I bought a prison in the United States.

Hart certainly knew.

Resigning would allow him to keep his pension, and he could receive it in full as long as the investigation did not conclude that it was serious dereliction of duty or embezzlement.

Oklahoma's civil servant retirement law includes a provision:

"Those who resign voluntarily and leave office before the investigation is completed will be treated as normal retirees."

This rule was added after the Watergate scandal in the 1970s to prevent anyone from using their pension to blackmail Parliament during an investigation.

Back then, there was a bunch of old hands in the state legislature who would clamor for early retirement every time they were investigated, and this regulation directly blocked that path.

But resigning couldn't stop the audit, nor could it prevent Bayless's contract from being suspended.

If Bellers knew that all his contracts had been suspended, that hot-tempered Irishman would definitely go crazy and come after him, and might even do something more extreme!

Hart couldn't even stop those bank statements from being copied multiple times and sent to the county prosecutor's office.

Once the legal process begins, a minor offense could become a serious crime, and the nature of his retirement benefits would be reassessed, at which point he might truly lose everything.

The speaker put the stack of bank statements back into the envelope and handed it to the legal advisor beside him:

"Leonard, you can go back now."

"Prepare for the regular meeting next Wednesday; you will need to give a full explanation to the council."

"We will then vote on whether to transfer the materials to the county prosecutor."

Hart nodded blankly, his eyes vacant, as if he had lost his soul.

He stood up like a puppet, mechanically turned around, and walked out of the conference room.

The fluorescent lights in the corridor hummed softly, and the light made him dizzy.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, and only managed to avoid falling by holding onto the cold wall with one hand.

The back of my shirt was soaked with cold sweat, clinging to my skin and feeling as cold as ice.

I'm doomed...

He looked up, his face as pale as if he had just come from a morgue.

"Mr. Bayless, something terrible has happened! Parliament held a closed-door meeting this afternoon and summoned Hart."

The voice on the other end of the phone was very anxious; it was an employee of the county procurement committee.

That young man was an informant that Bayless had spent three years planting. He usually didn't even dare to sign too many expense reports, but now he was as anxious as if his tail was on fire.

"I heard from people inside that someone sent Hart's wife's bank statements to Parliament."

"All of Baylors Building Materials' county contracts have been suspended. The audit starts tomorrow. You need to figure something out quickly!"

"What did you say?!"

Bellus's voice suddenly rose, and he gripped the receiver as if he wanted to crush it.

After hearing the whole story, Bellers hung up the phone with a gloomy face.

He suddenly stood up, strode to the filing cabinet against the wall, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a stack of contracts.

The upper right corner of each contract cover bears the bright red seal of the procurement committee, exuding unquestionable authority.

In recent years, he has used these seals to sign twelve contracts with the county government, totaling nearly four million yuan.

The project includes renovations of the courthouse, procurement of anti-slip floor tiles for the finance bureau, replacement of the air conditioning system at the public health center, and minor repairs on several rural roads.

These contracts all have the same prepayment clause: 30% is paid upon signing, and the balance is paid upon successful acceptance.

Now, he has long since used the advance payment to buy steel bars and cement, pay workers' wages, and repay the bank's high monthly interest.

But the final payment hasn't arrived yet.

Once the contract was terminated, the final payment was completely stalled.

When the final payment is delayed, the bank loan becomes the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Bellers was all too aware of the seriousness of the situation; if things went wrong, his building materials factory would have to shut down!

He staggered back to his desk, grabbed the phone, and dialed the number for the loan department at Tulsa Bank.

"Tom, this is Vernon. I wanted to ask about the repayment periods for my loans..."

"Vernon, is there a problem with your contract?"

Tom is the deputy manager of the loan department at Tulsa Bank. The two have known each other since the 1960s, chasing deer together in the hunting grounds and cheering each other on at their sons' football games.

But today, Tom's voice lacked any of its usual warmth, only a businesslike indifference.

"No, that's not true. I was just asking to see if we could extend the date."

After all, Bellus was a business tycoon who had seen many ups and downs.

At times like these, he knows he can't be too nervous and lose his ability to make judgments.

"Vernon, we've known each other for so many years, I won't beat around the bush with you."

Tom seemed to have anticipated Bayless's call, so he spoke without pausing:

"The head office has received the news that your contract in McLean County has been suspended."

"According to the default clause in the loan agreement, if any government contract is at risk of default, all your loans with our bank can be required to be repaid in advance."

"You have a total of six loans with our bank, totaling 2.23 million."

"The head office means that if you don't get written confirmation from the county government by next week, they will immediately initiate collection procedures."

Bellus abruptly hung up the phone, his expression betraying his embarrassment.

Breach of contract clauses... those small prints on the back of the contract, he always just flipped to the last page and signed directly, never even glancing at them.

The words were too small, hundreds crammed onto a single page, as dense as ants crawling on white paper.

But he knew Tom wasn't lying to him; Tom's position at the bank was earned through performance, not personal connections.

Friendships are worthless in the face of real money.

Having been in the business world for so many years, he understands this principle better than anyone else.

Then, Bayless did exactly the same thing as Hart, calling Hammond.

The result was naturally that the line was busy.

The difference was that the call was answered on his third attempt.

But it wasn't Hammond's voice that came through the receiver, but rather the timid voice of his office secretary, Margaret:

"Mr. Bayless, the judge is not here. I just came back from outside and don't know where he went."

"Would you like to leave a message? I'll have him call you back when he gets back."

"No."

Bayless's face darkened further, and he slammed down the phone.

There was never any such thing as a message between him and Hammond.

He always called directly, and Hammond answered directly, whether it was 3 a.m. or during a court hearing, the phone was always open.

This deliberate avoidance indicates that the matter is no longer under the judge's control, and that it is no secret among the upper echelons of McLean County.

That's how this circle works. Once someone on the internet gets into trouble, everyone on the network who has connections with that person will quickly get wind of it.

Good things are shared by everyone, but bad things are kept at a distance, like watching from the sidelines.