Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
Like Jericho thought, Hank was known as the lawyer with a silver tongue across Damoria because he had never lost a court case before. In fact, when Elspeth first approached Hank, she was only planning to ask him for some legal advice. However, Hank was kind enough to go the extra mile for Elspeth and helped her obtain a photocopy of the signed contract between Arthur and Jericho. It wasn’t until later that Elspeth learned that Hank had friends in the legal department of Arthur’s company. For that, she found it ironic for Jericho to overlook that detail, which would cost him dearly when he proudly thought his plan was flawless.
On the other hand, Jericho still refused to give up and owned up to his mistake.
“Mr. Damazio, what do you say if you’re welcome to join my company? Just name a price. I can pay you more than this lady is offering you.”
Deep down, Jericho believed all lawyers only worked for money, which he thought he could buy over anyone’s service. For that, he doubted Hank would ignore his offer and look the other way.
Seeing Jericho’s panicky look, Elspeth tried her best to keep a straight face.
“Look at him, Hank. He is trying to bribe you now.”
Come on, Jericho. You have to be better than this. I wish you knew that you’re insulting him with your offer. Hank is worth more than you think he is.
“Thanks for your kind offer, Mr. Hopper, but I have no plans of accepting any small clients at the moment,”
Hank replied in a witty yet mean manner like he usually would.
At his wits’ end, Jericho nervously gazed at Elspeth and asked,
“Is there any other way that we can resolve this matter, Miss Lynwood?”
He yielded to Elspeth as his response clearly indicated.
However, Elspeth didn’t seem to have any intention of going easy on Jericho in spite of his submission.
“Miss Lynwood? How polite! Where are your airs and graces that you were putting on earlier? Are they gone?”
She walked closer to the man and patted his shoulder, gesturing for him to relax.
“Take it easy, alright? We’re just about to discuss what we’re going to do, aren’t we? I’m sure we’re going to sort this out peacefully.”
She smiled cunningly like a beautiful succubus.
While Jericho would have fallen for Elspeth’s beauty if she had smiled at him like that back then, he couldn’t help but feel chills running down his spine at the sight of the same smile on her face.
“How are we going to resolve this, Miss Lynwood?”
He put his words in a courteous way, hoping Elspeth would go easy on him. At the same time, he began to beat himself up for letting his greed get the better of him. Darn it! I shouldn’t have let my desires turn my head. If I had been in the right mind, Arthur wouldn’t have tricked me so easily. Sh*t!
“Well, I came here today for one specific reason-to see if we could continue working together as partners, Mr. Hopper…”
Elspeth soon shook her head regrettably and added,
“But unfortunately, you signed another contract with someone else so soon, which is simply just… heartbreaking.”
Heartbreaking? It’s more like it’s exciting to you, isn’t it? Jericho took a deep breath while staring at Elspeth’s pretense.
“I’m sorry, Miss Lynwood. I’ll continue to work with Azure Corporation and call off my deal with Arthur. Please forgive me, Miss Lynwood.”
Jericho was sensible enough to remain as Azure’s partner, thinking he was no match for Elspeth and Hank even though he was a lot older than them.
“So, you’re going to continue working with us and call off the deal with Arthur? That’s all?”
Elspeth didn’t seem to be satisfied with Jericho’s answer.
“W-Well, you could state your request, and I’ll do my best to fulfill in my power.”
Jericho smiled, his forehead covered in a cold sweat. In fact, he expected Elspeth to say something like that but didn’t think she would put it so directly.
“What if I tell you I want some of Hopper Corp.’s shares?”
Jericho nearly choked on his own saliva when he heard what the lady said. What?! How audacious of her to make such a request!
“What’s wrong, Mr. Hopper? You have a problem with that?”
Elspeth blinked ambiguously.
