BXBX NOVEL Chapter 422: Teaching a Lesson - First Half
Once the movie began, the theater quickly fell silent. The storyline, to put it kindly, was classic and straightforward, or to be blunt, lacked surprises and is easy to predict.
In the story, following the events of the previous installment, the Lizard King emerged victorious against other giant monsters and ascended as the king. However, humans sought to eliminate the uncontrollable Lizard King by creating Mech Lizard, a weapon designed based on data gathered about the Lizard King.
The battle unfolded in two rounds. If the \'Lizard King\' lost and retreated in the first battle with the \'Mech Lizard\', called the first round. Then, in the second round, the Lizard King re-emerged from the world core, charged with ancient power, and faced off against Mech Lizard.
Despite the storyline\'s simplicity, the movie\'s special effects were impressive. Giant monsters clashed on the screen in a spectacular display of CGI, captivating the audience. Koyuki cheered enthusiastically for her favorite monster, the Lizard King, engaging in lively discussions about the action with Daniel and the others.
Envy watched the movie with a smile, occasionally leaning over to share comments or jokes with Daniel. Anastasia was wide-eyed, enthralled by the visuals and the unfolding story. Even Penthesilea, usually reserved, showed a hint of fascination as she observed the epic battle scenes.
While Daniel\'s group enjoyed the movie in the late afternoon, someone\'s life suddenly took a turn for the worse, as if their life went from heaven to hell in an instant.
— Meanwhile - Union Square - Dubois French Restaurant —
At Dubois French Restaurant\'s top-floor office, the air was thick with tension and chaos. Pierre Dubois, typically composed and confident, was now in disarray.
His blond hair was disheveled, and his shirt was soaked with the sweat of anxiety. His desk resembled a hurricane aftermath, papers strewn haphazardly, and his private office mirrored the turmoil in his mind—messy and disorganized.
Pierre frantically searched through the cluttered mess of papers—contracts with food suppliers, employee salary records, and the restaurant\'s account book—but none of these mattered to him at this moment.
What Pierre Dubois desperately sought was a particular contract, the loan agreement between his restaurant and the Golden Empire Bank.
The reason for this sudden upheaval stemmed from a phone call—more precisely, a call from one of his contacts within the most influential and formidable financial institution in North America, the Golden Empire Bank. It was to warn about a financial investigation that would be conducted today.
This news hit Pierre like a speeding truck, shaking him to his very core and plunging him into a state of extreme panic.
Why? Because he had taken out a massive loan from the bank, a staggering amount of $30 million, and used it for gambling in Las Vegas, losing every last penny. If not for this, he wouldn\'t mind the bank sending a financial consultant to audit his restaurant\'s finances.
It might seem odd that he could use a business loan for gambling. Shouldn\'t such loans be supervised and strictly used for business purposes? Well, his father knew higher-ups in the Golden Empire group and arranged a special contract for his business, granting him more flexibility with the loan.
The reason for the sudden debt collection call from the Golden Empire Bank was because they were somehow suspicious about his gambling, leading to a clause in the contract prohibiting unlawful business practices. And that clause alone could prompt the bank to instantly call in a full debt collection and even pursue legal action for breaching the contract!
Pierre wanted to make it right by giving Daniel back his money, but he had deleted all records of that customer, making it impossible to contact them.
What\'s worse, if the financial consultant shows up and his father discovers his gambling, he can say goodbye to his happy days. Yet, he couldn\'t remember the exact details of that clause in the contract, hoping there would be a provision that states how much money was damaged by those business malpractices.
If it didn\'t state, then it means that even if the damage was just $1, if the Golden Empire Bank so wished, they would be able to pursue it. It\'s not funny! It\'s just a goddamn $500 in collateral for his business malpractices! Is that enough for the bank to punish him? That\'s absurd!
That\'s why he\'s frantically searching for that loan contract now. However, it\'s strange—he distinctly remembers keeping it in his drawer, but it\'s nowhere to be found. The clock is ticking and Pierre didn\'t have much time.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!! Where is it!? Where is that goddamn contract!?" Pierre screamed like a cornered beast, having messed up his office in a frantic search for the document. Every corner had been turned upside down, leaving only a chaotic sea of papers to sift through.
Knock, knock.
A knocking sound came from the door. "Sir! Your father, Mr. Jacques Dubois, wants to meet you. He\'s waiting in the VIP room along with legal and financial consultants from the Golden Empire Group."
"It\'s over," Pierre muttered, his voice devoid of hope. But a spark flickered back to life in his eyes. "No! I can still salvage this. I\'ll claim our contract is missing. Even if theirs holds me accountable, it\'s just a one-sided document, right?
Besides, this is California! I can spin this into a protest against Golden Empire\'s Group capitalist tyranny! Those leftist protestors will eat it up!"
With a flicker of renewed hope, Pierre straightened himself and headed down to the VIP room, already formulating a plan to whitewash himself, and possibly even smear the Golden Empire Group in the process.
"Yes, Dad?" Pierre said as he pushed the door open and stepped into the room, where he found three people: two men and one woman. His father, Jacques Dubois, was one of the men. Pierre didn\'t recognize the other man and woman, but he knew he had to feign disinterest.
After all, dealing with these banker types is a pain in the a**; they often thought of themselves as important people, and he preferred not to deal with these arrogant pigs. Giving them an inch often meant they\'d demand a mile. The moment you take note of them and see them as important to you, they\'ll take you for a ride.
"Ah, you\'ve come. Let me introduce you," Jacques Dubois gestured toward the man who seemed like a grumpy German officer.
"This is Mr. Alexander Hawthorne, Chief Legal Officer of the Golden Empire Group," Jacques Dubois gestured toward the blonde, no, golden-haired woman nearby.
Pierre followed his father\'s hand, looking at the woman and thought, She\'s quite a beauty, but no, she seems like a dominant CEO working woman type. Nah, I don\'t want to be under her thumb. Not my type. His eyes scrutinized the woman\'s attire.
She wore a luxurious formal suit, her entire outfit seeming to cost more than $10,000. Wait… Was that the golden watch she was wearing, the model that celebrates the 200-year anniversary of "Beaumont Horlogerie"!? That model had only 10 pieces worldwide, and one of them belonged to the British queen! Why was it on this woman\'s wrist!?
Then, his father\'s words clarified why such a watch was on her wrist. Now, Pierre Dubois felt like something was about to go really, really wrong for him.
"And this is Ms. Victoria Goldwyn, Chairman of the Golden Empire Group." The woman Jacques introduced to his son was none other than Greed, the witch of Greed.
Like a thunderbolt striking, Pierre Dubois felt like his world was turned upside down. Why was this big boss of the Golden Empire group here!? This was just a case of him not refunding the reservation fee to a nobody. Okay, that guy might be charming and quite wealthy, but really! That guy wouldn\'t make waves or appear in the morning news! What was happening!?
"Oh, Ms. Goldwyn, nice to meet you," Pierre offered a handshake with a wry smile, he felt like he was going to be in deep shit right now.
Greed ignored him, she didn\'t even respond to the call of her name, treating Pierre like air, leaving him awkward. However, Alexander Hawthorne caught his hand and shook it to ease the awkwardness for Pierre.
The awkwardness was broken by Alexander Hawthorne, the Chief Legal Officer, who stepped forward with a firm handshake. "Alexander Hawthorne," he introduced himself. "It\'s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dubois."
"Let\'s cut to the chase, Mr. Hawthorne," Greed said, her gaze shifting to Jacques. "Mr. Dubois senior, please present the contract."