“Hmm?” I expressed my puzzlement.
“I always thought that you were obstinate and rash. You were impulsive like a man and always got hurt as a result. I felt that I needed to keep you safe at all times. But today, after seeing your secretary and learning that you took precautions without us knowing; I know you have matured. As long as you understand how precious you are, what else would I be worried about?”
Matured. This was a very heavy word.
John’s words hit a soft spot in my heart. I felt a mix of emotions.
After a while, I caught on to that singular irregularity in his touching comment. I smacked his arm with all my might. “Who did you say was a man?”
“Me! I’m the man, alright? So, what do you want to do? I’ll see how I should cooperate with you.” John said with a laugh.
“It’s very simple!” I walked toward him and started dragging him up the stairs. “Today, let’s start with the common business knowledge about Pitcoin trading!”
The next day, John and I went straight to Trivett Corporation. John visited in his capacity as the general manager of Stanhope Corporation, while I went as the second major shareholder of Featherstone Corporation.
In the ever-changing corporate world, it was commonly agreed that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. John was the mastermind who ensured that Mitchell Ziegler could not return to the country, and Louis was a natural barrier that blocked off profiteers. Despite these facts, Trivett Corporation did not refuse to see us. Instead, they showed us to their reception room politely.
Herman Trivett had always been the leader of the Trivett family. They started in petroleum, then went into all sorts of investments, building up the massive wealth in the process. When the petroleum business no longer worked out for them, they lost their main source of income and got into several financial crises. It was Herman who kept turning the tides and saving the corporation, though the results were not very satisfactory. However, ever since Pitcoin was introduced to the market, Trivett Corporation’s share prices soared, and the company’s net worth tripled.
By the time the secretary served us our third cup of coffee, John could no longer rein in his temper. He stood up and kicked the potted plant in the corner of the room. Its leaves shook and fell all over the place.
At that moment, the door opened from outside. The secretary led a middle-aged man in a burgundy suit into the room.
The man sported a neat crew cut. Even though he looked like he was around Louis’ age, he had a head full of black hair. The only giveaway was the wrinkles on his face which indicated his age. This must be Seth Trivett.
“Why so angry, Mr. Stanhope?” Seth asked in the standard businessman tone while sitting down.
After he was seated, another young person entered the room unhurriedly at his own pace. Without any greetings, he simply pulled the chair beside Seth further apart before sitting down. Looking at his features, this was definitely Herman, Seth Trivett’s son.
“John, didn’t your Uncle Louis teach you any manners? You come to my company for a visit and you damage my property. What is the meaning of this?” Herman put down his phone and criticized John with a long face.
Both father and son had acted their respective roles out very well.
However, given that Seth was making his son take on the role of offending others, he clearly did not care about Herman’s future at all. If anything happened to Seth in the future, Herman would have offended everyone by then. In short, the world would only sit back and watch when the Trivetts met their downfall.
Whatever, it’s their own problem anyway. It’s got nothing to do with me.
“You’re exaggerating, Mr. Trivett. My brother’s only flaw is that he’s a little anxious. He did that only because he’d drank a little too much coffee and had to go to the restroom urgently. It’d be rude to let the two of you arrive in an empty room, so he was finding another way to vent it out,” I said, hiding my anger with a friendly tone.
Although John was not a patient man, he did know to think of the big picture. He would have never caused such a conflict if the Trivetts had not made us wait so long in the first place. I said those words to tell them that the Stanhope family would not simply remain silent while allowing others to take advantage of us.
Seth glared at me sharply for a while, then looked away calmly. He kept on a slight smile but did not speak.
Then, Herman seemed to have received someone’s orders and boldly tried to justify themselves. “Trivett Corporation’s not a place that you can come and visit whenever you want. We had to end the quarterly report meeting earlier by half an hour for your sake. Don’t tell me that you’re trying to accuse us of treating the two of you poorly?”
It seemed like my guess was right. The Trivetts were going to finish acting out their script.
Since that was the case, there was no need for me to expose them. Thus, I got straight to the point. “It’s just a small matter; let’s not talk about it anymore. We’re here today for other matters.”
When I spoke, Seth acted as if none of it was related to him. He picked up his tea and slowly savored it, treating us as though we were nothing worth bothering about.
“I want to join the Pitcoin business,” I said, raising my voice as I glanced over at Seth. He was still behaving as if he were a mere bystander, acting indifferent to the situation.
However, Herman was very open with his suspicions about our motives. “Don’t you know that your godfather is taking the lead to oppose Pitcoin? Isn’t it rebellious and unfilial to go against him?” Herman paused and shot John a mocking gaze. “I heard that ever since you came back from J City, you’ve been obeying everything Louis says. Are you finally unable to take it anymore?”
