Chapter 991-1000

Life at the Top Chapter 991As an ex-senior executive of the world’s largest consumer goods company, the P&G Group, Malcolm had more than one trick up his sleeves.He continued to speak to Yona arrogantly, “Please watch your attitude. Since when were Sunrisers like you allowed to act superior in front of a man from the United States?”This was something the whole world, including Sunrisers, had to admit; in front of the great United States, they were nothing more than inferior subjects.Yona’s expression soured further.“Enough.”Echo glared at Yona’s show of weakness and spoke to Malcolm calmly, “You’re Malcolm Malibu, JW Capital’s COO, right? Please lead the way; our time is very valuable.”“That’s more like it,” Malcolm replied, then turned sideways and lifted his hand. “This way. Mr. Laine’s been waiting for a long time.”Jasper’s office doors were opened, and under Malcolm’s lead, Echo and Yona entered together.Echo and Jasper’s gazes met in the air.“Welcome, distinguished guests.”As the host, Jasper stood up unprompted and made his way around the office desk to shake Echo’s hand, greeting them with a smile.Not going to Waterhoof City or greeting them downstairs was a show of his attitude, and also stressed that both parties were of equal standing.However, Jasper would be a horrible host if he remained seated as he greeted them.Jasper had a very good understanding of his limits.Echo’s dark expression that he had worn the when he first walked into the room immediately vanished to make way for a bright smile. The man spoke in fluent Somerish, “Hello, Mr. Laine. I’ve heard much about you, and it’s nice to finally meet you.”Jasper sounded shocked when he spoke, “Your Somerish is really good, Mr. Welch.”Echo smiled reservedly and replied, “Well, I’m one-fourth of Somer descent and I’ve studied in Somerland for three years. To understand its market, one has to first understand the people and culture behind it.”“Haha, you’re very right, Mr. Welch. Here, come and take a seat.”Jasper led the two into the reception room next to his office. Once everyone was seated, Jasper then smiled crescent-eyed as he spoke to Echo, “My apologies for not being able to meet you in Waterhoof City, Mr. Welch. I was preoccupied with work and I couldn’t afford to leave.”Echo gave a small smile as he replied, “Mr. Laine, us Sunrisers come from a very polite country and we always treat people with respect.“If you don’t have the time to come over, then we shall come to meet you. There are no worries. I also brought you a gift, Mr. Laine, and you should’ve received it already. Was it to your liking?”When he said this, the atmosphere in the reception room made a sharp turn for the worse.The seemingly somewhat harmonious atmosphere suddenly thickened and tensed.Jasper smiled calmly and replied, “It’s not too bad. But if this small present is all you can gift, then I must admit that I’ve overestimated you.”“Hmph. Stop pretending.” Yona sneered. The pair had already agreed on the way over that Yona would be in charge of acting sinister and fierce while facing Jasper.“You’re frantic now, aren’t you, Mr. Laine? After all, we’ve done some digging, and know that a large portion of your JW Electronics’ revenue comes from the Sunrise market.”Life at the Top Chapter 992“Losing the Sunrise market means that you’ve lost almost one-third of your revenue.“I’m impressed at how you can still act so calm, Mr. Laine.”Yona’s words had Jasper moving his gaze to look at him. The latter asked calmly, “And you are?”“Yona, The Presidential Assistant of Softwin Investments’ Somerland branch,” Yona introduced himself arrogantly.“Oh, so you’re just an assistant,” Jasper shook his head. “Sorry, but subordinates aren’t normally allowed to pipe in when I’m talking to your superior. I do remember that Sunrise Land’s rather particular with regulations in the business setting. So I have to ask, is this how you educate your subordinates, Mr. Welch?”“What are you implying?” Yona shouted, enraged.Jasper replied casually, “As a Sunriser, not only have you been acting like you’re better than everyone while standing on Somer soil, you’ve also come to my company and caused a ruckus. Do you perhaps think that I’m too kind to kick you out?”Yona clenched his jaw immediately. The urge to curse Jasper out was strong, but he did not dare act rashly in fear that it would disrupt Echo’s plan.Echo frowned slightly and interrupted them, “Let’s cut the nonsense, Mr. Laine. I think I’ve shown you this time that we can make doing business in Sunrise Land difficult for you.“Our request is simple: give up on Abbylon if you want to continue doing business in Sunrise Land.”Echo had a small smile as he continued, “You must know by now how powerful Softwin is in Sunrise Land. If we’re able to return all of JW’s goods overnight, then we can also fill Sunrise Land’s department store shelves with JW’s goods if we so please.“Of course, it wouldn’t be difficult at all if we also wanted to make JW disappear completely from the Sunrise market.”“That sounds like a terrifying threat.” Jasper looked at Echo and answered, “So if I disagree, JW’s products will never get a chance to enter Sunrise again. Is that it?”Echo clapped once, the clear sound cutting through the air, and he replied with a large smile, “Correct. I believe there’s this Somer saying, about how a smart man can read the situation and act accordingly. I’m sure you’re a smart man, right, Mr. Laine?”