"Then can you at least tell me what's going on?" Wesley asked. "I need to be able to give everyone some kind of explanation on your behalf."
Winona shook her head. "I honestly have no idea."
Wesley just stared at her, speechless.
"I've been planning this project for five or six years," Winona continued, her voice strained. "Every tiny detail, every single data point—I gathered them all myself, through countless visits and field research. I never shared any of this information with anyone. Not even you."
"I know." Wesley nodded. "But think—has your computer ever been taken out for repairs? Or could someone have broken into your home and stolen your files at night?"
Winona looked up at him. "Wesley… You don't suspect me of stealing The Nicholson Group's plans. You really believe that the plans The Nicholson Group is using—are mine?"
"Of course!" Wesley replied without the slightest hesitation. "I don't doubt you for a second."
Winona's eyes stung with sudden emotion. "Thank you, Wesley."
"So what do we do now?" he asked quietly.
"The only time my designs were ever shown in public was at that conference in Florence," Winona said, thinking aloud. "I went to Italy right before I finalized the plans, just to make some last-minute tweaks. I remember realizing then that my designs were completely unique, even over there. So I came home."
"So someone in Italy must have stolen them?" Wesley asked.
"That's the only explanation I can think of."
But how did the designs get from Italy all the way into The Nicholson Group's hands?
What were the odds?
No matter how hard she tried, Winona couldn't wrap her mind around it.
Her head began to ache from thinking. She turned to Wesley. "Just trust me—even if they did steal my blueprints, it's almost impossible for anyone else to build it properly. I used a special joint structure passed down through the Perkins family for generations. Without me there to guide them in person, there's no way anyone could pull it off."
Wesley's eyes lit up. "So even if they do build it from your designs, the project will be unstable—unsafe?"


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