CHAPTER 282: WAVES & DOPLHIN.

Matilda woke up in the wee hours, she had tried to turn over in her bed, but the neck brace made it impossible for her to do so. After that, she could not fall asleep even if she wanted to. The lady sat on her bed and her eyes were closed, but her fingers were tapping on her thigh in a rhythmic pattern.

She mumbled, ’Leo Cardinal must die.’

It was as if she was praying to the god of death to deliver his wrath at Leo Cardinal. However, what she didn’t know was that Leo was the messenger of death himself. He hated her, and had it not been for the fact that he was not yet ready to provide Lily a properly secure environment, he would have killed her right when he broke her jaw.

He was not thinking in a linear method, his approach towards the things was different from Matilda.

The night passed slowly and silently but in the morning, the city was left stunned. The news headlines stated that the City development department officer, Official Yardley, who had been working at the same office for the past twenty years and had been doing a lot of charitable acts was engaged in the acts of corruption.

The investigating office held a press release where they displayed how Official Yardley had sold off some patches of government owned lands to various companies over the years at a cheap price and how he had waived off the taxes. However, that was not the final nail in the coffin, the main issue that raised flags and called for investigation was the discovery of accounts in various banks during an internal regulatory action.

The internal affairs spent a lot of time to find out the accounts that were held by Official Yardley, and the amount of money it held. The investigation department emphasised that the information was gathered by external source without any involvement of the banking staffs or the bank.

This was done to safeguard the privacy holding capability of the banks. If the market lost trust in the banks then the economy would come crashing down. So, while they targeted Yardley they had to be very careful with their speech and actions.

After a few more questions thrown at the investigation officer, the person revealed that all the companies involved in this network of corruption were shell companies or subsidiaries of the Luger Group from the Swastika Nation.

This statement became the highlight and the reporters akin to hungry wolves caught the scent of blood and they dashed out to hunt. They televised the footage from the inauguration event of the Luger group in the Angkor City.

This news caused the people to hold back from fulfilling the commitments of cooperation in various projects. Once the name has been dragged through the mud, association would only cause harm to their companies.

Matilda Luger was sitting in her office, and she watched the news with cold eyes. She called over her PR head and told him to give out a statement stating that she had no relation with the Luger Group in the Swastika Nation. This sounded very cold but it was the truth.

After a couple of hours, the statement was issued, and in the evening, the internal affairs made a strong move, they charged Yardley with the act of treason to the nation. This shocked everyone, and many people who benefited from his charitable acts asked if this was necessary.

One of the supporters took lead to form a support group and he questioned, "Why can the officials who have made mistakes not be given second chance while the law stipulates a second chance for even criminals. Official Yardley has already accepted his crimes and confessed to his actions, how can the government use the world traitor for him?"

The person held a moral high ground and the internal affairs replied, "Trading the national land with foreign company for private gain, if that is not an act of national treason then what is? Should we wait for the economic crisis from the couple of decades to repeat itself in our nation and harm our citizens? If you people think that poverty is caused by your inability then let me clarify that it is people like these that cause the government plans to fail and suck away at your livelihood."

The debate increased and the situation escalated, the corrupt officials all got anxious, because they all knew how the internal affairs office handled things, they were piranha’s once they found a prey, they would only stop when it has been cleaned up with nothing but dead bones left behind.

Matilda tried everything to counter the rot all this was causing to the reputation. However, the waves kept coming at them. Official Dio had given enough prove to Leo that they were willing to take strong action against the people, and Leo fed them one name after the other. His help was so significant and precise that it saved a lot of resources from the internal affairs.

On the other hand, Official Dio made sure to mention the Cardinal Family contributions to the operations and gave them a lot of credit. Every couple of hours, one of the people involved in the racket was arrested and then shown to the special magistrate assigned to the case.

...

While Matilda was facing blood waves, Leo spent two days to supervise the mechanics on perfecting the racing version of the dolphin and specially customized the security measures on the vehicle to make sure that his little darling stays safe and enjoys the drive to the limit.

He personally had a gyroscope fitted under the child car seat to prevent Lily from experience intense g-force.

After two days, the city was still being cleaned and Leo arrived at the racing stadium with Lily. They had booked the whole area under the name of tests. Lily eagerly walked ahead of her Baba, dressed in her cute pink and black racing suit. She insisted on wearing the clothing right from the moment she took the bath.

Thankfully, she agreed to Leo’s request and tied the vest section around her tiny waist by the sleeves. Many people from the team saw her and bowed to her, as they greeted, "Young Miss, good morning."

Lily replied with a bow as well, and told them to not bow their heads. She also thanked them for their hard work. This won her a lot of brownie points, and the leading technician brought her over to the vehicle and Lily let out a cheer.

Leo watched her from the distance and asked, "Do you like it?"

Lily caressed a streak of pink running across the black painted car, as she said, "This is matching with my suit. Baba, you did it purposefully. No?"

Leo smiled and didn’t say anything else before he asked, "Chief Barkley, is the vehicle ready?"

The old man sitting in the side nodded, and said, "Yes, you can take her out for a spin whenever you want but remember to warm up the tires and brakes first, after all, you will be driving our treasure."

Leo chuckled and said, "I know, don’t worry. She is your treasure but my life, and I love my life more than you think."

Lily was engrossed in inspecting the car so she didn’t listen to what Leo was saying otherwise, she would have given a critical hit by saying, ’Baba, you are so cheesy.’

After putting on his racing suit Leo got inside the vehicle and then took it for a lap to warm up the tires and brakes. Lily was eagerly waiting to get in the car and experience what real speed felt like.