Chapter 5: Cunning

Carlos arranged a meeting with the owner of the new company through his secretary. It had been so challenging to secure the meeting that the third request was finally approved.

The purpose of this meeting was for Carlos to advise the new company owner not to overextend themselves.

Austin had asked Carlos to have a word with the new company owner.

The meeting was scheduled at a fancy restaurant in downtown Boston at 7 pm. Carlos had arrived at the reserved table half an hour early.

Carlos observed the scene in the upscale restaurant closely. He scrutinized each person, trying to guess who he would be meeting that night.

This went on for 40 minutes. It was quite frustrating as the person he was waiting for had not shown up.

Finally, after another minute, someone quietly took a seat in front of Carlos, placing two interlocked hands on the table.

"Hi, Carlos," Diego greeted with a smile.

"Diego?" Carlos replied with a frown, then straightened his back suddenly as he was startled by his cousin's arrival. "Why are you sitting there? Move!"

"What's the matter? It's been 10 years since we met, don't you miss me?" Diego asked as he picked up the syrup on the table and drank it.

"Hey, don't touch that drink. That drink is for the person I'm going to meet in a minute."

"Oh... who are you going to meet, hmm?" Diego asked calmly.

"You won't know."

Diego paused, staring intensely at Carlos.

"Don't keep quiet, get out of here!" Carlos ordered sarcastically.

"You chased away the owner of Liby Advertising whom you wanted to meet tonight?" Diego asked, raising one eyebrow.

"You're the owner of Liby Advertising? Hahaha... that's impossible," Carlos said dismissively.

Diego smiled, took a business card from his coat pocket, and placed it on the table, pushing it a few inches away.

Carlos glanced at the small object for a few seconds, picked it up, then read what was written on it.

"Diego Cartwell Burke, President Director of Liby Advertising ...." Carlos read silently.

Diego wasn't lying; he really was the owner of Liby Advertising, which was Austin and Carlos' current business enemy. Carlos froze for a few seconds after that. A sense of disbelief settled in his mind.

However, Carlos couldn't deny that Diego's fortunes had changed. He was no longer the poor man he used to be.

"What's wrong, Carlos? Why did you want to see me?" Diego asked. Carlos let out a long breath. He put Diego's business card back where it came from.

"I wanted to warn you not to take our big client."

"Whose big client are you talking about?" Diego asked, half laughing. Of course, he pretended not to know.

 "Mr. Kiel. Every time his company launches a new product, Mr. Kiel uses our advertising services. Why would he use your company now?" Carlos asked, raising his voice.

"Is that all you want to ask? Heh, what a waste of time."

"Don't get cocky, Diego. Just answer my question."

"Why are you asking me? Just ask Mr. Kiel. It's done."

"You must have been scheming to get Mr. Kiel to give you that advertising project!" Carlos stood up, holding his temper.

"Say whatever you want. You are free to speculate, no one forbids it."

"Does that mean you've been sneaky?" Carlos asked probingly.

"Just scheming, the revenge hasn't started yet. You just calm down, I will buy time so that you can enjoy life longer. After that, I won't let you and Uncle Austin breathe freely. Oooh, one more thing... I won't let Aunt Margareth off the hook either."

"What do you mean?" asked Carlos, rounding his eyes.

Diego didn't answer; instead, he smiled mockingly.

Diego stood up and turned around, leaving Carlos, who hadn't heard an answer at all.

"Where are you going, asshole?! You haven't answered my question!" Carlos yelled at Diego. Diego kept walking, not wanting to respond to his cousin's words. Really, there was no point in dealing with the man who had taken his girlfriend.

***

Carlos drove his car at full speed, cutting through the crowded streets of Boston. After only 15 minutes of driving, the car Carlos was driving reached the courtyard of the mansion.

"What's up, Honey?" asked Samantha as Carlos walked quickly towards Austin's room.

"I want to see Dad," Carlos replied without stopping. "Yeah, what's up? Don't worry about me, honey." Samantha caught up with her husband's fast pace as he walked towards his father's room.

This was the first time Samantha had seen her husband panic like this.

"Go to your room. I want to talk to my mom and dad." Carlos shooed Samantha away after arriving at the door of Austin and Margareth's room.

"Tell me, what's wrong with you?" Samantha looked worried.

"When it's time, I'll tell you. Go to your room right now, Samantha."

Samantha could say no more. She was silent and pretended to obey Carlos' request, even though she remained at the door when he entered her in-laws' room.

Indeed, Samantha was very curious about what had happened to her husband to panic like that.

"Why are you panicking so much? What happened?" asked Margareth as Carlos sat down on the sofa by the window.

Margareth, already in her pajamas, walked over to Carlos and sat down next to her son. Margareth wiped the sweat from Carlos' forehead and temples.

