บท 304: Ch 304 - Whose Side Are You On?
"How dare you!" David shouted as he rushed at Noah, intending to punch him in the face.
"David, stop!" Reginald stepped forward and stopped David. He was also furious with Noah but was determined to protect his family's dignity. He couldn't let his son lose his temper.
"Dad?" David didn't understand why his father was so calm, but he always followed his orders. He looked at Noah with hatred but took a few steps back.
"Ha ha, good boy. Did you want to hit me? Better do as your father tells you. Now why don't you agree with Reginald on how to complete the sale of the Fidelity Group to Colin," Noah said with a triumphant smile.
"Colin, you bastard. Tell us who you're working with and why. We welcomed your family when you first arrived in D.C. and now, you're turning on us like this? No one else would give you the time of day, but we helped you and this is how you show your gratitude," David said angrily.
Like Darryl, Colin hadn't grown up with David. His family had only lived in D.C. for a few years, and Colin still hadn't been fully accepted into the upper echelons of society.
When Colin had first arrived in D.C. and found out that there was a circle of rich younger people who all knew and socialized together, he had been desperate to join it. He had begged his school classmates to help him be accepted by those elite young people.
But however hard he had tried, he hadn't been accepted into the circle.
Finally, David took pity on him and invited to a few events and introduced him to his rich friends. Finally, the others started to accept him as one of them.
After being accepted into the upper echelons of society, the Patterson family used the connections to build up their businesses, which started to thrive as a result.
Colin had even been involved in conducting business deals on behalf of the Drake family. The younger Drake family members knew how David had helped Colin and they were astonished at his betrayal.
"Traitor," one shouted at him.
"If David hadn't introduced you into our circle, your family would still be struggling to make a living. You would never be where you are now. How can you be so ungrateful?" said another.
"How blind I was to have trusted you and called you a friend. I can't even look at you," another told him.
They were furious and continued to condemn Colin. Most of the people there had a lot of respect for David and were naturally on his side. They scolded Colin and some even spat on his face.
Colin wiped the saliva from his face with his hand and stared at the man who had spat on him. Then he walked slowly toward him.
"You filthy bastard. How dare you," he shouted in the man's face.
Then, he raised his slender hand and slapped him on the cheek. His eyes glowed with hatred as he turned and glared at the others.
He hissed at them, "I would like to remind you that I fully intend to buy the Fidelity Group, and I will succeed. After today, the Drake family will fall into obscurity, and the Pattersons will be the most important family in D.C."
He continued, "My family will soon have wealth and assets worth tens of billions of dollars. I will remember how you have all behaved toward me today and I will make sure that you regret it. If you doubt my words, by all means continue to berate me."
Colin felt confident in his threats toward the Drake family and their friends.
Once his own family had taken their place, he could easily get his revenge.
The room went quiet as his enemies contemplated their situation. Although they were incensed by Colin, they knew that they couldn't scold him anymore. They had to protect themselves.
Noah said sincerely, "Former colleagues. I feel that I must advise you to rise above your anger and treat Colin with respect. You must accept what's happened. The wisest thing you could do now would be to apologize to Colin and hope that he forgives you. The Pattersons will become the most powerful family in D.C., and by then, he might not be so forgiving."
He wanted to persuade them to accept that the Drakes had lost to the Pattersons and that it would be in their best interests to stay with Colin as his family would soon be the most influential in the city.
The young people understood Noah's meaning but still could not bring themselves to apologize.
Colin had always been below them in status and they had looked down on him as someone from a less wealthy family. More importantly, if they apologized to him now, it would demonstrate that they believed that the Patterson family was going to succeed in buying the Fidelity Group and that the Drake family had lost. David was their colleague and, in many cases, their cousin or brother. They refused to stab him in the back.
Colin told them, "At least you all have backbone. The Drake family will soon fall and you're all willing to go down with them, I admire you."
But there was one person amongst them who felt differently and that was Darryl.
He didn't feel any particular loyalty to David, and he could see that the Drake family were about to lose everything. He was convinced that the Pattersons would succeed in buying the Fidelity Group.
He felt that the wisest choice was to publicly back Colin. He was sure that he would appreciate his support even more because of the others supporting David.
Then, when the Pattersons became the most powerful family in D.C., his own family would benefit from aligning with them before everyone else.
