"You have already recognised her, old man. Do you still need my word for it?" Keith smirked. "But she won't be enough of a leverage over you, right? After all, she has been touched by another man, her womb has been sullied by another seed, and you will most likely kill her and her family now that you know she has been alive all these years." He looked him right into his eyes and laughed. "However, first, you want some answers from her. Isn't that right?"
Fear whispered in the heart of Gouzo for the first time today. He was horrified at the fact that this young man could read him as if he was an open book. Even his Master had never been able to read his train of thoughts so well.
"I can give you the answers you need. But that shouldn't be your priority." Keith lightly said, getting the old man's attention.
"What is it?" He apprehensively asked.
"You should take a look at the young man in the images once again. Her son looks a lot like you, doesn't he?"
His words detonated in the mind of Gouzo, blanking it, and the photographs in his hand dropped on the floor without him taking another look at them.
It was the Manager Trevor who regained his composure first and gathered the images from the floor, taking a good look at them.
"Doesn't he bear an uncanny resemblance to your Boss, Manager Trevor?" Keith asked with a smile, and his words brought Gouzo out of his trance.
"It can't be!" He shouted and snatched the photos from his subordinate's hand, taking a look at them again, and the more he looked at the face of the young man in the photos, the more he felt weak in his knees, eventually plopping back into his seat.
"I don't have a reason to fool you. A simple DNA test will prove it to you. He is indeed your only child, and congratulations! You have become a grandfather now!" Keith cheerfully said and clapped lightly before his smile ceased. "Now, do I have enough of a leverage over you, Mr Gouzo?"
Gouzo stayed silent at his question and was still lost in his thoughts.
"Who betrayed me?" He eventually asked, and no one except for Keith understood his question.
"Your Master." Keith simply said.
"You jest!" Gouzo shot up on his feet shouting at him, and Keith eyes turned cold.
A chilling silence reigned in the room, and Gouzo couldn't keep staring in those haunting brown eyes that were looking back at him in a silent warning.
"It was your Master." Keith said again when Gouzo sat back in his seat. "And if you doubt it, why don't you go and confront him? I have heard that he is a blunt man who disdains lying."
"Why would he do it?" Gouzo gritted his teeth and asked. "I begged him to save her, told him that she meant everything to me! I even forgave him when he failed to save her... then why?!" He was becoming hysterical now.
"Pehaps he just wanted to save an innocent girl from your clutches. Or perhaps, he had something else in his mind, a plan for you? But he isn't really a devious man, is he?" Keith smiled at him. "Oh, and your Master accepted another disciple 15 years ago. His name is Ye Tian and he was once an orphan in the Delvon City Orphanage."
Gouzo frowned at his words. He had heard from his Master that he had a junior brother now, but he could discern an underlying meaning in Keith's words.
"Now, shall we discuss business?" Keith smiled at him. "Since I have given you the information that has changed your life for the better, you owe me a favor."
Gouzo frowned at the sudden change in Keith's tone. It was no longer a threat and a talk about leverages, but a talk about favors. However, Gouzo knew better than to fall for it.
"You want my Business and Properties in Sameran, which all of your Major Familes have been coveting for years now. If I show my willingness to sell them, I can make over three Billion Neris. And you have so far only offered me a 100 Million." He seriously said.
"And that's my final offer, Mr Gouzo." He smiled and said. "We both know you are a rich man. you don't lack money, and Delvon is still your homeground if you return to it. What's a mere three Billion Neris to you?" He chuckled.
"It may not be a lot in your eyes Young Demiliore, but it is a lot to me." Gouzo seriously said.
"Let's not play around Mr Gouzo. I won't raise my offer." Keith shook his head. "How about I give you a promise that will free you off your worries. Sell your business to me, and I won't harm you or your family." He straightforwardly said. "I can also promise you to protect your family in the future, in case something unexpected happens to you."
Gozour surprisedly looked at him and once again felt that Keith had an underlying meaning behind his words.
"Give him the papers."
Sebastian listened to his words and handed the papers that he had prepared earlier in the morning.
Time passed and Gouzo kept staring at the papers placed in front of him, and Keith waited patiently.
Finally, the old man picked up the pen and started signing the documents.
Three Billion Neris was a huge some, but his wealth was many times that. He could afford to lose such a sum.
"A wise decision, Mr Gouzo." Keith smiled at him. "Since you have shown your goodwill, I would like to save you from staining your hands in an innocent's blood. Don't kill Melerie."
"Why?" Gouzo narrowed his eyes and asked.
"She does not remember you." Keith told him. "She lost her memories all those years ago and there is little to no hope that she will ever recover them."
His words caused Gouzo's breath to grow agitated, and some hope sparkled in his eyes.
"Yes, it means that she also does not remember what the traitor informed her about." He lightly smiled and said. "And you don't need to ask your Master for the truth of the matter too. You can simply investigate the procedure behind her new official identity and you will learn the truth yourself."
After Sebastian went through the papers and checked that everything was in order, Keith stood up from his seat.
"It was nice doing business with you, Mr Gouzo. Melerie and your Son are residents of Greedwood Town, in the Kylvorsa Province." He shook his hands with Gouzo and said. "My company will take charge of your Businesses on Monday. Have a nice evening!"
Keith walked out of the office followed by his Guards, leaving Gouzo lost in his thoughts.
"Your orders, Boss?" Trevor grimly asked.
"He is not someone we can provoke, Trevor." Gouzo shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "Kill her husband, make it seem like an accident..."
"Yes!" Trevor understood what his Boss was talking about and left the room to make preparations.
Outside the Meladona Prime, inside the luxurious Rolls Royce Phantom, Sebastian finally could not contain his awe and curiosity.
"You have done something that all the major families could not do in over a decade!" He laughed and said.
"I told you, everyone has a weakness that can be exploited." Keith lightly chuckled. "I will be putting you in charge of the Black Forest Leisure and Entertainment company. All this business will be under your supervision." He informed him.
"I will take care of it to the best of my ability, Young Master!"
"I expect nothing less from you." He smiled and nodded.
"Master, how did Melerie survive all those years ago?" Yinying curiously asked.
"They never intended to kill her. Those that had betrayed Gouzo were her biological father's loyal men who had stayed hidden by Gouzo's side. She was informed of Gouzo's truth, and taken to a safe place. However, when she learned of the news that she was pregnant, she tried to commit suicide by jumping into a river, but she was saved by Gouzo's Master."
"And her memory loss?" Sebastian asked.
"Partially caused by her stress and the injury she suffered as a result of falling head-first into the water from a good height, and then Gouzo's Master did the rest by meticulously using his Aura to worsen it." He revealed to them.
"Did that old man really save her out of goodwill?" Sebastian frowned and asked.
"Who knows." Keith simply shrugged and both Sebs and Yinying glanced at him. They could feel that he knew that truth behind that too, but was not willing to tell them about it.
Keith rested his head back and turned his face to the window, looking at the city as they passed through it.
There was a light smile on his face that only he knew the reason behind.
Gouzo, the former King of Delvon, Senior Brother of Ye Tian was meant to be his foothold in Sameran and Delvon, and now he was gone.
He wondered how Ye Tian would fare now that he would not have Gouzo's support this time, and neither the opportunity to swallow the old man's business and network.
Keith knew that Gouzo would still suffer the same fate and die at the hands of Ye Tian after killing their Master, but this time, Ye Tian would gain nothing out of it.
If he had not informed Gouzo about the existence of his family, it would have been Ye Tian who would have informed him about it to gain his goodwill, just according to the plan of their Master. But everyrhing was foiled now, and he could not wait to see what results it would yield.
Comments