Isla immediately became displeased as she glared at Alex. “What’s going on Alex, you were the one who said that the formalities should be done as soon as possible. Now that we’re all ready, you’re saying to do it another day. Can’t you plan in advance? Besides, all we need to do is go to the City Hall for the divorce procedure. It won’t take that much time, right?”
Alex explained apologetically, “There are priorities. What happened just now was an unexpected situation that was beyond the plan. Someone asked me to meet and talk about something. If we finish talking about it before the day ends, we’ll go to the City Hall. If it’s too late, then we’ll go tomorrow.”
“Is the person you’re going to meet a man or a woman?”
“Of course it’s a man. You should know who he is. He’s the CEO of Quill City Media, Henry Doyle.”
“Exo Quirke’s boss? He’s not trying to get back at you, right?”
“No… At least, not today.”
When Alex learned that Henry Doyle wanted to talk to him about some collaboration, he could already guess what Henry was going to say.
Isla was not an unreasonable person so she did not pester Alex. Instead, nodded and agreed. “Call me when you’re done.”
“Okay, I’ll send you back to the company first…”
Alex held Isla’s waist back as they walked to the car. It took a few minutes to drive Isla back to Golden Stone Co. Then, he told Big Ken to drive to the place that Henry Doyle had arranged — it was a business club located near Quill City Media. Since he was bored along the way, he called Captain Pannell and asked how far he had gone in interrogating Macy Falks.
Captain Pannell said that he was stuck at where the bomb came from. Macy Falks merely said that she bought it on the black market, but did not say why.
Alex just wanted to know who the mastermind was, so once he heard this, he knew that Captain Pannell did not consider the fact that Macy Falks might also have been receiving instructions from someone. After contemplating for a moment, he tactfully put forward this conjecture, opening up new ideas for Captain Pannell.
Since he was not a law enforcement officer, this was all he could say and do.
Next, Captain Pannell’s interrogation skills would be put to the test…
At 2:30 pm, Big Ken drove to the destination. Henry Doyle had been waiting in a private room on the fifth floor for a long time, but this was Alex’s second time meeting Henry. Compared to the last time Alex saw him, he looked slightly slimmer and his face had also become gaunt.
Alex did not have to ask to know that Henry had been recently worried about the matter of Quill City Media being investigated.
Of course, Alex did not care about how Henry had been living lately and did not bother to talk nonsense. Instead, he pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, ignoring Henry’s polite words of letting him order something and went straight to the point. “You said you wanted to talk to me about some collaboration? What kind of collaboration?”
Although he was being forced by various pressures, Henry suppressed his anger at Alex and squeezed out a bitter smile. “Mr. Cohen, I heard that you’re a very shrewd businessman, and you’re also a very discerning investor. Hudson Designs and Golden Stone were both on the verge of bankruptcy, but you saved them. I want to ask if you have any interest in investing in Quill City Media.”
“You’re joking! Henry Doyle, you specifically called me here to get an investor? To me, this is not a collaboration, but you’re begging me instead. Although I still have spare money on hand for investment, I will only invest in projects that I think have potential. Unfortunately, I don’t see much development prospect for Quill City Media.”
“Collaboration does not necessarily involve money. As long as you agree to my favor, you can get a lot of Quill City Media’s shares for nothing.”
“Unfortunately, you missed the mark again. I’m not interested in Quill City Media at all… Otherwise, I wouldn’t have refused so bluntly when you said you would give me one percent of the shares in the past. However, I’m still a little curious. What do you want me to help with?”
“I’ll be blunt. You arranged the investigation team that was headed by Director Lewis, right? I’ve already mentioned what I want you to help with last time. As long as you can stop the investigation team and don’t issue any penalties on Quill City Media, I’ll give you ten percent of the shares!”
“Ten percent… According to the calculations, that would translate to around one billion. That’s a large amount. Why are you suddenly increasing the remuneration by tenfold?”
“You’re also a businessman, so you must know that businessmen generally like to make a fortune while keeping a low profile. The fewer complications, the better. The joint investigation has been investigating Quill City Media for a long time and it has a very serious impact on us. With that said, we’re willing to spend a little more money if it means we can get back to our formal state.”
“You don’t want to be fined, right?”
Alex knew that it was impossible for Henry to tell the truth, and even if he did, he would not say it bluntly.
Fortunately, he had talked to Wade Lewis a few days ago, giving him a certain understanding of the current situation of Quill City Media.
According to Wade, when the investigation was over, the taxes and fines that Quill City Media needed to pay would probably exceed three billion, which would drain Quill City Media dry at once. Under such circumstances, if they could spend one billion to settle this matter, they would end up saving two billion!
More importantly, the one billion would be paid in the form of shares, not cash. Although the interest of all shareholders would suffer a certain loss, it would be relatively small and Quill City Media could be saved. As long as they develop well, they would earn back this loss sooner or later.
Given Quill City Media’s current situation, facilitating collaboration with Alex Cohen was the best way to deal with the crisis.
However, if there were other ways to solve the problem, it would be unlikely for Henry Doyle to seek Alex’s collaboration.
After all, Alex was the enemy of Quill City Media.
This also proved the old saying that in the business world, there were no eternal enemies. There were only eternal interests.
For Alex, this was a good opportunity. Without paying a penny, all he had to do was move his lips and he would get ten percent of Quill City Media’s shares. Although the value of those shares was definitely less than one billion with Quill City Media’s current net worth, it was still a significant asset.
