Huh? How does he know? ”Terry, what’s going on? Please be straightforward and tell me all about it,” Fabian said calmly.
“Wesley just called me. He wants to raise the price of the land you’re partnering up with him to buy so that he can swindle some of your money. He even talked about splitting it in half with me. I disagreed. I’d rather not ruin our relationship like this.”
Hah! You just can’t wait to get wrecked, can you? Since you’re asking for it, then I’d better grant you your wishes.
Grinning, Fabian said, “Terry, why would you reject such a great offer?”
Terry was rather baffled by what he had just heard. “Huh?”
“Terry, call him back. Tell him you want eighty percent of the money. And then…”
After listening to Fabian’s plan in full, Terry could not help but chuckle a little. “Okay, okay. I’ll do as you’ve instructed. Mr. Norton, it can be really devastating to go against someone as smart as you. Fortunately, I do have the wisdom to be your friend.”
“Terry, your involvement in this is much appreciated.”
The two proceeded to engage in some small talk with each other and eventually ended the call.
Hours later, Wesley found himself narrowing his eyes at his phone. “Hmph. This Mr. Ziegler guy is greedier than I have expected. It turns out that he rejected me the first time simply because he wasn’t offered enough money,” he said to himself.
Upon hearing that, Regina turned to look at him eagerly. “So, he agreed to our plan?”
Nodding with a somewhat discontent expression, Wesley replied, “He did agree… but he wants to get eighty percent of the money.”
“That’s fine. What’s important is that he agrees with our plan. We are turning a profit anyways. How about you try to raise the price of the land even higher?”
Wesley replied, “Yeah, I’ll try my best to make the price as steep as they can get.”
Meanwhile, Fabian was staring at the clock in his office. Seems about time. He dialed for Wesley. With a saddened and distressed tone, he said, “Hi? Are you the person in charge of the Horington Land Development Project from Hatchworks Enterprise? I’m Fabian… Yes… Mr. Ziegler suddenly raised the prices of that plot of land really high. I need to discuss this with you. Okay… Yes, get Mr. Ziegler to come too, and we shall meet at the Glory Hotel.”
Fabian hang up the call with a look of disdain. From his short conversation with Wesley, he could sense just how delighted Wesley was. Hmph. You’re just a fool who can’t even do as much as to conceal your emotions. I don’t see how you could have ever survived in this industry without your wife. And yet, you are just playing around with your sugar baby and don’t seem grateful to your wife at all.
“Hah… I like idiots like you… You’ll count the money for me after I sell you off, won’t you?” Fabian said with an amused expression.
Chuckling, he made another call using the telephone on his desk. “Reserve a private room for me at the Glory Hotel and prepare a car downstairs. I’ll be leaving now.”
Before long, Fabian arrived at the designated venue for their rendezvous. In the distance, Wesley and Terry had just emerged from the same car and seemed to be chatting merrily. Fabian walked up to them with a smile, he extended his right hand in a somewhat patronizing way. “Mr. Ziegler, this way, please.”
Terry also extended his right hand to shake hands with Fabian. He could not help but lament to himself in his head. Oh, gosh. What has Wesley done to you? I can’t believe that he’s going to such lengths just to dupe Wesley. Does he even care about his image at this point?
His image was indeed the last thing on Fabian’s mind at the moment. Putting on an act to get his darling Hannah her sweet revenge and even getting paid for his acting sounded like an amazing deal to him.
“Mr. Ziegler, Mr. Xenakis, this is the private room I’ve reserved for you.”
In the private room, they made their orders and began chatting casually. After most of the dishes had been served, Fabian took a sip of his wine and put on his best impression of a businessman in distress. Smiling awkwardly, he said, “Mr. Ziegler, I do remember discussing the price with you two days ago. Why did you suddenly raise it by so much?”
Terry furrowed his brows slightly and replied, “Oh, Fabian. I don’t have a choice. The higher-ups were the ones who made the decision. I want to help you, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
As he said those words, he took out a document from his briefcase. “Look, I’m not lying to you. This is the contract printed as per the instructions of my higher-ups. The price is being doubled. I’ve tried to negotiate with them for your sake but was reprimanded instead. They said that they have no intentions of lowering the prices. There’re many competitors wanting to purchase the plot of land, and you can either take it or leave it.”
