Chapter 229 Why Aren’t You Jumping Yet?
The company at the dock could be considered Lucas's main business headquarters.
Over the years, Lucas had firmly controlled half of Starstream City's port.
Starstream City had no mineral resources, so iron ore, coal, billets, steel and other materials all had to flow into Starstream City by sea. This made Lucas so wealthy that even those snobbish elite families in Dawnharbor couldn't help but feel jealous.
Last year on my birthday, Lucas gave me a shipping route. Although it was just for sightseeing tours and still under development, it was enough to make countless people envious.
Besides steel transportation, Lucas also worked with Jonas on regular cargo shipping, though the main purpose was to cover up arms and contraband smuggling.
The company's public name was BlueWave Maritime Group. The main building was a 21-story diamond-shaped, spire-like structure with black glass curtain walls, standing like a huge black crystal in the center of the Northern District.
Next to the company was the storage area, with a heavy steel yard on the outer edge, and further out were the loading docks and berths. The total area was about ten acres, equivalent to six football fields.
Several ten thousand-ton bulk carriers were docked at the port, giant cranes slowly operating, seagulls circling in the distance.
Lucas had seen a familiar scene flash by in Donald's livestream and immediately recognized his own territory.
After he moved out of our wedding villa, he'd been living at the company. Until I got pregnant, he'd been putting all his attention and energy on me, which meant he'd been neglecting the company. Otherwise, how could Donald have snuck into Lucas's territory?
What's more, Donald wasn't alone—other members of the Valeri family were with him.
When we arrived at BlueWave Maritime Group, the police and reporters were already there.
Camera flashes pointed at Lucas. His face looked terrible. I grabbed his hand and found it was very cold.
"I'm fine." Lucas patted the back of my hand. "Stay in the car, don't get out."
I shook my head. "I'll face this with you."
Lucas held me and pushed me toward the car. "Listen to me."
Reporters rushed up, practically shoving microphones in Lucas's face.
"Donald says you're cold-blooded and drove him to jump off a building. Do you admit it?"
"I heard you've changed your surname. Are you now using your mother's surname Caldwell, or have you joined the Sorelli family?"
"People say you can't handle family relationships and aren't fit to be a manager. What's your response?"
Some were calling out to me through the car window. "Isabella, can we interview you?"
"Get lost!" Lucas pushed away the reporters crowding the car.
Alfred dutifully ordered his men to drive the reporters back.
The reporters stumbled backward, protesting loudly. "Mr. Valeri, your violence is being livestreamed!"
"Thanks for the reminder. The man who gave birth to me is also livestreaming. Do you think I care?" Lucas sneered. "Reputation means nothing to me."
I watched Lucas standing there in the middle of flashes and voices of criticism and blame, watched him being publicly judged in such a humiliating and cruel way by Donald. My chest kept tightening.
"Marcus, has Mole replied to you?" I messaged Marcus.
I'd immediately contacted a hacker to try to shut down Donald's livestream, but Donald was cunning—he'd registered accounts on multiple streaming platforms, and more than one account on each. Shut down one stream and another would pop up. There were invisible hands behind the scenes pushing the situation to blow up.
"Mole says he's already shut down some of them."
"Tell him to go faster. I can pay whatever it costs." I also contacted the hotel's PR department, telling them to monitor online public opinion, suppress the trending topics, and have internet trolls muddy the waters.
Jonas was also a somewhat famous internet personality, though he'd never revealed his identity before. Today, for Lucas and me, he was publicly calling out Donald for twisting the truth.
Edgar went straight for the police as soon as he arrived, helping Alfred control the situation.
Brian sat next to me. Donald's smug, triumphant voice came from his phone. "Thanks everyone for your attention! Yes, I really need attention, please help me spread this. Thanks for the gifts!"
I was so angry I ground my teeth. People were actually tipping his livestream, and Donald was seriously thanking them!
Their playful attitude showed they didn't care at all how much harm this would cause Lucas!
Lucas stood tall, like a tree that would never bend.
He looked up at the rooftop, his face completely expressionless, just an extremely cold calm.
He took out his phone. Donald's contact had just come out of his blocked list. He pressed the call button.
In the livestream, Donald picked up his phone and showed the screen with the incoming call notification to the camera.
"Look, Lucas finally decided to call me!"
After mocking him a few times, Donald slowly answered the call. "Lucas, weren't you so arrogant?"
Lucas laughed coldly. "Didn't you want to jump? Why haven't you jumped yet? Wait much longer and they'll have the air cushion set up. If you don't die from the fall, are you going to do it all over again?"
"You bastard!" Donald shouted angrily, his face turning red.
I suddenly wondered—Donald had targeted Lucas several times without gaining any advantage.
So what kept giving Donald the courage to repeatedly provoke Lucas?
Brian laughed a couple times and pointed at the livestream comments.
"Lucas is really funny."
"Donald doesn't look like a good person. Support the Kingpin of the North."
"Jump already!"
"Hurry up and jump, I'm busy with work."
I was a bit surprised. "Are these our hired internet trolls?"
Brian shook his head. "They're all real users. When Lucas announced the good news recently, he did daily giveaways for users. Seems like he won a lot of goodwill."
"So it's the power of money." I breathed a sigh of relief and told the PR department to work with the atmosphere and guide public opinion.
Online, everyone loved drama, but I knew Lucas really wanted Donald dead.
Donald couldn't die here, but once he came down from that rooftop alive, he absolutely couldn't live to see next month's sun.
"Bastard! I should never have given birth to you!" Donald flew into a rage, completely losing his earlier smugness.
He took a big step forward, stepping to the edge of the rooftop, causing gasps.
"You've never seen me as your father, never respected the family elders! The Valeri family is ruined because of you. Don't you have any shame?"
Reporters held up cameras shooting frantically, passersby pulled out phones to record, and online comments gradually shifted toward Donald's side.
I anxiously stared at the livestream. "Is he really going to jump?"
"It's fake." Karen's calm voice came through my earpiece. "Jonathan flew a drone up to check. Donald has a safety rope tied to his foot, just in a blind spot where viewers can't see it."
"Damn it!" I couldn't help cursing. "Send what the drone captured to the PR department. Create a topic about Donald faking it to threaten Lucas."
Karen added, "Bella, something's strange. That lunatic Donald actually brought Holden up to the rooftop too."