Jasper’s calm tone echoed from the other end of the line.
“And here I thought you called to beg for mercy. I thought you’d call to ask for an easier and more painless death, but it seems like I misunderstood.”
Ian raged and growled. “Don’t think that I’d be afraid of you now just because you did something in Harbor City, Jasper. I’ve seen these tricks before. Do you think they’ll stop me?”
“Of course not.”
Jasper’s tone was laced with deeper intent.
“It’d be too easy if I kill you off in one go. That’ll be too painless, no? I’d much like to play with you slowly.”
Ian scoffed. “So it really was you!”
“I know you’re calling to sound me out, but I never had the intention to hide it from you anyway. I would’ve come looking for you at your house even if you didn’t call me. It would only be a matter of time before you knew anyway, so you might as well just ask me straightforwardly.”
Ian was stunned and he immediately caught on. He questioned Jasper coldly, “Come looking for me at my house? What do you mean?!”
Sitting at the rooftop bar on the 14th floor of the Peninsula Hotel in Waterhoof City, Jasper stared at the calm Harpoon River beneath his feet and the bright Pearl Tower on the opposite shore of the river. He chuckled. “I don’t think I need to explain what I mean for you to understand, hmm?”
“I still have guests here, Mr. Hull, so I’ll have to cut our conversation short. But tell your driver to drive a little slower and steadier on your way back from Suesville, Mr. Hull. It’d be a shame if you died in a car accident and missed out on the large play I’m putting on for you.”
Jasper hung up the phone and stood to walk toward the entrance of the rooftop bar, approaching the man who was entering with John.
“This is Jasper Laine, the friend I was talking to you about, Vita. The youngest millionaire entrepreneur within our country,” John introduced as the middle-man.
“Jasper, this is my old colleague, Vita Layne. The office manager of ICBS Waterhoof City branch. He’s in charge of the branch’s asset management office.”
“Hello, Mr. Layne. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Jasper reached out to shake Vita’s hand with a smile.
Vita was a slim and highly capable man in his early 40s, and it was evident that he had heard of Jasper on the way here from John.
ICBS was the first of the country’s top four major banks, and as a senior executive of the branch in a financial center like Waterhoof City, Vita had seen his fair share of wealthy businessmen. It could be said that Vita’s clients were all society’s elites.
Still, Vita could not help the shine in his eyes when he first saw Jasper.
After all, Jasper was too young. The wealthy businessmen whom Vita met on the daily were all in their 40s and 50s.
If one wanted to start from scratch and accumulate a wealth of billions of Somer Dollars, it would take the average person a decade or two, if lucky. Growing rich overnight was a rarity that only existed in myths and novels.
However, Jasper was different from all the other wealthy businessmen he had met. Jasper was young and gentlemanly. Instead of a businessman, Vita felt that Jasper seemed more like a university student from a scholarly family.
Vita reached out to shake Jasper’s outstretched hand and replied, “What a promising youth you are, Mr. Laine. I didn’t believe it when John told me such an outstanding person existed. I almost thought that he deceived just to make me come.”
Jasper smiled. “You’re too kind, Mr. Layne. I just realized how similar our surnames are. No wonder I felt such a sense of familiarity when I first saw you, Mr. Layne. How about we sit down to talk?”
…
At the same time on the highway back to Waterhoof City, Ian found himself in a huge internal conflict triggered by Jasper’s offhand comment. Meanwhile, the man in question was happily immersed in a conversation with Vita, oblivious to the effect of his own words.
