When Avery returned home, she found Jason had already prepared lunch. Although it was just two dishes and a soup for the two of them, she was surprised.
Usually, Avery cooked when she got home. Something unusual must be up.
When Jason, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen with a smile, carrying the food, and called her to eat, Avery calmly put down her bag and hung her coat on the rack.
She sat down at the table without picking up her chopsticks, looking at Jason and asked, "Spill it. Did you get some girl pregnant?"
Jason widened his eyes in disbelief and sneered, "Honey, do you think I'm that kind of person?"
If it wasn't that, it must be something bigger. Otherwise, Jason wouldn't have cooked.
"Get to the point," Avery said, "I have an important meeting at the development zone this afternoon. I need to set up the venue after lunch and can't stay long."
With the conversation at this point, Jason didn't beat around the bush.
"Honey," Jason said, "I didn't expect Andrew's brother to be such a tough character. He forcibly took the Violet Bar from Erick."
Avery was stunned, "Took it? How?"
"I don't know the details. I just know the bar now belongs to Henry. Erick is looking for people to get it back."
Avery asked, "What does this have to do with you? Did he ask you to talk to Henry? Erick's backers are Kevin and Ruby. If Henry could take the bar from him, it's not something Andrew or Emily can fix."
Jason said, "He's not asking me to fix it. I forgot to tell you, I called Kevin and Ruby about this. Ruby said Henry has powerful backers, and even she and Kevin can't handle it."
Avery stared at Jason.
She knew Henry's family situation well. It's impossible he had any big backers. Kevin and Ruby must be too busy with their own affairs, especially with the federal government changing hands, to deal with Erick's issues.
Especially since it involved a bar, Ruby, who had just been promoted, probably wanted to distance herself from Erick's negative influence.
"So, what does he want from you?" Avery asked.
Jason looked troubled, "Since the official route didn't work, Erick tried another way. He hired several groups of thugs to deal with Henry, spending 5 million in total, but Henry is still standing.
Now he's looking for more people, saying he's out of money, and asked me for 1 million."
"Is he crazy?" Avery slammed the table, "Though his aunt helped us, we earned our success through our own efforts!
We've helped him a lot over the years. If not for us, especially you, running errands for him, sometimes at the cost of your dignity, would he be where he is today?
1 million, what's he thinking?"
With Erick pressing hard and demanding the money today, Jason had no room to maneuver. The main issue was he didn't want to give the 1 million, so he had no choice but to come clean.
"Honey," Jason awkwardly laughed, "You know Erick is cunning. He once got me drunk and put Victoria in bed with me.
He was scheming. He recorded a video.
Any other woman would be fine, but Victoria was about to become Cole's daughter-in-law. If this got to his ears, it would cause a huge scandal.
Not just in the state or federal government, but with his influence in the business world, it could even reach the Ninth City!"
Avery snorted, "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it?"
"Honey," Jason explained, "There's no point talking about it now. In the future, I'll listen to whatever you say. The problem now is to deal with Erick.
If he exposes this to Cole, do you think Cole would just demote me? He might even come after you.
Businessmen can be very cunning. They are good at networking and can frame people flawlessly."
Avery knew Jason wasn't exaggerating. Cole was too well-known in Harbor Springs.
Avery asked, "So, you want to give him 1 million?"
Jason shook his head, "Erick is desperate and won't get the bar back. Otherwise, why would he spend so much money without success?
If we give him the 1 million, he won't stop. Whether he gets the bar back or not, he'll keep blackmailing me with the video."
Avery asked, "So, what do you propose?"
"I think you should talk to Henry!"
"Talk to him?" Avery's eyes widened, "You mean have him deal with Erick and get the video back?"
Jason explained, "Erick said the videos are with Henry, but now he says he has backups."
Avery rolled her eyes, "Great, soon everyone will know your dirty little secret!"
Jason didn't want to argue and continued, "I mean, even if we give Henry 1 million to fix this, we shouldn't give the money to Erick."
"1 million?" Avery thought Henry, a country bumpkin, might be satisfied with 100,000. She said, "If Henry really took the bar, 1 million might not be enough to sway him."
"Then 2 million!" Jason's eyes gleamed with malice, "But on one condition: Henry must kill him!"
Avery looked at Jason as if he were a stranger, "That's hiring a hitman. If it comes out, the penalty is as severe as the murderer's."
"Besides, where would you get 2 million?"
"Borrow it!" Jason was determined to eliminate Erick, "As long as Erick lives, this threat will never go away."
Avery frowned, "Didn't you call Ruby about this?"
Jason said, "I did. I called both Kevin and Ruby and told them about Erick's vendetta against Henry. If Henry dies, they'll be implicated.
Erick used the same trick on Kevin, recording a video."
Avery asked, "What did they say?"
Jason sighed, "They said they can't deal with Erick now."
Avery thought for a moment and said, "We can scrape together 1.2 million at home. You need to borrow the remaining 800,000."