All Chapters of A Fallen Mechanic, a Missing Button, a Lie: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

My adoptive father's casket wasn't even closed yet when the Walton family arrived.The black Bentley stopped at the edge of the village, splashing mud onto the funeral wreaths.I knelt before the casket, lighting candles. The flame licked my fingertips—it hurt, but I didn't pull my hand away.The man lying in the casket was Claude Bolton. Not only was he someone who had spent his whole life repairing electric scooters, but he was also the one who had taken me home from the entrance of the welfare home.The day before he died, he sent me a voice message."Ada, I'm going to the university to get your things back for you."The next day, he fell from the university administration building.The university said he had been emotionally agitated.The Walton family said that after his attempt to blackmail them failed, he jumped from the building out of shame and anger.However, Dad was afraid of heights. When the roller shutter of his repair shop broke, he would rather wait for the nei

Chapter 2

The cardboard box bore Dad's handwriting on top. "For Ada's eyes."His penmanship was never good, but those three words were written better than anything he had ever penned.I sliced through the tape.Matthew reached out to stop me."Now isn't the time to go through his belongings."I looked up at him and asked, "Then when is? After I sign the statement of forgiveness?"I opened the box. Inside lay an old phone with a cracked screen, a black pouch, a stack of handwritten documents, and the set of keys Dad had always carried with him.The edges of the phone were stained with dried blood.I pressed the power button, but the screen stayed black.The man in coveralls said quietly, "The battery's dead. Mr. Bolton came to the repair shop the day before he died. He said if he didn't make it back, we were to give this to you."My fingers tightened little by little around the phone.Dad was afraid something would go wrong, but he went anyway. It was because he had once said, "Ada,

Chapter 3

The Walton family's villa was enormous—so enormous that standing in the middle of the living room, I felt like a speck of dust swept in through the door.A family portrait hung on the wall. Joseph, Lorna, Matthew, and Gwen were smiling in perfect unison.Beside it, a glass cabinet was filled with Gwen's trophies. At the very top sat the first-place award for the statewide Innovation Project.The project title read "A Study on the Assistance Mechanism for Accidental Injuries Among Urban Marginalized Laborers"."Ada, do you like this project too?" Gwen asked softly."I know it well. After all, it's mine," I replied.The living room fell silent in an instant.Gwen's eyes reddened."Ada, I admit I referenced your interviews at the very beginning. But the subsequent analysis and defense were all done by me."Matthew slammed his glass down on the table."Do you know how many all-nighters Gwen pulled for this project?"I looked at him. "The injury cases in her defense were real mat

Chapter 4

The next morning, I wore my mourning clothes to the university.The Walton family had prepared a brightly colored dress for me, and Lorna personally handed it to me."Ada, today is a special occasion—don't dress like you're here to collect a debt."I looked down at my black dress and said, "I am here to collect a debt."Matthew turned around from the front seat, staring at me coldly."If this doesn't get settled today, don't expect Claude to be buried in peace."Gwen was seated beside Lorna. She hadn't put on any makeup today, and her eyes were as red as if she had cried all night.When she saw me looking at her, she immediately lowered her head."Ada, I'm sorry. It's all my fault."No one in the car responded to her because everyone knew those words weren't meant for me. Instead, they were meant for them.The hearing was held on the third floor of the administration building.The moment I got out of the car, I saw Gwen's photo plastered right in the center of the display bo

Chapter 5

Lorna didn't answer. She gripped the edge of the table, her fingers trembling violently.Joseph was the first to recover."Officers, there must be some misunderstanding. My wife was with me all day yesterday. That button could be a coincidence."Gwen immediately nodded through her tears."Yes, it's just a coincidence. Ada, you can't throw mud at Mom just because you hate me."I turned to her and asked, "I haven't even said anything yet, so why are you so nervous?"Matthew stepped in front of Lorna and said, "You want to slander your own mother with a single button? Do you even have a heart?"I looked at him. "When all of you slandered Dad as a blackmailer, did you ask yourselves if you had a heart?"The officers didn't listen to their squabbling. Instead, they confirmed my identity and notified the funeral home to suspend the cremation.Joseph's expression turned ice-cold."The cremation paperwork is legal. A family member signed off on it."The officer turned to me and aske