“It seems like you’ve got a very in-depth understanding of Somer culture, Mr. Welch. But I wonder if you’ve heard this other saying: amicable until attacked and ruthless in our counters.”Jasper looked at Echo calmly and asked, “Are you so confident that you’ll manage to crush me, Mr. Welch?”Echo chuckled and replied, “I don’t need to be confident about crushing you when it’s already a given that I will. Or are you telling me that you still have a plan to counter Softwin in Sunrise Land? Are you daydreaming?”At that moment, Jasper’s phone rang.Jasper glanced at the number and chuckled. “This will be an interesting call. Perhaps you’d like to listen in, Mr. Welch? Something tells me that it’ll be of your interest.”Echo frowned despite feeling proud of himself. He watched confusedly as Jasper accepted the call; He had no idea what the man was planning to do.A moment later, the call connected.Chad’s excited tone echoed through the speakers.“Mr. Laine, we’ve successfully signed the contract.“Sentel Corporation has agreed to partner with us. They’ll construct a new branch in Coreana and Sunrise Land, and use their channels to manufacture and sell our licensed MP4s and future MP5s. All that is left for us to do is to wait for our cut of the profits to roll in.”Jasper chuckled at these words while Echo’s expression changed dramatically.Life at the Top Chapter 993“Good, you’ve done well,” Jasper praised Chad.Chad laughed and replied, “All I did was sign the contract–you’re the one who negotiated the partnership, Mr. Laine. Sentel was really kind to us too.“They’ve been treating us with the highest standard of respect ever since we got off the plane. There wasn’t any unnecessary talk during the finalizing process either. There’s no way we can take the credit when all we did was come over to sign the contract.”Jasper replied with a smile, “Still, you’re the ones who went all the way there and did the job.“Since you’ve already signed the contract on the first day, then stay and have fun in Coreana for the remaining two days. The company will cover your costs as a reward.”Chad laughed out loud and replied, “We’ve already booked the earliest flight out tomorrow morning. We might’ve already signed the contract, but there’s still quite a bit we need to prepare. Like the sharing and transferring of technical research, as well as make the specific arrangements for manufacturing. Can we postpone our vacation until everything’s done?”“Sure. We’ll talk more when you get back, then.”Jasper ended the call with a smile.Jasper then turned to look at Echo. As expected, the latter’s expression had darkened.Echo stared intently at Jasper and said coldly, “What’s with this act that you and your subordinate put on for us? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll mock you, Mr. Laine?”Jasper replied calmly, “You think too highly of yourself, Mr. Welch. You’re not important enough for me to put on an act. This is big news, isn’t it? How about you go and ask for confirmation yourself?”Echo narrowed his eyes and his gaze burned fiercely into Jasper.As far as he was concerned, Jasper did not have the wit nor the capability to come up with a plan to counter him within just a day.Not to mention, he had done so by partnering with Sentel Corporation.Sentel Corporation.The only large industrial conglomerate that controlled Coreana’s economy.Sentel’s status in Coreana was equivalent to Trider and Triton Financial Group’s status in Sunrise Land.Not every group could be considered a financial group, and not every financial group could be considered a conglomerate.Sentel was someone not even Trider or Triton dared to provoke lightly, let alone Softwin.Rony and Tochiba had only tried to probe Sentel back then thanks to Trider and Triton’s support. The probe had then resulted in Trider and Triton arriving at a secret agreement with Sentel, and its contents were something neither Rony nor Tochiba were qualified to know.Therefore, Echo refused to believe that this Sentel would actually form a partnership with Jasper.At that moment, Echo and Yona’s phones vibrated at the same time.The same message lit up both their phones.Echo and Yona pulled their phones out at the same time and looked down at the screen. Both their complexions instantly paled.There were countless eyes on a large industrial conglomerates like Sentel Corporation at all times.No matter when, and who signed a partnership with, news of it would still immediately reach the ears of many powerful people.Because of this, Echo and Yona had just received the latest news of Sentel Corporation partnering with JW Electronics Manufacturing Co., Ltd.This piece of information was immediately sent to Sunrise industrial conglomerates by their network of spies. Softwin, of course, had their own information channels to find out about this.Life at the Top Chapter 994Yet, Jasper’s heart sunk when he watched the duo’s expression change upon reading the text on their phones.It would be unwise for him to look down on these large investment banks. It had only been a few minutes since the contract was signed and they had already been informed of it.New businesses like JW could not possibly compare to these large investment banks when it came to gathering information.JW had almost no intel sources at all.At this moment, Jasper officially placed the topic of gathering information as one of the most important agendas in his mind.He had to establish an information network for JW as fast as possible.Otherwise JW would not be able to take the initiative in conflicts as they would be dead before they knew it.Reading the message, Echo was certain that Jasper had not put on an act just to frighten him. Echo looked up at Jasper seriously and suddenly smiled.