Securing the First Building (2)
After enjoying a satisfying dinner, I arrived at my apartment.
The elevator I had been waiting for finally arrived, and I told my sister, “You go up first. I’ll go out for a bit to check out the neighborhood.”
“Got it. Just don’t stay out too late.”
I confirmed the elevator had arrived and stepped out into the hallway. I couldn’t ignore the man who had followed me relentlessly from the bank auction hall all the way to my door.
Stopping near the entrance of the parking lot, I knocked on the window of the yellow sports car parked there. The heavily tinted glass lowered, and the blonde beauty smiled prettily at me.
It was the same woman I had clashed with earlier at the bank entrance with David.
“You have quite a sharp eye.”
“Following me around so persistently and glaring at me like that, how could I not notice? What’s your business?”
The woman handed me her business card.
“Amy Moore from Vista Realty Partners. Do you have time? I’d like to have a short conversation.”
I was a bit surprised by her bold, unapologetic tone, as if nothing had happened with the tailing. Given the situation where Alex had arranged for the real estate management company to be dismissed and I now needed to select a new firm to handle the real estate business, a small company wouldn’t be able to participate in the building auction anyway. A short conversation wouldn’t hurt.
“Thirty minutes would be fine?”
“Plenty of time!”
I moved to a nearby café and continued the conversation.
“What’s the purpose of following me?”
“You’re in a hurry. The coffee will get cold. Drink it.”
That was true. I pretended to focus on the coffee and organized my thoughts. To discern the opponent’s intentions in a short time, I had to consider various variables.
When I had drunk half the coffee, the opponent opened their mouth.
“Do you know? Before you came to the bidding hall, the highest bid from your side was exposed?”
Was the one who leaked the info Ethan Trump, who had been expelled from the meeting?
“From Smile Realty Service?”
“Wow, impressive. How did you know?”
“Because the person who submitted that amount is from that company.”
“Oh~ So you trust the lawyer who came with us completely.”
“If you can’t trust the person you hired, you can’t do the job.”
The opponent chuckled.
“Tsk! You didn’t trust it but still… So you presented an unexpected amount in the first bid? Ah, you deliberately left the highest bid exposed?”
Surprisingly cool-headed despite appearances? Thanks to that, I felt a slight liking.
“Does your company handle property management as well?”
“Of course. That’s why I participated in the Douglas Building auction.”
“But why didn’t you buy it?”
Amy chuckled.
“I told them that leaving it to you would be more profitable. Our client is very picky.”
I asked the same question I had asked David Miller from Prime Group.
“Could you tell me the highest bid your client prepared?”
“No. That’s not something. My client insisted on buying the building no matter what.”
“But why?”
Amy brushed her hair to one side, exposing her neckline. The yellow fur coat she was wearing was deliberately let loose to reveal her white shoulders.
“I said it before. Our client is very picky. Besides.”
She crossed her legs neatly, leaned her upper body forward to show her cleavage, and whispered with pink lips.
“Because I like you.”
“Ah…”
How to respond. It was ambiguous. I couldn’t fully believe it, but neither could I not believe it.
“So I should thank you?”
“Probably?”
Amy took a more overt pose and seduced me. This is a café. Even this expression is too much. If I avoided the gaze, it would look like I’m hiding something ridiculous. If I let the gaze go as it is, it would look like I’m lustful, so I stared at the opponent’s nose. The nose was high and straight, focused well.
“Then I should return the favor.”
Amy’s eyes became moist, and she licked her lips. We opened our mouths at the same time.
“A nice bar with atmosphere in front.”
“Submit the lease plan report by tomorrow. The period is up to 5 years maximum. After 5 years, we’ll use it as our headquarters entirely. Please make it so we can recover the principal as quickly as possible.”
I checked that the promised 30 minutes had passed, stood up, and handed Amy a golden business card.
“While preparing the estimate, if you have any questions, email me. I hope we can work together. I welcome working with beautiful women anytime. I’ll handle the fee at an appropriate price.”
After Kang Minhyuk left, Amy couldn’t hide her astonishment.
“What? That man? Just left after me?”
Amy took out a mirror from her handbag and checked her appearance.
“Today’s makeup was perfect.”
No matter how I thought, it didn’t make sense.
“Is it because of the woman who was with him?”
She was pretty. For an Asian woman, her figure was quite sensual.
“Even so. I’m still far behind you.”
When I looked at my bust in the mirror, the confidence that had been deflated by Kang Minhyuk rose again.
“Hah! He dares to ignore me? He bought the building thanks to whom!”
Amy Moore. She had never once in her life had something she wanted but didn’t have. The reason she abandoned the building for the first time in her life seeing a man she just met. Moreover, she had trailed him for over 2 hours, doing all sorts of things to get noticed.
“Hah! This is ridiculous. What? Submit a lease plan report?”
The more I thought, the angrier I got. While biting her artificial nails and thinking how to make Mr. Zeros kneel in front of her, a call came from grandfather.
- Amy, did you buy the building?
“No!”
- Why? Don’t worry about money and buy it.
“Grandpa, I want something else as a birthday gift.”
- Hmm? What do you mean?
Amy glared at the door Kang Minhyuk had left and said with determination.
“Mr. Zeros.”
- What?
“There. Ah! Grandpa.”
- Why?
“Do you remember that when I buy the Douglas Building, I agreed not to receive land lease fees?”
- You said you didn’t buy it?
“Anyway. If I manage the building, I can handle the land lease fees myself?”
- Of course. Don’t you know who I am?
“Of course I know. The Symbol of Trust, Liam Moore.”
