Chapter 43: Union Allied Construction

"Lucas Watson?" Karen exclaims in surprise, as she hurriedly wipes her tears away.

"Oh, yeah, you're that young billionaire, right? I've seen you in the news," Foggy remarks, recognising you.

"Hmm, so you needed a law firm? But what is such a billionaire like you doing here, at such a small-time law firm like us?" Matt inquires sharply, his gaze directed elsewhere, not directly at you.

"Uh, I'm sorry for my friend's rude behaviour. What he meant to say is that we're a very new law firm and in search of clients. In fact, it's just been a few days since we opened this office," Foggy says with a smile, patting Matt's shoulder roughly to stop him from talking.

"I'm Maggie, and this is my daughter, Cassie. We were the ones needing help, and Luke just brought us here," Maggie explains, looking at the crying Karen with concern.

"Hello, Maggie, um, we're with a client right-" Foggy starts but is interrupted by Karen.

"I was just about to leave anyway. I have to get out of here. You can help them," Karen says, getting up to leave the room.

Foggy steps in front of her. "Sorry, Miss Page, we can't let you leave," he says with a sympathetic expression.

"You don't get it! They have people everywhere! You're either with them or against them. If you're with them, I would have been dead by now. And if you're against them, then I cannot let anyone else die because of me!" Karen blurts out, her voice cracking.

Maggie and Cassie instinctively move closer to your side, startled by Karen's outburst.

"We can protect ourselves, Miss Page," Matt states confidently, though he isn't looking directly at her.

Maggie and Cassie exchanged odd looks at the blind man's statement.

"Not from them," Karen insists, glancing between Matt and Foggy, trying to leave again.

"Miss Page, we can't let you leave—" Foggy starts, trying to soothe her.

"No, you don't understand—these guys—" Karen becomes emotional again.

"Maybe I can help," you interrupt, offering a reassuring smile. Karen pauses and looks at you in surprise.

After a few moments, you and Karen find yourselves seated in another room while Matt and Foggy attend to their new clients regarding Scott's case.

"You sniff said you can help me," Karen says, eyeing you skeptically.

She had calmed down after seeing Cassie, Maggie, and you in the room and had followed your suggestion to move to another room.

"That depends. What trouble is a beautiful girl like you having?" you say with a charming smile. As she was certainly beautiful.

"This isn't some normal girl trouble, Mr. Lucas," she responds, avoiding eye contact, her voice tinged with sadness.

"Why don't you try me," you suggest, your smile calm and inviting.

She looks at your face and your sincere eyes, hesitating a bit before starting, "I was working as a secretary at Union Allied Construction…"

She narrates to you that while working at a big construction company as the chief accountant's secretary, she accidentally read an email intended for her boss. It detailed insanely large sums of money moving in and out of the company, labeled as pension funds.

She approached her boss with her concerns, but he dismissed them, claiming the discrepancies were part of a theoretical model they were testing. Suspecting potential embezzlement, she sought advice from a friendly colleague in the legal department and invited him out for drinks to discuss the matter further.

As she recounted these events, tears welled in her eyes. "We met at the bar, had just a few drinks, and as I was about to share the details of the email, I suddenly felt dizzy... The next thing I knew, I woke up holding a bloody knife in my own apartment, with his lifeless body before me," she says, her voice trembling with emotion.

Moved by her distress, you reach out and gently caress her back, offering a sympathetic gaze.

"The police arrived almost immediately after, and I was arrested," she continues, her expression filled with tears.

She went on to explain how Foggy's police acquaintance had informed him about her situation, leading to Foggy and Matt arriving at the police station as her attorneys.

"So, you were charged with murder by the police," you say, empathising with her distress.

"No, I wasn't charged with anything," she replies, avoiding eye contact.

"Even though they found you at the murder scene with the murder weapon?" you inquire, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes... I-I didn't kill him," she asserts firmly, her eyes reflecting pain.

Despite your unspoken implication, she seemed resolute in avoiding the topic, so you chose not to probe further.

