Chapter 348: The Circle

When the scandal at EverBright Group broke out, there were already rumors that it involved members of the state legislature, and even whispers of ties to higher authorities.

As EverBright collapsed, those rumors gradually faded from the public eye. With the company finished, no one bothered to dig deeper.

While reviewing some documents, Mr. Truman keenly noticed a clear pattern—both EverBright Group and the later-troubled Liston Group had channeled benefits in the same direction.

This wasn’t unusual. In the Federation, a large company without a powerful political backer is an easy target.

Environmental or tax investigations might not destroy a company, but they create enough panic to shake confidence. For publicly listed firms, this can lead to stock crashes—fulfilling the goals of those seeking to damage valuations or stage hostile takeovers.

The problems at EverBright were exposed, but many clues and pieces of evidence had clearly been deliberately erased. That wasn’t a coincidence.

Most of those involved in EverBright’s scandal—at least those who had access to core information—were foreigners. They were either deported or left voluntarily. Asking them to return to face investigation was clearly futile.

After two days of digging, Mr. Truman identified a key figure—Gap.

Before EverBright’s downfall, Liston Group had close financial and business dealings with them, and one person was central to those dealings: Gap, Liston Group’s audit accountant.

At the time, Gap was deputy leader of the audit team. The team leader was a superior who held the position in name only and didn’t manage day-to-day work.

This meant Gap had access to crucial financial flow information within Liston. He undoubtedly knew things others didn’t.

Mr. Truman then dispatched someone early in the morning to look into Liston’s case. Since no one had tampered with it, it was easy to find Gap’s current status. But what left Truman both amused and resigned was that Lynch’s name appeared in the documents.

From the moment Lynch started out in Sabin City, he’d clashed with the Federal Tax Bureau and the FBI. Though things were later resolved, he remained on their radar.

The records showed that Gap had instructed his wife to hide critical evidence. The state prosecutor originally planned to indict her too, but due to Lynch’s intervention, the case against Vera was dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Sometimes fate works in strange ways—everything comes full circle.

“Wales,” Truman said, “that bastard I mentioned likely received benefits from EverBright and Liston over a period of time, though it seems to have stopped for some reason.”

“I can’t dig up anything more on EverBright, but I’ve found someone who could be very useful—Mr. Gap.”

“As the auditing accountant at Liston, he must be aware of where the money flowed. We might be able to get something out of him—you know what I mean.”

Lynch chuckled lightly. “Framing, setup, scapegoating—what else?”

Truman promptly cut him off. “I’m not joking. I don’t care how you do it, just get me something we can use.”

“I’m stuck in Eminence, and Wales is snapping at my heels. You’re in York State. I’ll send someone to assist you—you’ve got to help me.”

Lynch didn’t agree right away. Instead, he asked, “And how exactly do you want me to help?”

“Make the key person tell the truth.”

After the call ended, Lynch looked at the receiver in his hand. He felt both surprised and oddly unsurprised.

When the governor moved to bring down Liston Group, the company had put up no resistance. That had always struck Lynch as strange.

In the Federation, no major company—especially one that’s a local economic pillar—lacks ties to the upper echelons. And yet Liston crumbled with barely a fight.

Initially, Lynch thought they’d just been unlucky, or that the governor had unusually strong connections. But now it was clear: both Liston and EverBright had been tied to the same powerful benefactor. After the EverBright scandal, that patron had cut ties, leaving Liston vulnerable to the governor’s attack—with no pushback at all.

Without that association, it wouldn’t have been so easy for the governor to crush Liston.

Lynch couldn’t help but reflect on the irony—fate had a way of forcing things to come full circle. Those who escaped at first always ended up right back where they started.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the villa door. The newly appointed head of security from Blackstone Security opened it.

The door swung open quickly, and the guests were ushered into the living room. Still, both Lynch’s men and the two members of the Security Council were clearly on edge.

Lynch knew what was making them nervous, but chose not to intervene.

“Mr. Lynch,” one of them said, “under orders from our superiors, we’ll be taking directives from you until the operation is complete. Also…” As his hand reached into his pocket, Lynch’s bodyguards immediately gripped their weapons.

After a tense moment, the Security Council agent slowly pulled out an ID and placed it on the table. “Until this mission ends, you are officially a special consultant to the National Security Council. This is your documentation. Headquarters has already registered you.”

The moment that ID appeared, the tension in the room eased. Lynch picked it up and examined it.

There was a photo, though he had no idea when it was taken—perhaps lifted from a newspaper archive, as journalists often had a range of images of public figures.

The document included a serial number and a description of his new role.

Lynch handed it to his security chief. “Verify it.”

Two minutes later, the chief returned the ID. “Confirmed with the Eminence Security Council.”

Lynch nodded slightly, pocketed the ID, and rose from the sofa. He headed toward the bar. “Drink?”

He casually pulled out a bottle. “To our cooperation.”

Meanwhile, Gap was serving time in prison.

He’d been implicated in the Liston fraud case and convicted of concealing evidence, earning himself an eight-year sentence.

The investigation was ongoing, though the public was largely unaware of its developments. If new charges emerged, his sentence could increase.

To prevent external contact, he wasn’t being held in the Sabin City prison but had been transferred to another facility.

Though he was in prison, Gap had been relatively lucky. His cellmate wasn’t violent or depraved—he hadn’t beaten him or assaulted him. They got along peacefully and could hold civil conversations. In that sense, he had truly lucked out.

Gap was reading legal texts. He had decided to make use of his time in prison by doing something meaningful. His first step was to earn a legal qualification—maybe later he’d pursue something else.

In prison, inmates were allowed to register for nationally accredited qualification exams, including law and accounting certifications.

Legal credentials were particularly valuable. There were always inmates who believed they’d been wrongfully convicted and needed legal help but couldn’t afford the high cost of lawyers. If one of their fellow inmates happened to be a licensed attorney, they could pay in security or favors in exchange for assistance.

This was part of Gap’s plan. If he wanted to live comfortably inside, he needed to prove his worth.

Just then, his cellmate returned.

Gap noticed the man’s grim expression and set his book down, asking with concern, “What happened?”

He knew his cellmate had just visited with his family, but the man didn’t look pleased.

The five-foot-eight man was visibly dejected. He didn’t say a word as he returned to his bed, turning his back to Gap like a wounded animal retreating to lick its wounds.

“Maybe I can help. You’ve helped me a lot—I’d like to do the same for you.” Gap marked his page and closed the book.

When he had first arrived, it was this cellmate who had helped him avoid certain… customs. Gap was grateful and wanted to return the favor.

“You know, I was an accountant for a major company before all this. I may not be able to help you directly, but I can offer some advice.”

After a long silence, the man sat up and clutched his head in anguish. “My wife is pregnant…”

The room fell into complete silence.

From what Gap knew, this man had been imprisoned even before he was. If his wife had been pregnant before his arrest, the baby would have already been born. His pain made it obvious—the child wasn’t his. It was a heartbreaking revelation.

“Michael, we all have to face difficult times…” Gap walked over to his cellmate’s bed, sat beside him, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I believe we’ll get through them—both of us.”