CHAPTER 8 The Engagement 

　　"My fiance? What are you talking about?" Sophia asked.

　　Just then, Gerald faced her again, dragging his chair closer to her. She faced him, wondering what he was suddenly excited about.

　　"You still have an engagement with the King family. If you hadn't disappeared then, you probably would have married into the King's family by now." Gerald raised his voice a bit at Sophia.

　　Sophia shot him a sharp glare instantly and eyed him, making him look away and he faked a cough once again. She was aware that she was to marry the King family then, but she knew not who exactly she was getting married to.

　　She was reluctant about it back then and was sort of glad that the circumstances that happened did, making her move away from home for so long that the engagement was canceled.

　　Seeing that Sophia wasn't interested in talking about the canceled engagement, Gerald instantly straightened his expression and continued to talk about business.

　　"Well, the biggest headache is a land about your fiance. This land was originally ours, but twenty years ago, we leased it to the King family. Now, the lease deadline has been reached, but they have been reluctant to return it to us," Gerald explained the situation on the ground to her.

　　"The King family..." Sophia raised an eyebrow as she tried to process the information she just heard. "Isn't the King family one of the four major families in our country along with us" Sophia frowned, wondering why they had refused to return the land to them, despite knowing they were an important family in the country, just like them?

　　"Yes, " Gerald confirmed her thoughts.

　　"So, Uhm, I went to the person in charge of them several times, but the other party kept refusing to meet."

　　Sophia scoffed. "What audacity," she muttered and clicked her tongue.

　　Among the rich and powerful families in NY City, there were only four families that are the most mysterious. This included the Blake-Peterson family, the Liukin family, the Peirce family, and finally, the King family.

　　These four major families are big families that have been passed down for hundreds of years now, and their heritage has always been very rich. No other family in the whole of the USA could compare to those four when it came to riches and wealth.

　　Getting in contact with any of these four families alone was something that was beyond reach. Although the four major families check and balance each other, they also have some business contacts.

　　They most times do not even involve themselves with one another. It was just a couple of businesses that involved the four major families that made them stay in contact. And they made sure to handle everything with care and stay in their lanes respectively, and not step on anyone's toes so as not to cause a feud of any sort between them.

　　"Which piece of land are they renting?" Sophia asked after a long pause. She was busy thinking about what could be done to get their land back from them.

　　Gerald took out a map from one of the files on the table and directly circled the land in Hexis, then took it closer to Sophia for her to see. "This one," he pointed to the circled one.

　　"This one?" She asked confusedly. "But this place was just classified as a development zone a few years ago, wasn't it?" She glanced at it lightly.

　　"Yes. But that was then. It's now a very hot place and the income from this land is quite considerable. As long as we can get it back, it will be able to solve our current urgent need for funds," Gerald explained the need to get the land back to her.

　　"The King family also refused to let go because they realized that it had turned into a piece of gold," he added.

　　Sophia shook her head slowly and scoffed. "The King family can't be so unstructured, offending the great Blake-Peterson family for such a piece of land." Deep down, she felt that the matter was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. She believed the piece of land was just for a cover-up.

　　"Sure enough, we'll find out if there's anything else attached to it. You know I can't hide anything from you," he assured her and she nodded.

　　"I suspect that some of our subordinates made a deal with the people over there, and put all the funds into their own pockets. That's why the other party dared to continue to dominate so unscrupulously." Gerald looked at Sophia with intense seriousness and a little more burning eyes than hers, as if he was directly affected by it.

　　A small smile tugged on Sophia's lips as she watched Gerald speak. This little cousin of their family has been smart since he was a child. That was something even their old man praised back then.

　　"Do you know who it is? The subordinate?" Sophia's eyes turned colder as her smile faded almost as quickly as it came.

　　Gerald let out a sigh and shook his head. "I've only locked in a few candidates temporarily. The real traitor hasn't been found yet."

　　"Fine then. You are in charge of thoroughly investigating the traitors in the company, and I will be in charge of this land." Sophia said in a deep voice. She was almost completely sure that if her cousin was involved, it would be a success.

　　"Okay!" He smiled, then added. "You must be tired. I'll take you back to rest first."

　　"I'm so tired," she yawned, covering her mouth with her arm. "But meanwhile, what about the things I asked you to prepare?" Sophia turned her head and asked.

　　"All ready. I'll take you there now." He responded. Soon after he had cleared the files on the table, they were on their way out of the hall as he led her out of the building to the car.