A Bumpy Road to Power

Chapter 800 - 800

"Did you come here today just to have me reevaluate this person?"

Hawkeye asked disdainfully.

Dirk Carter shook his head.

He took out another photo and placed it next to the black-and-white picture.

He asked, "Do you recognize this person?"

Hawkeye glanced at it and naturally said, "Of course, it's Secretary Sterling, right? How could you, as the County Committee Secretary, not recognize him?"

The person in this photo was none other than Zolan Summers, currently the Deputy Secretary of the Veridia City Municipal Committee. It was a photo taken during his research visits in recent years.

At that moment.

Hawkeye suddenly shivered.

He seemed to have discovered something.

His eyes roamed over the two photos back and forth.

The left one showed Zolan Summers in his thirties.

The right one showed him in his fifties.

Although time had left marks on his face, it was fundamentally the same person, and their faces bore a striking resemblance.

"Do you think these two people look alike?"

Dirk Carter suddenly asked.

Hawkeye seemed to have realized something.

He shook his head and said, "Impossible, this is impossible. Dirk Carter, I don't know what you're up to, but don't try to play mind games with me. President Summers respects you, but if I lose it, I don't care who you are!"

Dirk Carter smiled slightly.

He said, "It seems you don't believe it's the same person, well, that's fine. Later your mom will come out, and I'll ask her if she remembers this man from the photo. I think, even after all these years, she should still have a deep impression of him."

After finishing.

Dirk Carter attempted to take the photo away.

Hawkeye pressed down on the photo forcefully.

He said, "Dirk Carter, this matter happened many years ago, I don't want to bring it up in front of my mom."

"So, it seems you do believe it."

Dirk Carter smiled and said.

Hawkeye's face looked unpleasant.

At this moment.

Jane Payne came out with two bowls of noodles.

Hawkeye immediately said, "Don't mention this in front of my mom, you guys eat the noodles first, after that, we'll talk."

Dirk Carter glanced at Arlo Yarbrough.

The two of them then sat down at the table.

After finishing the noodles, they exchanged a few words with the elder.

Dirk Carter stood up to take his leave.

Hawkeye said he'd help Jane Payne see them off, so he followed the two out the door.

By now, it was around eight-thirty in the evening.

They lived in an old residential complex, and there was a dim park nearby with no streetlights.

The three found a secluded stone table and sat down.

Having held it in for a long time and thought it over, Hawkeye said, "Secretary Carter, tell me, what exactly is going on here."

Dirk Carter glanced at Arlo Yarbrough.

Arlo Yarbrough then recounted in detail the background and context he had gathered.

Under the moonlight, he watched Hawkeye's expression grow increasingly grim.

Dirk Carter knew he was beginning to feel a sense of anger.

After Arlo Yarbrough finished speaking.

Hawkeye smoked silently, without saying a word.

After tossing his cigarette butt.

He asked, "So, from start to finish, I was just deceived by Brett Summers, right?"

"This truth will definitely be hard for you to accept initially, but it is a fact. You can also investigate it yourself, or take this photo back to your mother to ask if this Zolan Summers is the man you beat up years ago."

Dirk Carter handed the black-and-white photo to Hawkeye again.

Hawkeye suddenly stood up.

He said, "I'm going to ask Brother Summers if this is true."

He originally thought Dirk Carter would stop him.

But he didn't.

Hawkeye walked a few steps forward.

Suddenly stopped.

Turned back and asked, "Why aren't you stopping me?"

Dirk Carter shrugged and said, "If you want to court death yourself, why would I stop you? No one knows Brett Summers better than you do. You should know, once you learn the truth, he will abandon you. What the final outcome will be, isn't it clearer to you than to us?"

The words struck a nerve.

Hawkeye was momentarily speechless.

He returned to the stone bench and sat down again.

Dejectedly, he said, "Even if I know the truth, it won't change anything. Brother Summers is all-powerful, and I'm just a lackey in his hands."

"Do you have a dream?"

Dirk Carter suddenly asked a seemingly random question.

Hawkeye was taken aback, then sneered, "I do, I just want my mom to live a good life."

"Not that dream, when you were young, did you ever think about what kind of person you wanted to become?"

Dirk Carter pressed on.

Hawkeye pondered.

He lowered his head and thought for a moment.

He said, "When I was young, I did pretty well in school. If I must say I had a dream, I wanted to be a police officer back then, so our family wouldn't be bullied."

"So now you've become so fierce also to prevent yourself from being bullied?"

Dirk Carter asked.

Hawkeye nodded, sighed, and said, "Sort of. When I was young, my mom raised me in such a manner, and nobody in the village respected us. But now, they don't even dare to breathe loudly in my presence."

A sadness surged in Dirk Carter's heart.

He said, "Your mother is great. Although her methods were harsh, she sacrificed herself to give you the best. You originally could have a life of your own, but it was destroyed by Brett Summers, wasn't it?"

Although he was still unwilling to accept this fact.

Hawkeye did not refute.

The time was ripe.

Dirk Carter suddenly said, "I'll be honest with you; I want to bring down Brett Summers and make him disappear completely from Helios County."

Hawkeye was taken aback.

He abruptly lifted his head.

A flash of panic crossed his eyes.

Then he shook his head again and said, "You can't, even though you're the County Committee Secretary, you can't. I won't help you with this; it's deadly. I can't die just yet; I have to take care of my mom. Otherwise, my fate will be like Louisa Wagner's."

"What happened to Louisa Wagner?"

Dirk Carter asked, almost jumping with surprise.

Hawkeye exhaled a long breath.

He said, "She died, hung herself."

Dirk Carter and Arlo Yarbrough were left dumbstruck on the spot.

"How come I didn't know about this?"

Dirk Carter inhaled sharply and asked.

Hawkeye said, "A woman's suicide naturally wouldn't catch the attention of someone like you, the County Committee Secretary. Actually, Brother Summers didn't intend to kill her, just wanted her to leave Helios County, but she couldn't think past it."

Impossible!

These were the three words that suddenly popped into Dirk Carter's mind.

He had engaged with Louisa Wagner.

And knew her background.

A woman like her would never commit suicide.

Her will to survive was exceedingly strong.

There must be a hidden story behind her so-called suicide.

Dirk Carter hesitated for a moment.

He looked up at Hawkeye.

Asked, "Hawkeye, I ask you, does your mom know what you're doing now?"

Hawkeye shook his head.

He said, "I didn't tell her."