Chapter 87 - The Badder Bad

Ever since he received the evidence the children collected, Benjamin was feeling troubled. Danny, who was working closely with Elfie, only had disturbing news to tell him, feeding his fears. These fears plagued him at night and insomnia was taking its toll on the young lawyer's body. Jenna was getting worried with the prominent dark circles constantly under his eyes. Even Mrs Wilde called in to check if he was still alive. The lawyer tried his best to keep his cool when the more damning evidence rolled in, pointing towards the culprit Wilmer feared the most.

"Hello?" he answered the call while sipping on coffee when the news made him sit upright all of a sudden.

"I'll call you back," Benjamin told the informant and hung up.

Phone lines were hackable nowadays and Benjamin didn't want to take any chances. Elfie was a great kid, and without him, they might never be able to put together the pieces of this huge puzzle. However, their latest discovery was making Benjamin wonder if there was too much of a good thing. They were now treading dangerous waters and the lawyer hesitated to make any decisions. There were many involved parties and the consequences wouldn't be pretty. One misstep and the Wilde's will be on the verge of annihilation again.

"I'm on secured lines now," he told Danny after reconnecting with a different phone.

Danny sighed. It wasn't easy for the informant either, and for the past few days, his cheerful demeanour dimmed a little. His students could tell because Scarlet and Alex kept asking him questions while Jasper kept an eye on him at all times, though not that anybody could see it through those bangs. His lessons lacked his usual vigour and Danny felt apologetic towards the three kids who tried to stay awake during his lessons. They might be better off self-studying instead of humouring him. The counsellor felt bad and tried to keep the lessons as short as possible, reminding them about the upcoming mid-year examination.

"I'm going to pull Elfie out from this point forth. It's becoming more dangerous than we expected. Anastasia is watching very closely and they will use anything they can get their hands on. For now, the situation is being taken care of, but Scarlet might still be in danger. Collins can still blab, and the director meeting isn't until next week."

Benjamin frowned. They had all the required doc.u.ments and evidence to remove Collins from the Board of Directors as well as put him behind bars for life. The man was going to be ruined completely, but that wasn't the end of the case. In fact, it was only beginning. They had taken so much time and resources to weed out a small pawn used against them. The Wilde's were still a far cry from their former glory. The lawyer listened to Danny as he related Elfie's findings.

"Although it isn't conclusive, I believe we have a very clear direction of where to start digging. It won't be easy to take down someone like Anastasia, but that's not our decision to make. I've already informed Wilmer about it, and it's up to him to make the decision. Mind you, keep Orita out of it. The woman has done enough for the family. It's time for her to live like the mother she aspires to be."

The lawyer found it amusing. "Isn't it ironic? The children are not with her."

Danny chuckled. "Not for long. Maybe for now, while things are still rocky, but once it settles, there will be a family reunion. Don't tell the kids yet. It's a surprise."

Benjamin smiled. Scarlet would definitely cry when she saw them again. However, before that could happen, they had work to settle. Anastasia wasn't an easy person to take down. Ever since he had his eyes on the Wilde Empire, he'd resorted to using underhand means to get his way. It was no secret that Lucian Anastasia was a man who dabbled very much into the criminal world with his powerful company as a useful legal front. Everyone knew that Anastasia was hungry for well-established corporations to take over due to his lack of management skills and capable staff. The mafia-lord-turned-businessman was in dire need of capable employees to run his expanding empire. The business was growing faster than he could manage and the police were on his tail.

Anastasia had tried once to coerce Orita's foolish father into giving him all his shares in return for his 'services' to get rid of his eyesore of a wife. By the time Orita found out about the deal, the damage had been done. The Wilde Family lost their control of sixty percent of the shares when Orita's father sold his share of thirty percent. It took very long for Wilmer and his close friends like Danny and Benjamin to buy back fifteen percent of it. However, the damage was already done. It was very difficult for them to gain the majority shares of a company so huge once they lost it.

"I will do what I can to put Collins behind bars for good. However, it's going to be trickier for Anastasia. If we use it now, it will only attract more unwanted attention towards us. As it is, we don't have enough evidence against his involvement and given his backing, the man could buy over the jury easily."

Danny sighed. "I know. Elfie told me something disturbing too. He's been working on a side project on the deep web and discovered a huge underground trade that the police are trying to crack. The scale of this business is currently unknown, but we have reasons to suspect Anastasia's involvement. In fact, it might not just be Anastasia. More big sharks might be pooling funds into it, we don't know for certain."

Benjamin felt tired. Even though he was one of the most talented lawyers in his field, there was no comparing against the true evil. Danny was also a very skilful informant who was forced to go into hiding after aiding Wilmer with the incident twenty years ago. Back then, they were young and foolish. If it weren't for Orita and Jenna staking everything they had, all three men would have ended up six feet underground.

"Wilmer said that we will settle it in our generation. The children should not need to bear such a burden."

Benjamin sighed. "It's not that simple, but we will damn well try. Catching ants like Collins is a child's game to me, but catching the Big Bad and making him stay away for good is beyond me."

Danny laughed dryly. "How ironic. The girl has recently written something interesting that you might take inspiration from. It's based off a bunch of dunces and misfits in the school. Jasper is also up to something by befriending those delinquents. I cannot keep them from getting to know the other students of their class for too long. Mid-term examinations are coming up, and the usually missing students will return for at least a week. That's enough time for the three meddlesome children to learn things they're better off not knowing."

The lawyer felt unwell. "I'd like to call in sick for the day please."

Danny rolled his eyes."Sorry, wrong kind of doctor. I only prescribe words of wisdom to the troubled minds lost in life."

Benjamin sulked. "But I am lost in life..."

Danny smiled sweetly over the other side of the phone. "No, you need a wife. Now get back to work, I have better fish to fry."

The call ended and the lawyer raised a brow. For a friend who acted very much like his insufferable wife sometimes, why would he ever want another person in his life to nag his other ear off? Benjamin shook his head. He simply didn't understand the appeal of settling down with another person. Sometimes, he thought that married people were masochistic. The lawyer was still rather sane and the thought of marriage with someone frightened him badly. He'd rather think of a way to pin the badder bad down than worry about a wife.

Yes, that was right. Work comes first, the rest comes after. He'll have plenty of time to figure it out in his grave.