Chapter 273: Secret Business
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Soon after, Lucas’s car pulled over at the entrance of the Ocean Bathhouse, and it happened to be 9 a.m. sharp.
Lucas pushed open the door and walked into the lobby, only to see Preston quickly stand up from the couch at the side of the lobby and greet politely, “Mr. Gray, you’re here.”
Preston had tried to force Lucas to stay behind at Snowflake Entertainment, but he had instead been punched in the stomach by Lucas, causing him so much pain that he nearly passed out. But he asked someone to send him to the hospital last night for a checkup and found that although his abdominal pain was unbearable, there was no obvious damage done to his internal organs. And even on his belly, there were no bruises or welts.
Although he couldn’t find any visible wounds, the pain was still overwhelming and unbearable. So the doctor had no choice but to prescribe him some painkillers and let him recuperate.
He had clearly been beaten up into a pulp, yet there were no visible traces. So Preston was even more scrupulous toward Lucas.
“Mr. Gray, about the matter you mentioned yesterday…”
Preston was about to bring up the subject when Lucas interrupted him, “Mr. Taylor, let’s go to the private room and talk.”
Zane, the new manager of the Ocean Bathhouse, immediately ushered Lucas and Preston to the dubious and secretive private room that Lucas had been in previously.
After all, what Lucas wanted to talk to Preston about involved some confidential matters that were not at all trivial.
When only the two of them were left in the private room, Lucas took the lead and sat down on the couch. Pointing to the one across from him, he said to Preston, “Have a seat.”
Only then did Preston carefully sit down.
After what happened last night, Preston considered Lucas an enemy, but he didn’t dare to offend him at all. After all, Lucas’s combat skills were too terrifying. Besides, Preston also vaguely sensed that what happened to the Hales previously seemed to be related to Lucas, so naturally, he didn’t dare to offend Lucas even more.
“Mr. Taylor, how’s your consideration of my proposal yesterday?” Lucas took the initiative to broach the subject.
Preston hurriedly said, “Mr. Gray, I’ve thought about it. I can try to help introduce my partners to you, but I can’t guarantee the outcome of your negotiation with them and whether they will agree to it or not.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows. “So, does this mean that they have high demands?”
Preston explained, “After all, the profits of this business are high, and so are the risks. It’s understandable that both parties have to be very careful.”
Lucas nodded indifferently.
In fact, it was an utterly sordid business. Moreover, since Joe installed tracking devices and listening bugs in their cars previously but was quickly shaken off by that group of people, Lucas understood how cautious they really were.
“Mr. Taylor, since you’ve been doing business with them for nearly twenty years, you must be very clear of their background, right?” Lucas asked and pretended to be nonchalant as he picked up a cup of coffee and sipped on it.
Preston chuckled bitterly and shook his head. “Actually, we don’t know a thing about their background either!”
Lucas asked in surprise, “How is that possible?”
Preston said, “I wouldn’t dare to lie to you, Mr. Gray. This is the truth. We may have had business dealings for more than a decade, but they’ve always been very conscientious and have never revealed any of their personal information. Whenever they send their people over, they would arrive in different vehicles, and during the process, they would change vehicles several times. The transactions are also done in cash, so it’s very difficult to find out their whereabouts.
“To be honest, many years ago, we also secretly tried to shadow them and investigate their background out of curiosity. But that one time, we sent several experts, and none of them returned. We even received a stern warning from them and almost lost the deal. Since then, we’ve never dared to find out their background again.”
Lucas frowned slightly. He could tell that Preston was telling the truth.
But this meant that the other party was indeed extremely cautious, so it seemed that it would be a tall order to get some information about them from the Taylors.
“So, don’t you have any contacts?” Lucas asked again.
Preston shook his head. “No. This business between us was first established by chance due to an incident eighteen years ago. But after that, they would contact us unilaterally for the deals, but we can’t contact them.
“So even if I promise to introduce you to them today, I will have to wait for them to contact me first. But whether they will agree to let you join them or not and the matters after that are uncertain.”
Lucas’s face sank. “I thought you were dealing fairly with each other on equal terms. But after hearing what you said, it seems that the Taylors are completely in a passive position in this partnership! You have to wait for them to contact you first for everything. If they decide to sever the business with you one day, wouldn’t you be unable to do anything?”
Preston nodded helplessly. “That’s indeed the case. They hold the resources and connections to get those women, so they already have control in the first place. Besides, the risks are too great, and there’s really nothing we can do.”
It seemed that the Taylors really didn’t have any extra information.
Finding it a pity, Lucas sighed. “Ah, it seems there’s nothing we can do. When they contact you again next time, help me make arrangements to get in touch with them. Let me know the outcome. I’m very interested in this business.”
Then Lucas handed one of his business cards to Preston.
Of course, given Lucas’s position, he wasn’t doing it for the sake of being able to run that sordid business. But rather, he wanted to get rid of this business and the people behind it entirely.
“Okay, when they contact me, I will definitely introduce you to them immediately and inform you.”
Preston took Lucas’s business card with both hands, but he remained seated and asked nervously, “Um… Mr. Gray, when will you hand the Ocean Bathhouse back to me?”
The reason he had agreed to Lucas’s request was simply that he wanted to get the bathhouse back.
“It depends on you. Once you get the job done, I’ll give it back to you.” Lucas stood up and gestured for Preston to leave.
Preston had no choice but to take a few more glances at the Ocean Bathhouse that originally belonged to him before leaving indignantly.