Lisa felt both terrified and in despair when she heard this.
“Are you giving up too, Dad?”
Norman shook his head and replied, “I’m not giving up. I’m just stating the reality of the situation.
“When we first met Jasper in Swallow Capital for the first time… T o be honest, did we actually hate him that much?”
Lisa bit her lip and stayed silent.
“But it’s too late for all of this now.”
Norman sighed deeply.
“Gale and Mr. Atticus certainly won’t help us now, so we’ve got to think of a way to help ourselves.”
Lisa looked at Norman and asked, “Do you have a plan, Dad?”
Norman looked down lightly. An unstable light flickered in his weak gaze as he replied, “There’s only one thing to do now.”
“There are still people Jasper can’t afford to offend in Waterhoof City. We just have to pay a higher price for their protection. I’d bet more than half my family’s wealth if it means Jasper loses big this time!”
…
The following day, news of the dissolution of the Haddock’s Chamber of Commerce’s Waterhoof City Branch had spread throughout the city.
This meant nothing to the majority of civilians. However, people higher up in the social ranks knew how perilous the situation actually was.
The dissolution of the Waterhoof City branch meant that Haddock’s Chamber of Commerce’s influence had completely exited Waterhoof City.
Everyone thought that this was Teo Chamber of Commerce’s work After all, the two chambers were mortal enemies, and traces of work of businesspeople from Teo could be seen in the dissolution of Haddock’s Chamber’s branch.
However, what was even weirder was that there were no signs of Teo Chamber in Commerce in Waterhoof City either.
Instead of taking this chance to enter Waterhoof City’s market, they had completely vanished.
Overnight, Waterhoof City seemed to have turned into a vacuum where there were no signs of life from either organizations.
While countless rumors filled the air, Jasper met Gerry in the hotel.
Gerry sat partially on the sofa, his expression frantic like he had lost his home.
The weather was getting cold and the air conditioning in the room was set to Jasper’s favored 24 degrees Celsius. Despite this, Gerry’s forehead was beaded with sweat.
This was due to shock.
“Mr. Laine, no matter what, we can’t do this anymore!” Gerry pleaded with a slight wail in his tone as he looked at Jasper.
Jasper frowned.
Gerry had been wearing this expression on his face ever since he walked through the hotel room doors. Jasper initially thought that Gerry was acting, but he had a feeling that things were not that straightforward now.
“What happened?” Jasper asked with a frown.
Gerry wiped the sweat off his forehead and gulped before replying, “I was warned that someone’s already stepped up to protect the Gardner family. I really can’t offend this person.”
Jasper was no stranger to Gerry’s arrogance. The man’s business had never been completely legal, and he was not someone to be offended lightly.
‘But both Gale and Alban had completely left Waterhoof City now, so who could terrify Gerry so much?’
“They’re the Royals,” Gerry continued, without waiting for Jasper to ask.
“Royals?” Jasper arched his brow.
