Manager Wells cleared his throat.
Then he lifted both hands and introduced Ethan with great seriousness.
"This is Mr. Ethan Cole, the mysterious buyer of Summit Ridge House One everyone has been talking about."
"What?"
Charles's eyes widened.
He stared at Ethan in disbelief.
"He's the mysterious buyer of House One?"
He froze for a few seconds.
Then his gaze shifted to Vivian, and realization appeared on his face.
"Vivian West, now I understand."
He sneered.
"I didn't expect this pretty boy to fascinate you so thoroughly. You actually spent hundreds of millions buying him a villa just to please him? You're insane."
Vivian said nothing.
She only gave him the look one reserved for a hopeless fool.
"Impudent," Manager Wells snapped. "What pretty boy?"
His face darkened.
"You are not allowed to slander Mr. Cole like that."
Charles flinched at the shout.
Manager Wells stared at him and said word by word, "Besides House One, Mr. Cole owns one hundred and fifty top villas at Summit Ridge."
"You call that a pretty boy?"
"One hundred and fifty?"
Charles's jaw nearly dropped.
His mouth hung open.
For a moment, it seemed as though time had stopped only for him.
Vivian was not much better.
She turned sharply toward Ethan.
One hundred and fifty?
If she remembered correctly, all of Summit Ridge had only a little over three hundred villas.
Ethan owned nearly half of them.
At one hundred million dollars per villa, that was fifteen billion in fixed assets.
Vivian did the math quickly and felt unwell.
She had never imagined that Ethan's real estate holdings in this one district alone could crush the West Group she had spent years building.
"Nearly twenty billion in property," Charles muttered.
Only then did he understand why Manager Wells considered pretty boy an insult.
Vivian and all of West Group combined were not worth that.
If anyone was being kept, it would not be Ethan.
Charles's expression changed.
Anger became shock.
Shock became flattery.
He took two steps forward and forced a smile.
"Mr. Cole, I was too impulsive earlier. I failed to recognize a great man. Please don't take it to heart."
He pulled a business card from his pocket and offered it with both hands.
"Here is my card. Since we've met, why don't we become friends?"
Ethan glanced down.
The card was gold-stamped and expensive, printed with the title President of Linford Group, Charles Lang.
Ethan lifted his hand.
Slap.
The card flew from Charles's fingers, spun through the air, and landed on the ground.
Ethan looked at him calmly.
"Are you worthy?"
Charles's smile disappeared.
He stared at Ethan, chest rising and falling.
After a few seconds, he took a breath and forced down his anger.
"Mr. Cole, I admit you are powerful."
His tone sharpened.
"But behind me is Linford Group."
"Linford?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Is Linford strong?"
Charles was choked by the casual contempt in his voice.
He was about to answer.
But Ethan's attention had already moved elsewhere.
With a thought, the system panel appeared in front of him.
He opened inventory and selected another One-Dollar Flash Purchase Card.
Target: Linford Group.
`One-Dollar Flash Purchase in progress...`
`Purchase successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained one hundred percent of Linford Group's shares.`
The notification flashed by.
Ethan smiled.
He took out his phone and dialed the number the system provided.
The call connected quickly.
Ethan went straight to the point.
"Charles Lang, president of Linford Group. Fire him."
Charles stood nearby.
When he heard this, he froze, then laughed.
"What are you pretending for? One phone call and you want to fire me?"
He crossed his arms.
"Who do you think you are? A shareholder? The chairman?"
Before he finished speaking, his phone rang.
Charles looked down.
His expression stiffened.
Human Resources Director.
A bad feeling rose in his chest.
He answered quickly.
"Hello?"
The HR director's voice was cold and official.
"Charles Lang, you have been terminated. Come to the company tomorrow for handover."
Charles's brows pulled tight.
"Terminated? Director Pierce, are you joking?"
His voice rose.
"I've worked at Linford for ten years. Even if I have no credit, I have labor. Why am I being fired?"
"You know what you've done."
The HR director added, "The order came personally from Linford's newly appointed sole shareholder. Do you think I can refuse?"
"Newly appointed sole shareholder?"
Charles repeated the words, his mind buzzing.
"Sole... one hundred percent shareholder?"
He suddenly realized something and looked up at Ethan.
Ethan was watching him with a faint smile.
The look in his eyes was the look one gave a clown who had finished performing.
Charles's face turned deathly pale.
The phone slipped from his hand and hit the ground.
He opened his mouth, but his throat was too dry to make a sound.
Vivian witnessed the entire process.
She looked at Charles's ruined expression, then at Ethan's calm face, and felt waves rise inside her.
One phone call.
Just one phone call, and Linford Group's president was fired.
Vivian realized she had still underestimated this man.
Manager Wells stood to the side, silently grateful.
Luckily, he had reacted quickly.
If he had followed Charles into courting death, he might be the one losing everything now.
Ethan looked back at Vivian.
"Why are you still standing there?"
He walked toward the villa gate.
"Are you really not coming in? You're my first guest after moving in."
Vivian hesitated for one second, then followed.
She had too many questions.
And in front of outsiders, she could not embarrass Ethan.
When she passed Charles, she stopped.
"By the way, Mr. Lang."
"Didn't you ask me to congratulate you?"
Vivian smiled politely.
"Congratulations on being fired."
Then she walked through the gate without looking back.
Charles stood there, his face shifting between green and white.
At the doorway, Ethan suddenly stopped and turned back.
"Manager Wells."
Wells bent at once.
"Mr. Cole, your orders?"
"He said he was buying House Two?"
Ethan glanced at Charles.
Wells nodded.
"Yes. The process is underway."
"Stop it," Ethan said. "I don't want him as a neighbor."
To Manager Wells, Ethan's words were law.
"Understood. Absolutely understood."
Author's Note:
This story will continue updating here.
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Thank you for reading.