It was late at night when Jasper returned home. Wendy was sitting on the couch and watching television as she waited for him.
“Didn’t I ask you to head to bed first? You didn’t need to wait for me.”
Jasper bent down and spoke gently to Wendy who had a bleary expression on her face as she curled up on the couch.
A smile appeared on Wendy’s face when she saw Jasper’s face in front of her. Taking her hands out from under the blanket, she encircled Jasper’s neck as she said, “I can’t fall asleep if you’re not home. Are you hungry? Do you want supper?”
“It’s okay, I’ll just make myself some instant ramen,” Jasper said.
“That stuff is so unhealthy,” Wendy said as she glared at him. She got up and walked to the kitchen as she said, “Wait for me. I’ll make you some pasta.”
Jasper smiled as he watched Wendy’s retreating figure and inhaled her pleasant scent before turning to walk into his study.
A sheet of paper was lying on his fax machine.
John had sent over Cloud Rider Mining Company’s assets list.
Question marks were listed in every column, indicating that the amount was unknown, except the column for cash assets. That one was stated with a hefty 2,500,000,000—a string of numbers that would cause one’s heart rate to increase.
However, such numbers had long since lost their appeal to Jasper.
Jasper was still staring at the sheet of paper when Wendy entered with a steaming plate of pasta.
“What are you thinking about?”
Wendy placed the plate in front of Jasper and leaned forward to take a look before she said jokingly, “Why, are you thinking of taking this money away?”
Jasper shook his head and said, “I wouldn’t have left it in the company’s account if I wanted it for myself. 2.5 billion is not a small amount, and it’s also the country’s money. No matter who you are, you’ll find yourself in hot water if you touch it. I’m not that irrational. If not, wouldn’t I have walked right into Conrad’s trap?
“So this money must not be touched and should remain in here. When the scheme is exposed, it’ll return to where it came from.”
“So what are you thinking about?” Wendy asked curiously.
“I’m thinking about what Conrad is planning.” Jasper frowned slightly as he picked up his fork and began eating his pasta distractedly.
“Based on my estimations, he must have learned that the money is in the company’s account and can’t be transferred out without my signature.
“I initially thought he would try and swindle the money away from me by saying he wanted to invest it into the mine site, pay salaries, purchase equipment, or anything of the sort. There were so many excuses he could use, and I had even prepared for the scenario in which he would confront me.
“The only thing I did not imagine was for him to let the day pass as if nothing had happened.”
Jasper’s eyebrows knitted themselves tightly as his voice turned even more serious.
“This makes me think that Conrad still has other people working for him, and they might be experienced people who we’ve never heard or thought about.”
Wendy followed Jasper’s train of thought and realized that it was indeed creepy Conrad had stayed put. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she could not come up with a logical explanation.
It seemed as if the whole plan had been laid out fully, and all the connections could be seen clearly.
The only abnormality was the way Conrad reacted.
However, none of the clues could support the reasons for Conrad’s actions.
“Alright, stop thinking about it,” Wendy said gently.
“The more you think about something, the less likely you’ll be to make a conclusion. It’s already happened, and you’ve done what you were supposed to do. At this rate, neither you nor Conrad can stop things from progressing.
“Maybe we should wait for a while longer. Perhaps Conrad will reveal something himself?”
When he heard what Wendy said, Jasper gave a wide smile and said, “Not bad. What you said makes sense. I’m overthinking things.
“I’m not a god, how could I predict Conrad’s every thought?”
“It’s good that you know that. You’ve always demanded so much from yourself,” Wendy said.
…
Jasper had Wendy to prepare pasta for him, but Conrad did not receive such great treatment.
His eyes were bloodshot, but he was oddly energetic.
There was no way he would be falling asleep tonight because he had decided to start his plan ahead of time.
“I can’t wait any longer. The more we wait, the more passive we’ll become. We can’t let Jasper have any time to catch his breath if we want to attack him!” Conrad said determinedly.
Valentine had a solemn expression on his face. Naturally, he had to accompany Conrad as well if the man was not going to sleep.
“What time is it in the United States now?” Conrad asked.
“It should be one in the afternoon now,” Valentine answered.
“Alright, it’s almost time. Tell our traders to come online now,” Conrad said.
Valentine immediately set off to make preparations when he heard that. In about ten minutes, which was the time Conrad took to smoke two cigarettes, everything had already been set in place.
As he sat in front of his computer and watched the lead trader through the video call, Conrad said in a low voice, “I’ve put my life savings of ten billion US dollars into this battle!
“At the same time, this battle will be the one that leads you into fame. If you succeed, you’ll become one of the best trading teams in the country. If you lose, well, we don’t need to say anything more. We’ll just have to jump off the nearest tall building.”
The plain-looking middle-aged man on the other end of the line said in a low voice, “Don’t worry, Mr. Monty. We’ve been preparing for this day for a long time.”
“We found out that although Sena has a solid share price with no premiums and wonderful company performance, it also possesses two critical drawbacks.
“Firstly is how there’s a majority shareholder. Jasper’s grip on power is too tight, and he’s the only major shareholder in the group, holding direct control over more than 67% of the shares.”
“Secondly, and most importantly, at the end of the day, Sena is still a Somerland company. Americans don’t trust companies from Somerland at all, which is why Sena’s shares are priced at this range instead of higher.
“You could say we wouldn’t have stood a chance at all if Sena were listed in the country. But things are different now. Sena can’t change these drawbacks of theirs, and we can use this opportunity to make our killing strike.”
Conrad nodded continuously as he listened to the man speak.
“Very well.”
Conrad sighed softly and said, “So we’ll begin moving according to the pace you’ve set. I won’t interfere too much with what you’re doing, but I do have one request. Be quick.
“We don’t have much time left.”
The man said solemnly, “Mr. Monty, we already have quite a lot of shares with us after several days of purchasing, but we still need time if we want to secure a win.”
“So start now!”