Colin said coldly, "I'll make it clear for you all. When the Patterson family becomes the most powerful family in D.C., I will change the top twenty families in the city. Don't doubt my determination or my power. I can defeat the Drake family with or without you on my side."
He no longer seemed like a rich young student. He had become a ruthless businessman.
Darryl said proudly, "I will support you, Colin." Myriam, who was sitting beside him, was startled. She put her hand on his arm and whispered to him to be quiet. She felt that betraying the Drake family at that moment was dangerous and would damage Darryl's reputation. He would lose his good standing in society.
But Darryl ignored her warning. In his eyes, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to curry favour with Colin and he must seize it.
"Colin, I support you," he repeated.
Under the glare of the Drake family, Darryl walked over to Colin and said, "Colin, I disagree with everything they're saying. I'm convinced that from today, the Pattersons will become the most powerful family in D.C., and I look forward to our families working together."
"Darryl, I share your vision," Colin said with a smile. He was flattered by Darryl's words. He looked at him and said, "Since you choose to stand on my side, you should sever all your connections with the Drake family. So that I know I can trust you, I'd like to hear you say that to David and Reginald."
Darryl knew that Colin was testing him. He was forcing him to choose in front of both the Patterson and the Drake families.
To show his loyalty to Colin, he now had to publicly belittle the Drake family.
"In my opinion, the Drake family is finished," he said proudly. "When they were still the wealthiest family in D.C., they liked to demonstrate their authority by ordering everyone around in front of the other important families. Now, their family is finished. I think this is a good thing for the people of D.C. and I, for one, will be celebrating."
Then he looked at Reginald and David and said, "You should stop deceiving yourselves. It's impossible for the Fidelity Group to survive this crisis. Your only option is to let Colin buy you out as soon as possible. Otherwise, you'll be bankrupt, and your family will be totally humiliated."
Darryl smiled with such sarcasm that the Drakes wanted to kill him. He had gone too far, and the young men shouted at him angrily.
"You dirty dog, how could you?" one shouted.
"You're so eager to show your loyalty to your new master," said another.
"I'm ashamed to ever have been your friend," another said angrily.
Because she was with Darryl, Myriam felt scared. She felt that she might be attacked at any moment. She also felt that Darryl has gone too far. He should have sworn his allegiance to the Patterson family in private. Now, everyone in the room hated him.
But it was too late to think about that because he had already done it. And as his girlfriend, she had no choice but to stand by his side.
"Good." Colin was very satisfied with Darryl's performance. He told him, "After today's acquisition of the Fidelity Group, I promise to take special care of the Brennan family. Of course, in a different way, I will also take special care of these losers' families."
Through the miniature Bluetooth headset, Colin heard Nathan's voice saying, "Give the Drake family only one hour to consider your offer. This battle needs to be decided quickly."
Colin looked at Reginald, who was sitting on the chair thinking. He said, "Reginald, my time is very precious. I will give you one hour to weigh up your options and make a decision. After an hour, if you still can't give me an answer, I'll have no choice but to withdraw my offer. I'm sure that with your years of business experience, you'll make the right choice."
Then he sat down and started playing leisurely with his cell phone.
Reginald, on the other hand, sat quietly in his chair. He was trying to think everything through. David and the others stayed quiet, giving him time to decide.
Lindsey quietly walked into the meeting room. She had told Alex what had happened over the phone, and she knew that at that very moment, he had landed in D.C. and was on his way to the meeting.
**
Alex was also deep in thought. Colin is buying the Fidelity Group. Can he afford to pay thirty billion dollars?
When he heard this information from Lindsey, he understood immediately who was behind the matter.
His flight was only half an hour-long, and it seemed like no time at all before he was landing in D.C.
**
"Reginald, are you ready to give me your answer?" Colin said as he stood up and looked at him with a patronizing smile.
Nathan had just told him through the headset that he was certain that Reginald would accept his offer, so Colin was feeling very confident.
Reginald was still sitting on the chair in silence. He didn't say anything, but it was clear from the devasted expression on his face that his heart was broken.
When he saw that his father was struggling to speak, David made a decision. He stood up and said to Colin, "My family will not sell the Fidelity Group to you. Please leave now."
"Wait!" Reginald said suddenly. He slowly raised his head and looked at Colin. With great difficulty and sadness, he said, "I accept your offer."
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