Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Sawyer fell silent for a second.

"The Carnegie Group. Both the legal representative and project lead are Archibald. Last night, the police took him from the entrance of the Branpia Villa. He's currently in custody. The prosecutor's office has filed charges for major negligent accident."

Vivienne froze.

Sunlight from the window fell across her face, exposing the fleeting complexity in her eyes.

Sawyer continued, "Preliminary investigation shows the accident was caused by substandard building materials leading to structural instability. This project was brought in half a year ago when Allegra was acting as consultant—she brokered the deal. From selecting the construction company to setting procurement standards, she was involved in every step. Archibald signed off on it, but fundamentally, Allegra was running the show."

Vivienne stayed quiet for a long time.

Late at night, she'd wondered if Archibald would ever face consequences.

She just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Or like this.

"What about Holden?" Vivienne asked.

"Mrs. Elowen Carnegie picked him up."

Vivienne fell silent again before responding, "Okay. Got it."

"There's one more thing." Sawyer paused, his voice dropping lower. "Ryder just contacted me. He said Archibald instructed him to help me handle your case—to solidify the evidence chain against Allegra. He also said if you need anything, tell Ryder directly. He'll cooperate fully."

Vivienne's lashes trembled.

"He's been arrested, and he's still sending Ryder to help me?" Disbelief colored her tone.

"Yes." Sawyer confirmed. "Ryder said Archibald gave the order face-to-face in the interrogation room. Very insistent."

Vivienne went quiet for a long time.

She looked down at the sketchbook resting on her knees, and suddenly remembered that day—looking down from the second-floor window at Archibald kneeling on the stone steps.

His temples had gone white. His knees were so stiff he couldn't bend them properly. He'd had to brace himself against the wall just to stand.

At the time, she'd thought: 'If only you'd known this day would come.'

She still felt the same way now.

"Ms. Branpia?" Sawyer's voice came through the phone. "What should I tell Ryder?"

Vivienne snapped back to the present and took a deep breath.

"Let him join in," she said. "Ryder knows Allegra and the internal workings of the Carnegie Group better than anyone. He must have leads we can't dig up on our own. If Archibald's willing to send him over, we'd be foolish not to use him."

"Understood." Sawyer acknowledged.

After hanging up, Vivienne picked up her pen again but suddenly lost all interest in continuing the sketch.

After a moment, she sighed, called Sabrina, and arranged to meet at the park.

Vivienne slowly got up, changed her clothes, and came to the mirror. That's when she noticed the small sunflower pinned to her chest.

Only then did Vivienne remember—Archibald had bought her this maternity pin when she'd just gotten pregnant with Holden.

He'd said if she wore it, people would know she was pregnant. They'd be careful not to bump into her. If something went wrong, they could help her.

She remembered laughing and asking him, "Once I'm further along and showing, won't I not need it anymore?"

But Archibald had said, "That's why I chose a sunflower design. Even when you don't need it anymore, it can still be decorative."

He'd said, "You and the baby—you'll both be like this sunflower. Growing toward the sun."

What a shame.

There never was a 'later.'

Vivienne collected herself and left.

After Ryder contacted Sawyer, he went straight to see him.

The door to the law office was open.

When Ryder walked in, Sawyer was sitting behind his desk with thick stacks of case files spread out in front of him—all materials related to Vivienne's case. He was holding his phone, talking to someone.

Sawyer glanced up, saw Ryder standing in the doorway, and said into the phone, "Keep digging. Contact me if you find anything," then hung up and stood.

"Mr. Adams." Sawyer nodded at him.

"Mr. Martinez." Ryder gave a slight nod and walked into the office, sitting down across from Sawyer.

"Mr. Carnegie sent me." Ryder got straight to the point. "He said you're short-handed and asked me to lend a hand. Organizing the evidence chain for Mrs. Carnegie's case, establishing the copyright infringement at Dreamscape Studio—I can help with all of it."

Sawyer leaned back in his chair, studying him for a few seconds before speaking. "Mr. Adams, before we discuss the case, I have a question. Are you here voluntarily, or are you following orders?"

Ryder paused briefly. "I'm the legal counsel for the Carnegie Group. I have to follow Mr. Carnegie's instructions. But I've never been anything less than committed to Mrs. Carnegie's case."

"Being uncommitted is one thing. Mistrust is another." Sawyer said. "Mr. Adams, what you said to Mr. Carnegie in that interrogation room—I think we need to address it face-to-face."

Ryder's expression shifted slightly.

He knew exactly what Sawyer was referring to.

If Sawyer had managed to extract that information, it meant Sawyer's intelligence network was far more extensive than he'd imagined.

Ryder wasn't even sure if someone on his end had leaked it, or if Sawyer had contacts inside the police department.

Either way, the information was out. No point hiding it now.

"The night of the accident, the city bureau's task force arrived on scene within an hour of receiving the tip." Ryder pulled a timeline chart from his briefcase and slid it across to Sawyer. "Under normal procedures, a report of this magnitude would take at least half a day to reach the city bureau. Someone leaked the information early—and not through a regular emergency line. They used the task force's direct channel. That means the informant wasn't just well-informed. They had serious connections."

He looked up, meeting Sawyer's eyes. "The project where the accident happened was spearheaded by Allegra during her time as consultant. Once this case goes public, Allegra's reputation is finished. Mrs. Carnegie's current strategy involves leveraging public opinion—her anonymous account has already started posting her work, and the initial traffic response has been excellent. If news breaks now about Allegra's involvement in this failed project, and both stories blow up simultaneously, the public reaction will double."

He paused. "So my theory is, the informant might be someone on Mrs. Carnegie's side."

Sawyer waited until Ryder finished speaking before responding slowly. "Mr. Adams, let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"How many years has it been since Mrs. Carnegie had any involvement in the Carnegie Group's operations?"