<b>Chapter </b><b>571 </b>
By now<b>, </b>everyone in the vige knew about that whole mess with Samuel, and they thought, ‘He still had enough shame to hide himself after pulling a stunt like that<b>, </b>leaving his old man to face the music for him‘
All those curious, scornful, and disgusted looks zeroed in on the vige chief.
Still stinging from getting shut down by David, the vige chief brushed the dust off his clothes and shot the crowd <b>a </b>nasty look with his shifty little eyes. “Oh, so you all think you’re real gutsy now, huh? What, are you here for the drama? Who are you staring <b>at</b><b>?</b>” he barked.
Everyone around jumped at his outburst, and they shrank back and dropped their heads like a bunch of kids caught red–handed.
Watching the scene from a distance, Aubree frowned in disapproval. Behind her, Vincent couldn’t help but remark, “Is that supposed to be a vige chief? Lle acts more like some local despot.”
They’de today to finalize the deal for David’s fruit and also to see for themselves how the vige chief would react.
Right at that moment, a ck sedan rolled up and stopped in front of the vige head. The door opened<b>, </b>and out stepped a man in a crisp suit. On the surface, he looked like a refined professional, but there was something sly and dangerous about him. He looked like the kind of guy who looked respectable but <b>was </b>rotten to the core. If one looked closely, one could see he shared a few features with the vige chief.
Who’s that?” Aubree asked.
Vincent had been here long enough to figure out the key yers in the vige <b>as </b>he responded, “That’s the vige chief’s eldest son.”
“The eldest son?’ Aubree wondered in surprise.
She shifted her gaze to the car window. She couldn’t see the face clearly, but just from the figure, she was certain that Bryan was the person sitting in the back seat.
She couldn’t hear what the vige head’s son was saying, but the vige chief’s face went through a few changes before he finally put on a bootlicking grin and got into the car.
“That’s Bryan,” Aubree said.
Hearing that, Bowen replied, “If that’s Bryan, he must’ve figured out that trying to work through the vigers won’t get him anywhere now. He’s probably using his connections to persuade the vige chief to agree.
“I’ve already sent people to survey thend behind the mountains. We should have the results soon.”
In fact, the two of them already had some suspicions about what might be hidden back there.
It had to be something really valuable. Otherwise<b>, </b>the vige chief wouldn’t have turned down the demolitionpensation and gone so far as to stall the whole project just to retain control of Ridgehaven Town.
At the most luxurious hotel in Mistmere, the vige chief’s eldest son, Santiago Frager, who had just been acting all high and mighty, was now reduced to a totalckey–bowing and scraping as he poured drinks for the three people in the seats of honor.
And those three were none other than the county chief of Mistmere, Bryan, and Carmen.
The vige chief raised his ss and knocked back three shots in a row before apologizing, “It’s all my fault that I didn’t recognize you, Miss Wilson, and let you suffer such grievances on your very first day in the vige.”
When Carmen came with her team<b>, </b>she was acting under the names of Wilson Group and the Diamonde Group, butpared to Bryan, she was still a far cry from his level.
Right now, Wilson Group was still firmly in Bryan’s hands. There was a world of difference between someone who truly held the reins of power in the Wilson family and someone who merely held an empty title.
As Carmen knew that, the smile on her face was stiff and unnatural.
Alvin had reminded her that once Bryan showed up, she should just let him go talk to the county chief, and she didn’t have to worry about anything else. After that, all she needed to do was stay with Bryan and keep an eye on how things were progressing.
As soon as Bryan made his status known, he got the county chief to spill everything.
“Enough of that, and let’s get down to business,” Bryan said, cutting straight to the point.
The county chief hurriedly put on a fawning smile, clearly flustered. He honestly hadn’t expected that reopening this project would draw in so
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many heavy hitters.
<b>“</b>Mr. Wilson, you’re someone important, and I’m just <b>a </b><b>regr </b>guy. I don’t care about the project itself, and I just <b>want </b>that gold mine behind the mountain,” the county chief said.
“You’re after the gold mine<b>?</b><b>” </b>Bryan scoffed.
It finally hit Carmen<b>, </b>and she thought, <b>‘</b><b>So </b>the Ridgehaven Town kept refusing the demolition, was all because of the gold mine?‘
“Do you really think you can get your hands on it?” Bryan shot back, his tone cold and unyielding.
The county chief’s <b>face </b>changed instantly at Bryan’s blunt words