If it were anyone else, most people would have been so moved that they would start bargaining with Henry.
If they bargained, it might even be possible to double the pay.
However, Alex was not an ordinary person. He was a businessman with clear conscience and principles.
Just as Alex was about to reject Henry, his phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Captain Pannell. He hesitated for a moment before picking it up. “Hello, Alex Cohen speaking…”
Captain Pannell’s voice on the other end was very excited. “Mr. Cohen, you were right. Macy Falks was instructed by someone. I’ve found out through interrogation and other means that the person who secretly ordered Macy Falks to organize the bombing was Henry Doyle, the CEO of Quill City Media! I should have thought about this sooner. On top of hating you, Henry Doyle must also hold a grudge against Chief Judge Whitman, so he had the motive to strike at Chief Judge Whitman…”
When Alex heard that the mastermind behind the scenes was Henry Doyle, he could not help but glance over to Henry. In order not to inadvertently alert him, Alex quickly adjusted his emotions, pretending as if nothing was wrong, and casually responded, “I see… I’m talking business with the CEO of Quill City Media now. Let’s talk after I’m done.”
Then, he hung up the phone.
As long as Captain Pannell listened carefully to what Alex said, he would definitely understand what Alex meant.
Now that Captain Pannell knew that Henry Doyle was the mastermind behind the scenes, the next step would be to arrest him. The first thing to do was to find Henry Doyle, who happened to be with Alex now. Thinking that it would take time to apply for an arrest warrant, Alex decided to help Captain Pannell stall for as much time as possible to try and take Henry Doyle down today.
After analyzing this, he pretended to be a little excited as he said to Henry, “You’re right, I’m a businessman. I like money and I like making money but you seemed to have done an investigation on me. Then you should know that a mere ten percent of the shares isn’t enough to tickle my fancy.”
Henry frowned. “Ten percent is still not enough?”
“The joint investigation team has been investigating for so long. How would it be easy to stop them now? It’s even more impossible for you to get away without any penalties. For that, I’ll have to use a lot of contacts and bribe many parties to fulfill your request. This can’t be done just by spending a little money.”
“How much do you want?”
“Hm… I want thirty percent of Quill City Media’s shares.”
“What? Thirty percent? Alex Cohen, I see you’re not sincere in wanting to cooperate with me!
Henry was completely shocked. This was not an act he put on to lower the price, but he was truly surprised…
Before calling Alex today, Henry had discussed with the senior management of Quill City Media. The collaboration with Alex was decided by the senior management’s show of hands and everyone had agreed on the remuneration together. They could give him twenty percent of the shares at most, and not a penny more.
Although Henry was the CEO of Quill City Media, he was only the representative elected by shareholders.
He could make his own decisions for small matters, but he did not dare to decide on large matters without permission.
So for Alex’s reward, Henry did not dare to exceed the limit that the executives could accept. Any more than that and he would have to pay out of his own pocket. Putting aside whether he was willing or unwilling to fork out his own money, he was just a member of Quill City Media. There was no way he would be able to afford assets in the billions…
Alex dragged as much time as possible and bargained patiently with Henry Doyle.
After more than an hour of tug-of-war, the two parties settled on the remuneration of twenty percent. At this time, Alex received a text message from Captain Pannell. ‘I traced your mobile number and will soon arrive at your building. Where exactly are you? Henry Doyle hasn’t left yet, right?’
“Mission finally accomplished!”
Alex secretly sighed to himself before he quickly sent the number of the private room that he was in to Captain Pannell.
Henry still had no idea that a disaster was just around the corner. He gritted his teeth and said, “Alex Cohen, we’ll go with what you said! As long as you handle the investigation team, I’m willing to give you twenty percent of the shares of Quill City Media. However, I can only give you five percent as an upfront deposit. I’ll give you the remaining fifteen percent after the matter is completed.”
“No need.” Alex could finally say what he had been suppressing in his heart for so long. “Henry Doyle, you were very right about one thing. From the beginning, I haven’t been sincere in wanting to cooperate with you. I was just messing with you when I was bargaining with you for so long.”
“What?” Henry was stunned again. He froze and said, “Alex Cohen, you… Are you f*cking sick? You’re not a kid anymore. Is it fun to do such meaningless things?”
“To you, you were fooled, so you naturally don’t find it meaningful, but it’s actually quite meaningful for me.”
“Then tell me just what the point of all that was.”
As the two spoke, they suddenly heard the sound of sirens from downstairs.
With a grin, Alex said, “Henry Doyle, if I didn’t pretend to be tempted and bargained with you, how could I have kept you here until the police arrived?”
Henry jumped up like a spring as he glared at Alex. “The investigation isn’t over yet and I haven’t done anything illegal, yet you called the cops on me? Do you think your family owns the police station? Are you out of your mind? Just what the hell are you thinking?
“I forgot to mention this. With my assistance, the police have arrested Macy Falks as well as the driver in the bombing case. Furthermore, they all confessed. I heard that the mastermind behind the bombing case… was you?”
“What?”
At this, Henry’s legs trembled and his feet became unsteady. He hesitated for a few seconds before he suddenly turned around and ran out.
However, Big Ken then moved two steps to the side and blocked Henry’s path. He gave a vague smile and said, “Don’t even try. As long as I’m here, you. Can’t. Run!”
