Chapter 58 The Backup Plan
Lara's pov
The meeting was in a small office that was nowhere near the city center.
No glass walls. No signs. Just a plain door and a man who didn’t smile much.
The private investigator sat across from me. He was older than I thought he’d be. Gray hair. Calm eyes. A thick file sat on the table between us.
Damien sat beside me, quiet.
“This wasn’t random,” the PI said.
His voice was low and steady, like he was talking about the weather, not a man who’d tried to ruin my life.
“Lucas Ward had this planned well before his coma.”
My hands gripped the edge of the chair.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
The PI opened the file.
—
“Before the accident,” he said, “Lucas moved money quietly. Not all at once. Small amounts. Spread across different places.”
He pushed the papers toward me.
“These are legal documents. Or they look legal.”
I looked at the papers quickly, but my mind was having trouble keeping up.
“What kind of documents?” Damien asked.
“Foundations. Charities. Trusts,” the PI replied. “All created under clean names. Helping children. Medical aid. Disaster relief.”
“They’re fake?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “They exist on paper. Some even have offices. But the work? The help? It never happened.”
I was getting queasy.
“So he used charity to hide money,” Damien said.
“Exactly.”
\---
The PI flipped to another section.
“These charities were set up with emergency clauses,” he continued. “If Lucas became ‘unable to manage his affairs,’ control would shift.”
“To who?” I asked.
The PI looked at me carefully.
“To Veronica Ward.”
The room seemed to get smaller.
“She had access?” I asked.
“She still does,” he said.
I leaned back in my seat, my heart racing.
“So even when he was in a coma…”
“He was still in control,” the PI finished.
\---
Damien cursed under his breath.
“How much money?” he asked.
The PI didn’t answer right away.
He slid one last page forward.
Numbers.
Too many zeros.
“Enough to hire people,” he said. “Enough to disappear someone. Enough to fight a long legal battle.”
I stared at the paper.
“This was the backup plan,” I said quietly.
“Yes,” the PI answered. “If Lucas lost power, reputation, or freedom—this money was meant to protect him.”
“Or attack,” Damien added.
The PI nodded.
\---
I felt cold.
“So the bail,” I said slowly. “The lawyers. The silence.”
“All paid from these accounts,” the PI answered.
“And the police didn’t see it?” I asked.
“They were hidden well,” he said. “Offshore layers. Shell companies. It was designed to survive.”
Designed to survive us.
—
I shut my eyes for a moment.
All this time, I thought we were close to the end.
I was wrong.
“This means it’s not over,” I said.
“No,” the PI said. “It’s just longer.”
I opened my eyes.
“And Veronica knows where everything is,” I said.
“Yes.”
My hands began shaking.
“She’s not just protecting him,” I said. “She’s continuing his work.”
The PI did not argue.
\---
Damien leaned forward.
“Can we freeze the accounts?” he said.
“Eventually,” the PI said. “But it will take time. And pressure.”
“Pressure how?”
“Proof. Leaks. Cooperation from insiders.”
My chest tightened.
“And until then?” I said.
“Until then,” the PI said, “they have resources.”
Resources.
Power.
Time.
\---
The meeting ended quietly.
No dramatic moment. No loud words.
Just facts.
Cold ones.
During our way home, the outside was as exactly as I remembered it . People are walking along the road side, while cars are passing by. And honestly, nothing seems too special again, I was far away from it.
" I thought this is ending already, that we are winning, I said it after awhile.
Damien focused on his driving but still talk to me.
"We are still winning in our own ways, "We are just not winning the way we think we would."
"No, I said. We shall fight the front door."
Damien looked at me . There's back door. "I said quietly and Lucas built that door himself."
When we got home, Ethan had sleep. I thought of everything, false intentions, clean paper and the likes. I thought of a man who planned his downfall and mak sure it wasn't going to take his life.
Damien stood up and joined me.
“You’re thinking too much.”
“I’m thinking clearly.”
He looked at me, studying my face.
“What are you afraid of?”
I did not answer right away.
“I’m afraid,” I said, speaking slowly, “that we’re playing by rules they don’t respect.”
Damien did not deny it.
“And I’m afraid,” I said, speaking slowly, “that waiting will cost us more than acting.”
Silence fell between us.
“This is a long war.”
Damien nodded once.
“Yes.”
I looked out into the hallway, towards Ethan's room.
“They prepared for this,” I said. “For prison. For exposure. For loss.”
Damien's voice was low.
“And now?”
“Now,” I said, speaking firmly, “we prepare too.”
\---
I stood up.
Fear was there, yes. But it was not in control.
If Lucas had a backup plan, then so would I.
And mine would not be hidden in the shadows.
It would be built in the open.