Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 208

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"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 volume until 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 helping me by 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."

of hair behind her ear. "You're not

eyes at him, then sighed and

background. Another protest sign

FOR THE WORKERS.

fell asleep, Liam silently left the room and immediately found

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Chapter 208

behind him. Mondo was already waiting by

"Well?" Liam asked.

call-in within the next forty-eight hours." Liam didn't react. He just kept walking down the hallway, and Mondo

Liam stopped. "Lefevre?"

"Yes."

"No."

nodded like he expected it. "I already told them you'd address everything by

"Good."

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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

Liam a printed email chain, redacted but not enough to

Kaliningrad. One of the signatures matched a broker linked to two companies- one in Serbia, the other out of

the printout, then looked up. "Are you telling me whoever's hitting us

head slightly. "We're not saying that definitively. But it's not clean. The team thought

"And now?"

scenes. The payout trail's been bouncing between front companies. We only got this one because

down again at the

workers in Brazil had no ties

the angle?"

or sabotage. Either they want to gut the company from the inside or smear you bad enough that the shareholders

mapping out every active asset we have with

"Already started. I'll send the first batch in the next

the stairwell. Liam stopped again. "And what about

someone's feeding this, it's not low-level. Someone up top either knows... or sold

ors with

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MIL, LIH

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Chapter 208

jaw locked. "Get me everything on the broker. I want names. I want movement. If someone's trying to bleed my company through international accounts, I'll