Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Ryder froze.

"Has she seen the Carnegie Group's financial statements? Does she know the contractors for the East Suburb project? Does she know which department's approval stamps were on that project?" Sawyer fired question after question.

"Does she know exactly which documents Allegra signed in the project? Does she know which supplier provided the building materials for that site?"

Ryder opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

"Mr. Adams, you've worked with Archibald for years. You know better than anyone how far Ms. Branpia has been from the Carnegie Group all this time." Sawyer leaned forward. "If she really had intimate knowledge of the Carnegie Group's internal operations, if she could find out about the project collapse in the first instant, if she could get a direct line to the municipal bureau's task force reporting channel, if she could leak the information before anyone else reacted—if she really had that kind of reach, would she have let Allegra bully her to that extent?"

Sawyer's final sentence landed like a slap across Ryder's face.

He stared at Sawyer blankly. After a long moment, he finally came back to himself.

Right. If Vivienne really had that kind of power and connections, how could she have been driven to the brink of ruin by a single plagiarism rumor from Allegra?

How could she have been locked in that apartment for an entire month without finding a single person who could open the door for her?

And how could she have spent so much time and effort, relying on Sabrina and Sawyer's help, just to barely turn the tide in the public opinion battle?

Someone truly close to the center of power wouldn't need to fight back this way.

Someone who actually held inside intelligence on the Carnegie Group wouldn't have waited until today to strike.

Ryder lowered his head.

He finally realized what a foolish mistake he'd made.

It wasn't that his logic was flawed—his entire premise was wrong from the start.

He'd imagined Vivienne as someone like Archibald.

Someone with resources, connections, information—someone who could strategize from the center of the chessboard.

But Vivienne wasn't that person.

She'd long since been pushed out of that center of power.

She'd been sidelined, ignored, neglected, imprisoned. She was the one who'd been shoved off the board.

Everything she was doing now wasn't strategic maneuvering. It was survival.

"It was my mistake." Ryder finally spoke. "I told Mr. Carnegie my theory in the interrogation room. He didn't believe it. I... I don't believe it anymore either."

Sawyer looked at him, silent for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled.

"Archibald didn't believe it?" Sawyer leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Turns out he knows his wife better than you do."

Ryder didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed quiet.

After a moment, he bent down, pulled another stack of documents from his briefcase, and placed them on the table. "Mr. Martinez, fill me in on the current progress. Where should I start taking over?"

Sawyer didn't hold a grudge. He smiled at Ryder, then turned serious and got down to business.

In the park on the east side of the city, autumn ginkgo leaves blanketed the walkways, crunching softly underfoot.

A flock of wild ducks paddled leisurely across the lake. Occasionally, someone would toss a piece of bread into the water, and the ducks would cluster together, flapping their wings in a scramble.

Vivienne and Sabrina sat side by side on a bench by the lake, each holding a cup of hot cocoa, gazing out at the water.

"So you still accepted Ryder's help?" Sabrina turned her head to look at Vivienne. "I thought you'd refuse."

"Why would I refuse?" Vivienne's tone was calm. "This new case involving the Carnegie Group can actually help me a lot. If we can dig up Allegra's old dirt along the way, even better."

Sabrina studied her for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled. "You sound so businesslike about it. I guess you really don't care about him anymore."

Vivienne didn't respond.

Sabrina's smile slowly faded.

She'd known Vivienne for too many years. She knew exactly what hid beneath that silence.

"Vivi, if you're upset, just say it." Sabrina's voice was gentle.

Vivienne was quiet for a moment. Then she shook her head lightly. "I'm not upset. I just think it's a shame."

"A shame about what?"

Vivienne lifted her head, her gaze traveling across the lake to the row of golden ginkgo trees on the opposite shore.

"He wasn't always like this." She finally spoke. "When I first met him, he'd just started his business. Every project, he went out and secured himself. He reviewed every contract personally. He looked at every blueprint himself. He verified every partner's credentials with his own eyes. Back then, he used to say that doing business was about people. If something went wrong at any stage, it was a human problem. He'd rather earn less money than cut corners on quality. I heard he didn't want to invest in that project at first."

Vivienne turned to look at Sabrina. "But Allegra kept going to him, crying and begging him to give her a chance. And he actually softened."

Vivienne let out a bitter laugh. "He always softens at the worst possible times."

Sabrina suddenly felt a heaviness settle in her chest.

She'd known Archibald for many years too.

She still remembered clearly what Archibald used to be like.

More than hate, what she felt was regret.

The kind of regret you feel watching someone brilliant slowly dim, even rot and decay.

"He used to never make low-level mistakes like this." Vivienne lowered her head. "What's happening to him now—he brought it on himself. But his abilities shouldn't have been buried this way. Thirty-two lives. A man who used to be so proud. All destroyed because he couldn't let go of old sentiments."

Sabrina squeezed her arm. "Vivi, don't think about it anymore."

Vivienne took a soft breath, slowly releasing the heavy air from her chest.

"I'm not feeling sorry for him." She turned to look at Sabrina. "I just can't understand how someone who used to be so good ended up like this."

Sabrina didn't know what to say. She didn't want to defend Archibald—she knew better than anyone what that man had done to Vivienne.

But she also didn't want to kick him while he was down right now.

She just squeezed Vivienne's hand, then suddenly stood up.

"Alright, enough of that." She brushed the ginkgo leaves off her pants and reached out her hand to Vivienne. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat. I know a new restaurant nearby that makes amazing shrimp. I bet those two little ones in your belly will love it too."

Vivienne smiled and gave her hand, letting Sabrina pull her up from the bench.

But before they reached the park entrance, Vivienne's steps suddenly stopped.

Sabrina followed her gaze and saw a small figure standing there, wearing a blue backpack, eyes red-rimmed, staring at Vivienne.

It was Holden.