At almost the same time, far away in Harbor City.
Conrad sat on a skerry at the Dammer Fishing Grounds with a fishing rod in his hands as he stared with focus at the fish maw that danced in the waves.
Waves smacked against the skerry and wet the leg of his pants, but the man remained frozen in place.
He had lived this lifestyle for around a week.
Behind him stood his confidant, Valentine.
“The tide us rising, Mr. Monty. We should return soon.”
Valentine told Conrad softly.
Conrad waved his off and replied, “I haven’t caught a single fish today, I can’t leave yet.”
Valentine sighed gently at how stubborn Conrad was.
“I don’t like seeing you like this, Mr. Monty, it feels wrong to me. I’d rather you vent about it,” Valentine said sincerely.
Conrad smiled and replied, “I know what you want to say, Valentine, but you worry too much. What is there for me to vent? Victories and losses are common in war, and it’s not the first time I’ve lost to Jasper anyway. After a few losses, you start to get used to it.
“Plus, I quite like the kind of life I’m living now. It doesn’t have any of that fighting and aggression, and a single fish brings me joy for a very long time.
“Father told me that I was being too hasty and that I should learn to calm down and have some patience. I didn’t understand him then, but now that I look at it, Father knew me too well. After these past few days of peace, I’ve finally realized where I went wrong.
“I was too impatient.”
Valentine opened his mouth to refute but did not make a sound.
He knew that there were some things someone of his status and identity could not say. He should never touch on the topic of the Monty’s father-son duo’s core interests.
“Mr. Monty, Mr. Atticus sent an invitation two days ago. Are we really not going to meet him?
“After all, Mr. Atticus and we share a common enemy in Jasper, and we could potentially work together to defeat him. Not to mention that Mr. Atticus isn’t someone we can easily afford to offend,” Valentine brought up.
Conrad smiled and replied, “He’s in more of a rush than we are, so don’t worry. He’ll come and look for me. It’d be too cheap of me and unbefitting of my person to seek him out because of one single invitation.”
As if to prove Conrad right, a yacht sped toward them from not too far out in the sea soon after he finished talking.
The yacht’s destination was clear as it made a beeline for Conrad’s skerry. The yacht stopped around a few dozen meters away as a speedboat pulled out from behind the expensive-looking yacht.
The speedboat arrived before the skerry with a man standing atop it. He spoke to Conrad courteously, “Are you Mr. Conrad Monty?”
Conrad replied calmly, “I’m fishing.”
The man gave a small smile and said, “Mr. Atticus said that you’re welcome to go fishing on Mr. Atticus’ yacht if you wish, Mr. Monty. There are larger fish in deeper waters, and they’re easier to catch.”
Conrad arched a brow and answered, “Since Mr. Atticus is already here, then it would be disrespectful of me to not take his offer. Bring me over, then.”
The speedboat pulled up to the skerry and Conrad got on. At the same time, Valentine made an instinctive move to follow.
Yet, the young man immediately raised his hand to halt him. His tone was polite but firm as he said, “My apologies, Mr. Atticus invited Mr. Monty alone.”
Valentine looked at Conrad.
“Valentine, bring my fishing rod back first. It seems like today isn’t a good day for fishing,” Conrad told Valentine as he waved him off.
Then, he made way to the yacht alongside the young man on the speedboat.
…
On the third deck of the yacht that sat in international waters, Conrad found Fabian lying on a sofa.
The man wore nothing more than a pair of shorts, his top bare, oozing with an air of untamed fierceness. There was a woman in his arms and a few more surrounding him.
Fabian snapped his fingers when he saw Conrad walk up. “A handsome man from the Mainland is here, beautiful. Go give him a taste of our Miss Harbor Cities.
“I’ll reward whoever works the hardest to earn a place in Mr. Monty’s bed with 1 million Harbor Dollars.”
At that, a few beauties immediately flocked to Conrad, surrounding him and using all their skills to seduce him.
“What if I carry all of them to bed, Mr. Atticus? Aren’t you afraid I’ll make you lose a large sum of money?” Conrad asked calmly.
Fabian laughed out loud and replied, “It’s just money, and that’s the last thing I lack. As long as we’re happy, any amount of money is worth it.”
Conrad soon went to sit on the sofa. He did not reject the ladies by his side, holding one in each arm while another peeled him fruits.
“You sure know how to enjoy life, Mr. Atticus,” Conrad said.
“I’ve had an endless supply of money ever since I was born. I didn’t even need to think of how to earn more, since the interest from putting just a small portion of it in the bank was enough to let me live comfortably for the rest of my life.
“For a person like me, what would differentiate me from a piece of trash if I didn’t know how to enjoy life?” Fabian laughed out loud as he kneaded the flesh of the girl in his arms.