“I have to admit, Mr. Laine, I’ve underestimated you.”Jasper replied, “If that’s a compliment, then thank you.”“But you don’t understand. Even if you’ve partnered with Sentel, I’ve already achieved my goal.“You’re forced to partner with Sentel just to continue holding a stake in Sunrise’s market.“You’re still earning fewer profits when all I had to do was make a few phone calls and send a report to Headquarters.”Echo looked at Jasper pridefully and said, “As I said, either give Abbylon up, or Softwin will continue to attack JW.“This will continue until you give up the partnership with Abbylon, or… until JW dies.”Echo stared at Jasper aggressively and with overwhelming pride.“You might be furious now, Mr. Laine, but the weak have no right to feel angry. All you can do is accept reality, Mr. Laine, so please give me your answer.”“You’re a great negotiator, Mr. Welch,” Jasper looked at Echo calmly. “I’ve already resolved your obstacles yet you’ve somehow managed to spin it into your victory. You make it sound like you’re in the right, Mr. Welch, but you seem to have forgotten something.“This is Somerland and both JW and Abbylon are Somer companies. So what if Softwin’s powerful? What power do you think you have over JW or Abbylon?”Echo immediately shot to his feet at Jasper’s words and said coldly, “Then there’s no point in further negotiations.”Jasper did not even look up at him as he spoke, “You’re free to leave if you’re busy, Mr. Welch. The door’s that way.”“Hmph!” Echo harrumphed and suppressed the fury within him as he spat icily, “I hope you don’t regret this. Once I leave this room, I won’t back down easily even if you beg me.”“I’ve never begged anyone before,” Jasper replied calmly.“Fine!” Echo huffed a sharp laugh and turned to walk to the door. “Until we meet again.”Furious, Echo walked to the door and was about to raise his hand to push open the handle when someone opened the office door from the outside.Wendy wanted to talk to Jasper about something when she was met with the two men standing at the door. She was about to speak when Echo suddenly cursed–the fact that a woman blocked his path had only infuriated Echo further. “You idiot! Fck off, btch!”Having remained silent throughout the entire interaction in the office, Malcolm’s features twitched when he heard Echo curse.He did not even need to look at Jasper to know that Echo, this Sunriser, was screwed today.Life at the Top Chapter 995Forced to suppress his anger, Echo had not taken a good look at Wendy’s appearance or figure at the very beginning. It was only after cursing her out that he realized how beautiful Wendy was.The man chuckled evilly and said, “What a pretty Somer woman, not even women back in Sunrise Land are prettier than you. What a shame that you’ve joined a company that’s about to close down.“How about you come back with me, beautiful? I’m a Sunriser and you Somer women love foreigners the most, right? I can move you back to Sunrise Land and arrange a nice job for you in our biggest investment bank, Softwin.”Echo was evidently trying to humiliate Jasper.He did not know who this woman was to Jasper, but at th very least, she was still the man’s employee. Hunting for an owner’s employees in front of them was the biggest form of humiliation.However, it had not crossed Echo’s mind that Wendy was Jasper’s girlfriend.Therefore, Echo’s efforts were for naught.He just had no idea of it yet.Wendy was the first to fire back at him.Wendy stared frostily at Echo and said, “I don’t see what’s so good about short Sunrisers like you, nor am I interested in talking to one of you anyway. Your appearance disgusts me, now please move out of my way!”Echo’s expression changed.Having had enough from Jasper, Echo now had to endure a scolding from a Somer woman while she pointed her finger at him.The glee from humiliating Jasper immediately vanished and Echo roared at Yona in mortification, “Yona, teach this Somer b*tch the strength of Sunrise men!”Yona shouted his agreement and walked toward Wendy with a wretched snicker as he growled, “You Somer women were nothing more than venting tools for us Sunrise men decades ago. I’ll have you learn today that the noble Sunrisers are not people you b*tches can insult!”After he finished speaking, Yona reached out for Wendy only for a hand to clasp his shoulder.Following that, a large burst of energy from that hand spread through his arm such that Yona lost his balance. The man’s upper body twisted and before his frightened expression could even change, a fist smashed into his face.The bone-chilling crack of a fractured nose bridge, followed by Yona’s pitiful cry, cut through the room.Blood splattered in all directions and Yona immediately cupped his face. Blood continued to drop from the gaps between his fingers, leaving spots of blood on the floor.Jasper moved his hand and reached out to pull Wendy behind him. Then, he glanced frigidly at Yona and an utterly shocked Echo before he said, “Looks like you two don’t want to leave my company in one piece.”Echo had not expected Jasper, a successful and wealthy business owner, to start physically attacking people.He glared at Jasper and roared, “Do you know what you’re doing?! How dare you hit my subordinate!”