Chapter 13
Faced with his olive branch, I rejected it without a second thought: "I don't know what grudge you have with the Lopez family, but I can handle my own affairs. I think we shouldn't be in contact so frequently. You know Mr. Johnson doesn't like you."
Seeing I wasn't leaving any room for negotiation, Gregory reached out to stop me from getting up to leave: "Since you came all the way here with me, at least hear me out? I know you're Michael's person now, but I also know you can't possibly stay here forever. Just like me, there will be a day when you go back. The cooperation I'm talking about is for the future. Just think of it as me booking an opportunity for myself, how about it?"
"No thanks. I don't think you need my help, and I can't give Mr. Lopez any advantage either. Sorry, I'm leaving now." If I'd known he called me here just to say this, I really shouldn't have wasted my time.
"Emily." Oscar quickly called out to me again, standing up behind me with a smile: "No need to be so final about it. His request for my help this time isn't unconditional. Don't you want to do something about it?"
I didn't respond and continued to leave.
Oscar is very smart. No wonder he could build his business so quickly, develop his business in such a short time, and make such a splash.
Something he could clearly do by himself, yet he deliberately took this posture of asking for help to give me a sense of participation. If I really cooperated with him, that would kill two birds with one stone for him.
I'd even owe him a favor.
Walking out of the café, the bodyguard whispered, "Emily, the police came just now. We've found out where they're staying. Should we make a move tonight?"
Thinking of what Oscar said, I waved my hand dismissively: "Forget it. Teaching them a lesson can count as collecting interest in advance. Let's not do anything too troublesome for now."
Oscar was right. People in their line of work naturally weigh who they should and shouldn't mess with. If something happened to Gregory and Sophia here, their families wouldn't let it go easily. Since we can't finish them off directly, causing trouble wouldn't be worth it.
I lowered my head and sent a message to my assistant on my phone: "Keep an eye on Oscar's company's movements recently. Report any unusual activity to me immediately."
In the evening financial paper, a report on The Novagen Group's major resource integration took the front page. In the photo, the white-haired man was Gregory's grandfather, Robert, the old man who had arranged our engagement.
In the report, he stated that, due to the company's funding chain being recently cut off by criminals, they had briefly fallen into an economic crisis. After a board meeting, they decided to turn to international markets, hoping to weather the crisis smoothly, and welcomed cooperation and mutual benefits across all industries.
I looked at the newspaper and laughed softly. It seems that these past few days, they really couldn't plug the funding gap, so they finally had to decide to get the company running again through hidden fundraising.
No wonder Gregory personally came to find Oscar. He probably knew about his influence in Solstice and wanted to bring his business into The Novagen Group, right? But judging from Oscar's attitude, who would end up acquiring whom was still uncertain.
I handed a report to Michael: "The Novagen Group has started selling off shares now. This is the perfect time to get in."
Michael didn't even glance at it: "I told you that you can act boldly. I'm leaving those two hundred million dollars for you to manage. Whatever you want to do, just do it."
This unconditional trust suddenly made me feel that maybe he wasn't as dark as he appeared on the surface: "Thank you, Mr. Johnson, but I need a brand new, clean company."
Michael smiled at me: "Isn't that easy? You already have a safe identity. It's not hard to register a company and package it properly. Do I need to spell out the rest?"
Michael's methods are famously ruthless, but I have to admire him. At some point, without me realizing it, I was already willingly working for him. He has his own way of winning people's hearts. Like now, he knows about my entanglements with the Lopez family and the Brown Family, so he lets me do whatever I want.
"Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Besides the Novagen Group matter, I've also done some planning for the new development zone. The zone is now ready for use. This is the latest schedule. Also, the organ transplant center has passed approval. We can start operating it on an auspicious day."
I reported the upcoming work to him one by one. Compared to saying thank you, bringing him greater profits is more practical.
Michael picked up the other report, his face showing a satisfied smile: "Not bad. These profits have exceeded my original expectations. Going from an underground organ bank to Solstice's largest official organ transplant center, conducting the original gray-area transactions openly and legally—this is something I never would have thought of before."
I just smiled. Legitimizing what was once illegal is just window dressing—the real profits still flow from the shadows. I'm not trying to be some white knight here, cleaning up the whole industry. I just hope that adding a veneer of respectability might put some limits on the most brazen operations.
Michael didn't ask about Oscar meeting with me privately, and I didn't mention it either. After leaving his office, I started working on acquiring the shares that the Novagen Group was secretly releasing, and also began applying for a shell company. I hope that one day, my appearance will give them a big surprise.
But after just three days, the scattered shares that had been flowing into the market suddenly stopped.
Did they find funding? Such a big gap couldn't possibly be filled so quickly. The only person I could think of was Oscar. It looks like during these three days, Gregory and Oscar reached a deal.
If that's really the case, I'm actually not so anxious anymore. Although I still can't find out Oscar's background, since he claimed to be Gregory's uncle, I've had my answer. He's probably Robert's illegitimate son from years ago. I heard his mother was highly educated, having graduated from a prestigious university. After giving birth, she took a sum of money and left the country, and there's been no news of her since.
Would an illegitimate son who never enjoyed family protection really be willing to help the family through a crisis?
Oscar looks refined and cultured, but to occupy most of the territory here, how could he be a good person? When the Novagen Group people seek his help, they'll probably end up being completely devoured by him.