To be honest, Jada really did not want to be Frank either.It was simple—becoming him meant facing plenty of different issues and having to think through a lot of different matters.On top of that, the spiritron vein would start messing around for no reason at all.Half an hour later, there was a knock on the office door, and the rogue entered."Jada, leave us," Frank said and pointed at a bottle on the table. "You can open that."Jada nodded. "Yes, Mr. Frankton."After she left, the man picked up the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and brandished it at Frank. "You're really letting me have this?"The rogue was not rich, but he had been abroad often enough to know what the wine cost.Frank smiled. "Why don't you pop it open and find out? Or perhaps you're afraid?"The rogue smirked and popped open the bottle right then, and he chugged half of it directly without using the expensive glass on the table."Well done!" Frank nodded. "Don't bother saving the rest for me either. There's
That was why Arcus wanted to start with them—to put a potential issue to rest.And to smoothen things out, Arcus actually had no plans to shed blood. Instead, he would offer the carrot before the stick, by making contact with the Costners before deciding what to do with them.Frank skimmed through Arcus' proposal before returning it to him. "I'm not worried about anything since I'm letting you take charge. Be bold—I'll be there if things get hairy.""Yes, Mr. Frankton."And with that, Arcus left Frankton Group, calling up some of his former BM Group colleagues and heading to Shanton in groups.After that, they rendezvoused in a mansion owned by Sue Fisher, as Arcus wanted to avoid any unnecessary attention. Moreover, he only brought around three hundred men, which was considerably outnumbered by the thousand or so martial artists under the Costners' command.Arcus was not afraid however, as he doubted that they were that eager to burn bridges!Still, some of Arcus' colleagues
Derek knew very well why Arcus was here—Frank wanted his family business and would take control over it like how the Mystic Sky Guild took over BM Group.However, Derek was not interested in becoming anyone's pawn. Not only would he get nothing out of it, but he might even get killed for nothing.As such, he would rather content himself with making money. Who knew if that abundant wealth might get him somewhere eventually?On the other hand, Arcus was unsure as to how he should react to that. He was surprised that Derek responded so quickly and resolutely, when Arcus was just probing him.It was not shocking now that even the likes of Sally York would not mess with him.Still, Arcus asked, "I don't think a verbal promise is all that convincing, Mr. Costner. Don't you agree?"After all, whale Derek was not a pathological liar despite not wearing his heart on his sleeve, Arcus would still prefer having some form of assurance!Derek simply shrugged at Arcus. "In that case, speaki
Arcus shrugged. "Don't worry. I'm just discussing the prospect of a partnership with Mr. Derek. All we want to do is make money, and we have no interest in anything else."Moreover, if Mr. Frankton wanted to act, he would already have. Why wait until now?"While Arcus already had a plan on what to do against warhawks like the geezer, he decided to be reasonable for the time being—it was never too late to move against him later.And the geezer was a sly old fox who would never believe Arcus either. He pretended to buy it nonetheless, as the purpose was to distract.Nonetheless, as Arcus returned to the mansion, he quickly had his people look into the geezer and other people of interest in the Costner family.In a day, a full stack of data was in front of him.As it turned out, several elders of the Costner family carried considerable influence in the family—one of whom was Walt Costner, the geezer who showed up to warn Arcus. He was a strong martial artist and used to be the head
At those words, Walt smashed his cup—the signal for his men to charge inside!Fortunately, Arcus was prepared for that—his allies crashed through the window and quickly engaged Walt's men.In under half an hour, they had subdued all of Walt's men!"No way!" Walt exclaimed in shock. "None of you were granted the power of the spiritron vein!""Can you quit being so naive, Mr. Costner? We used to work as assassins for BM Group, and that means we're not to be underestimated!" Arcus chuckled. "So? What else do you have to say now?"Walt smirked. "I won't yield as long as you don't kill me. You'll truly understand how annoying a mad dog can be, even if it only barks and never bites!"Arcus smirked—now that he thought about it, killing Walt would not really be a big deal.There was going to be bad blood even if Walt tried to pin a crime on Derek, and with his stubborn defiance, the Costners would not find peace as long as he lived. Even if the Costners and Frankton Group came to blow
Derek chuckled. "Word has it that Lugh Frankton is omnipotent. Who knows? He could have been a soothsayer who foresaw this and avoided your trap!"Walt was not about to give up and started to persuade Derek. "Just listen to me. You can't ever trust them—it's only by keeping control of the family to yourself that you can actually get rich!"Derek was not dumb enough to fall for that, however.Not only had Arcus proved his restraint as Frank's representative, but it was clear that they were not here to shed blood. If anything, Arcus even showed his respect for Derek, as he clearly considered Derek's standpoint on this issue.Moreover, people always said that Frank could be ruthless and merciless, so why should Derek corner himself against a reaper like him? Even if he wanted to go down swinging against Frank, would those working for him agree to that?He and Walt were both Costners and shared the same lineage, but they certainly differed in ambition—or at the very least, not every
"Sign this to finalize your divorce if you have no further questions," the woman in a flowery dress said as she pushed a sheet of paper toward Frank Lawrence.They were seated at Lane Manor, and Frank's sharp brows furrowed as he stared at the divorce agreement before turning to the woman who was his mother in law, Gina Zonda. "What's this?"Gina folded her arms across her chest and said flatly, "Lane Holdings has just gone public—that means the gap between you and Helen are growing ever further apart. Since you're no help to her in her career, all you would do is tie her down, and it's therefore ideal for you to divorce her sooner."Frank smiled bitterly. "Is this what Helen thinks, or is that what you think?"Gina glowered. "This is what every member of my family thinks. Henry may have arranged this marriage between you and Helen, but we've been kind to you as you freeloaded from us over the last three years. Sign this if you know what's good for you."Frank inhaled deeply.For
As Frank strode out of Lane Manor, he turned to look at the place he lived at for three years.He had come here all alone and now left empty-handed.Just then, a Rolls-Royce sped toward him from a distance, stopping just beside him. The door opened, and a middle-aged man dressed sharply in a suit alighted, grinning broadly as he jogged up to Frank. "Mr. Lawrence…""What are you doing here?" Frank asked as he stared at the man—he was Trevor Zurich, the CEO of Trevor International. "I've recently partnered with your wife for a development project in West City, and I've come to discuss the details with her," Trevor admitted.Frank nodded but said, "There's no need for a discussion—Helen now has the Wesley family's backing and doesn't need ours, and she's no longer my wife.""What?!" Trevor exclaimed, flabbergasted. "What's going on?""Helen and I got divorced," Frank admitted. "From now on, there's no connection between myself and the Lanes."Then, turning toward Trevor and gen