Chapter 137

Chapter 137

By the time Sawyer arrived at the apartment, Vivienne had already spread photocopies of Allegra's interrogation transcript across the entire coffee table.

Sabrina had rushed over in the middle of the night as well. She sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a few pages and reading them over and over.

"You said on the phone you know what Gavin's real goal is?" Sawyer quickly changed into slippers and came inside, sitting down across from Vivienne. "Let's hear it."

Vivienne picked out three pages from the coffee table and laid them in front of Sawyer one by one.

The first was Allegra's statement about materials being swapped in the East Suburb project. The second was her admission that Gavin had sent people to destroy Novagraph's servers. The third was her testimony that Gavin had targeted the Carnegie Group even before returning from overseas.

"These three statements—if you look at them individually, each one is just deflecting blame." Vivienne said. "But if you string them together, the timeline looks like this: After Gavin met Allegra overseas and learned about her relationship with Archibald, he pretended to let her off the hook. He had her return home, get close to Archibald, help destroy me—all so she could establish a foothold beside Archibald. The East Suburb project seemed like Allegra's scheme to consolidate her position and embezzle money by persuading Archibald. But in reality, Gavin likely pushed that project in front of her himself."

"You're saying he was actually after the Carnegie Group?" Sawyer looked surprised.

"Yes." Vivienne nodded with certainty. "Otherwise, how could someone like Allegra get her hands on information for such a major project? Once Allegra took the bait, Gavin tampered with the materials, turning the project into a ticking time bomb. Meanwhile, when Allegra couldn't deal with me, she turned to Gavin for help. He seized the opportunity. He sent people to destroy Novagraph's servers, cutting off my evidence chain so I could never clear my name."

Vivienne looked up at Sawyer. "Destroying Novagraph's data wasn't just to cover up Allegra's plagiarism. It was to pin me to the pillar of shame permanently. Because as long as I couldn't clear my name, Archibald would be too consumed by my situation to look into the East Suburb project's accounts. Once the project collapsed and Archibald went to prison, the Carnegie Group would be leaderless. That's when Gavin could swoop in and swallow all of the Carnegie Group's domestic assets in one bite."

Sabrina gasped sharply. "So from the very beginning, his target wasn't Allegra at all—it was the Carnegie Group."

"Allegra was just a stepping stone he used to get close to Archibald." Vivienne's voice turned cold. "The more useful she was, the easier it was for him to pry open the Carnegie Group's doors."

Sabrina was instantly furious. Sawyer, meanwhile, silently reread those three pages on the coffee table.

"What you just said—Allegra's testimony can only provide leads, not direct evidence. But if we can find the owner of Novagraph and get him to testify, that changes everything."

With that, Sawyer pulled a file folder from his briefcase, drew out several photos, and laid them one by one in front of Vivienne.

The photos showed a middle-aged man, around fifty, so thin his cheekbones jutted out sharply. His eyes were sunken. He wore a wrinkled shirt and sat on a crude iron-frame bed. Through the window behind him, tropical plant leaves were faintly visible. It didn't look like anywhere domestic.

"Who is this?" Vivienne asked.

"Novagraph's owner, Vance Guise." Sawyer tapped the photo.

Vivienne picked up one of the photos and studied it closely, her brow furrowing. "Where is he now?"

"Veiled Isle." Sawyer pulled a printed electronic map from the bottom of the folder. A small island was circled in red pen. "Gavin registered a shell company there—supposedly for agricultural trade. In reality, he has a private villa on that island. My people confirmed through local contacts that the villa is under guard. No outsiders allowed. Vance has been locked up there for months. Gavin kept him alive not out of mercy, but so he could pin the server destruction on him when necessary."

"Can we bring him back?" Vivienne asked.

"We're already working through the channels." Sawyer said. "I contacted the local embassy and police through Ryder, filing for cross-border rescue on grounds of kidnapping and illegal detention. Vance is a domestic citizen and has no stake in the East Suburb project. Gavin has no legal grounds to detain him. Once local police get involved, Gavin won't have a choice but to release him. If we're lucky, we can bring Vance back in as little as three days."

Sabrina jumped off the sofa in excitement. "Then we'll have a witness for the plagiarism case! By holding him captive, Gavin actually left us a living witness!"

Sawyer nodded and tucked the photos and map back into the folder.

Then he looked up, his gaze heavy as it rested on Vivienne. "But... Gavin will find out soon that he's been implicated. Once he realizes Vance is slipping out of his control, he'll make a move. Ms. Branpia, until Vance returns to testify, your safety is the top priority."

"I know." Vivienne nodded. "Just have the police arrest Gavin as soon as possible."

Sawyer was about to respond when his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, his brow furrowing slightly. He answered, stood, and walked to the window, speaking in low tones.

Less than a minute later, Sawyer hung up. When he turned around, his expression had darkened.

"Gavin's disappeared."

The pillow Sabrina had just picked up dropped to the floor with a soft thud.

"After Allegra's statement came out, the police immediately applied for an arrest warrant for Gavin. But when they arrived at his office, it was empty. His personal phone signal's been cut. All the cars registered under his name are still in the underground garage. His passport and ID are sitting in his desk drawer. But the man himself is gone."

Sawyer paused, then looked directly at Vivienne, his tone grave.

"He didn't take his documents, which means he hasn't left the country yet. But he also didn't take a car, which means he's moving under a different identity. Ms. Branpia, from this moment on, do not go anywhere alone."