Julie was taken aback before she collected herself and stared at Dustin like he was an idiot. “Are you, now? Dustin, can you stop bluffing? Who do you think you are? The audacity to claim that you’re the leader of the gang!”
“Dustin quit it. You need to behave.” Dahlia glared at him. She didn’t look convinced either. After all, Dustin had only arrived in Millsburg a few days ago. It was impossible to claim the leadership position within that time frame.
“Why would I lie to you about this? If you don’t trust me, just go with me to the Flame Dragon Gang. I’ll get your money back for you,” Dustin swore.
“Hmph! Do you take us as fools? We’ll die if we ask the gang for our money back!” Julie told him off.
“Whatever. How about I go to the Flame Dragon Gang headquarters alone without the two of you?” He couldn’t be bothered to argue with the ladies, and he thought they were overreacting to a small issue.
“Wait! I’ll go with you.” Dahlia sprang up when she noticed that Dustin was leaving.
“Dahlia, are you crazy? Are you seriously going to follow this dude and meet with the Flame Dragon Gang?” Julie was frightened and wondered if Dahlia ever listened to her warnings.
“No matter what, we need to give it a try.” Dahlia had a serious look on her face. “In the best–case scenario, we get them to pay their debts. If we can’t, well, we’ll come up with a Plan B.”
“But “No buts. If you’re scared, you don’t have to go together.” Dahlia held up a hand to stop Julie from talking them out of it.
“Yes, I’m scared, but I can’t let you face danger alone!” Julie let out a long sigh. “I’ll have to reach out to some of my contacts for your safety.”
While speaking, she made a call to someone. “Hey, darling. I need you to do me a small favor…!
Three minutes later, Julie hung up with a calmer demeanor. “Julie, I called up Terrence. He promised to help you out. He can’t guarantee that you’ll get the debts paid, but he can assure your safety.”
“Great. Thanks for going through the trouble for me. We’ll leave now. True to her word, Dahlia left with Dustin soon after.
At noon, Nelson and Hank were enjoying a casual tea break at the office of Flame Dragon Properties. A sexily- clad secretary was tending to the men with great attention.
“Lord Horst, this is a limited– edition Rolex for a successful man like you. Check it out. Do you like it?” Hank handed Nelson a gift box, which carried a watch gilded with gold.
“Not bad, Mr. Hoffman. That’s thoughtful of you.” Nelson beamed in satisfaction and asked, “What brings you here? I don’t think you’re just here to send me the watch.”
“It’s all thanks to you that our company is doing well. It’s only fair to get you a gift.” Hank suddenly changed. the topic of the conversation. “But I ran into some trouble recently, and I’ll need your help.”
“Oh? What trouble? I’m all ears.” Nelson downed the drink in his cup.
“Well, the headquarters sent a new chairman to keep us in check. The new chairman is pretty slick. To defeat her, I issued her a challenge to get you to pay the 70 million in debt. If she fails, she’ll have to vacate the position.” Hank offered a loaded description of the problem.
“I got it.” Nelson caught up fast. “You want me to teach her a lesson. Is that it?”
“Indeed!” Hank nodded with a grin. “Do whatever you like to her, as long as you keep her alive!”
“What’s the background of that new chairman?” Nelson demanded more information before he agreed to it. Although the Flame Dragon Gang was notorious in the region, they could not afford to offend certain entities- for example, the branch families of the Fabulous Five or the disciples of the Tremendous Three.
“Lord Horst, I have looked into her. She’s nothing.” Hank was confident.