His words were actually not that hostile. Since it was a business matter, judgments had to be made, and explicit confirmation was required.
“That’s none of your business,” John said. Then, he moved to sit beside me in a carefree manner just as Herman did, provoking him. “Just tell us if we can join in and make some money together.”
With one hand resting on the table and the other holding his chin, Herman raised his eyebrows in thought. A while later, he looked up with a grim, ruthless gaze. “Do you think we’re so stupid as to invite trouble in? If you want to be a spy, go somewhere else. We don’t have time to play along with your petty tricks.”
Just as John was about to speak, Seth leisurely put down his teacup and stepped forward. “Herman, they’re our guests. How can you speak to them like this.”
After a pause, he looked at John. Then, acting as if he were a kind senior, Seth continued, “John, it’s not that I don’t want to work with you. It’s just that it would be too troublesome. You know your status. As Mr. Stanhope’s nephew, your family’s finances are all being monitored by the authority. Although we’re not afraid of being investigated, it’ll still bring us a lot of losses at our end. Pitcoin’s actually not as profitable as the rumors make it out to be. If there’re other future opportunities, I’ll definitely reserve a place for you.”
He was obviously saying that they would not cooperate with the Stanhope family.
However, it was not difficult to understand where he was coming from. After all, no one wanted to voluntarily invite a predator in.
“You’re mistaken, Mr. Trivett,” I said, taking the opportunity to interrupt. Deliberately raising my voice, I continued, “I’m the one who wants to work with the Trivetts, not John.”
Upon hearing my words, both father and son turned to me simultaneously with their gazes full of surprise.
“You?” Herman said in a scornful tone, “You’re all from the Stanhope family. Is there any difference?”
“Of course, there’s a difference.” I looked him in the eye, then continued, “Although I’ve taken Louis as my godfather, legally, we’re not family, so whatever investments I make will not be monitored. You can rest assured that you won’t incur losses because of me.”
Herman knocked on the table as he laughed coldly. “I don’t know if you’re stupid or if you’re just pretending, but do you think you can resolve it just by saying that you’re ‘not legally family?’ Do you really think we’re idiots?”
As soon as he was done speaking, the secretary standing behind Seth brought the phone to his ear and whispered while cupping the microphone. He then bent over and whispered in Seth’s ear.
After Seth replied in a soft voice, the secretary gave us a polite smile before exiting the room.
As soon as the secretary turned his back to us, Seth broke into an incomprehensible smile. “Today seems to be a special day. Distinguished guests have arrived all at once. Mr. and Ms. Stanhope, I’m sure you won’t mind if my friends join in our conversation, right? They’re also very interested in Pitcoin.”
Although his expression actually made me a little flustered, I still managed to look calm. “Of course, it’s all fair competition. Only if we meet will you actually be able to see who has more capital, right?”
Seth kept silent as the corners of his mouth started to curl upward, resulting in a very frightening scene.
Soon, the office door opened once again as the secretary led Seth’s guests in.
As soon as Thora walked through the door, our eyes met. A flash of surprise flashed across her eyes, but she kept her composure as she greeted both father and son. Behind her, aside from her assistant, entered Anthony.
However, I was not as surprised as Thora was. As Anthony and I had already agreed to disrupt the Pitcoin business, we inevitably had to meet Seth. Thus, it was no surprise that we would meet then.
Perhaps due to Seth’s presence, as soon as Anthony saw me, he paused in his footsteps and frowned slightly before he walked over to sit down beside Thora.
Thus, the four of us sat opposite one another. When our gazes met, there was a weird shift in the atmosphere.
Anthony was the first to speak. His cold tone set the scene for our show. “Why are you here instead of looking after the children at home?”
“We’re already divorced. My choices are none of your business,” I said, narrowing my eyes impatiently. I then turned to Seth and asked, “Mr. Trivett, are they the people that are here to compete with me?”
“You plan to get involved in the Pitcoin business too?” inquired Thora.
Upon hearing that, I lowered my eyes and remained silent for a while before I looked her in the eye and smiled. “I have Ms. Ziegler to thank for this. If you hadn’t wanted my shares in Featherstone Corporation so desperately, I wouldn’t have gotten someone to investigate. It turns out that Pitcoin’s very popular now, and everyone wants a hand in it. Since I own so many shares, obviously, I had to plan well for my future.”
“Oh?” said Seth, finally showing some surprise. “Does that mean you’re here to represent Featherstone Corporation today, to agree to the cooperation I proposed?”
He took the bait!
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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