Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 208 81% "We begin this morning with breaking developments out of São Paulo, Brazil," the anchor announced as footage of tents, banners, and shouting protesters filled the screen. "Local environmental and labor groups have launched demonstrations outside the Horvath Industries project site, demanding accountability following months of silence regarding the deaths of three workers who perished during the early excavation phase of the 'Green Shores Development' project." The camera panned to a woman holding a photograph of a young man in a hard hat.

"My brother died down there. The tunnel collapsed, and no one even told us why," she shouted, voice muted under the network's edit.

The banner beneath the screen read: HORVATH INDUSTRIES UNDER FIRE: FAMILIES DEMAND JUSTICE IN BRAZIL. "The company has yet to issue a statement. Environmental regulators have previously cited the project for violations, including failure to conduct proper geological assessments prior to digging. Laws regarding environmental safety and worker protections appear to have been bypassed through backdoor permissions," the anchor continued.

Izzy lowered the voluntil the screen went silent. She set the remote down beside her on the bed and glanced at Liam, who was still focused on his laptop across the room.

"You should be focusing on that," she said.

Liam didn't respond.

"I'm fine," she added. "You've seen the results. Bloodwork is good. No internal damage. The headaches are gone. I'm eating. I can sit up now without help." He looked up from the screen.

"Your company's bleeding and you're here babysitting me," she said, crossing her arms.

Liam closed the laptop slowly, then walked over to her side and sat on the edge of the bed. "The company will recover." "Really? Are you sure about that? Because those families seem pretty committed to burying you in court." He shrugged once.

"I'll deal with it." "When? After everything collapses?" He didn't answer right away.

Izzy pursed her lips and watched him closely. "You're not helpingby ignoring everything else." "I'm helping by making sure you don't end up in another hospital." "And I'm telling you I'm not made of glass. Go run your empire, Horvath. I'll still be here when you get back." Liam reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're not going anywhere." Izzy narrowed her eyes at him, then sighed and leaned back against the pillows.

The muted news played on in the background. Another protest sign flashed on the screen-CORRUPTION KILLS. JUSTICE FOR THE WORKERS.

However, after Izzy fell asleep, Liam silently left the room and immediately found Mondo outside.

1/4 81% Chapter 208 Liam stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. Mondo was already waiting by the railing with his phone in one hand and a folder tucked beneath the other.

"Well?" Liam asked.

Mondo didn't waste time. "The board's been circling since the Brazil story broke. Five members requested an emergency call-in within the next forty-eight hours." Liam didn't react. He just kept walking down the hallway, and Mondo followed. "They're pressing for clarity on the site's safety audits. One of them even suggested you hand off interim control to Martín Lefevre." Liam stopped. "Lefevre?" "Yes." "No." Mondo nodded like he expected it. "I already told them you'd address everything by the end of the week." "Good." 50 They resumed walking. Mondo flipped open the folder. "Also... the security team dug deeper. The tunnel collapse wasn't just negligence. There's a string of insurance policy manipulations on the Brazil site. Payouts were processed faster than usual- unusual velocity for that region. And then there's this." He handed Liam a printed email chain, redacted but not enough to miss the detail.

"The fund routing used a shell registered in Kaliningrad. One of the signatures matched a broker linked to two companies- one in Serbia, the other out of Moscow." Liam read the printout, then looked up. "Are you tellingwhoever's hitting us is Russian?" Mondo shook his head slightly. "We're not saying that definitively. But it's not clean. The team thought it was just a regulatory ambush at first-swatchdog stirring things up." "And now?" "Now, it looks more like someone's been prodding from behind the scenes. The payout trail's been bouncing between front companies. We only got this one because the third-party banking software had an older ledger entry that didn't get wiped." Liam looked down again at the nof the broker.

"It doesn't make sense. The workers in Brazil had no ties there. The collapse shouldn't have led to this much movement." "So what's the angle?" Liam asked.

"That's what we're figuring out. It's either leverage or sabotage. Either they want to gut the company from the inside or smear you bad enough that the shareholders revolt." Liam kept walking. "Start mapping out every active asset we have with external contractors. Cross-reference known shell exposure." Mondo nodded. "Already started. I'll send the first batch in the next hour." They reached the stairwell. Liam stopped again. "And what about internally?" "No signs yet. But if someone's feeding this, it's not low-level. Someone up top either knows... or sold us out." ors with 2/4 MIL, LIH 381%0 +50 Chapter 208 Liam's jaw locked. "Geteverything on the broker. I want names. I want movement. If someone's trying to bleed my company through international accounts, I'll find out who." Mondo nodded. "Understood." Liam turned toward the stairs. "And make sure Izzy doesn't hear a word of this." "She won't." Mondo said. "But if this gets any worse.." "It won't." "However "However what?" Liam asked.

"We found this..." Mondo said again, then pulled the tablet from under his arm and handed it over.

Liam took it and began scrolling.

Mondo gestured to the highlighted section. "That cin two hours ago. We traced a transaction-small, just under twenty thousand-but the origin was the sKaliningrad shell. Destination was a personal checking account in the U.S." Liam kept reading.

"The recipient's ndidn't raise alarms at first," Mondo continued. "No formal employment, no paper trail. But when we dug further turns twhen e out he lived two blocks from the driver who hit Madam's car.

Neighbors confirmed they knew each other.* Liam stopped walking. His thumb hovered over the screen. "So someone paid off someone close to the driver." "Exactly." "Timing?" "Thirty-four days before the crash." Liam turned the tablet sideways, expanding the image of the bank transaction. "Any surveillance?" "We pulled local CCTV from the gas station near the crash site. The guy showed up there five days before the accident. He was seen talking to the driver." Liam exhaled slowly through his nose and handed the tablet back. "Do we know where he is now?" "Left the country. Took a flight to Quebec two weeks ago. We're checking his immigration record now." "Get someone on the ground."

Mondo nodded. "Already reached out to our Canadian contact. We'll know within twenty-four hours." Liam glanded back toward the hallway leading to Izzy's room. "And no one else knows?" "No leaks. Everything's off-record. Even my own team doesn't know the driver's connection yet. Justan Liam nodded, his expression dark. "Keep it that way."