Chapter 3

"What did you say?" Wilbur's expression turned cold. How dare this person be so rude after running into him? The man scoffed coldly. "Which department are you from, and what's your name?" "Likewise, which department are you from, and what's your name?" Wilbur responded coldly. The man said proudly, "I'm Cape Consortium's vice president, Stanley Lowes. Do you work here?" "You could say that," Wilbur responded calmly. Stanley sneered. "You're fired. Get out right now." Wilbur smiled in annoyance and disbelief. "You're firing someone just like that?" "What are you going to do about it? I can fire you if I want to." Disdain was written all over Stanley's face. Wilbur said slowly, "Oh my, a man of power." "The headquarters sent me, the vice president of the Kardon Province branch, to supervise things around here. Even Miss Faye Yves here works under me, let alone you." Stanley looked down at Wilbur condescendingly. Wilbur frowned. Just then, Faye opened the door and saw Stanley. "What's going on here?" "Miss Yves, this guy just ran into me and didn't even apologize! I'm going to fire him. He's too rude and unprofessional to work here," Stanley announced confidently. Faye stood up and gave Stanley a slap across his face. The loud slap left Stanley in a daze. "What the hell are you doing, Miss Yves?" Stanley roared. Faye sneered coldly, "You're fired. Get lost." "What?" Stanley looked at Faye in disbelief. After quite a while, he came to his senses, uttering, "You have no right to fire me. I was sent from the headquarters." "Is that so?" Faye took out her phone and made a call to the headquarters. A second later, she handed the phone to Stanley. "Answer it." A chill ran down Stanley's spine as he answered the call. He began to shiver as he held the phone, unable to get a word out. Faye snatched the phone back from him. "Can you get lost now?" "Miss Yves, let me explain!" Stanley was scared out of his wits. The headquarters was so strict with him just now. He was not only fired but also ordered to go back for taking punishment. He knew how ruthless the people in charge of security and discipline were, and he might just end up half-dead. Yet Faye simply said, "You can explain to headquarters all you want. Get lost, now." Stanley knew that he had lost all hope then. The thought of what he was going to face flashed through his mind, and his body jerked harshly before passing out from shock. Wilbur frowned. "What the hell were they doing? How did they even hired him in the first place?" "I'm sorry, Boss." Faye bowed apologetically. Wilbur sighed. "It's not your fault." After saying that, he left. Looking at Wilbur's retreating figure, Faye let out a sigh and wiped away the sweat on her forehead. Wilbur had a brief meal and called a cab to go home. It was already noon when he got back. Yvonne and Blake were entwined in a passionate embrace in the living room, flirting and laughing. Wilbur looked around and noticed that his in-laws were nowhere to be seen. They must have intentionally avoided the situation. Paying them no mind, Wilbur made a beeline for his room. "Stop," Yvonne called out to him loudly. Wilbur stopped in his tracks and looked toward Yvonne. Yvonne got up, walked up to Wilbur, and mocked him, "You really are a pathetic man. Are you really not going to do anything even when you see your own wife in someone else's arms?" "I have my ways to show that I'm a man, but I’m having doubts if you’re even human.” Wilbur said calmly. "How dare you scold me?" Yvonne breathed fire and swung a palm at Wilbur's face. However, Wilbur caught her by the wrist in one swift motion, making Yvonne cry out in pain. Blake rushed over at once, huffing loudly, "Let Yvonne go." Wilbur smiled lightly but made no move to loosen his grip. Blake was furious, sending a punch at Wilbur's face. Wilbur's leg kicked out at lightning speed, and the very next moment, Blake was lying on the ground crying out in pain. It was only then that Wilbur let go of Yvonne. She stumbled a few steps back, clutching her wrist in pain. Wilbur scanned the both of them coldly. "Don't try getting violent with me. You'll be the ones suffering instead." Blake struggled to get to his feet. He was about to shout at Wilbur when his phone rang. He took it out to take a look and picked it up at once. A moment later, he ended the call with a look of glee on his face as if he didn’t feel pain anymore. He said to the woman, "Yvonne, we'll get back at him later! Cape Consortium's going to sign the agreement with me! I'm going to the office to get some work done. You should come too." Yvonne nodded. She glowered at Wilbur ferociously before turning to Blake. "Alright, sounds good. Let's settle work first." Blake looked towards Wilbur and said in a menacing tone, "Just you wait. We're not done yet." "I'll be waiting, then," Wilbur smiled. Blake sneered coldly and then left with Yvonne in a hurry. The five billion dollars were a big deal to him, and he had to get it. Wilbur could not help but let out a chuckle as the pair left. "What a good show! I wonder what you'll look like when the curtains are raised," Wilbur mumbled to himself, returning to his room. Blake, on the other hand, raced to Cape Consortium at once and entered Faye's office. Faye sat at her desk as Blake entered with a fawning smile and endless greetings. "Have a seat," Faye said in a polite tone with a smile. Blake sat down at once, and Faye took out a stack of files before placing them in front of Blake. "We've looked through your finances and approved them, Mister Woods. Once you sign this, we'll send five billion dollars to your company account." Blake was overjoyed, flipping the files open to take a look at them. A moment later, his expression changed to shock as he said, "Miss Yves, has there been a mistake? Why are you asking for so many people to be let into our board of directors?" Faye smiled and replied, "To supervise the use of funds. We're talking about five billion dollars here. What if something happens with no one around to keep track of it? How are you going to pay us back?" "Yes, but… this is too many people, isn't it?" Blake stared at the document, his heart filled with reluctance. Setting shareholders' percentage aside, the ratio of the board of directors would be tipped over, with Cape Consortium having more members than Woods Corporate. Cape Consortium could very well kick Stanley out of the board of directors if they wanted to. Faye leaned forward with an intimidating presence. "Mister Woods, you should know this as well as I do. Your company does have a bright future, but you've been moving a little too fast, and your chain of capital is now broken. Only Cape Consortium is financially capable and powerful enough to help Woods Corporate toward the right path. Besides, we're the Cape Consortium. Why would we go out of our way to get a company as small as yours? You're overthinking things." Blake was stuck in a dilemma. It was true that Woods Corporate's chain of capital was broken, and they were in a dire situation. That was why he had asked Cape Consortium for help and also got in touch with Yvonne. He needed a backup plan. If the Cape Consortium refused to help him, he would marry Yvonne and use the Willows' finances to get him through this tough time before usurping the Willows altogether. However, the Willows' assets would only keep him going for a short while. Five billion dollars would revive his company for good.