“Caldwell Innovations didn’t start with Ethan’s brilliant business mind,” Julian said.

He slowed down as we entered Mrs. Ramirez’s neighborhood.

“And it didn’t start with Margaret’s inheritance either.”

Julian pulled his SUV into the driveway of the modest ranch-style house.

The dark sedan Mrs. Ramirez had mentioned was parked two houses down, its exhaust pipe blowing white smoke into the cold air.

“We need to get inside first,” Julian said, turning off the ignition.

He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small, encrypted flash drive.

“I have the original patent filings from ten years ago,” Julian whispered, holding the drive between his fingers.

“The ones with my signature on them before they locked me out.”

I stared at the small piece of metal, my mind racing.

“They framed you,” I said, the pieces beginning to fall into place.

“They framed me for embezzlement to invalidate my claim to the technology,” Julian said.

“And then they used my own designs to launch the first smart-grid system that made the company billions.”

Julian opened his door, the cold wind rushing into the cabin.