Naomi smiled.
"Because the Chinese wording is unnatural."
Emily nodded slowly.
"She's right."
Richard looked at Emily.
"You're sure?"
Emily turned toward him.
"Yes."
Mr. Chen asked Naomi another question.
She answered immediately.
Then another.
And another.
The conversation became increasingly technical.
Naomi discussed financing.
Construction liabilities.
Ownership structures.
Foreign investment rules.
She didn't simply speak Mandarin.
She understood the business language behind it.
At exactly ten minutes, Mr. Chen stood.
Everyone expected him to congratulate Naomi.
Instead, he bowed slightly.
"Thank you."
Naomi stood.
"You're welcome."
Mr. Chen turned to Richard.
"I would like to postpone signing."
Richard's face went pale.
"What?"
"I want an independent review of the documents."
Richard stood.
"That's unnecessary."
Mr. Chen shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward Naomi.
"I think she may have just saved us from a very expensive mistake."
Silence.
Richard looked at Naomi.
The $100,000 bet had disappeared from everyone's mind.
There was something more important now.
The contract.
The investors.
And the possibility that someone had deliberately created two different versions.
Richard turned to Naomi.
"Where did you learn to read contracts?"
Naomi didn't answer immediately.
"My mother taught me."
"Your mother was a lawyer?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Naomi looked at him.
"She worked in accounting."
Richard frowned.
"What was her name?"
Naomi's expression changed.
"Sarah Carter."
One of the investors suddenly looked up.
Mr. Chen stared at her.
"Sarah Carter?"
Naomi nodded.
"You knew her?"
Mr. Chen looked shocked.
"Your mother worked on the original Harbor Point project."
Naomi froze.
"What?"
Richard stepped forward.
"That's impossible."
Mr. Chen ignored him.
"Your mother was one of the accountants who reviewed the original development proposal twenty years ago."
Naomi's heart began beating faster.
She had never heard this story.
Her mother had always said she worked in restaurants.
She had never mentioned Harbor Point.
Never mentioned investors.
Never mentioned Richard Coleman.
Naomi looked at Richard.
He was no longer smiling.
She knew then that the $100,000 challenge had been the least important thing that happened that evening.
The real story had just begun.
The Name Her Mother Tried to Forget
Naomi went home that night unable to sleep.
Her mother's name kept repeating in her mind.
Sarah Carter.
Harbor Point.
Richard Coleman.
She opened an old wooden box that had belonged to her mother.
Inside were photographs.
Receipts.
A few letters.
A wedding ring.
And several documents Naomi had never examined carefully.
She spread them across the kitchen table.
At the bottom of the box, she found an envelope.
Her name was written on it.
Naomi Carter.
She recognized her mother's handwriting.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
Inside was a letter.
"My daughter,
If you ever find this letter, I hope it means you are old enough to understand why I kept certain things from you.
There was a time when I believed truth was enough.
I was wrong.
Truth needs someone willing to protect it.
Twenty years ago, I worked on a project called Harbor Point.
I discovered that the investors were being given incomplete information.
Money was being moved between companies.
Contracts were being changed.
I reported it.
Nobody listened.
Then I was told to stay quiet.
When I refused, I lost my job.
I never wanted you involved.
I wanted you to have a normal life.
So I started over.
I worked in restaurants.
I raised you.
I taught you languages because I wanted you to have opportunities I never had.
If you ever meet Richard Coleman, remember this:
He is not the man he pretends to be.
Do not trust him."
Naomi stopped reading.
Her hands were shaking.
She continued.
"There is one thing I could never prove.
If you find the original Harbor Point documents, look for the blue ledger.
It contains the truth."
Naomi stared at the letter.
The blue ledger.
She searched the box.
Nothing.
She searched her mother's apartment storage.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something.
Her mother had once told her:
"Never throw away old books."
Naomi returned home.
She opened every old book.
Nothing.
Finally, she found an old accounting textbook.
The spine was unusually thick.
She opened it.
A small blue notebook fell onto the table.
Naomi stared at it.