"I believe you didn't kill him and were just framed by someone," you say with sincere eyes.

She looks at you, feeling your sincerity, and gives a small smile. "Thanks for believing in me," she says, but then her tone darkens."But that was not all. In the lockup, in the early hours of the morning, a police officer tried to kill me by choking me with my bedsheet when I was asleep," she recounts with her body shaking as she touches her neck in fear.

"What?" You exclaim in shock.

"I-I fought him off. I scratched his face, broke free, and then yelled at the top of my voice until more officers arrived," she explains, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, you poor thing," you say, pulling her close for a comforting hug. She clings to you, crying into your chest, her whole body shaking uncontrollably in fear.

After a few minutes, she calms down as you hold her and caress her back. " sniff Then Matt and Foggy came and had me released on bail for my safety. I was released as they had no charges against me," she explains, releasing your hug, looking away from you, and clearing her face of tears.

"So, someone is trying to murder you," you state plainly. "Do you have anywhere else to go? You can't go back to your house," you ask, offering her your napkin.

"Thanks," she says, dabbing her face with the napkin, a small smile flickering. "No, I don't have anywhere to go or anyone to talk to in the city," she admits sadly.

"Well, I have a house nearby; it's a nice apartment with security locks and everything. I haven't used it since I bought it, so it's been empty for years. Why don't you stay there for a while?" you offer with a smile.

"B-but I don't have any money," she says, looking at you awkwardly.

"Do I look like I need money?" you chuckle.

"But why would you help me?" She looks at you doubtfully.

"How could I not help a beautiful woman like you, Karen?" you say, gently wiping a tear from her cheek with your hand.

She looks at you with a shy smile.

"Use that place. I don't need rent or anything; it's empty anyways, so you can stay there for as long as you like. You've suffered so much in such a short time; let me do something good for you. Staying there will definitely secure your safety," you explain, holding her hand in yours.

"....Okay ... but just until this is all over," she agrees, looking at you seriously.

"Alright, whatever you wish, Karen," you respond simply.

"Thank you for your help, Lucas, and thank you for listening to me so patiently," she says with gratitude.

"It's nothing, and you can call me Luke," you reply with a smile.

Just then, the door opens, and Maggie and Cassie enter, followed by Foggy and Matt.

"Luke, they said they will take the case, and they will definitely help to reduce Dad's sentence. He will be out soon, Luke!" Cassie exclaims excitedly, hugging you tightly

"We can't guarantee anything, but the company took money from the public, and Mr. Scott returned the money back to the people it belonged to. If we focus on this, we might be able to persuade the Judge to reduce his sentence," Foggy explains with an uncertain look.

"We'll help him with everything we can," Matt adds simply.

"About the fees," Maggie starts, fidgeting a bit.

"It will be covered by me," you interrupt. Maggie looks at you in surprise, but upon meeting your gaze, she nods in acceptance with a small smile.

Cassie hugs you a bit tighter, mouthing a 'thank you.'

"Wow, our first paying client," Foggy remarks happily.

"Sorry," Karen fidgets a bit in her seat, looking embarrassed.

"No need to be sorry, Miss Page," Matt says, offering a reassuring smile while looking in Karen's general direction. "As we discussed before, ours is a new law firm, and we desperately need clients, so we don't mind at all."

"Thank you both," Karen says, looking at them gratefully.

"So have you decided where you will be staying, Miss Page?" Matt asked with a small smile.

"Yes, I have an apartment nearby that has been empty for years, so I wouldn't mind if it could be of any help to Karen. It also has a security system, so Karen's security would not be an issue," you say, reassuring Foggy mainly, as you were sure that Matt had definitely heard everything that had been discussed in this room.

"Well, that is great," Foggy says with a clap and a smile.

"So, Miss Lane, we will both give you an update as soon as possible on your ex-husband's case," Matt says, looking straight ahead.

"Yes, of course," replies Maggie from the side.

"Karen, I can drop you off at the apartment right now if you want to rest for a bit," you suggest, noticing Karen's exhausted face.

"If you don't mind," she accepts awkwardly.

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