Chapter 6

The Walton family struck back on the third day.Posts started surfacing all over the internet."Mechanic's adopted daughter turns on her biological parents in a fight over the family's vast fortune.""Gwen is the real victim here.""Was Claude really innocent?"The posts came with photos.One showed Dad sitting by the side of the road, drinking something with his head down. The caption said he was an alcoholic.Another showed Dad outside the university office, visibly emotional. The caption said he was making a scene.There was also a photo of me standing in the funeral hall, facing off against the Walton family. The caption said I was cold-blooded and wouldn't even acknowledge my own biological mother.Ms. Kramer was so furious that she slammed her phone on the table."Those bastards! Claude was allergic to alcohol—he was actually drinking an energy drink! And he's not the type to make a scene!"I didn't cry or curse.Instead, I turned on my laptop and logged into Dad's sh

Chapter 7

What truly made the Walton family panic was the black pouch Dad had left behind. I had found it while sorting through the cardboard box.Inside the pouch was an uncashed check for 500 thousand dollars. The issuer was Joseph's personal secretary, and the date was from a month ago.On the back of the check was Dad's handwriting."Ada is not merchandise. I won't sell her. And I won't let her be abandoned a second time."My hand froze, and for a long time it didn't move.There was also a copy of the paternity test in the pouch. The bottom right corner was missing.After comparing it, the police told me that the missing piece matched the bloodstained paper found at the funeral home perfectly.So, the Walton family had known a month ago. Yet, instead of coming for me, they had gone to Dad first.There was also a voice recorder in the pouch. I pressed play, and the voice of Joseph's secretary, Jamie Payne, came through."Mr. Bolton, Mr. Walton's position is very simple. For the time

Chapter 8

The full rooftop footage was recovered by a technician from the repair shop.The university had initially claimed that camera had been broken for half a month. However, two days before Dad died, he had helped them fix the backup wiring.He had even posted a photo in the repair shop group chat."Not bad for an old mechanic, huh?"That was the last message he ever sent in that group.The police re-extracted the data.Even though the footage was grainy, it was clear enough to show four people on the rooftop that day—Gwen, Matthew, Lorna, and Dad.Dad was standing far from the railing. He was too afraid to go near the edge, but Matthew was shoving him toward it."You old geezer, a simple apology video and it would've been over. Did you have to drag Gwen down with you?"Dad shook his head desperately."I'm not doing it. I didn't blackmail anyone. You have to give back what belongs to Ada."Lorna was standing to the side the whole time.Then Dad turned to her and said, "Mrs. Walt

Chapter 9

It rained on the day of the trial.I brought a photo of Dad to the courthouse.It was taken last year. He was sitting at the entrance of his repair shop with a wrench in his hand, smiling a little awkwardly.The trial went on for hours.The prosecutor read out the evidence one by one."Gwen Walton committed academic misconduct, fabricated Claude Bolton's blackmail chat records, and participated in coercing him into filming an apology video. After the incident, she assisted in deleting relevant surveillance footage."Matthew Walton threatened, dragged, and shoved Claude Bolton. After the incident, he took the deceased's phone and falsified the cause of death."Lorna Pollard arrived at the scene to apply pressure, participated in destroying evidence, and forged a signature on cremation authorization papers."Joseph Walton arranged for a lawyer and a funeral home to intervene in an attempt to cremate the body and obstruct the investigation."With each charge read aloud, the Walto

Chapter 10

After the trial was over, I went back to the repair shop.Many people told me to leave. They said the shop was too small, too old, and too hard a life. Some also said that the Waltons might be rotten, but at least they were rich.I didn't listen to any of them.I repainted the roller shutter. The sign still read "Claude's Repair Shop". But underneath, I added "Ordinary people deserve to have their roads paved too."At first, I didn't know how to fix electric scooters. Heck, I couldn't even patch a tire properly.Ms. Kramer would stand beside me and laugh. "If Claude saw this, he'd wake up in the middle of the night, furious."I laughed too. "Good. Let him wake up and teach me."The mechanics from the other repair shops took turns coming to help me. They said Dad had helped them before, so now it was their turn to return the favor.In time, I learned how to patch tires, adjust brakes, and change batteries for electric scooters.I got blisters on my hands. They broke and scabbed

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