"In fact, I didn't expect to see most of them in the near future. Yet, they're all at the manor now! I honestly didn't expect that," Iago said.Darius rolled his eyes. "If that's the case, I'll be kind till the end and take you home!" He got into the car with a sigh; they weren't taking the helicopter this time. When the engine started, he shut his eyes. When Iago saw him resting, he zipped his lips and stayed quiet. The journey was made in silence. Before long, they arrived at the Evans family's manor. In that instant, they were surrounded by clamoring people.Darius frowned and slowly opened his eyes to see several well-dressed men and women standing in the front yard. He exhaled heavily and said with displeasure, "They've turned a perfectly wonderful garden into a flea market." He opened the door and got out; the crowd swarmed around him.A woman exclaimed, "You must be Iago! Honestly, you look like a handsome fellow; why would you do such foolish things? Whoever allowed you to be
Darius stood before them with his hands tucked in his pockets, looking relaxed. Iago stood by the car and gave him a thumbs-up, looking at him with his eyes lit up. He'd never met anyone like Darius who could play everyone present with a few sentences. Even if he were to just stand there without saying anything, he could attract everyone's attention. Iago couldn't take his eyes off Darius.Darius exhaled and smiled. "Now that we've taken care of that, I'll hand things over to your new head of family and make myself scarce. I'm sure he has many things to say, so I'll be waiting in the room. I hope you guys can have a good discussion and come up with a satisfactory result. I'm waiting to attend the feast to celebrate the appointment of your new head of family, you know." With that, he turned and headed into the manor, looking more at ease than any of the members of the Evans family gaping at him.Iago crossed his arms silently and smiled scornfully at the crowd. He waited until Darius
This made Darius' smile widen. "Now that you've successfully become the head of the Evans family, I suppose this is where our cooperation ends. On the surface, at least.""No, I've changed my mind," Iago said without hesitation. He hurried over to Darius and fell to his knees, clinging to Darius' arm as he gave him an ingratiating smile. "In the beginning, I did think of breaking up the cooperation, but I've changed my mind now. I don't think that's the best way to do this. Instead of working separately, why not have the Evans Consortium join the Reid Consortium? Either that or both consortiums can form a public alliance. This is a good thing for everyone except the government, but all the government needs is enough money to go around. They won't care who we work with. If you think it's a loss to keep channeling money into the government, the Evans Consortium can cover that. I'm sure no one would dare object to this—after all, you're the chairman of the board of directors, and I own
"We can't give them any opportunity to slip through the cracks and use some obscure loophole against us. Under such circumstances, I don't think the other terms matter much. We can just add in anything extra once Mr. Reid goes through the contract," said Erin. The secretariat employees got to work. The sound of flurrying papers and clacking keyboards was all that was heard. Erin nodded in satisfaction and returned to her office.On the other hand, Darius sat in the car with Iago beside him, chattering away about his plans for the company's future. Darius' eyes were shut, and he was poker-faced. At this moment, his phone pinged. He sighed, making Iago shut up. He pulled his phone out and raised an eyebrow in surprise when he read the message Erin had sent him. It hadn't even been ten minutes since they'd spoken, but Erin had already prepared an agenda for him, which clearly listed the things they needed to do once they acquired the Evans Consortium. This included the reorganization o
The elevator doors slid shut, leaving Erin, Darius, and Iago alone. At this moment, Darius said, "Erin, I think you've more or less realized something's wrong with your body." He sighed.Erin's eyes turned red as she looked at him, saying shakily, "Sir, when did this happen? Why don't I know anything about this when all of you seem to be in on it?"Darius' heart sank when he met her gaze. He shook his head and said helplessly, "I don't know what to tell you, but I found out about this after our first big argument. I regret it now, but here's the reasoning for my decision—you're not a martial artist, so I didn't think you were capable of protecting yourself. Leaving you at West Atlantics Int'l's headquarters would've helped to keep you safe, but I realized I'd possibly made a mistake in this. That's why I showed up again."Erin clamped a hand over her mouth, trembling as her eyes turned bloodshot. Darius sighed and said, "I think you should calm down; panic isn't gonna get you anywhere
Only then did Iago realize there were name cards placed on the table. His face turned even redder as he hurried to his seat and sat down. Darius saw all of this and sighed but didn't say anything. When everyone had taken their seats, he said, "Today's acquisition was only possible because the managing director of the Evans Consortium, Mr. Iago Evans, pushed for it. Now, allow me to introduce myself again—my name's Darius Reid. You may already recognize my face, but I doubt you're aware of me being the chairman of the Evans Consortium's board of directors while also the president of West Atlantics Int'l."Everyone knew what this meant—Darius alone owned 90 percent of the wealth in Ashweir City. They were stunned by this; Darius waited until they'd recovered from their shock to continue, "I'm sure all of you here have your own opinions about how the company should proceed from here, but the Evans Consortium is gonna be one of West Atlantics Int'l's subsidiaries from today onward. I hop
"Your neighbors and some reporters have surrounded us because there aren't any walls around us anymore. They can clearly see everything that's happening here right now; I wanted to call you earlier to tell you not to return here. Either that or put on a disguise before coming here. Otherwise, the reporters are gonna have a field day when they see you, and that's gonna cause trouble for the Reid Consortium and West Atlantics Int'l."Darius' lips twitched at his words. He sighed and massaged a temple. Erin had followed him out of the conference room earlier and had heard everything. Her lips twitched as well; she bit them, then said cautiously, "Sir, I think you should still head back. We don't know how Bridget is doing, but things don't look good. Edward didn't say they were in danger, but Bridget's breathing is weak. If she continues like this, being exposed to the elements isn't gonna do her any good."Darius nodded and shut his eyes as he breathed deeply. "Yes, I have to go check on
"A car will drop by to pick me up soon, and I'll take it back to the company. If I were to show up with you, we'd be too huge of a target. People would immediately know who we are," said Erin.Darius frowned and shook his head, objecting to her suggestion without hesitation. "That's not happening. It's too dangerous to leave you waiting alone by the roadside. Look, I'll wait here with you. Bridget's matter is urgent, but delaying it for a few more minutes isn't gonna do much damage." He turned to the chauffeur and said, "Stop the car."The car slowly pulled over. Erin smiled helplessly, but there was no hiding her moved expression. She was about to say something when Darius' phone rang. He raised an eyebrow, unable to think of anyone who would call him at this moment. Something must've happened to Edward or Iago; it made his heart sink for a second. Then, it settled back in his chest when he saw who was calling, and he sighed in relief. "Grandpa, it's been long since you last called