“Hit? Killing him would already be a light punishment considering what he said and wanted to do,” Jasper spoke coldly.Echo felt his heart race and he pointed at Jasper and shouted, “So you’re choosing to go into full-out war with Softwin? You’ll pay an unimaginable price!”“Fine, we’ll go to war then! I’ve fought my way to where I stand today with my own two hands! You think I got here by begging people?”Jasper fired back without hesitation, “Your pitiful arrogance means dog sh*t to me!”Echo’s complexion paled further, but he also recognized that he was in Jasper’s territory. Thus, he reached out to grab Yona, who was still whimpering and bleeding, and spat wretchedly, “Fine, then. Just you wait! You’ll come to me begging me for mercy very soon!”Echo then turned to leave.However, he was greeted by a strong and expressionless man standing in his way once he turned around.The man was at least one-eighty centimeters tall, and while he was not exceptionally buff, the man’s body was toned and every curve of his body was indicative of exceptional strength.His presence was enough to overwhelm and suffocate Echo.This was an aura Echo had only seen in true top-notch fighters back in Sunrise Land.Echo’s heart thumped erratically as he turned back to growl at Jasper, “What is the meaning of this? Have your dog move!”Jasper replied calmly, “You’re going to leave without apologizing?”Echo snapped, “Apologize? You were the one who hit my subordinate! Why do I have to apologize?!”“I want you to apologize to every Somer descent in the room, including my girlfriend!” Jasper looked at icily frostily as his powerful voice stated his demands.“For the insults both of you Sunrisers fired at Somer descents in general, and my girlfriend in particular. I’m already being very merciful by merely asking for an apology, do not force me to do something no one here wants to see.”Echo grit his teeth while his gaze burned with rage as if he wanted to engulf Jasper in fire.This was the first time in years since he had faced such humiliation.As a noble Sunriser, he would rather die than apologize to the people of the poor, underdeveloped, and lowly Somerland.However, considering the situation, Echo knew that he would not be allowed to leave today without apologizing.Greatly conflicted, Echo softened his tone. “Look, Jasper, there’s no need to strain our relationship like this. We can still smooth things out. We’re all businessmen, after all, and it’s not worth it to go on full-out war because we were both acting rashly.“As for the matter of you becoming Abbylon’s shareholder, we can always talk about that at a later date. If I persuade the headquarters, I’m sure Mr. Shon will be willing to let you invest in them as well. You’ll get to take a portion of the shares as well, okay?”Despite what he said, Echo was internally cursing Jasper out like mad. He was going to do everything he could to get rid of Jasper the moment he walked out of here.Like hell was he going to persuade Myles for Jasper’s sake.Jasper smiled in reaction to Echo’s softened tone.The smile seemed to have soothed the atmosphere.Echo let out the breath he was holding as well.He was about to speak when Jasper’s smile suddenly vanished and the man barked at Echo coldly.“I said apologize!”Life at the Top Chapter 996Echo’s breathing paused when he heard Jasper’s demand.He felt like Jasper had played him like a fool.‘Why the f*ck did you smile if you’re not planning to compromise?!’The corner of Echo’s eye twitched as he stared at Jasper intently.He was extremely unwilling to do this.Echo personally believed his status and power were beyond what Jasper could ever achieve. There was no way a slightly wealthy Somer businessman could compare to Softwin, an international investment bank.Echo thought that he had the ability to crush Jasper at anytime.Yet, here he was, still in Jasper’s company as the man acted like a rascal and threatened his personal safety. Because of this, Echo felt the strength leave his body.“You’re testing my patience.”Jasper looked at Echo coldly. “If you’re so reluctant, then you leave me no choice but to get justice in my own way.”“Jul, teach him how to be respectful. The ancestors of Sunrise Land learned how to self-sustain from their Somer ancestors, but it seems like they’ve forgotten the concept of humanity.”Julian acknowledged excitedly and moved to attack. He had been holding himself back for a very long time.Echo reacted quickly. He knew that Jasper meant what he said, especially considering the man had already hurt Yona.Seeing that there was no more room for negotiation, Echo clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut as he shouted, “Okay! I’ll apologize!“I’m sorry! I was disrespectful, I shouldn’t have insulted or discriminated against Somerland. I’m sorry! I apologize for my behavior!”The words seemed to have used up all of Echo’s strength, for the man was panting and sweating once he finished speaking. He looked at Jasper cold and resentfully as he asked, “Are you happy now?”Jasper glanced at Echo indifferently and turned his body sideways to reveal Wendy’s figure.