He let out a few chuckles before his voice slowly faded into the distance.
Unwilling to bump into him downstairs, I loitered there for some time before heading down slowly.
When I reached the stairs, I even scanned the living room to make sure he was not there before heading to the kitchen in search of food.
However, I immediately caught sight of him checking his phone at the dining table as soon as I turned.
Although his attention was on his phone, Nathaniel instructed Janice in an indifferent voice just as I was about to turn back, “Reheat the breakfast. My wife and I will eat it later.”
I reluctantly went over and sat opposite him.
Noticing my presence, he threw his phone on the table and stared at me with great interest.
Puzzled, I reached up to touch my face. “What are you looking at?”
Nathaniel frowned as he gave me a perplexed look. “Did you sleep again? I’m curious as to how you’re able to sleep for so long.”
Is he dense?
“It’s up to me. Why do you care?” I retorted before grabbing one of the plates Janice had brought over. Then I began eating my breakfast.
After several bites, I sensed that he was still looking at me, so I raised my head. I was right.
I stiffened. While gripping my knife tightly, I warned through clenched teeth, “Are you not done?”
Only then did Nathaniel turn away with a raised eyebrow.
Not long after, Janice served him breakfast.
I quickly finished my meal and prepared to head upstairs after wiping my mouth. When I was passing by the living room, I saw the man in a suit walking in. He was the man who I had met at the slum village. I hurriedly turned and sat in the living room, pretending to peel an apple.
“Mr. Hall.” The man stood at the door near the living room and shot Nathaniel a look.
Nathaniel remained unmoved as he ate his breakfast. “Get straight to the point. There aren’t any outsiders here.”
I pouted, feeling somewhat flattered.
Upon hearing that, the man went straight to the topic. “Several locations that are taken over from Ms. Schmidt have been investigated. Our men said…”
“What did they say?” Nathaniel inquired.
The man in a suit first looked at me and then at Nathaniel before continuing, “They said that Anthony had been to every one of them before trouble struck. There’s a commotion going on now. The people we sent there nearly got into a fight with those men who previously worked for the Schmidt family.”
Nathaniel cocked his eyebrows slightly at those words and smiled at me from a distance. “Anthony is really not stopping even for a moment.”
Although the words were directed at the man, Nathaniel was clearly looking at me as though soundlessly asserting something.
Meeting his gaze, I put down the knife calmly and took a huge bite of my apple. Then I casually leaned back on the couch, crossed my legs, and turned on the television to watch the news.
Even the man, who was accustomed to dealing with major issues, was stunned by my actions.
“Go and wait outside,” Nathaniel instructed before lowering his head again to finish his breakfast.
When he stopped to wipe his mouth, he calmly urged me to change my clothes. “Don’t you wish to see what problems Anthony has brought upon me?”
He knew very well that I would be more than happy to see Anthony give him a hard time.
I openly admitted to it by throwing my apple core into the bin and hurrying upstairs. Having learned my lesson from yesterday, I changed into warmer clothing before I went downstairs and got into the car with Nathaniel.
Since the raided territories were under investigation, someone of Nathaniel’s status naturally did not need to go there in person. However, he would still need to explain the happenings to the elders we had met the day before.
Hence, the man in a suit drove us back to the villa we were at last night.
It was the same group of people sitting around the same table in the same private room. The atmosphere was also more or less the same, except for the sour expressions on the faces of Vincent and those who were against venturing into the Chanaean market. They did not bother to hide their displeasure even while they were greeting Nathaniel.
Anthony and Ramona arrived late, and as soon as they sat down, Vincent began to lash out at Nathaniel.
“I told you earlier that we shouldn’t venture into the Chanaean market. Now, so many of our men died, and we even lost more than ten million worth of goods. Who’s going to be responsible for such a huge loss?”
Desmond, who had seemed calm the day before, could no longer contain himself this time. He held onto the armrest of his chair with one hand and pointed his finger at everyone with the other. “Money and goods are trivial matters. But more importantly, the police are now keeping an eye on Theodore and me. Something’s definitely up!”
“Exactly!” Theodore glanced at the people at the table before he slammed the table and uttered coldly, “Our decades of hiding are in vain. We cannot let this matter slide. We must get to the bottom of it. Otherwise, don’t even think about leaving today!”
As befitting his status as one of the elders, the aura he exuded was extremely imposing, and not even Nathaniel dared to speak up at once.
Teddy, as the most tactful person in the group, merely spoke out gingerly to calm him down. “Let’s all calm down. Business is all about earning money harmoniously, so Mr. Warner and Mr. Henley’s issues are ours as well. The company will definitely give you both a proper explanation.”
At that moment, Theodore was still fuming, so he merely rolled his eyes and ignored the other man, whom he thought was a subordinate who only knew how to win over his superiors through flattery.
Meanwhile, Vincent did not plan on letting the matter slide, so he shifted the blame to Nathaniel in the name of upholding justice for Desmond and Theodore. “It’s obvious to me that someone wants to have sole control over the company and thinks that the elders are in the way. So, he’s taking advantage of this matter to kick us out!”
However, it was clear that he had not discussed this with the other two men, as they were both fidgeting uneasily in their seats.
Noticing that Vincent was still staring intently at Nathaniel, Desmond cleared his throat, intending to remind the former not to act recklessly.
However, Vincent misunderstood it as cowardice, so he taunted once more, “That’s enough, Desmond. Stop coughing. Do you think that I’m unaware of your thoughts? Aren’t you just afraid of Nathaniel? Let me tell you this. I’m going to expose him today. I don’t believe that he could have the whole group under his thumb. We should stand up against him and see if he can still maintain his position as chairman!”
Even I thought that he was looking for trouble. Having seen that they could not stop Vincent, they could only keep silent as an agreement that they were on his side.
I watched everything unfold with a sneer. Looks like I’m very lucky to be able to witness the dog-eat- dog scene within this seemingly impregnable group so soon.
Nathaniel strongly believed that only the fittest could survive. Therefore, the trust between people, to him, was like fragile paper that could be easily torn apart.
Despite Vincent’s continuous interrogations, Nathaniel merely took a sip of his coffee as though he had not heard anything and that the former’s words meant nothing to him.
Seeing this, Vincent felt humiliated. He then glared at him and scolded, “What’s the meaning of this, Nathaniel Hall?”
After another short silence, Nathaniel smacked his lips and put his coffee down. He then raised his head to look at everyone present before saying calmly, “I don’t mean anything, Mr. Chadwick. Everything you’ve said so far makes sense, and I was listening attentively. However…”
As his voice trailed off, he shifted his gaze toward Anthony and smirked as his eyes brimmed with menace. “Mr. Chadwick, it’s all right to be suspicious of me, but shouldn’t you also consider our new formidable leader, Anthony?”
He managed to shift the blame to Anthony with just a few words.
Indeed, rather than suspecting that Nathaniel intended to clear out his subordinates, Anthony seemed more suspicious as a new member who had risen to power within a short time.
There were only two possibilities to explain Anthony’s remarkable achievement. Either he was an undercover agent working for the police, or he was a born leader. However, the former was usually the reason in most similar cases.
In no time, everyone began to stare at Anthony with an intrigued look, and I could not help but feel nervous for him.
“Is there anything you wish to say, Anthony?” Desmond asked.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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