“The audacity you have to say that. Do you think you have the credibility a businessman should have when you add more terms on the spot like this?” Heather swirled the wine glass in her hand and looked at Ralph mockingly.She knew this man was unreliable from the start and that adding terms at the last minute was something he would pull off. It did not matter how many shares she offered him in the first place because Ralph was a greedy man who would never be satisfied. “Credibility?” Ralph laughed as if he had heard a joke. “Who even talks about that these days? Being credible won’t get me what I want. As you said, we’re people in business, and our self-interests are our utmost priority, no?“Look at us; we’re tied together because of our personal gains, right? Since it all boils down to our interests, we should try to maximize it, which is the gist of being in business!”That was Ralph’s business perspective, and he based his actions on that. Hence, he felt frustrated by the way
“I…” Ralph was tongue-tied and thought to himself. ‘Could it be that she changed her mind because she wasn’t satisfied with my terms? That can’t be it. She’s been looking for the handbook for so many years. How could she just change her mind about something she wanted so badly?’He probed. “Then… what do you mean to say?”“I mean that I don’t want it anymore! I don’t want the book anymore!” Heather was determined. It looked like there was no room for negotiations.“Cut the cr*p. I know you still want the handbook. You want to discuss the terms of our deal again, don’t you? Fine, let’s talk it out then. Since it’s business, we can always negotiate and come to a conclusion that we’re both happy with. You don’t need to reject me directly just because you couldn’t accept what I requested. There’s no need to get so worked up over this.”When it came to Heather, Ralph did not dare to use brute force on her as he was no match for her. However, he was puzzled by her attitude.While he was
However, Heather just gave him a contemptuous look with a mocking smile hanging from her lips. Although she said nothing, it was a significant blow to Ralph. Disbelief washed over him. At this moment, he was more astonished than he was afraid of her. He grabbed her shoulders, holding them tightly. “Don’t go! Explain what you said earlier! What do you mean by it’s fake?”No one dared to do such a thing to Heather before this. She was taken aback for a moment before her expression turned dark, and she asked coldly. “What are you doing?”“Explain it to me! What did you say was fake? You’ve never seen the authentic handbook, so how could you say that the one I have is fake? You must be purposely deceiving me so you can snatch the book away from me! You don’t want to spend any money to get it, do you?“Pfft! Look at you calling me greedy when you’re the genuinely greedy one! Heather Riggs, I had no idea you were so cunning when you appear to care about nothing in this world. A deal? Yo
Ralph just managed to utter a word before Heather continued, “Still, you’re not completely useless. Your strategy worked well. It’s difficult to even for me to get both of them out of the house at the same time, stop all the servants from entering the hall, and destroy the surveillance cameras. You helped me a lot, and for this, I can offer you a reward.”Then she elaborated on the secret handbook, “As for the secret handbook, the one you have is fake. The real one is with me. Hence, I don’t need to give you anything in return for the handbook because you failed to meet our negotiated terms. This can’t be considered a lie.”That was Heather’s initial plan. She had never hoped for Ralph to help her get what she wanted. However, his identity as a Russell could help her immensely. On top of that, he had Margaret helping him. That weakened the defense of the Russells toward the outsiders, and Heather did not have to deal with the couple, Alexander and Lily, head-on. With that, retrievi
Heather managed to shove Ralph away with just a little force. At this moment, he was in a trance, unable to stand still, and fell straight to the ground. Subconsciously, he used his elbow to support himself but heard a clicking sound.‘Ouch! That f*cking hurts!’The pain made him return to his senses while Heather’s words were still ringing in his ears. However, he believed none of the things she said. Why should he? What if she was lying? What if she was trying to deceive him?He could not be bothered by the pain in his arms and rushed to his computer to look up information about kickboxing, such as relevant practice guides. As Heather said, there were many pictures and moves similar to the ones in the secret handbook he had.Since he did not practice kickboxing, he thought the kickboxing moves were similar. That could not prove the book he had was fake, either.Ralph contacted someone as he gnashed his teeth. There were dark websites that hid much information unknown to most peo
“Okay. Let me know when you have updates about it. That’s it for now!” Ralph hung up the call and finally realized his elbows were hurting. He probably fell too hard earlier and failed to notice it because his thoughts distracted him.His joint was aching, and he touched it carefully with the other hand. It seemed swollen, and he wondered if it was dislocated.‘What a sad day! I thought we could at least seal the deal today, even if we didn’t set it in stone yet. Then I would just need to wait for the transaction to happen and get what I wanted. I never expected that woman to be so cunning.‘She took advantage of me to distract them while she sneaked into the house. Those were just her words, so I can’t trust what she said entirely.’He looked down at the pictures on his phone screen. Initially, they were treasures to him, but it now felt like a hot potato. It could not bring him anything in return, and he had to be careful of Alexander. Indeed, Heather had tricked him terribly thi
The events that followed suit were within their plans.“Where did you get the ‘secret handbook’ from?” Lily had never browsed its contents. However, she knew the book in the safe was fake.“There are tons of such things on the Internet. I just found one that was less popular and did something with its appearance, so it looks old. It was a piece of cake,” Alexander explained simply.He just put the handbook directly into the safe, but without any poison on its surface. That was a gift for Ralph anyway, so they did not need to complicate the situation.“Why did you use that then?” Lily pursed her lips and gestured toward the arrow on the wall. Smirking, she asked, “Aren’t you worried your uncle might die here if anything were to go wrong?”She would faint if the scene that greeted her when she opened the door to their room were Ralph lying in a pool of his own blood.In response to that, Alexander smiled and walked over the wall. With his thumb and index finger around one of the ar
By then, she would not pose much of a threat to them anymore. “I hope she will know when to stop,” Lily sighed, leaning back as she prepared to lie down.“Wait!” Alexander stopped her and pointed to the spot behind her. “We’ll get someone to clean the room up. Let’s sleep in another room tonight.”Lily looked around and noticed that the room was indeed a mess. Hence, she nodded and followed him out of the room.…When Heather woke up in the morning, she could smell a special, tangy aroma, which made her a little hungry. After washing up, she went downstairs and saw a bowl of soup, a few side dishes, and some staple foods on the table. “Breakfast looks good today,” she praised, then sat down to eat.The maid stood next to her, appearing hesitant to speak. When Heather noticed that she asked, “What’s wrong?”“Ms. Riggs, it seems that a thief has broken into the house.” The maid hesitated for a moment longer but decided to report it to Heather as it was a serious matter. Heath