
She clicked the first one.
The screen showed the garage from Nova's perspective. The camera was positioned near the ceiling, giving it a wide view of the workbench.
A timestamp appeared.
Three weeks earlier.
Vanessa walked into the room carrying two cups of coffee.
Brielle followed her.
“Where's the blue folder?”” Brielle asked.
Vanessa pointed toward Maya's notebook.
“Under those papers.””
Brielle picked it up.
“Mom, this is actually really good.””
“I told you.””
“Can I use her diagrams?””
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“Of course. Just don't make it obvious.””
Brielle flipped through the pages.
“What if she complains?””
Vanessa placed one cup on the workbench.
“She won't. Your father is hardly ever here, and Maya knows better than to start another argument.””
Maya's fingers stopped moving.
I felt my jaw tighten.
On the screen, Brielle laughed.
“What if I put my name on the robot?””
Vanessa smiled.
“That's the plan.””
The video ended.
Neither of us spoke.
Maya stared at the screen.
“Dad, I thought I was imagining things.””
I pulled her chair closer.
“You weren't.””
She opened the second recording.
This one was dated ten days earlier.
Brielle stood beside Nova, holding a screwdriver.
Vanessa was behind her.
“Be careful with that sensor,” Vanessa said.
Brielle frowned.
“Why does it have to be so complicated?””
“Because Maya spent months making it complicated.””
“Can I just take the whole thing?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not yet. Your father might notice.””
Brielle leaned closer to the robot.
“Then we'll wait until he's gone again.””
I felt something cold move through my stomach.
The third recording showed Vanessa opening the cabinet where Maya kept her electronic components.
She removed several expensive sensors and placed them inside a handbag.
Maya whispered, “Those were the parts I bought with my birthday money.””
I looked at the screen.
The footage continued.
Vanessa received a phone call.
“Yes, Mrs. Collins,” she said.
“Brielle's project is almost ready.””
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
“That's wonderful. We received the preliminary application, but we still need the original design documents.””
Vanessa looked at Maya's notebook.
“Don't worry. We'll have everything by Friday.””
Maya leaned toward me.
“Mrs. Collins is Brielle's science teacher.””
The recording ended.
I paused the video.
“Did you know they had already submitted an application?””
Maya shook her head.
“No.””
“Did you sign anything?””
“No.””
I opened the fourth recording.
This one showed Brielle sitting at the workbench, typing on Maya's laptop.
Vanessa stood behind her.
“Change the author name,” she instructed.
“It's asking for a project history.””
“Just copy Maya's notes.””
“But what if the system checks?””
Vanessa leaned down.
“It won't. You're entering the competition, not applying for a patent.””
Brielle laughed.
“She's going to freak out when she finds out.””
Vanessa smiled.
“By then, she'll have nothing left to enter.””
The video stopped.
Maya slowly turned toward me.
“That's why they burned Nova.””
I nodded.
“They wanted to make sure you couldn't prove it was yours.””
Her eyes filled again.
I reached for her hand.
“Listen. We have evidence now.””
“But Nova is gone.””
I looked at the damaged frame on the table.
“Nova may be damaged. Your work isn't.””
Maya wiped her cheeks.
Then she opened another file.
The video showed Brielle standing in front of the robot.
She was holding a small plastic bottle.
Vanessa walked into view.
“Is that enough?””
Brielle shook the bottle.
“It's lighter fluid. You said we needed to get rid of the whole thing.””
Vanessa looked toward the garage door.
“Your father is away until Friday. Nobody will know.””
Brielle hesitated.
“What if Maya sees us?””
Vanessa shrugged.
“Then she'll learn that not everything she wants belongs to her.””
The recording ended.
I stood so quickly that my chair scraped against the concrete floor.
Maya looked frightened.
“Dad?””
I took a breath.
“I'm okay.””
But I wasn't.
I wanted to walk into the house and demand answers.
I wanted to call every person Vanessa had involved.
I wanted to know how long my daughter had been living with people who treated her talent like something they could steal.
Instead, I picked up my phone.
“I’m calling an attorney.””
Maya nodded.
Then she looked back at the laptop.
“Dad, there's one more thing.””
“What?””
She opened a folder marked FINAL_TEST.
A video appeared.
The timestamp was from the night before I returned home.
Nova was standing upright on the workbench.
Her blue sensor blinked.
A familiar voice came from behind the camera.
Vanessa.
“Tomorrow, we'll finish this.””
Then another voice answered.
A man's voice.
“Are you sure Marcus won't find out?””
I froze.
I recognized that voice.
It belonged to Daniel.
My business partner.
The man who had recommended Vanessa to me years ago.
The man who had attended our wedding.
The man who had stood beside me when I bought the house.
And the man who had been telling me for months that everything at home was perfectly fine.
Maya looked at me.
“Dad, why was Mr. Daniel in our garage?””
I couldn't answer.
Because the recording had just revealed something far worse than a stolen invention.
May you like
My business partner had been involved.
And I had no idea how deep it went.
