Don Ventura was speechless.He'd never expected that Richard would give him such an aggressive refusal even after all he'd offered in exchange for his request.He had thought Richard was like every other rich man.Even if others saw him as a hero, Don Ventura saw him as an opportunistic fellow who would do anything for money and fame, just like other billionaires he was familiar with.However, he was wrong.Richard didn't care about the money or favors.He genuinely cared about the city and wished to make it a better place.Such a person would never be swayed by money and would always do things morally which caused Don Ventura to have respect for Richard.It was sure that losing Richard as a business partner would be a major loss for him so Don Ventura remarked. “Haha, Mr. Smith, why so serious?... It was a joke, a joke.”“Really?” Richard raised a brow in response.“Of course, why would I propose such a thing when I know what you are trying to do?... It would be foolish of me to do s
Richard quickly guessed that though Melinda was in dire straits, it wasn't as bad as she made it out to be.If he was correct, it meant that Melinda most likely needed support for something and because she wasn't able to call home for help, she opted to reach out to him, hopeful that he would be able to help her.Letting out a sigh, Richard decided not to hold it against her as she would most likely have her reasons.In any case, it's not like he had anything urgent to handle apart from perhaps the situation with the security and the lack of presence of an administrator for Orion Corp.The latter was done he had to handle it before he left anywhere as he wasn't about to allow his company to run around like a headless chicken.So first, he phoned Maria.“Hello, Maria. How are you enjoying your holiday?” [It's boring sir. I hardly have anything to do and it bothers me. Sir, can't I come back to work?... I feel like I could die from boredom.]Chuckling, Richard replied. “You are somethi
[What's the problem?] Vincent inquired over the phone. Letting out a sigh, Richard inquired. “Do you know about the Great Fire that happened several years ago?”[Of course. It was an accident, a rather unfortunate one if I might add.]“No.”[Hmm?]“The real truth behind the Great Fire. You know the real truth of what happened that day, right?”[... What are you talking about?]“There's no point lying to me, Mr. Dawson. I already know about what happened in the Great Fire all those years ago. All I need to know is if you know as well.”[Hah, you'd get yourself in trouble someday with how you go around digging into stuff like this]“People died, Mr. Dawson, don't try to act like they didn't. Now tell me what I want to know.”[... Yes, I know the truth about what happened all those years ago]“Good. You know that it's the Malcolm family that spearheaded the disgusting act, yes?”[Unfortunately so, but you are mistaken about something.]“What's that?”[If it were just the Malcolm family,
Fiona had always considered herself a fashion icon and a drop-dead gorgeous beauty.With almost perfect looks with an amazing dress sense, she was right to feel that way, however, it came with one flaw.An unbridled sense of arrogance.She always thought herself better than everyone else and didn't hesitate to make others feel less of themselves whenever they crossed paths with her.This was something she did during her time at the company she was fired from.As part of management, she was put over a whole department to take charge of it.During her stay, the department recorded the highest number of resignations to ever occur in the company's history and this was because Fiona was always on their necks, treating them like livestock while she acted like some Queen Bee.Of course, despite the horrifying numbers, they never fired her from her post as she was the lover of the General Manager of the company.However, when the company owner returned to carry out inspections and then found
“It was a big misunderstanding. The owner of the company had asked me out once but I declined, due to that, he always tried to make life miserable for me. After he found out that I was dating his general manager, he used that as an excuse to have me fired for inappropriate relationships at the workplace.” Fiona lied right through her teeth.Of course, it wasn't a lie that the owner of AV had shown interest in her but he ultimately never acted on it as he realized what kind of person she was, he'd stopped bothering himself with her and even left the country for an extended period to focus on other things.Fiona had always felt regretful that the man had run away since she'd initially planned on getting him as a lover.Her failure resulted in the fact that when the owner returned, he was able to think enough to make the right choice, unlike his general manager who was already long gone.In any case, it wasn't like Richard could know that since he had no idea who the owner of AV was in t
Once he was done with Fiona's matter, Richard quickly moved to the airport to catch a flight to Memphis Island which was where Melinda was attending the conference with the Five Coalition.Unfortunately, upon getting there, he happened on another problem.“No flights heading to Memphis?” Richard inquired with a rather sour look.He hadn't expected to be met with such an unfortunate circumstance.The receptionist nodded. “Yes sir, we received an order that all flights to and around Memphis Island should be grounded till further notice.”“Any reason why?”“I can't be sure sir.” The woman replied only to lower her voice and add. “But I heard it might have something to do with some big names that own the island. They don't wish for anyone to come close to it.”“I see.” Richard nodded, gaining a new understanding of the matter.“Let me guess, this order was given today?”“Yes sir.”“As expected.” Richard sighed before letting out a chuckle.It would seem the Five Coalition were worried tha
Richard didn't know whether to beat up the security head for intentionally being thick-headed or just pitying him.The security head saw that Richard touched down with a private jet yet he still came to make things difficult for him, which meant that he was only trying to get on Richard's nerves.The reason of course was still not quite clear to Richard and so, he refrained from carrying out any extreme actions to avoid getting Melinda into more trouble.“Oi, aren't you listening to me?... You shouldn't be here, so pack your backs and get out.” The security head continued, treating Richard like he were some kind of fugitive.Richard could have sworn that the fool was sent to annoy him and that was when it clicked.Someone did send the security guard and from all likelihood, it was to either embarrass him or to get him to leave soon.It would seem the Five Coalition knew that Richard had arrived and wanted to prevent him from meeting with Melinda.If his conjecture was correct, then Ri
The drive back to Melinda's residence was mostly silent with the duo engaging in small talk occasionally since they were worried that the driver might be a spy for the Five Coalition.That was the first problem they had to be conscious of.They were in enemy territory so it would be more difficult to make plans than if they were on neutral grounds.Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't still carry out what they had in mind.Soon they arrived at Melinda's residence and Richard was forced to accept that Melinda was indeed in quite a precarious situation.Her residence was on the outskirts of the main city on Memphis Island with the main city still being quite far from her place.To stay in the main city and make use of its high-tech facilities, the first requirement was to have a Black Card, and getting one meant that the owner was at least a multi-billionaire.The reason for this was because due to the Spirit Stones sales, the city had become a paradise for the rich with most not w