"And the other one is one of the perimeter courier managers for the Severia underground base. Codenamed: Haze."
The moment those words dropped.
The international medical experts lost their minds.
"The Severia underground base? Courier manager?"
"Isn't that someone from the Black Sun syndicate?"
"Why would the head of a relief station funded by the Sinclair foundation be tied to the Severia underground base?"
"Could it be... Chairman Sinclair, are you working with the Black Sun..."
Alaric's face underwent a catastrophic shift.
He stared at the photos on the massive screen, his breathing hitching.
Impossible.
How could she have possibly found this information?
The identities of The Raven and Haze had been scrubbed clean.
The financial trail to Whitecliffe Harbor was strictly kept off the books.
Even if there was a money trail, it would only register as a foundation aid project.
How did Serena Lancaster manage to connect the two?
She had only just returned to the country.
She had only just re-entered this elite circle of wealth and power.
How could she have investigated the Sinclair family this quickly?
Alaric whipped his head around to stare at Serena.
Standing under the brilliant lights, her cold, beautiful face showed absolutely zero surprise.
It was as if she had been waiting for him to jump out and hang himself from the very beginning.
A chill seized Alaric's heart.
He suddenly understood.
The Montgomery family.
The Harrison family.
And himself.
From start to finish, they all believed they were the ones testing Serena Lancaster tonight.
But the reality was...
Serena had been waiting.
Waiting for the Montgomerys to jump out.
Waiting for the Harrisons to jump out.
And waiting for him, Alaric Sinclair, to step forward on his own.
He thought he was the one moving the pieces.
He had no idea.
From the moment he stepped foot into the Lancaster banquet hall.
He was already nothing more than a pawn on Serena's chessboard.
Alaric's expression quickly darkened again.
He couldn't panic.
At least, he couldn't panic here.
Tonight's guest list included the absolute apex of Vaelion City's elite.
As well as all these titans of domestic and international medicine.
If the Sinclair foundation's ties to Whitecliffe Harbor and the Severia underground base were definitively proven...
The Sinclair family was dead.
Utterly destroyed.
Alaric took a deep breath, violently forcing his features into a mask of composure: "Miss Lancaster, I have no idea where you obtained these documents, but every single grant from the Sinclair foundation goes through legal channels."
"As for whether individuals within the funded institutions are breaking the law, the Sinclair family cannot possibly know everything. To
publicly slander the Sinclair fare
based O
a single photograph and
some unverified financial streams... I'm afraid that is highly inappropriate, isn't it?"
Even now, Alaric bit down hard on the claim of plausible deniability.
Denial was his only play.
It was the only way to perfectly extricate himself.
He didn't deny the funding.
Because the moment Serena released the transaction records, denying it would
only make him look worse.
He chose to dump the blame onto the funded institutions.
The Sinclair family was just doing charity.
If the recipient's leadership was corrupt, that was their problem.
It had nothing to do with the Sinclair family.
Serena looked as if she had
exactly what he would say. She
and nodded. "Chairman
sma fair point.
However, the tone of her voice gave Alaric an overwhelmingly intense sense of
dread.
Because he saw that cryptic, unreadable smile on her lips.
Sure enough, Serena tilted her head slightly and shot a glance at Nicholas.
Nicholas, flawlessly in sync and utterly obedient, followed her silent command and tapped his tablet once more.
The display on the big screen shifted yet again.
This time, it was a decrypted communication log.