Chapter 90 Joint Investigation

Chapter 90 Joint Investigation

The next morning.

When Wilder parked his car in front of the Green Villa, his fingers lingered on the steering wheel for a long time.

A manila envelope sat on the passenger seat, containing the results of a three-month investigation he'd commissioned—records of all dealings between Calista and the Peterson family.



Pushing open the living room door, he found Bodhi sitting in his wheelchair, reading the financial section of the newspaper.

Sunlight fell across his white hair, making him look even more aged than their last meeting.

"Dad."

Wilder placed the envelope on the coffee table, his voice tight.

Bodhi set down the newspaper and glanced at the envelope, his expression unchanged.

"You found something?"

"Yeah."

Wilder nodded, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

"During the Green Group crisis four years ago, Mom didn't just drain the company accounts. She secretly fed inside information to the Peterson family three times—all about our funding gaps and bank loan approval progress."

He paused, pulling out a phone record from the envelope.

"This shows her using a burner phone to contact Noah's assistant. The timing was exactly one week before the Peterson family swooped in with three hundred million for shares and that marriage contract."

Bodhi took the document, his finger tracing over the dense rows of numbers.

He suddenly laughed—a sound filled with exhaustion and bitter irony.

"I always wondered why their timing was so damn perfect. The Peterson family acted like they knew exactly when we'd break. Turns out we had a mole in our own house."

"Dad."

Wilder's voice dropped.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"This isn't on you."

Bodhi cut him off, pushing the documents back toward him.

"You're my son, which makes you part of the Green family."

"What Calista did stopped being our business the moment she chose to betray us."

"She's in prison now because of the choices she made."

Wilder looked at Bodhi's calm profile, feeling even worse inside.

He remembered how, as a kid, Calista would hold Katya close while only showing him impatient scolding.

He remembered Katya saying before she left for overseas that he was "too rigid, would never amount to anything, and would eventually destroy himself."

Wilder couldn't help but laugh bitterly at himself.

Blood ties—sometimes they really were thinner than paper.

"Dad, I actually went back and forth on whether to tell you this."

Wilder said quietly.

"After all... she is my mother."

"But you brought it anyway."

Bodhi looked at him, his eyes warming slightly.

"Wilder, remember this—doing what's right will always matter more than hollow family loyalty."

"That's also why Charles trusts you."

Wilder remembered what Charles had said when handing over part of the company operations.

"Wilder, I trust you won't turn out like Calista."

He hadn't responded then, only vowing silently that he'd never let anyone destroy the Green family.

"Should we show this evidence to Charles?"

Wilder asked.

"Not yet."

Bodhi shook his head.

"He needs to focus on recovering and winning back Olivia right now."

"When he's back on his feet, we'll talk."

He paused, his expression darkening.

"But this does make me think—for the Peterson family to have dug such deep roots in Harmony City, there's gotta be more than just Noah's schemes. Calista might know other things."

Wilder's interest sparked.

"You mean... we could get more out of Mom?"

"It won't be easy."

Bodhi sighed.

"Calista's stubborn as hell. She didn't crack even when they first arrested her."

"But it's worth a shot, especially since life inside probably isn't treating her too well."

The two fell silent for a moment, only the wall clock's ticking filling the living room.

"Oh, right."

Wilder suddenly remembered something.

"I got results on those shipping container numbers Charles asked me to trace."

"That shipment came through a shell company registered under one of Noah's relatives. They dissolved it just last month."

"Dissolved?"

Bodhi raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like they caught wind of something."

He looked at Wilder.

"Tell Charles to watch his back. When the Peterson family gets desperate, they might pull something crazy."

Wilder nodded and stood to leave, but Bodhi called him back.

"Wilder."

Bodhi looked at him. "Does Katya ever call from overseas?"

Wilder paused, then shook his head.

"No. When she left, she said she'd never come back to Harmony City."

Bodhi said nothing, just waved him away.

Walking out of the Green Villa, Wilder looked back at the familiar house and suddenly felt empty inside.

He pulled out his phone and sent Charles a text.

"Told Dad about Mom and the Peterson family. Don't sweat it."

"The dock lead went cold, but I'll keep digging."

In the hospital room, Charles saw the message while Olivia was organizing files on his bedside table.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up.

"Nothing major."

Charles set down his phone and took her hand.

"Wilder found some stuff related to Calista."

Olivia thought of Calista, whom she'd only seen in news reports—Charles's stepmother and the one who'd nearly destroyed the Green Group.

"She's still connected to the Peterson family?"

"Yeah."

Charles nodded.

"She was in on the crisis four years ago."

Olivia fell silent.

The Green family's past was turning out more complicated than she'd imagined.

"Don't worry about it—it's all water under the bridge. What we need to focus on now is following the leads we've got."

Seeing Olivia's worried expression, Charles reassured her.

He looked toward the window where sunlight streamed in.

"How's the data recovery going on Mia's old phone?"

"The tech team says they need two more days."

Olivia said.

"I hope we find something useful."

Charles smiled.

"We will."

He knew that while Wilder's news seemed like bad news, it had actually ripped open a crucial opening.

Now they knew about Calista's connection to the Peterson family.

It might just be the thread leading to that missing piece of evidence.

This tangled mess involving so many people was finally ready for a complete reckoning.

However, with Mia's phone data recovery still in progress, the investigation into Noah had to be put on the back burner.

Olivia refocused on her studio work.

Out of nowhere, the cultural center project partners proposed resource integration—they wanted her studio to team up with Selene's company on the design!

Olivia's team would handle the core creative design.

Selene's company would handle the supporting facilities.

This "coincidental" partnership forced Olivia and Selene into constant meetings.

At the first project coordination meeting, Selene immediately claimed the power position, sitting in the head chair with her legs crossed, dismissing Olivia's team's proposals.

"Ms. Smith's ideas are way too idealistic. You'll need to run everything by our team during implementation."

Olivia didn't take the bait, simply opening her notebook.

"Regarding the utility layout for supporting facilities, we've prepared three backup plans. The second version could cut construction time by 30%. Want to take a look first, Ms. Peterson?"

Selene glanced over and saw the proposal was detailed down to load-bearing wall positions that her own team hadn't even thought of. Her expression soured, but she could only say stiffly.

"We'll table it for now. Our team will look it over."