“Now, apologize to my girlfriend.”Wendy was shocked as she looked at Jasper worriedly.Wendy had come to know who these two Sunrisers in front of her were thanks to the conversation they had just shared. She did not know the full story, but at the very least, she knew that they were Softwin’s senior executives.Wendy was worried that the situation would be impossible to smooth over if Jasper offended these two too badly.However, Jasper gave her a slight nod.Thus, Wendy immediately stopped overthinking to support Jasper’s decision.Moreover… if anything, the lone fact that Jasper kept referring to Wendy as his girlfriend was enough to fill Wendy with elation amidst the current chaos.Echo was going mad.“Are you done, Jasper?! Do you find joy in humiliating me?”Jasper spoke indifferently, “Intentionally humiliating you? You were the one who was impolite to my girlfriend first. How is me demanding that you apologize humiliating to you? What does that make your earlier actions, then?”Echo clenched his jaw and he felt the suppressed infuriation about to explode within him.Machismo culture was greatly prevalent in Sunrise Land, and men were generally regarded much higher than women there.Hence, Echo could not accept the fact that he had to apologize to a woman, let alone one of Somer descent.“You don’t want to? Julian!”Jasper’s words had Echo pushing his bottom line even lower.The truth remained that until people were forced to a specific point, they would never know where their limits lay.Take for example Echo at that moment.Before arriving in Nauritus City, Echo believed that speaking to a Somer descent harmoniously was already the best gift he could bestow them. Apologizing to them was absolutely out of the question.Life at the Top Chapter 997Yet, here he was, compromising.“I’m sorry! It’s my fault! Please forgive me!”Echo closed his eyes and bowed to Wendy with his head down. Jaw set, he forced out the apology.Wendy and Jasper shared a look–the duo having already sharing perfectly synergized thoughts.One glance was all it took and Wendy immediately understood what Jasper wanted to say.Wendy replied curtly, “I don’t feel a shred of sincerity in your words.”Gnarl gnarl…Playvolume00:00/00:44TruvidfullScreenThis was the sound of Echo grounding his molars.Wendy’s voice was melodious, but Echo thought it felt more like a steal scraper as it pierced into his ears.“You might want to be quick before your colleague over there loses too much blood and goes into a coma,” Jasper spoke indifferently.Echo clenched his jaw and further suppressed his fury. He had already been humiliated once before, so what was one more time?Having decided on this, he bowed to Wendy again and spoke extremely sincerely, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake just now and I’d like to sincerely ask for your forgiveness.”With a soft harrumph, Wendy did not refute it and silently accepted the apology.“Leave,” Jasper spoke coldly.Having been taught a lesson once before, Echo did not dare to leave any harsh comments in case Jasper sized the opportunity to continue humiliating him.Ignoring the burning hatred within him, Echo did not look back as he left the office with Yano in tow, the latter’s whimpers softening as they left the area.With a murderous expression on his face, Echo dragged Yano to Southface River Tower’s exit.He looked up to the floor of Jasper’s office.Only to see what seemed to be Jasper’s blurry figure looking back at him.“Idiot! Just you wait! I swear I’ll take revenge for this humiliation as long as I’m still alive! Damn you, f*cking Somer descents!”Echo shouted at Jasper upstairs and finally vented some of the anger he had been bottling up.However, Jasper was too high above to hear what he was saying.Instead, this sentence reached Henry’s ears, who was looking for Jasper to kill time.Henry had just gotten out of the car and was looking around the Tower in search of any pretty ladies. With an amused chuckle, Henry strode over and slapped the back of Echo’s head.“Motherfcker, what kind of sht are you spouting out here? What’s wrong with Somer descents? Your dad’s of Somer descent!”Echo had not expected the sudden attack from behind and he almost staggered and fell forward.He cupped the stinging back of his head and roared at Henry, “Do you know who I am? How dare you hit me?”Rattled, Echo had spoken in Sunrish.“A Sunriser?” Henry was stunned.“Holy sht, no wonder you’re so short. I have no fcking idea what you’re talking about but I’m pretty sure you’re scolding me.”Young Master Law never needed a reason to hit people, all he had to do was convince himself. Therefore, when Henry felt that this Sunriser was insulting him, he followed up on his previous slap with three more to Echo’s cheeks. The man’s face was bloated and bruised by the time Henry was done.Henry then spat on Echo’s colorless face harshly before he pointed at him and spoke, “You better respect Somer descents when you’re outside next time. You Sunrisers were still f*cking apes on your island when we were becoming kings and conquering lands.”With that, Young Master Law walked away casually.He left Echo utterly vexed.“All of you, just you wait!”Life at the Top Chapter 998Jasper and Wendy were locked in conversation when Henry arrived upstairs cooly.