On the night of the banquet, Myra and Tony were dressed glamorously for the event—a sophisticated presentation was the best weapon on such occasions. The couple put on a solemn expression as they entered the venue. They knew that this invitation couldn’t be as simple as it seemed, so they had to be prepared to handle any situation seriously.
Tony stole a glance at Myra who was beside him; she was wearing a turquoise dress which brought out her bright complexion wonderfully, making her look more beautiful than ever.
Even though her waist wasn’t as slim as before, her current supple and full figure added a touch of womanly charm! The gown accentuated her elegant posture, and every move she made was filled with charisma befitting of a young mistress.
Myra was able to recognize Matthias in the midst of the huge crowd after seeing his photo beforehand. She asked Tony in a low voice, “Should we go to him?”
Tony was exchanging greetings with his fellow attendees, so he took a half-hearted glance in Matthias’ direction. When he saw the man in person, it felt like their subject of conversation for many days had finally come to life.
The couple weren’t far from Matthias, so the man was bound to notice them sooner or later. Moreover, a nobody like Matthias wasn’t worthy of Tony to initiate their greeting.
In actual fact, Matthias had felt Tony’s eyes on him for some time; he simply didn’t react to it. He’d heard that Tony had a unique way of handling things, so he was eager to have a go at him.
Nevertheless, Matthias was still waiting for the right time to make his move. After all, it was no laughing matter to be enemies with the Hart Family in Bradfort City.
Moreover, the Waltons had just been completely trampled on and ruined by the Harts not too long ago; the way Matthias simply picked a fight with the Hart Family considering their current power and influence proved just how ambitious the man was.
Thus, the two parties waited for one another in silence. Eventually, Matthias made his way to Tony; after all, the former was the host of the night, whereas the latter was a guest. Thus, it was basic etiquette for Matthias to take the initiative this time—he had already anticipated this to happen when he sent Tony an invitation.
Right now, things were going in Tony’s way; he faced the situation confidently and naturally, whereas Myra maintained an elegant composure by his side. Matthias observed the woman as he approached the couple since he already had a detailed understanding of Tony’s background. On the other hand, Matthias didn’t pay attention to Myra’s background; as a woman who had caught Tony’s interest, though, Matthias was quite interested in her abilities as well.
“Director Hart.” Matthias’ voice had an inexplicable charm to it. If only he put more effort in his articulation and tone, he could very well be a qualified TV announcer.
He was lean and had a clean and sculpted appearance; it made him appear scholarly and neat. No one would have guessed that Matthias was affiliated with shady business just by looking at him.
“Director Locke,” Tony returned his greeting politely. Next to him, Myra smiled courteously as well.
“Miss Stark,” Matthias’ eyes lingered on Myra for a while; a deep, incomprehensible look filled his gaze.
Matthias’ way of addressing Myra made the two feel a little uncomfortable—she was Tony’s fiancée, after all. Not only that, the blunt and unreserved look in his eyes as he stared at Myra was quite rude as well.
“Good evening, Director Locke.” Myra’s smile stiffened a little. She wasn’t fond of the way Matthias looked at her at all, for it seemed like he was sizing up a prey.
“Please excuse the lack of hospitality. I’m truly honored to have the two of you here tonight.” Matthias finally looked away from Myra; he turned to Tony and gestured to them politely as he spoke.
“You have quite a beautiful home, Director Locke.” Tony looked around casually. Matthias had quite a taste in furnishing and decoration, so Tony’s compliment wasn’t all empty praise.
“I just moved in not too long ago, so the decorations are simple. I heard that Miss Stark is more of an expert in this field.” Matthias wasn’t short of things to say; it seemed that he was quite well-prepared.
“You flatter me, Director Locke.” Myra’s expression was getting unnatural, for Matthias’ behavior and tone of speech was very disturbing to her.
“It’s good to be humble, but I’d still like some ideas from you, Miss Stark.” At this point, Matthias had completely ignored Tony; he continued the conversation with Myra alone, acting all boastful and arrogant.
Tony stepped closer to Myra without missing a beat and wrapped an arm around her. As he pulled her close, he stared at Matthias in an unfriendly manner.
“You’ve been quite active as of late; what are your plans, I wonder?” Tony asked him directly. Needless to say, he didn’t want to beat around the bush anymore.
“Naturally, I’m hoping that the Locke Group could collaborate with the Hart Group.” Matthias gave him a genuine smile. It seemed like he was truly interested for the two companies to work together.
“The Hart Group always welcomes new collaboration partners to grow our reach, but we place a huge priority on our partners’ capabilities. There’s no need for us to work with a company with no potential,” Tony replied, his words carrying a hidden meaning to it. Since Matthias wasn’t holding back with his words, Tony decided to attack him verbally before resorting to other measures.
“Of course—the Locke Group only collaborates with capable, leading companies as well.” The smile on Matthias’ face grew triumphant as he returned Tony’s eyes confidently.
Myra watched the two men from the side. Their behavior was similar to two lions who had trespassed on each other’s territories, both not backing down without a fight.
“Would you like some juice?” Just then, Tony looked to his side at Myra as he gave her a glass of juice. He wasn’t affected by Matthias’ words at all.
“Sure,” Myra was a little uncomfortable; she still wasn’t fond of being treated so dearly in public.
Myra couldn’t get used to being part of a public display of affection. Moreover, it was just a second ago that Tony was engaged in a hostile conversation with Matthias.
Why was he suddenly shifting his attention to her and asking about how she felt? As a result, Myra couldn’t even look into Tony’s eyes which were overflowing with deep affection.
