Chapter 58 Esme is Kidnapped
Thinking about this made Esme anxious.
"I'm warning you not to mess around. Do you know who I am? Do you know who my grandfather is? I'm from the Windsor family!"
"Ms. Windsor? What a coincidence, I'm actually looking for Ms. Windsor. Since you accepted my order, you should follow the rules, right?"
Esme was confused. Order? What order?
She'd been short on cash lately and hadn't played cards in a long time. There shouldn't be any order, right?
The driver's voice turned harsh, and on his arm with bulging veins was clearly a mountain peak tattoo. The scar on his face looked especially menacing!
"Since you accepted my order, whether you're Phantom Doctor Moon or not, you're coming with me today!"
Esme was puzzled.
What was he talking about? Was he referring to that billion-dollar order on the dark web?
Before she could say anything else, something hit the back of her head hard. Her eyes rolled back and she passed out.
The taxi quietly drove away, disappearing into the night.
Serenitia City, The Smith Villa
Oliver slammed the surveillance footage on the table, so angry his beard was trembling.
"Clara, you tell me what's going on here! How many of our family's documents have you been showing the Johnson family!"
"Not many, Dad. I had no choice. Lucas said if I didn't show him, he'd break up with me. He said these would all belong to both of us, and after we get married, won't we be one family anyway?"
Celeste also tried to calm Oliver down. "That's right, Oliver. Besides, our family and the Johnson family have different business areas. Some of those deals were probably just coincidences. Now Clara shows the Johnson family our contracts, but after they get married, won't she be able to show you the Johnson family's contracts too?"
Oliver couldn't argue with that.
That actually made sense.
Although the Johnson family's business hadn't been doing well lately either, they were still doing way better than the Smith family. Plus Lucas was definitely a good kid—otherwise he wouldn't have helped renovate the Smith family's old house.
"Don't do this again, but you can find opportunities to show me the Johnson family's contracts."
Seeing that Oliver wasn't going to pursue it further, Clara quickly agreed. "Once I marry into the family, I'll definitely let you know everything. Lucas treats me well and won't hide things from you."
Oliver nodded, then started worrying again about how to handle the Smith family's recent business troubles.
He'd spent a fortune hosting those four bosses, but didn't even get to meet them. He ended up eating all that good food himself, except the ingredients weren't very fresh and gave him diarrhea for several days.
Clara thought of Catherine's poster, bit her lip, and brought up her idea.
"Dad, I think I saw that Catherine is planning to debut. I don't know if she wants to act or sing. I haven't heard of Catherine having any talent in that area before. It would be bad if she's planning to shoot those kinds of inappropriate films."
Oliver got angry just thinking about Catherine.
That Catherine had clearly gotten close to Philip, but when he asked her to help with an introduction, she actually blocked him!
What an ungrateful person!
"Who cares about her? She's already cut ties with the Smith family anyway. Clara, you're a lady—don't learn from her and all her bad habits."
"I know. Our family is being sued by Harmony Enterprises, right? Why don't you let me debut? I want to help the family too."
With her beauty and talent, once she debuted, she'd definitely do way better than Catherine.
Then when she married into the Johnson family, they wouldn't look down on her for being raised by servants!
Oliver immediately refused.
"No way. You're my daughter—what would it look like for you to be showing your face in public like that? If you have that energy, use it to sweet-talk Lucas and get him to marry you sooner."
Most importantly, Clara couldn't do anything.
Oliver had already planned it out—when they married off their daughter, they'd have the Johnson family give them some money, which they could use to cover the compensation for those companies!
Clara felt a bit wronged. Why could Catherine do things that she couldn't?
If she debuted, she'd definitely be way better than Catherine!
"Alright, don't bring this up again. Once I settle all these matters, I'll prepare a generous dowry for you!"
When Clara got married, they'd need to give her at least five hundred thousand dollars, right? The problem was the Smith family couldn't come up with that money right now.
Clara's eyes darted around. "I heard Lucas say yesterday that the CEO of the Howard Group has been going to Bright Heal Hospital every day lately. Why don't we go try our luck too?"
"You mean Alexander, the CEO of the Howard Group? Is he not feeling well, so he goes for checkups every day? He's someone you don't usually get to meet."
If they could get in good with the Howard Group, Oliver wouldn't have to worry about business anymore.
Forget about the Johnson family giving him attitude—he could just kick them aside!
Those compensation amounts would be nothing to the Howard Group. Alexander probably spent that much on a single meal.
"Go make arrangements. We'll go to Imperia City tomorrow!"
"Okay."
After Oliver happily made the arrangements, his secretary called.
"Mr. Windsor, someone is offering three hundred thousand dollars to buy the Smith family's house in Osflow."
"Who? That house is so old, I haven't lived there in over twenty years. Who would want that house?"
"Someone from the village. They say they like the trees in the yard. If you don't agree, I'll refuse them."
Oliver immediately sat up from the sofa.
"Agree! Why wouldn't I agree? That house is worth at most twenty thousand dollars on the market, and now someone wants to pay that much for that broken-down place. No one even lives there—of course we'll sell it!"
He had no attachment to that house. Besides, wasn't the villa he lived in now good enough? Why would he care about that run-down old house!
Now someone was offering three hundred thousand dollars—of course he'd sell it and get the money.
"Tell them yes, and see if we can raise the price. If not, three hundred thousand is fine too."
"Okay."
The Evergreen Group, CEO's Office
"What did you say? Oliver wants five hundred thousand dollars? How does he have the nerve!"
The secretary was also speechless. Their boss was willing to offer three hundred thousand dollars for that house to honor Elodie's love for Catherine. How could Oliver have the nerve to ask for five hundred thousand?
Catherine, sitting on the sofa, said casually, "It's probably Oliver's secretary's own idea, trying to pocket two hundred thousand. Contact Oliver directly instead. Tell him our original offer was five hundred thousand, but now we're only offering one hundred thousand. Take it or leave it."
Charles laughed along.
Knowing Oliver's personality, he'd not only be kicking himself for missing out on the profit, but would probably want to kill his secretary too.
"Do as Catherine says."
"Yes."
Catherine picked up the latest financial news, wanting to check recent financial trends. But as soon as she picked it up, she saw a man in a suit on the cover.
Alexander's face appeared prominently, with a half-smile that conveyed an imposing presence even in a photo.
He seemed to be deliberately showing off a pair of ruby cufflinks at his sleeves. The English newspaper specifically noted that his fiancée had put them on for him personally.
Catherine fell silent.
If she remembered correctly, wasn't that from ages ago?
Alexander's phone rang three times before Catherine answered. She put down the newspaper and, not avoiding Charles who was nearby, picked up the phone.
"What is it?"
"Can't I just miss you?"
Catherine was speechless and was about to hang up.
"Missing you is the main thing. The less important thing is that Esme was taken by Ethan's people. They probably mistook her for Phantom Doctor Moon."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Do I have the honor of having dinner with you tonight? Of course, we can also spend five minutes talking about Ethan. Any longer wouldn't be appropriate—I don't really like my fiancée talking to me about other men."
Catherine was silent.
Is this guy sick or something?
Catherine thought for a moment and coldly refused. "Then we can skip dinner and just talk for five minutes."
"No way. We haven't seen each other in days. I've been working overtime for several days just to have dinner with you. Saying that will hurt my feelings!"