Meanwhile, Austin sat on the edge of the bed, facing the mother and son who sat side by side.

"What's wrong, Carlos?" asked Austin, looking serious.

"I have some bad news, Dad."

"Tell me."

"The owner of Liby Advertising is Diego."

"What? Diego?" asked Austin in shock.

"Whose Diego are you talking about, Carlos?" Margareth asked this time. She was just as shocked as Austin.

"Diego is Uncle Brandon's son, Mom. He's already rich. His new company is the enemy of our company now."

"Maybe he's getting lucky, Carlos. Let it go, he has nothing to do with our family anymore," Austin said.

"The reality is not that simple, Dad. It's much worse," Carlos replied with a tense face.

"What else?"

"After cheating by getting Mr. Kiel to work with him, Diego also said he would take revenge on us. Does that mean he knows we're the cause of his parents' deaths?"

"Shut your mouth, Carlos!" interrupted Austin quickly. "We promised we wouldn't talk about that anymore!"

"I was just saying what might have happened, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"Diego doesn't know that we caused Brandon and Cecilia's deaths. And he can't know that for the rest of his life."

Austin got off the edge of the bed and walked over to the large vanity mirror on the wall. Austin stood still for a few seconds, staring at his son and wife in the reflection of the mirror.

Austin quickly picked up the cell phone lying on the nightstand. He sent a picture of Diego and a text message to someone.

After successful delivery, the person to whom the message was sent immediately made a voice call with Margaret's husband.

"Should I execute this man, sir?" asked the person on the other end of the line.

"No, no. I just want to know what happened to that person over the past few months. How he managed to set up an advertising company in just a few months. He just got out of prison and has nothing."

"Okay. I'll give you the information as soon as possible."

"Do your job well. I'll send the money to your account right away," Austin said firmly.

The phone was turned off after they finished the conversation.

Austin put his cell phone back in its original place. After that, he looked at his son and wife who were looking at him.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Samantha, Carlos' wife, was calming her racing heart. She had just learned that her in-laws had killed Diego's parents.

Samantha did not expect her husband's family to be so cruel to their own relatives.

Report to the police? It seemed unlikely.

If she did, Carlos would be arrested. Besides, Samantha didn't have enough evidence to report Carlos to the police.

The only way was to keep quiet and pretend not to know.

***

Austin had just finished a meeting with the managers when he received a message from someone.

"I sent all the information about Diego Cartwell Burke to your email. Make the payment immediately."

Austin read the message as he walked to his office. Arriving at the room, the old man turned on his laptop and opened his personal email, checking the inbox.

The messenger was right. Austin's email contained the full information about Diego.

"Diego received an inheritance from a lawyer named Benjamin Rojas. Diego used the money to start his business from scratch. Diego did everything himself, rented a building, bought equipment, and hired several employees."

"The business Diego ran was Advertising Services, the same business you are running now. In just 6 months, Diego became the President Director of an advertising company in the city of Boston. Many entrepreneurs predict that Diego's advertising company will become the largest advertising company in the city."

"However, despite this, Diego's journey was not smooth. Eric, Benjamin's son, was always trying to retrieve his father's property, which he believed had been taken by Diego. Eric was convinced that Diego had made a false will. However, Eric always lost in court."

"I tried to find out about this case, like there was something wrong, but I didn't continue because this was outside of your instructions. The point is, Diego Cartwell Burke managed to set up an advertising company in just six months."

Austin read the gist of the voluminous text.

Diego's uncle exhaled roughly, then leaned his back against the back of the chair. He had no idea that luck was on his nephew's side when he got out of prison.

Austin thought Diego would be homeless because he had been impoverished by him, but the reality was completely different from expectations.

Actually, Austin was very angry with his nephew, but Austin tried to suppress it.

Austin didn't want emotions to get the better of him, which could end up hurting his own company.

Austin took his cell phone from his coat pocket and typed a message into the lit screen.

"What's wrong with you, Diego? Why would you steal our big client? You and I are the same now, both businessmen looking for profit. Do healthy business, don't cheat like this." Austin sent Diego a message after reading the email.

Austin had Diego's number from his messenger.

Austin's message was sent to Diego's cell phone within seconds. Diego smiled after reading it, but didn't reply to Austin's message.

"You talk about cheating, but you cheated my family yourself, Uncle." Diego muttered.

Seconds later, a second message arrived on Diego's cell phone.

"Go on with your life. Don't ever interfere with my life again. If you do, then I will not hesitate to destroy you." Austin sent a second message. Yet again, Diego did not reply.

"You're getting scared, Uncle Austin. Wait, I'll make more trouble for you...," Diego said casually.