“Were we too rash just now, Jasp?” Now that they were alone, Wendy could not help but voice her concerns.“They are part of Softwin, after all.”Jasper smiled. “It’s alright. Our true conflict with Softwin is over Abbylon’s shares. Either we give up, they relent, or we become enemies. Those two only got what they deserved, it’s the consequences of their actions.“Not to mention that the fundamental conflict between us and Softwin wouldn’t have been solved even if we treated those two well and sent them off politely.”Wendy sighed and replied, “Everyone’s just trying to do business. Why can’t we all get along?”“Sure, small businesses can still be nice to each other, but it’s not the same when your business reaches a certain size. There are only so many resources and everyone wants a bigger piece of the pie for themselves. How are we supposed to get along?” Jasper consoled.At that moment, Henry walked into the room proudly.“Fcking Hell, I met a Sunriser on crack downstairs. He kept spouting sht, so I beat him up,” Henry immediately boasted once he walked through the door.“I saw,” Jasper told him, “Quite the slaps you gave him.”Henry’s eyes widened and he asked, “Those two can’t possibly have come from here, could they?”“Relax, they’re enemies, not friends.”Jasper recounted the situation briefly.Henry’s eyes shone as he looked at Jasper and said, “Not bad. Your opponents are getting more and more formidable. You’re even involved with Softwin’s higher ranks.“That Echo Welch or something, I’ve never met the man but I’ve heard of him.”“How do you know him?” Jasper gasped.“Hey, I just told you I’ve never met him. I’ve only heard of his name… Do you have anything to drink? I want something cold, I’m thirsty… Wait, what’s with that shocked face! You don’t think I’m qualified to know people like that, right?” Henry barked out in an upset tone..Jasper laughed out loud as he pulled out a bottle of Coca-cola from the fridge in the office for Henry. “Tell me what you know about him.”“You already know his occupation, but he’s also the heir of Trider Financial Group’s extended family in Sunrise Land,” Henry explained after twisting the Coca-cola bottle open and taking a large gulp.“I thought his surname was Welch?” Jasper asked with a frown.He had not expected Echo to be related to one of Sunrise Land’s four major conglomerates, the Trider Financial Group. This was hardly good news.“Okay, so the families of Sunrise Land’s four major conglomerates, Trider, Triton, Sumotomo, and Mizuha, have been around for centuries. Their familial relationships are weird and complicated, so there’s nothing weird with the extended members of the family having different surnames.“Kayden has more partnerships with Sunrise Lan,d so he knows them better than I do. However, I’ve heard him talk about how the Trider family’s support played a part in Echo assuming Softwin Investment’s Presidency at such a young age.”Henry held the bottle of Coca-cola in his hands and crossed his legs. Smiling crescent-eyed, he asked Jasper, who had a grim look on his face, “What happened? Worse come to worst, I can always have my dad come out and put in a word for you.“Even if it’s someone from Trider’s extended family, so what if you hit him? They still respect my dad.“Now that I think about it, Grandpa and Trider’s Foster used to know each other. Then something happened and their relationship turned sour. But that was decades ago, so no one cares about it anymore.”Jasper glared at Henry and spoke, “Do I look like that kind of person? I’m just thinking about how Echo will be planning to take revenge later.”“Who cares? Didn’t you say you two were fighting over some company? If that’s the case, then anything they do will either be to attack you or to try to win that company over. Stop thinking so much and just act,” Henry replied excitedly.Jasper frowned slightly as he thought about it. While Henry was unreliable most of the time, Jasper realized that the man’s suggestion was the best course of action right now.No matter what Softwin or Echo did, it would not stray from the main goal attacking JW and trying to get Abbylon to choose them. If that was the case, then there was no point in overthinking.“Help me contact Wayne and Jose. I’ll treat them to a meal in the afternoon,” Jasper turned to tell Wendy.Wendy nodded and left the room.“Why’d you come to see me today?” Jasper asked.Henry sighed but remained silent.“What’s up?” Jasper looked up in confusion. He was intrigued the moment he saw an embarrassed expression on Henry’s pinkish cheeks.“I didn’t know there were things Young Master Law was shy about.”Henry gasped back in horror when he heard Jasper tease him, “Can you be a bit more serious here? I’ve been thinking about it and you’re the only one who can help me.”Jasper’s curiosity piqued as looked at Henry and asked, “Go on, then. What is it?”Henry scratched his head. Then, as if he had suddenly decided on something, he told Jasper fiercely, “You have to promise me first that you won’t mock me for this. And you can’t hold this over me or tell anyone. Including my dad and Anna.”Jasper replied lightheadedly, “Okay, okay, I got it. Now are you going to tell me or not?”Jasper then twisted open a bottle of Coca-cola for himself and took a few gulps.Henry scratched his cheek bashfully and explained, letting go of all his inhibitions, “It’s just, f*ck, if