That evening, the top floor of the hotel booked by the Wilson Group was visited by an unexpected guest.
Alvin came alone, knocking on Carmen’s door as he asked, “Wanna have a chat?”
When Carmen opened the door and saw his face, her eyes were full of disbelief. She gasped, “Alvin?”
Alvin’s face was nk, but the slight furrow of his brow made it clear he didn’t like the way Carmen addressed him. He shifted half a step to the side and said, “Aubree is working with Uncle Bowen. Whether it’s you, Bryan, or me, none of us stands to gain much by going up against those two. Besides…”
He paused before continuing. “You have to fight not just the outsiders, but Bryan too. So, what do you say about teaming up?”
Carmen gripped the doorknob a little tighter before agreeing, “Come on in.”
She poured Alvin a ss of water.
Knowing he was here to talk about teaming up, Carmen couldn’t help but feel a little flutter of excitement inside. ‘He could’ve gone <i>to </i>Bryan, and wouldn’t that have made it easier for him to deal with Aubree? But he came to me instead. Did that mean I actually meant something to Alvin?‘ she wondered.
She sped her hands together and shed what she thought was her most perfect smile at Alvin and replied, “Of <b>course</b>, I’d never say no to teaming up with you.
“My team’s already crunched the numbers for this project. Acquiring thend will <b>cost </b>us approximately $ 66 million, and afterward, we’ll require a substantial amount of manpower and resources for cleanup, rebuilding the foundation, and establishing artificial drainage.
“We could keep some of the fruit trees as a special feature. The ones in the vige now are nothing special, butter on, we could bring in some rare fruit saplings to really draw people in. Once the resort is finished and open…”
Carmen excitedly exined her renovation n to Alvin. This was a n she and the team her uncle assigned had spent ages discussing and revising before finally settling on this version.
When she handed it over for her dad to review, he even gave her a couple ofpliments.
Carmen was sure Alvin would <b>see </b>her n in a whole new light,
Alvin was genuinely surprised, as he hadn’t expected a conglomerate like the Wilson Group to actually pursue a resort project.
He interrupted Carmen right away, “You guys are nning to build a resort?<b>” </b>
Carmen blinked in surprise as she asked, “Isn’t that what everyone else is nning?”
Mostpanies would have agreed that building a resort was the obvious choice when they wanted to pursue a high–end project.
“That’s stupid,” Alvin said tly. “Did none of you even think about the location or the surroundings?”
He pondered, ‘Due to its location, Mistmere was not fully essible to the public. Indeed, there were ns to transform the entire area into a special economic zone, but who could say for sure what would happen in the future<b>? </b>
“Even if that day everes, who knows how many years it’ll take? Building a resort out in the middle of nowhere like this? Who in their right mind woulde all the way out here unless they were some rich idiot with money to burn?
‘So what’s the point?
Is it because you can’t get this fruit anywhere else, <i>or </i>because it’s some so–called untouched paradise that hasn’t been spoiled by modern technology?
‘You can’t even use the bathroom without being swamped by insects.
Alvin’s real game was making Carmen his ally. Partnering with the Wilson Group was hands down the fastest and easiest way for him to take on Aubree and Bowen right now. And by working with Carmen specifically, he figured he could skim off even more of the profits for himself
As for whatever cut the Wilson Group took, he could just dump all the me on Uncle Bowen and let the shareholders give him a headache instead.
“A farm stay or a theme park would be better than building a resort,” Alvin said.
Alvin didn’t n to lecture Carmen any further. The truth was, Ridgehaven Town <b>was </b>aiming to be an economic zone, and the best way to boost the local economy was to build schools there.
11/2
3:40 PM
He’d heard some buzz that a <b>few </b>universities were nning to set up campuses in the area.