The first thought that popped up in Symore’s mind was to find a way to solve it by himself without telling Alex Cohen first.
After careful consideration, he was afraid he could not keep up with Alex’s requirements and it would eventually affect Alex’s other arrangements. Symore hesitated, but he knew he had to seek Alex’s help in this situation. At noon when the sun was scorching, he rushed to Gold Stone to find Alex in his office, and said somewhat embarrassingly, “Mr. Cohen, I…I’ve met a rival!”
Alex’s interest immediately piqued as he said, “There’s really someone eyeing Chase’s territory?”
“Mr. Cohen, that person’s not only interested in Chase Lucas’ territory, but he has his eye on his businesses too!”
“What?”
Alex was shocked and revealed a look of disbelief.
Anyone with a discerning eye knew that Chase’s businesses had all been shut down. Although there was a possibility of reopening as long as they had been rectified, Chase had already lost his reputation in many of those industries. The damage done was also pretty severe. A lot of things had also been confiscated by the authorities, so they needed to spend a large capital to do the transfer. After that, they would need to fork out more for the rectification. In the end, their expenses would outweigh their revenue.
As an investment, it would be too high of a risk, so it was reasonable to say that no one would want to invest in it.
Unless the authorized department that dealt with those businesses was underselling them!
Alex’s curiosity was piqued and he probed, “Symore, who’s the one that wants to fight for Chase’s territory?”
Symore replied, “Mr. Cohen, you know him. It’s Chase Lucas’ nephew, Hash Lucas!”
“Hmm…it’s actually him?”
“Exactly! He approached me today and asked me to immediately stop taking over the territory left behind by Chase. I don’t know where he got the resources, but he seems to be backed by a strong investor based on his confidence. He didn’t intend to discuss it with me, instead, he treated me as his subordinate.”
“Alright. Symore, try to get in contact with him and arrange for me to meet with him as soon as possible…”
Alex Cohen and Hash Lucas had dealt with each other once and had a certain understanding of each other.
In Alex’s opinion, Hash was a dumb*ss. His character and intelligence were on the same level as Jared Xavier. Regarding his strength, he was incomparable to Jared, who at least had his family’s money. Last time, Hash was defeated by Alex, but now he was trying to create trouble again. This newfound courage could be because he was able to get a backer.
If Alex’s guess was right, this backer should be another old rival…
Symore did not hesitate and called Hash Lucas to ask him to meet up with Alex, but ended up with a refusal. That did not discourage Symore. He had dealt with larger matters and to solve this small matter, he immediately arranged for Seth and a few others to spy on Hash’s whereabouts.
At 6:00 pm, Seth got the intel and learned that Hash had taken a group of people to a barbecue joint.
Alex received the information forwarded by Symore, rubbed his stomach, then turned to Zeke Martin, who was playing with his phone, and said, “Let’s go have some barbecue!”
Zeke tucked his phone and said helplessly, “This won’t do! If I do nothing and eat all day long, sooner or later I’ll become useless. Alex, please arrange any job for me, as long as it’s not a desk job!”
“Haha, I knew you couldn’t stay idle. I’ll arrange a job for you after dinner!”
“What are you waiting for then? Let’s go!”
Zeke stood up excitedly.
Alex set off with Zeke and Big Ken, then met up with Symore before they rushed to the barbecue place where Hash Lucas was at.
Seth, who was in charge of meeting them at the entrance, took them up to the third floor and respectfully reported, “Mr. Cohen, Symore, Hash Lucas and the others are in Room 305. The people at the lobby by the window table are also with him. There are a total of 11 people in their party.”
“Good work.”
Alex nodded and said to Seth, “You can have dinner together with your men. The meal’s on me, so just hand me the bill later.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cohen!”
Seth immediately took his men who were following Hash and sat down at the table adjacent to Hash’s men.
Alex, on the other hand, led Zeke, Big Ken, and Symore straight to the entrance of Room 305.