nothing goes wrong, I’m dating someone!”Pfft!Jasper sprayed Coca-cola all over Henry’s face.Life at the Top Chapter 999Henry’s wife would one day be the famous Queen of Diving.This was something everyone in the country knew about.However, Jasper was uncertain if this girl Henry seemed so reluctant and bashful to talk about now was the same Queen of Diving in his past life.After all, even if Jasper was going off the memory from his past life, Jasper and Henry’s statuses were miles apart, and he only knew what gossip articles wrote about. Jasper had no idea if Henry had any girlfriends before the Queen of Diving.By ‘girlfriends’, Jasper was referring to serious relationships. As far as Jasper and Henry were concerned, women Henry had been with before this were nothing other than sex-buddies.Still, from the way Henry was acting now, Jasper realized that Henry had truly fallen for this girl.Jasper immediately felt a headache coming.Zachary had made it clear that children from rich families like Henry were destined to inherit the family business, meaning the Law family would play a huge part in Henry’s marriage. The man in question did not have any particular opinions of this back then.However, this was mainly because he had not found anyone yet.It was a different story now.Jasper did not really know how Henry had ended up with the Queen of Diving his past life, but she was well known in the sports industry, which the Law family had coincidentally shifted their focus to and began investing more in. Therefore, their getting-together was not totally unprompted.Even so, Jasper was intrigued by this girl that had captured Henry’s heart.“What’s her name? Where is she? Do you have pictures?”Jasper’s three consecutive questions had Young Master Law feeling embarrassed.“Can you not gossip as much as the paparazzi?” Henry asked irritably.“Sure, I won’t ask then. You deal with this yourself, I promise I won’t ask at all,” Jasper spoke uncaringly.Henry suppressed his embarrassment and ignored the Coca-cola on his face when he heard Jasper. He quickly leaned over and said, “No, I can’t decide on my own. I still need your help.”Jasper chuckled and replied, “Then why are you complaining about me asking these question? I’ve got to at least know the specifics of this girl if I’m to advise you, right? How else am I supposed to help you?”“Help me plan. You know how difficult dating is for me, right? Considering my identity and status, I’ve got to at least confirm that she’s not just with me because of my family,” Henry stated genuinely.“Not bad, you’ve actually thought this through,” Jasper praised.“Her name’s Jill Cobb. She’s on the National Diving Team.”Jasper’s eyes widened when he heard Henry. He could not help but marvel at the habits of fate.After everything that had happened, Henry still met the Queen of Diving in this lifetime.This was a good thing. Their successful relationship in Jasper’s past life meant that Henry was less likely have his heart broken now.“What’s with that expression? She’s a first-grade diver, not some prostitute, okay?” Henry defended in displeasure.Jasper smiled. “It’s not that, I’m just very curious. How’d you even fall for someone in the Diving Team… I thought you’ve been Nauritus City all this while? The National Diving Team should be far away in Swallow Capital, no?”“She just got back from a competition in Australia, and she happens to be instructing for Southeast Province Diving Team right now.”Henry looked rather embarrassed. “It was by pure chance that we met, and we’ve only seen each other a few times. I can’t really tell why, but I like her a lot.”“Let’s go look for her, then,” Jasper urged.“Should we? She might be busy…” Henry’s desire to do this was written all over his face, but the man also looked hesitant.Jasper felt emotional at Henry’s behavior. ‘Even the fearless Young Master Law can be sensitive.’“Well, we won’t know unless we look for her. Come on, let’s go together. I’ll help you take a look and see whether she’s right for you or not.”Jasper got up and dragged Henry out of the office.However, he went to look for Wendy before they left.“I’m going out for a bit. Postpone the meeting with Wayne and Jose to later tonight–I’ll buy them dinner instead.”Jasper then left a confused Wendy standing there while he dragged a blushing Henry out like an overgrown child.“What the hell are those two doing?” Wendy was confused.…The Southeast Province Diving Team was training at the Provincial Sports Center. It was a short distance from Southface River, and took less than twenty minutes by car.Henry was suddenly terrified when Jasper dragged him to the entrance of the Diving Center.“F*ck maybe we shouldn’t just go in there. We’ve only just met, so this is really inappropriate,” Henry said as he fought back against Jasper and refused to let him go inside.“Don’t tell me you haven’t confirmed your relationship with her,” Jasper gasped.“Confirm what?” Henry tried to mask his guilt and embarrassment by acting tough. “We’ve only met twice and exchanged less than ten sentences. What the hell am I supposed to confirm?”“Didn’t you tell me all you had to do was use money and luxury items to get women in bed?” Jasper joked.“F*ck you, how’s that the same?” Henry glared at Jasper harshly and spoke, “You better not blow my cover. I told her I’m a high school teacher.”