- Hmph. Yeah. The Symbol of Trust. How could I say two things with one mouth?
“Got it. Thank you~ Grandpa.”
- So when are you coming home? Everyone is waiting for your birthday party.
Suddenly, Amy’s expression became cold. It was because the people waiting for her came to mind.
“I can’t go in today. I have to write reports all night. I’m too busy right now.”
- What? Again? No, what the hell!
“Grandpa, I love you!”
After hanging up, Amy immediately contacted her secretary.
“Contact Lipton & Ellis and find out who this man Mr. Zeros who bought the Douglas Building today is. As soon as possible. No, right now!”
At 5:50 PM on a quiet Friday afternoon, ending a week’s work, an untimely roar from the president of Smile Realty Service echoed in the office.
“Ethan! Where is Ethan?”
Ethan, who had been chatting with other employees in the break room, heard his name called and rushed over hurriedly.
“President. You were looking for me? I was away for a moment to go to the bathroom. Haha. Hah.”
Ethan’s laughter stopped abruptly because the president was glaring at him with wide eyes.
“What the hell did you do with the work?!”
“What? What do you mean by that…”
Ethan, who couldn’t understand why the president suddenly got angry, asked back brazenly. Although he couldn’t attend the meeting at the lawyer’s office in the morning because he was expelled, the president wouldn’t know that. But soon, an unbelievable story came out from the president’s mouth.
“The Douglas Building winner is said to be Zeroes Group! Why don’t we know about it?”
“What? Not Prime Group?”
“What are you saying? I’ve already contacted all related companies. There’s a preliminary meeting for real estate management companies tomorrow.”
“Ah…”
Ethan’s expression darkened.
“We were the top negotiator for this project. Did you make a mistake in today’s meeting?”
“Th, that.”
“Enough! If you can’t participate in this negotiation, you won’t have a place in our company starting next week! Got it?”
“P, president.”
Ethan tried to grab the president’s sleeve but was pushed away, and the president left the office.
“Shit! What kind of situation is this?”
Ethan immediately ran to the phone booth and called the Prime Group bid manager. After a long time of ringing, the other party finally answered.
- What is it?
“Ah, wasn’t it supposed to be won by Prime Group for the Douglas Building?”
- Why are you asking me that?
“What?”
- You gave me strange information and made me a fool, right now.
“No, that’s…”
The other party didn’t even try to listen to Ethan’s words and hung up.
“Fuck!”
Later, after investigating, it was found that as soon as the auction started, Zeroes Group called an absurdly high amount and won in one go. The amount Zeroes Group called was a whopping 8.59 million dollars. It was a much higher amount than the one I told Prime Group.
“Hah, I messed up by saying one wrong word. What a mess.”
It wasn’t important right now. If I couldn’t fix it properly, I might be fired from the company right away. I had to somehow reverse it.
Ethan stayed up all night to supplement the report and headed to the lawyer’s office early in the morning with a haggard face. To catch the last chance.
After winning the building, there was even more work. Alex had scheduled meetings with construction company representatives, and I had to meet the new real estate service company as well.
“Let’s narrow down the construction companies to this level and proceed with bidding after design is complete.”
“Understood.”
“Please send the real estate lease proposal reports from all the companies that came today.”
“I will do that.”
Alex cleared his throat and asked.
“What about Smile Realty Service?”
“Ah! I forgot. Tell them to come in.”
In the morning, when I came to the lawyer’s office, I saw Ethan waiting in the elevator hall. I told him to wait just this once. Originally, I would have dismissed him, but there was something to check with him.
Ethan, sitting in front of me, started with an apologetic expression.
“Yesterday, I was really careless. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s good that you know you made a mistake.”
When I answered generously, Ethan lit up his eyes and suggested.
“I won’t complain again in the future. Absolutely! I swear on the God I believe. So, please give me one chance.”
I cut off his words.
“Do you know what kind of person I hate the most?”
“What?”
“A person who betrays their partner. You told Prime Group our bid amount.”
Ethan couldn’t close his open mouth. His pupils lost focus and wandered. From the opponent’s reaction, it seemed the info leaker was indeed Ethan Trump as I thought.
“How did you…”
“You thought I wouldn’t know because I’m a foreigner?”
Thud.
Ethan knelt and bowed.
“If I don’t win this business, I’ll be fired from the company. Then, my wife and children might have to live on the streets. Please, I beg you. Help me just this once.”
“I don’t have the ability to forcibly seal a relationship that’s already broken trust. Please go back! Lawyer Alex.”
“Understood.”
Alex called a security guard and had him thrown out.
After Ethan left, Alex looked at me in amazement.
“Why? Did something get on my face?”
“No. I’m amazed. Where did you get that information? Did you install a bug in Ethan’s clothes?”
Because too many secrets could sour the trust relationship, I tried to tell the source of the information this time. Just as I was about to open my mouth, the door to Alex’s office opened, and the secretary announced the news.
“A woman named Amy Moore from Vista Realty Partners has come to see Mr. Zeros.”
The tiger comes out when told.
“Perfect timing. The information provider has arrived. Please guide her.”
After the secretary left, Amy appeared with the sound of clacking high heels. The loud queen bee image disappeared, and she was wearing a gray suit with her hair neatly tied up, even wearing horn-rimmed glasses, giving off a professional atmosphere. It felt like she had become a completely different person in just one day.
Beside her was a burly 50-year-old man with a silver ponytail that exuded an unusual presence. As soon as Alex saw him, he jumped up from his seat.
“Wait, Lucas, how did you get here without contacting me…”
From Alex’s reaction, these two people didn’t seem like ordinary people. Especially the woman.