Myra would always blush in embarrassment whenever Tony looked at her this way, and she’d feel as though she was a teenager experiencing her first love once again.
The smile on Matthias’ lips stiffened a little as he watched the couple’s interaction. Tony’s disregard toward their discussion was clearly a means to openly mock Matthias.
“I have other guests to take care of, so please enjoy yourselves, Director Hart. Let me know if you need anything.” Matthias didn’t want to stay between them any longer and endure the couple’s display of endearment; perhaps due to the fact that he had been single for a long time, he couldn’t bear it when couples acted lovey dovey in front of him.
With that, Matthias’ grudge for Tony deepened even more. As a long-standing bachelor himself, Matthias was hungry to ruin Tony’s life with his own hands. After all, Tony had it all—he was successful in terms of family and work.
After meeting Matthias for the first time, Tony could tell that he was no ordinary businessman. It might seem like Matthias had all his intentions written on his face, but this could also be a part of his well-planned disguise.
Now that things were getting more interesting, Tony was curious as to how the matter would unfold; he hadn’t figured out Matthias’ true goal just yet. After getting to know his mannerisms and conduct, Tony couldn’t be more unsure of what he was going after—there was still much to discover.
Meanwhile, Myra watched as Matthias left. The man was very tall; he was at least 6 feet tall, which was a considerable height amongst the attendees of the banquet. However, his tall stature paired with his lean figure made him appear awfully skinny as a man.
He was tall and lanky like a plank, and his skin was perfectly clear—it was even smoother than a woman’s, not to mention his complexion was pearly and fair. With everything combined, he seemed quite feminine.
A look at him gave off a feeling that he was a little weak and feeble; people like this were said to be easily clouded with unseemly thoughts and principles. After all, one’s appearance could always reflect their heart.
“Do you think there’s something off with him?” Tony asked Myra directly.
Myra shook her head. She couldn’t tell what was wrong with Matthias—some of his actions and words did seem too scripted and planned, so it was indeed suspicious. She couldn’t be sure if the man was a friend or a foe, but she had a feeling that he probably didn’t mean well.
“I’m a little worried.” Myra expressed her concern truthfully. She couldn’t allow any mistakes when it came to the Stark Group’s matter. However, there was a sudden new competitor in town which could introduce new problems for her—her troubles were endless!
“Don’t worry, for I won’t let him threaten you.” Tony’s eyes were still on Matthias—he wouldn’t let anyone harm Myra.
“I’m a little worried, Tony.” Myra had a bad feeling about this. Moreover, upon her first meeting with Matthias earlier, he had become more and more familiar to the eye. Nevertheless, she couldn’t remember where she’d seen the man before.
“I’m here, so nothing will go wrong.” Tony raised a brow at Myra with a confident look on his face which made him look like a yuppie; Myra could never get sick of staring at his attractive face whenever he did that.
“I’m afraid that his target is actually the Hart Group.” Myra felt that Matthias displayed an unusually hostile attitude toward Tony; it could only mean that something bad was going to happen.
“You noticed it as well.” Tony didn’t deny it—Matthias’ hostility toward him was incredibly obvious. Tony was unsure whether Matthias had deliberately made his opinion known, or if it was just a cover-up for his scheme.
“Since the Hart Group sits at the top of Bratford City’s corporate ladder, we naturally have the skills and power to sustain our place. There’s no need to worry about something like this.” Tony was confident of the Hart Group’s abilities; he didn’t believe that anyone out there would be able to bring them down.
Myra took a sip of the juice in her hand. She didn’t have much to say anymore; it wasn’t wise to sing praises about her opponents and forget about the abilities on her own side. After all, there wasn’t anything that Tony couldn’t do. She could always be at ease with him around, and she believed that the Hart Group wouldn’t be defeated this easily.
“It’s pretty noisy here; we can leave ahead if you’re feeling unwell.” Tony wasn’t very interested in such events. Moreover, he was more worried about Myra’s health.
“We’re already here; it’d be bad to leave so soon!” Myra said with a smile. Tony was practically treating her like a little doll—clearly, she wasn’t as weak and easily bruised as one.
“We’ll stay for a while longer, then. Who knows? Matthias might do something unexpected while we’re here.” Tony looked around at the surrounding attendees. Sure enough, Matthias was able to invite many of Bradfort City’s renowned and respected names.
Such a grand gesture must’ve been made with intention; either that, he probably had a huge announcement to make tonight. Otherwise, all his painstaking efforts to prepare such a glamorous banquet would go to waste.
“What do you think he’s planning?” asked Myra as her gaze followed Matthias, who was busy attending to his guests in the crowd. He was like a butterfly, fluttering here and there to engage in various small talk—from his appearance, it was evident that he wasn’t a man of pure intentions.
“I can’t say myself; I only know that he used to be active in Tasnia City, but he moved to Bradfort City all of a sudden. It’s all a big mystery.” Tony thought of a few possibilities for the sudden move, but he still couldn’t be sure of Matthias’ true motive.
“I guess we can only go with the flow. We’ve been too passive this time.” They weren’t prepared for Matthias’ forward behavior at all, so Myra was rather emotionally affected during their entire meeting. Because of that, they weren’t able to take control of the situation in time; they could only proceed with caution from now on.
“Sometimes, being passive isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Tony said coldly as he stared at the wine glass in his hand.
With many years of experience in corporate mind games, Tony had realized that fact a long time ago. Nothing was impossible, so there was no saying in how things would end up before the very last second.
