The expressions on the classmates’ faces grew complicated.
Although they didn’t interact with Adrian Cross very often, everyone knew he was an extremely proud and domineering man.
Back in college, another student had once pursued a girl Adrian was interested in.
The result had been disastrous: the poor fellow ended up in the hospital, lost his academic standing, and was eventually expelled.
Now Adrian had set his sights on Claire Bennett, only to find her sitting beside Ethan, chatting with him as though nobody else in the room existed.
How could Adrian possibly let Ethan get away with that?
Sure enough, he had already found a way to make things difficult for him.
Adrian’s plan was simple.
Ethan claimed to be a fortune teller, and everyone seemed convinced that he could predict the future.
Fine, then.
Let him predict Adrian’s fortune, too.
Whatever Ethan said, Adrian would make sure it didn’t happen.
Once his predictions proved wrong, Ethan’s reputation would collapse, and everyone would finally see him make a fool of himself.
“Adrian, with your family’s enormous business empire and your own successful career, do you really need me to tell your fortune?” Ethan asked leisurely.
“Of course I do!” Adrian replied, narrowing his eyes.
“I’ve got plenty of things bothering me lately.
I hope you’ll give me an accurate reading, Ethan.”
“All right, then.
Since you’ve asked, I’ll tell your fortune.”
Ethan put on a solemn expression, extended his hand, and began pinching his fingers as though performing some profound calculation.
After a moment, he looked Adrian up and down.
“Show me your palm.”
Adrian immediately held out his hand.
He wanted to see just how capable Ethan really was.
The surrounding classmates watched with keen interest.
Everyone was curious to find out what Ethan would uncover about the proud heir to the Cross family.
Ethan glanced at Adrian’s palm, then suddenly shifted his gaze toward the man sitting beside him.
A strange smile spread across his face.
“Let’s not talk about you just yet.
Let’s start with Frank Doyle, who’s been working for you all these years.”
For some inexplicable reason, Frank felt a chill run down his spine.
A vague sense of dread crept into his heart.
“Over the past few years, he’s secretly embezzled more than ten million dollars from you.”
The moment Ethan spoke, the entire room erupted in shock.
Everyone turned toward Frank, their expressions filled with suspicion and disgust.
Several people even instinctively moved away from him.
“Ethan, y-you’re talking nonsense!” Frank shot to his feet, pointing at Ethan with a trembling finger.
His voice was sharp, but his visibly strained expression betrayed his panic.
Adrian, however, seemed completely unconcerned.
“I know what you’re talking about,” he said indifferently.
“But it’s only a little money.
Frank works for me.
Even if he’s taken a bit for himself, so what?”
“Oh?
So you already know about that?”
Ethan raised an eyebrow and took a sip of wine.
“Then do you also know how many contracts he signed behind your back, bypassing the company entirely?
Or how many projects he secretly sold off for his own benefit?”
He smiled faintly.
“I can even give you the exact figures.
He’s secretly signed eight contracts, earning nearly fifty million dollars from them.
On top of that, he’s made several million more by abusing the authority you’ve given him.”
Ethan turned toward Frank with a teasing smile.
“Having power certainly makes it easier to make money, doesn’t it, Frank?”
“So what?” Adrian replied without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
He took a sip of wine, his expression growing colder.
“My family’s business empire is enormous.
A few projects mean nothing.
He makes money, and the company makes money.
Everyone benefits.
That’s a win-win situation.”
“How generous of you, Adrian!” Ethan clapped his hands and laughed.
“You really are magnanimous.”
Then his smile faded slightly.
“But what would you say if I told you he’d also tampered with your most important project, the Azure Bay development?”
Adrian’s head snapped up.
The indifference vanished from his face, replaced by a fierce, murderous glare.
He turned toward Frank, his voice suddenly icy.
“Frank.
Did you tamper with the Azure Bay project?”
“Adrian!
Listen to me!
I only…” Frank stammered.
“They promised they’d handle everything properly, and we haven’t suffered any losses…”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when Adrian sprang to his feet and kicked him hard.
“You worthless bastard!”
Adrian’s roar shook the room.
“Didn’t I tell you that the Azure Bay project was being watched closely by the family and the government?
What the hell were you thinking?
Are you trying to destroy me?”
He could no longer contain his rage.
The Azure Bay development was crucial to Adrian’s chances of inheriting control of the Cross family.
Its success would determine his standing among the family’s senior members, several of whom were already watching him like hawks.
His eldest, third, and fourth uncles were especially eager to seize on any mistake he made.
If anything went wrong with the project, his reputation within the family would suffer a devastating blow.
Worse still, the development was one of his most important collaborations with the government.
A serious scandal involving the project would leave him with no easy way to explain himself.
With his future and position on the line, Adrian could no longer pretend that the matter was insignificant.
“Adrian, please!
I swear there won’t be any problems!” Frank scrambled toward him, nearly crawling across the floor in desperation.
“That company just wanted to make money.
We were both supposed to profit from it!
It was a win-win arrangement!”
“Frank, I’ve got some bad news for you,” Ethan interrupted calmly.
“The company that promised you those benefits is nothing more than a shell company.
The people behind it have already disappeared.
Don’t believe me?
Try calling them.”
“What?!”
Frank’s expression changed completely.
“Impossible!
They were incredibly influential overseas!”
As though suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly pulled out his phone and dialed the number.
Everyone watched as he held the phone to his ear, his face growing paler by the second.
A moment later, a mechanical voice came through the receiver.
The number you have dialed is switched off.
Please try again later.
Frank went rigid.
He tried again, but the result was exactly the same.
In that instant, he finally understood.
He had been played.
Those overseas investors had used the Azure Bay project to lure him into their trap, leaving him to take the blame while they escaped with whatever they had gained.
The deal he had believed would bring him enormous profits had instead dragged him into a disaster from which there might be no escape.
His face turned ashen.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
He was finished.
“You bastard!”
Adrian’s face drained of color before his anger exploded once more.
He launched himself at Frank, raining punches and kicks on the man who had nearly destroyed his future.
Frank could barely defend himself as Adrian beat him to the ground.
The surrounding classmates watched in stunned silence.
Everything had changed in a matter of minutes.
Frank had gone from acting like a trusted subordinate to being exposed as a corrupt employee who had betrayed his employer.
Adrian, who had confidently challenged Ethan in an attempt to humiliate him, had ended up losing control of the entire situation.
And Ethan?
He simply continued enjoying his wine and food, watching the spectacle unfold with unruffled composure.
To him, everything was part of a carefully calculated game.
Other people might see only the pieces on the board, but Ethan understood exactly how to move them.
With just a few casual remarks, he had exposed Frank’s corruption, turned Adrian against his own subordinate, and made the man who had tried to embarrass him lose his temper in front of everyone.
He had achieved two goals with a single move.
That was the real purpose behind Ethan’s fortune-telling.
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