Chapter 118: Backer

Danika's POV

“She probably decided to cut corners somewhere during production without thinking about the long-term consequences. People like Victoria only care about immediate success and fast profit because they always assume they’ll escape before the damage catches up to them.”

Victoria wasn’t just greedy, she was also reckless. And reckless people destroyed lives without caring who got hurt in the process.

“Anyways,” Valeria continued while flipping toward another page in the file, “apart from Victoria herself, there are still four more people we need to locate immediately.”

I looked up at her instantly. “Four?”

She nodded once.

“Our former employees are the first two and the remaining two are senior workers currently connected to Victoria’s company itself. They’re both part of the CMC division and hold high-ranking positions inside the production structure.”

I frowned slightly. “CMC?”

“Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls,” Valeria clarified immediately. “That department oversees the consistency, testing, approval, and final production stages of pharmaceutical products before distribution. If anyone inside the company knows exactly where the mercury was introduced into the drugs, it would be people connected to that division.”

“And judging from your expression, I assume you already know where they are?”

Valeria gave a small nod the moment I finished speaking, and somehow that tiny movement alone immediately eased some of the pressure sitting heavily inside my chest because at this point, I was beginning to understand why Lysander trusted her so much with sensitive matters like this. The woman moved through investigations like she already knew where every missing piece was hidden before the rest of the world even realized something had gone wrong, and honestly, after spending only a short amount of time working with her, I was already starting to feel like my life had become significantly easier ever since she entered it.

“Yes,” she answered calmly while closing the folder in front of her and sliding it neatly beneath her arm again. “It took some time because they were careful enough not to stay anywhere connected to their legal identities, but we eventually tracked them down late last night. I even had to pull an all-nighter.”

I immediately pushed my chair back and stood to my feet without hesitation because the longer we delayed, the higher the chance these people would disappear again before we got answers from them. “Then let’s go immediately,” I said firmly while grabbing my coat from the back of the chair and heading toward the office door. “I don’t want to give any of them enough time to panic and run.”

Valeria nodded once before following behind me smoothly, and within minutes we were already leaving the company surrounded by several armed men from Lysander’s private security team who had apparently been waiting downstairs for instructions the entire time. The ride itself was quiet, but my mind refused to calm down even for a second because every answer we uncovered somehow only led to more questions afterward.

Valeria drove personally, her attention fully focused on the road while the dark vehicle sped through the quieter parts of the city toward the outskirts near the harbor district. The farther we moved away from the business center, the rougher the surroundings became until eventually the expensive towers and crowded streets disappeared completely, replaced by older residential areas lined with narrow roads and aging buildings.

“It was honestly difficult locating them here,” Valeria admitted calmly while turning into a smaller side street hidden between several abandoned warehouses. “The property wasn’t purchased under either of their names, which means they clearly expected people would eventually start searching for them through financial records or public ownership documents. They probably assumed hiding somewhere like this would buy them enough time to disappear permanently.”

I glanced at her briefly before looking back out the window. “But they underestimated you.”

“That was their mistake.”

Honestly, she deserved the confidence. With how she handled everything in a few hours, I was beginning to think the woman could probably uncover government secrets if she felt motivated enough. At this point, she wasn’t just helping me solve the problem anymore. She was even solving me as well.

A few minutes later, the car finally slowed in front of an isolated property hidden behind tall metal gates and surrounded by overgrown trees that made the entire place look abandoned from the outside. The moment we stopped, the security men immediately stepped out of the vehicles behind us and began surrounding the house from every direction.

I stepped out beside Valeria while watching several guards move toward the back entrance and side windows simultaneously, making sure nobody inside had any chance of escaping unnoticed.

“They’re both still inside,” Valeria informed me quietly while adjusting the earpiece connected to her communication device. “Our surveillance team confirmed no movement since morning”

I nodded once before following her toward the entrance. The front door opened almost immediately after one of the guards unlocked it, and the moment we stepped inside, I blinked at the sight waiting for us.

The two men were already seated in separate chairs near the center of the room with terrified expressions on their faces while three of Lysander’s security men stood silently behind them like unmoving shadows. Neither of them looked calm enough to even attempt pretending innocence anymore because the second they saw us enter, panic immediately flashed across both their faces.

One of the men looked like he was moments away from fainting completely. I sat on one of the chairs in front of them, crossing my legs. I prepared my voice to ask them a few questions but before I could even ask a single question, he suddenly broke first.

“It was Victoria!” he blurted out desperately, “She was the one who ordered it! We told her it was dangerous! We warned her over and over again that adding those substances into the drugs could kill people eventually, but she refused to listen!”

The second man lowered his head shakily while gripping the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“She threatened our families,” he admitted quietly, his voice trembling badly. “She said if we refused to cooperate, she would destroy our lives completely. She knew where our wives lived, where our children went to school… she knew everything.”

The first man continued speaking, “We didn’t want this to happen!” he said desperately while tears gathered visibly in his eyes. “The mercury wasn’t supposed to stay in the final products at those levels. Victoria kept forcing changes during production because she wanted faster results from the medication trials and stronger customer reactions after intake. Every time we objected, she threatened us again. So…”

“So we had to do it. It wasn't our fault. We had nothing to do with this. It wasn't really our fault.” The second man whimpered, tears already rolling down his cheeks. “She… She also told us that if we didn't do things according to her orders, we would be making her backer very angry.”

“Her backer?” I raised an eyebrow, “Who is her backer?”

“President Lysander. He's the one who gave the fundings to create the company.”