“Stop right there!”
Six of Hash’s men looked suspiciously at them and hurriedly pounced over. The leader was a young man in his twenties, who was scrutinizing Alex and the others with a hostile gaze, and said arrogantly, “Didn’t the waiter tell you that this room is occupied? Who told you to come here?”
Alex shrugged and said, “If there was no one inside, I wouldn’t have come!”
“Hiss…you’re f*cking looking for a fight, huh?”
“Watch your mouth!”
Zeke stepped forward and confronted the young man.
Just then, the door of Room 305 was pulled open. Hash poked his head out, saw Alex and the others, and immediately frowned. However, after hesitating for a few seconds, he finally said to the young man, “Let them in!”
“Yes sir!”
The young man nodded his head and took two steps back.
Alex stepped into the room and found that among the five people in the room, besides Hash, there was an old acquaintance, namely Jared Xavier. He was not surprised by this and took a seat at the table by himself. With a sarcastic smile, he said to Jared, “How rare it is to see you, Young Master Xavier! You must’ve been holed up for a few months and finally dare to get some air?”
Jared did not expect to run into Alex, whom he had not seen for a long time, and answered with a sullen face, “What are you doing here?”
If it was up to Jared, he would have gotten into a fight with Alex as soon as they met.
However, although he seldom came out, he had been watching Alex’s actions closely and had gotten better at understanding him. He understood why his dad and Chase Lucas advised him not to go neck to neck with Alex in the first place. Even Chase, who was supported by Leo, ended up dead because of Alex, so it was even more unlikely that he would be a match for Alex.
The tragic facts proved that being Alex’s enemy was equivalent to seeking death.
This was also another reason why he held back from saying anything when he was so crudely dissed by Alex…
Alex looked at Hash and casually responded, “Young Master Xavier, I’m not here for you today. Hash Lucas, I’ve heard that you intend to take over Chase’s territory and you also have the intentions of taking over the properties under his name? Have you not heard that those territories have already been taken over by Symore?”
Hash Lucas frowned tightly, looked at Jared’s expression, then feigned calmness as he said to Alex, “Why would Symore interfere in our family’s internal affairs? My uncle passed away and as far as I know, the Lucas family still exists!”
“What do you mean? You want to inherit Chase’s territories?”
“Yes!”
“Look at you, so confident! Did you get Chase’s will?”
“Uncle didn’t leave a will.”
“Then are you trying to force an inheritance?”
“I didn’t get any inheritance, but…”
Hash took out his phone, clicked on a photo, then pushed it in front of Alex and said proudly, “I signed an agreement with my aunt. She said that all the problems left behind by my uncle’s sudden death will be my sole responsibility! So naturally, Uncle’s territories and businesses will be taken over by me.”
Alex did not expect that Hash’s preparation was quite adequate.
However, this so-called agreement Hash made with his aunt did not have any legal effect. If the agreement was effective, he would have directly given it to the relevant department so that all of Chase’s territories and business could be directly transferred to his name and there would be no need for physical fights.
To put it bluntly, this kind of lofty agreement could only trick gullible people like Hash Lucas.
Alex was aware, but he decided to play dumb and acted as he believed in the agreement. He calmly said to Hash, “So now, all the problems related to Chase Lucas are your responsibility, right?”
Hash nodded and replied, “That’s right!”
“What about Chase’s debts?”
“Of course they’re also part of the transfer. Those that owe my uncle won’t get away with it because I’ll ask for it back!”
“Ah, I’ve finally found the right person!”
Alex suddenly grinned, then sighed while he took out a piece of A4 paper and deliberately said with a very exaggerated demeanor, “Chase Lucas owed me some money, but he suddenly died. Initially, I didn’t know who to look for, but now, since his debts are transferred to you, then you can repay them on his behalf. Here’s the IOU, take a look.”
Hash paused and looked over the IOU. He closely inspected it and his jaw almost dropped in shock…
