“What about the 20% I got wrong?” she asked, curious, using the opportunity to push past the awkwardness.

“You were right about the ghost employees, but they really were ghosts. They’re dead. Derek killed them.”

“They’re dead?” Vespera was stunned. She had assumed they were just fake names, maybe Derek’s relatives or friends; it had never occurred to her that they were victims.

“Crazy, right? We didn’t expect this to turn into a murder case either,” Gerard said.

Vespera exhaled slowly, trying to process. “I see now. That must be Blake’s leverage. No wonder he was so confident Derek wouldn’t turn on him—he was willing to take the fall to protect him.”

Embezzlement and kidnapping were serious crimes, but compared to murder, they were insignificant.

“Those two were indeed factory employees, part of the first group hired. They were a married couple, but less than two weeks after arriving, Derek killed them one night. He claimed it was an accident during an argument.”

“Blake found out and came up with a plan. Instead of reporting him, he falsified records to make it seem like they were still alive, even creating a fake workplace accident story. To keep the other factory employees in line, the wages were split among them. From that moment on, Blake had them completely under his control, forcing them to do his bidding.”

“That Blake wasn’t just after small profits. His ambitions were much bigger. He used his brother-in-law’s name to set up a new energy technology company. With Derek’s help, he started stealing research data…”

“The missing raw materials? That was part of it too. The accountant was in on it, cooking the books. The plant supervisor covered for them.”

“It was staggering. What seemed like a minor leak had festered into full-blown corruption.”

A chill crept down Vespera’s spine. She had expected complications, but she hadn’t anticipated something this deep, this sinister.

She couldn’t help but look at Dominic. “Are you planning a complete overhaul here?”

If the factory was this corrupt, the company had to have insiders as well. There was no way they could have pulled this off so seamlessly under Nancy’s nose without help from…

Dominic nodded. “It definitely does. This branch has been underperforming for a while, I was planning to restructure it anyway.”

“Now, there’s a legitimate excuse; it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“I was planning to restructure it anyway.”

Vespera felt… a thrill. The way he put it made her feel like some kind of hunting hound, sniffing out corruption and taking people down.

Before she could dwell on that thought, Luke walked in. His expression had already been grim, but the moment he spotted Dominic, his mood darkened even further.

“Mr. Reid, what exactly are your intentions behind showing up here every day to check on my wife…”

Vespera inhaled sharply. “Luke, are you out of your mind?”

On the other hand, Dominic remained composed. “I’m here to see how my employee is recovering. After all, she got injured because of me!”

There was nothing wrong with his words, yet something about them felt… off.

Luke’s jaw clenched, the vein on one side visibly tightening. “Listen carefully. She is my woman. I’ll make sure they regret it.”

Dominic simply smirked at Luke’s words. He didn’t say a word, but somehow, his silence was more provoking than any response.

Luke understood the meaning behind that silence, and the fury in his eyes deepened.

“Mine. In death, she’s still mine. Anyone who dares to lay a…”