Chapter 225 Ms. Smith Doesn't Mind This
"Kurt's wife comes from a family that's pretty well-known in the capital. Ten years ago, they were part of the elite, but things haven't been going well lately. It's all about money—they're all tied together, when one does well they all do well, when one falls they all fall. I heard that half a year ago they offended someone and got crushed, and even the extended family on his wife's side got suppressed."
Daniel took a sip of coffee, as if remembering something, and looked at William. "Kurt's wife's family has some connection to your wife."
"Thalia?" William's eyes darkened as he stared at Daniel without speaking, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
"Your wife's half-sister's sister's fiancé."
Angelina: ......"Would it kill you to just say Elowen's fiancé?"
Daniel rolled his eyes at her. "Why do you have zero sense of mystery?"
William tapped his fingers on the table, interrupting their bickering. "Go on."
"Kurt's investments used to be handled by Zephyrine, but recently because the Carter family offended someone, investors in the capital are all avoiding them. Zephyrine knew she couldn't get money in the capital, so she had Kurt come here to try his luck with you."
"The Carter family was arrogant in their early years, wouldn't associate with ordinary people, but they've fallen so fast these past six months. To weather the storm, they had no choice but to get involved with the Mitchell family. Two families that used to look down on each other are now working together."
"What does this have to do with the Mitchell family?" Angelina asked, looking at William with confusion.
"Because the Mitchell family is also finished. The Mitchell family did pretty well in their early years, but with recent troubles, someone from the Mitchell family went to prison, and the Mitchell family is pretty much done for. Otherwise, why would the Mitchell family move back here? Isn't it because the Mitchell family still has some reputation in Emerald City, so they want to grab what money they can?"
While responding to Angelina, Daniel couldn't help but reflect: "You have to say the Mitchell family elders had some foresight. In their situation, if they stayed abroad, they'd just be testing the waters. Coming back to Emerald City, people here would still give the Mitchell family some face. What they probably didn't expect was Hayden dying. If Hayden hadn't died, Eleanor could have gone to Hayden later and asked for some business assets, and wouldn't Hayden have had to help the Mitchell family get back on their feet?"
Angelina said nervously, "Thank God Hayden died."
If Hayden hadn't died and the Mitchell family came asking, Thalia's position might not even be secure.
"The Mitchell family used to think so highly of themselves, looked down on self-made Hayden. When the Mitchell family's daughter got pregnant, they'd rather let her have the child as a single mother than let them be together. Now looking at it, the tables have really turned."
"Look at our Thalia, she's different. So what if he's self-made? So what if he has no family background? As long as he has money and fits her taste, she'll take him."
Daniel sighed. Hearing this, Angelina shot Daniel a teasing look—saying this in front of William was basically asking for death.
"Didn't brush your teeth this morning? Should I have Brian go buy a toilet brush?" William took a light sip of coffee, his expression unchanged, but his words carried a warning.
Daniel clicked his tongue. "Ms. Smith doesn't mind this stuff."
"She also wouldn't mind you eating shit. Want to try?" William calmly shot back, making Daniel roll his eyes.
Angelina raised an eyebrow and got back on topic. "Let's talk business."
"The Carter family in the capital is now about the same as the Wood family in Emerald City—not doing well at all. The Carter family's younger son has a bad reputation. Proper young ladies from good families all avoid him. When he plays around, he only messes with women who aren't respectable."
"Zephyrine doesn't care?"
"How can she? He's her nephew, not her own son."
"Kurt's cash flow won't last much longer."
William acknowledged this, then asked, "What about the other matter?"
"Couldn't find anything. No news from the Jimenez family."
Couldn't find anything? William's fingers holding the cup moved slightly, his casual manner carrying a hint of doubt.
If the Jimenez family hadn't had any problems, could all the trouble he'd been running into lately just be coming out of nowhere?
Besides the Jimenez family, who else had this kind of capability?
"What's wrong?" Angelina asked.
"Boss, your father is here."
Angelina and Daniel exchanged glances, and both left with their coffees.
As they were leaving, they greeted Vaughn: "Vaughn."
"Are you busy?"
"Just finished," Angelina replied with a light smile.
"Harper was just talking about you, saying the grapes at home are almost ripe."
Hearing the grapes were almost ripe, Angelina's eyes lit up. "Vaughn, remember to call me. I can come anytime."
Vaughn nodded with a smile. "Okay."
When William spent big money buying land near Westbridge University to build, while he said it was for building, that was just secondary. What he really wanted was to provide a more comfortable living environment for his family. He grew up living with Vaughn in Westbridge University staff housing. The environment wasn't great, but not too bad either—barely enough for two people.
Later, when Vaughn decided to spend the rest of his life with Harper, William got the idea. He bought a piece of land, and gave a third of it to Vaughn to build a villa.
The huge yard was planted with all kinds of fruits and vegetables by Harper, living a life like a countryside retreat.
How to describe William? He'd probably seen both the whale at high tide and the beach at low tide, so he had an extremely broad tolerance for everything.
"Rare to see Vaughn have time to come."
"Right?" Daniel continued Angelina's thought. "Vaughn rarely meets with William in these kinds of situations to avoid any appearance of impropriety."
In the office, William washed a new cup and handed it to Vaughn. "What brings you here?"
"You didn't answer when I called last night. I came to talk to you about something."
William acknowledged this and picked up the pot to pour coffee for Vaughn, but Vaughn stopped him. "What kind of coffee?"
"Just regular coffee," William replied.
Only then did Vaughn let go. "I can't afford that coffee in your office that costs thousands of dollars."
Hearing this, William couldn't help but laugh. "You're my dad. If you can't afford it, who can?"
"You live in a villa worth hundreds of millions of dollars but can't afford coffee that costs a few thousand dollars. Who are you mocking?"
"I'm your father, and I'm also a teacher. I have to maintain professional ethics. I can say the villa was bought by you, but how do I explain casually spending thousands of dollars on coffee?"