“What bullsh*t teacher? With the way you act, she’s got to be crazy to believe that you’re a teacher,” Jasper was filled with joy.“F*ck you. I’m not going to talk to you anymore if you keep laughing at me!” Henry growled angrily.“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Come on, we’re just going to look. It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Jasper replied, ignoring how Henry was still hesitant and unwilling as he pushed the doors open and entered the facility.“Hi, could I ask where Jill is?” Jasper stopped a female diver who was about to go to practice and asked.The female diver looked at Jasper weirdly before she pointed at another building and spoke, “Drinking coffee in the lounge with Mr. Kain.”“Thank you.”Jasper thank her and then dragged Henry over.They arrived at the other building and realized that these secondary buildings were all offices. Most of them were occupied by proper businesses except for the ones occupied by the Sports Center and Sports Team, with just a few exceptions.There was an office for the manager of a training team, which was an externally-sourced private company. The manager oversaw the sourcing investors to sponsor the sports team.They arrived at the lounge and Jasper was about to knock on the door when he heard a man shouting inside.“Jill Cobb! Don’t you dare think you’re some sh*t now just because you’ve gotten into the national team and you’ve won a few medals! Do not forget that I was the one who brought you to where you are today. So what if you’ve got a few good records? You’d still be nothing without me!“All I did was request something small and you can’t even fulfill it. You’re getting brave now, are you? Think you can disrespect me now, huh?”Life at the Top Chapter 1000Henry’s expression darkened when he heard the harsh scolding and he raised his arm to barge into the room.“What are you doing?” Jasper immediately pulled Henry back.“What else? I’m going in to punch the f*cker that scolded Jill,” Henry replied.“You won’t be able to help her if you go in now. If anything, you’ll end up causing her more trouble. You want her to like you, right? Then calm down so we can understand what’s going on,” Jasper told Henry.Henry had no other choice but to push aside the distaste he felt as he stood by the door and listened with Jasper in silence.Just then, a young woman’s voice was heard from inside the lounge.“Mr. Kain, you’re asking too much of me. Where am I supposed to help you find a 2 million Somer Dollar sponsor?”Jill sounded exasperated and indignant.Mr. Kain harrumphed and said, “There are tons of methods, it just depends on whether you’re sincerely willing to help me or not.”“Go on, then, Mr. Kain. How can we get our hands on a sponsor for 2 million Somer Dollars?” Jill asked.“Haha. Oh, Jill,” Mr. Kain’s tone shifted into something more amorous and frivolous.“When it comes to international diving, you’re the youngest athlete and the one with the best results. What’s even better, is that you’re also the prettiest one out of them all.“There are many large enterprise owners who are interested in you. Say the owner of Nauritus City’s Byron Group, Byron Woolery, for example. He’s very interested in you.“He promised that as long as you’re willing to eat dinner with him and spend the night, then he’d sponsor us for 500 thousand right away. Isn’t that simple?”“With your fame, all we have to do is find three more owners like Byron and we’ll have 2 million. There can’t possibly be anything easier in the world.”Henry was close to combusting from his anger outside the lounge after he heard Mr. Kain’s suggestion.‘As if the woman I fell for is only worth 500 thousand!‘And she has to sleep with four men for a sponsor of 2 million?!’At that moment, Jill’s voice sounded from inside the room.“Mr. Kain! I can’t believe how abominable you are!”Jill’s tone was filled with shock, fury, and disappointment.“Yes, you were the one who brought me to where I am today. But who are you to request such things from me just for sponsors? You know what kind of person I am. I might as well kill myself if I have to do these things!”Jill’s words angered Mr. Kain, and the man fired back angrily, “So die, then!”“Have you no understanding of the industry? There’s nothing uncommon about this–you’re the only one acting like a snowflake here! Who’re you acting so pure and innocent for? How am I supposed to take care of you athletes without sponsors, huh?”On the other side of the door, Jasper saw how Henry was brimming with the urge to barge in and quickly held him back.“F*cking hell, the woman I like is about to change occupations to work in public relations if I don’t go in!” Henry growled.“You told her you’re a high school teacher. Say you go in now and beat her manager up, then what? You’re telling me a high school teacher has the guts to do that? Or are you going to tell her you lied and you’re actually the Law family’s only son?”Jasper said to Henry sternly.The agitated expression on Henry’s face froze, and a moment later, he asked, “So what do you have in mind?”“Leave this to me, and try not to show yourself for now.”Jasper continued sternly, “Since you created an alias at the very beginning, don’t expose yourself until the correct moment or you’ll end up making a stupid mistake. If that happens, then she’ll stop talking to you completely and you’ll lose everything.”