‘Zayden Hanks!’
Hearing the name, the calm Jasper was shocked as well.
In all honesty, he had almost forgotten about Zayden.
While Zayden had caused Jasper some problems back in Harbor City, Jasper had also dealt with him and Zayden dropped off the grid afterward.
Jasper then had to face quite a few other issues and did not have the mind to think about Zayden anymore.
He had never expected this bothersome man to appear again.
Jasper could acutely sense that Zayden’s appearance this time was not as simple as it seemed.
“He was the one who sought me out first. Seeing that he was rich and powerful, I decided that I’d get acquainted with him. He ordered me to do things mainly so he could deal with you.
“Seeing that our goals were the same and I’d also be benefitted by this, I agreed.”
Terence spoke coldly and stared at Jasper. “Yes, I set that fire. I’ve already told you everything you want to know. You said you won’t hold me accountable!”
“And I’ll stand by my word.”
Jasper smiled and turned to Terence. “But I do hope that you’ll do one more thing for me.”
Terence scoffed. “You wish. There’s no way I’ll help you do anything.”
“Alright, then.” Jasper nodded and turned to Julian. “Contact the city’s government and tell them that we’ve found the arsonist. Have them come over and take him to jail.”
Terence’s expression changed as he roared, “Jasper! You f*cking b*stard, you said you won’t hold me accountable!”
Jasper replied calmly, “That real estate company is both mine and my father-in-law’s. I can opt not to hold you accountable for my loss, but you’ve got to repay him for his, don’t you?”
Terence’s face paled in anger as he ground his teeth and shouted at Darrel, “Do you see what I mean?! I told you that Jasper is sinister and sly! He’s sending me to prison now and this is all your fault!”
Darrel looked uncomfortable, and he turned to Jasper only to swallow down the words he wanted to say.
Jasper’s expression was calm when he spoke, “You have two choices here. Work with me, or you can rot in jail.”
Terence clenched his jaw, and his gaze was fiery when he growled. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
“Help me find out who the other people he has been in contact with are.”
Terence was stunned and scoffed at Jasper’s words. “Who else can he be in contact with? Except for his dad, no one else knows he’s back at all. There’s no way he has any other contacts.”
“You think he has the galls to come at me by himself? Why do you think he’s trying to deal with me in the dark? He has lost to me too many times,” Jasper replied calmly.
Terence’s brows twitched as he looked at Jasper disdainfully. “Sure, whatever you say.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything else. All you need to do is look into what I’ve asked you, and I can promise no one will ever hold you accountable for setting this fire,” Jasper replied calmly.
Terence sneered. “You’d better keep your word this time.”
Soon after, Terence left. For some unknown reason, Darrel stayed back instead of leaving with his brother.
Standing by the study’s window, Jasper drank his coffee as he watched Terence leave the villa. Suddenly, he turned to Darrel who stood behind him and asked with a smile, “What do you think your brother is going to do first?”
Darrel was stunned for a moment before he replied, “Isn’t he going to find out who else that Zayden person is in contact with? That’s what you asked him to do, right?”
Jasper replied calmly, “If only it was that simple. I’m willing to bet that the first thing this brother of yours will do is look for Zayden and tell him everything that has happened.”
Darrel’s expression changed. “That’s impossible… How… How would he dare to? Plus, he already promised me…”
Jasper replied calmly, “If I’m being honest, I’d say your brother is more of a businessman than you are when it comes down to both your personalities. You’re too soft and easily driven by your emotions. They’re not good traits for businessmen.
“But your brother is different. He knows how to lie and he’s selfish. He also knows how to target others.”
Jasper turned to look at Darrel who was gaping in shock and spoke, “The chances of people like you ending up as a large businessman is one out of 10,000. Either that, or you’ll die trying. For people like your brother, it’s a 5,000 out of 10,000 chance that he ends up as a small businessman, but there’s also no chance that he’ll ever make it big.
“It was quite a fierce fight you two had just now, so don’t you find it weird that he was suddenly persuaded?” Jasper asked.
Darrel still wanted to argue, saying, “That’s because he understands where I’m coming from.”
“That’s not it. People like him harbor a hatred for me that’s so deep it might as well be engraved in his heart. How could he just suddenly understand where you’re coming from?
“No, he’s already come up with a plan. He’d pretend to be against it first and then agree to it after some persuasion. That way, he’d get to be exempted from being charged with arson while at the same time, it would extinguish all the remaining suspicion we have for him.
“But he’s also well aware that he’s not strong enough to topple me himself. His only option is to get help from Zayden. Why else would he suddenly give in with just a few words from you?”
Darrel’s lips quivered. He had to admit that the Terence Jasper described was precisely the brother he knew—ruthless and crafty.
Yet the most terrifying of all was not Terence but the man before his eyes who had managed to see through the two brothers so clearly. Jasper was petrifying.
“Then why did you let him leave anyway?” Darrel asked.
“Since we already know that Zayden is the one behind it all, then nothing else really matters anymore. Plus, don’t you think sending Terence back with a fake request will give us the perfect diversion?
“Zayden and Terence used to deal in the dark while we were out in the open. But now, the tables have turned with them out in the open and us in the dark.
“Plus, they’d never expect me accounting for Terence telling Zayden everything, and that has just nailed our victory.”
…
After leaving the villa, Terence quickly took a taxi toward the provincial capital.
After a two-hour drive, Terence arrived at the house Zayden was currently residing in.
“Didn’t I tell you not to look for me unless something happened?”
Zayden was displeased at the fact that Terence came to his house without sending a single text first.
Terence smiled bitterly. “Something big has happened, Mr. Hanks, and I thought I should tell you in person.”
Zayden frowned. “What happened?”
Terence gulped and replied carefully, “Jasper… knows that I set the fire. He also told me to keep an eye on you to find out if you’re in contact with anyone else.”
Zayden stood up at his words. His eyes widened as he glared at Terence like he wanted to rip the man apart.