Jericho shook his head repeatedly just as his flabby cheeks jiggled up and down. Despite his annoyance about Elspeth’s suggestion, he forced a smile and said,
“No, of course not. Why would I? I just don’t think it’s appropriate since you’ve hardly been in touch with Hopper Corp.”
“Well, that’s all the more reason I asked what I asked because I’m trying to strengthen our alliance. Don’t you think so? Think about it, if you transfer some of Hopper Corp.’s shares to me, it will make us partners. By then, you won’t terminate our partnership so easily anymore, will you?”
As obvious as it sounded, Elspeth’s explanation was clearly unreasonable, but since Jericho was at her mercy, he didn’t dare to complain or fight back.
“Are you sure you’re not going to think about it, Mr. Hopper? This is the only request! have.”
The only request?
At the same time, Hank, who had been sitting aside all the time, joined the conversation with an emotionless look on his face.
“If you prefer to settle this matter formally rather than privately, we could go through proper legal procedures to resolve this issue, but be warned-you’re likely going to be sentenced to jail.”
Hank made himself clear that Jericho would end up behind bars if he didn’t agree with Elspeth.
Meanwhile, Jericho was seen smiling all the time, but deep down, he was cursing the two of them for putting him in a dilemma with no favorable options to him. Although Hank and Elspeth were only in their twenties, Jericho was vulnerable against their threat, which was why he didn’t dare to show his anger despite his seniority. Darn it! I’m already close to my sixties, and if I go to jail, I don’t know whether I’ll live long enough to see the day again. Moreover, I’m going to lose everything if I’m sentenced to prison. Rolling his eyes, Jericho reluctantly agreed with Elspeth’s request.
“How much would you like to have then?”
“15 percent.”
Elspeth gently blew her fingernails with a smile.
“Oh, come on. You know that’s not possible. I personally own 45% of the shares, and you’re asking for 15% of them? You might as well just kill me.”
“I feel sorry to hear that, Mr. Hopper. I wish your life was worth more than that.”
Elspeth pursed her lips. While 15 percent might be a significant portion of shareholdings, it was not a lot to Elspeth. Besides, she initially didn’t intend to ask Jericho for the shares as she was just trying to joke with him and knock him down to size. Therefore, when Jericho agreed to give her the shares she requested, she was surprised.
“That’s not how it works, Miss Lynwood. You can’t ask for 15 percent of shares without any prior contribution to our company. This is just outrageous!”
Jericho put his words mildly while calling Elspeth’s request daylight robbery on the inside. How audacious of her to demand that amount of shares! 5 percent of shares is the most I can tolerate, yet now she is asking 15 percent! Is she trying to take over my company by force or what?
Although Elspeth had no idea what was on Jericho’s mind, it was amusing enough for her to witness the dramatic look on the man’s face.
“If you think this is outrageous, then I guess we’ll have no choice but to go through proper legal procedures.”
She stood up and walked away without hesitation after finishing her sentence.
“After all, I won’t lose anything either, regardless of the outcome. So, I don’t really mind how it ends up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your new life in a cell. Let’s go, Hank.”
“Wait! Wait! Wait!”
Jericho suddenly found the strength that he had seemingly lost earlier when he collapsed onto the chair and sprang up from his seat.
“Alright, I’ll take the deal. 15 percent as it is.”
Fine, it’s just 15 percent of the shares, right? I’ll give them to you.”
“See? It wasn’t so hard, was it? We could have saved some time if you had agreed sooner.”
Elspeth smiled at Jericho with a cocky look on her face.
“I’ll see you here at 1.00PM tomorrow to sign the contract.”
She then walked away upon finishing her sentence.
In the meantime, Hank glared at Jericho, his cold stare sending chills down his spine.
“I hope you can forget about whatever crazy ideas you have in mind from now on, Mr. Hopper. Also, if you’re thinking about approaching a lawyer for help, you could forget about that as well because I know every lawyer in Damoria. Therefore, don’t even think about tampering with the contract’s content.”
