Chapter 9

Ruth shook her head and sized him up seriously once more. “Pardon my rudeness, but what do you do?”

“I’m a businessman.”

“A businessman? And you want to earn this sort of money too?”

Ruth was in disbelief. Even her tone changed at the end of her question.

Abel nodded and answered seriously. “A dime is still money, and if you get loads of it, you’ll be rich in the end. Haven’t you heard of this before?”

Ruth was rendered speechless, but she would be an absolute idiot if she believed in him.

She wanted to continue asking questions, but her phone rang at that moment.

She took a look at the number, and her expression became slightly more serious. Then, she walked out of the bedroom with her phone in hand.

......

When Ruth got the transfer agreement the day before, she did not hurry to the company. Instead, she got a person to investigate Lockton Entertainment’s revenue over the past few years.

She logged into her email, and pages of data appeared before her eyes.

Then, she received a message. [Lockton Corporation’s data on the surface level is nice and shows you that the entertainment company has been earning profit, but it’s actually the opposite. It’s been suffering losses for a few years now.]

Ruth smirked, and mockery shone in her eyes.

Callum had asked her to earn twice the profit. Based on the profit and loss data, forget earning twice the profit, she would already have to do a lot of work just to cover the losses.

Her b*stard of a father had set up a trap for her.

“The domestic entertainment industry is already saturated, and Grand Empire has all the resources in its hands. You shouldn’t have taken over this mess,” the cold voice of a man said above her.

Ruth looked up and saw that Abel had come in at some point in time.

He stood beside her and stared at her monitor. His face was aloof and handsome. Even his side profile was ridiculously perfect.

Ruth looked up at him. “What about Rising Star?”

“It’s alright.” Abel raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “So, are you thinking about stealing resources from Rising Star?”

Everyone thought that since Rising Star had been developing rapidly over the past few years, it could rival Grand Empire.

However, Rising Star was nothing to Grand Empire.

“Its resources have always been mine,” Ruth said coolly, but her eyes told that she was determined to get them back.

Then, Abel remembered what she said.

Yesterday, after she got drunk, she cried and complained that she had started a company for Caelus. She got him resources and earned money for him.

He frowned. “Come out. We’re eating breakfast.”

He left after saying that.

Ruth stared at his retreating back before she suddenly registered what he said. “Why are you so knowledgeable about the entertainment industry? Are you working in this field as well? Where do you work? Are you interested in coming to my company?”

She chased after him in excitement.

Abel did not stop walking until she suddenly changed the topic of conversation. “Did we really sleep together yesterday?”

He stopped and turned to look at her.

Ruth had not expected him to stop so suddenly, and she nearly crashed into him.

She quickly stopped and looked at him while blinking innocently. “What’s wrong? Don’t be nervous. I was just asking.”

After all, she did not remember anything, and it was a real loss for her.

He stared at her face with an intense gaze. Just when Ruth’s calm expression was about to crack, he said slowly, “I didn’t have enough. Let’s continue tonight.”

Ruth was speechless. Her face turned red. Even her ears burned.

She simply could not out-flirt this man.

She lost.

......

While on his way to the company, Abel held his tablet and listened to his assistant telling him about the Lockton family.

Three years ago, Ruth went to a nightclub with a few socialites with horrible reputations to have fun with the gigolos there, and they were arrested by the police. The news shocked the entire upper-class society of the Imperial City, and Callum was “forced” to send his daughter abroad to stay out the storm.

During those three years, Callum brought up his own force of power and gradually switched out the elders of the Lockton family who were holding high positions in the company. Then, he completely occupied the company.

After Ruth left the country, she disappeared. All they knew was that she had stayed in contact with Caelus.

She had come back to get married with Caelus to regain the shares of the Lockton family, but Caelus cheated on her and got together with Callum’s youngest daughter.

“The Lockton family’s situation sure is complicated. Caelus Warren is also a b*stard. It’s clear that they schemed against Ruth!” Apollo said angrily.

After a brief pause, he peeked behind him in a mysterious fashion. “Your wife is not to be trifled with, though, Abel. We couldn’t find anything about her life during the three years she was abroad. She really hid her information under a tight lid!”

Abel stopped moving his finger for a moment and looked at his brother. “I didn’t ask you to investigate her.”

Apollo hunched his shoulders guiltily. “Something’s weird about that woman. I was just worried about you getting scammed! Ever since that incident, you stopped talking to women. If you get scammed again—”

“She’s your sister-in-law,” Abel coldly corrected him.

Apollo bobbed his head repeatedly and did not dare to say anything more. Then, Abel said, “You should have had your fun fooling around. It’s about time you came back to the company to help.”

Apollo’s eyes flew wide open. “You agreed that I can continue staying in the entertainment industry! You’re breaking your promise!”

Abel ignored him and continued reading the information on his tablet. All he gave Apollo in response was his aloof side profile.

“Besides, I wasn’t fooling around! I’ve been working hard at Grand Empire for years, and I reached my KPI tons of times! Even if you don’t consider those as achievements, you should consider it as hard work, right?! All I want is to be independent, and you’re being so merciless?! You’re really going to cut—”

Impatience flashed in Abel’s eyes, and he gave an order to the driver in a cold voice. “Let him get out at the junction ahead of us.”

Apollo’s mouth snapped shut. He even covered his mouth with his hands. “Fine. I’ll shut up. I’ll stop talking, okay?”

He looked pitiful, but he actually felt speechless.

He must have incurred his brother’s ire because he looked into Ruth. That was why he was being so heartless.

He threw all of his humanity out the window after scoring himself a girl!

Apollo really wanted to know just what sort of woman his sister-in-law was.

The car was silent for two minutes before Apollo tested the waters and said, “I heard that my sister-in-law took over Lockton Entertainment. She has no resources and no status. Those old coots will definitely make things tough for her, don’t you think so?”

Abel did not reply, but he did not tell Apollo to keep quiet either.

Apollo’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Look at me, Apollo! What do you think of me? If I go over, don’t you think I can help your wife keep up appearances?”

He was a global A-list actor and a popular artist in Grand Empire. He had looks and skills, and Apollo was quite confident in himself.

“I don’t want to see you in Grand Empire from today onwards.”

The underlying message was this: Get your butt over now.

Abel was silent for a few seconds before he added, “Also, don’t let others know about our relationship.”

Apollo was absolutely bemused.

“Does your wife really not know who you are? Why did she marry you, then? Just because she needed a husband?” Once he asked that, he saw his brother’s darkened expression, and he suddenly felt that he had spoken too much.

He zipped his mouth shut.

Meanwhile, he was screaming in surprise in his heart.

What was the point of being the richest man in the country if not to become someone else’s tool?