The moment that Jack's words were heard by Ben, his expression darkened. Whatever Jack wanted was far higher. If he lost this bet, he would surely lose more than just a few dollars.
Currently, he was holding a few shares in his father's companies. He was given these shares so that he could attend meetings and hold a good position in these companies. Then, at the end of the day, he would start learning the ropes before his father retires.
The more benefits he brings to the company, the more shares his father entrusted him to. So, for him to give away the shares, he surely would make a big loss that would surely make his father angry. No, not just angry, he would be disappointed with him.
While thinking, he thought to himself, 'Is it worth it to lose all these for a woman? I-'
But, before his thoughts could wonder far away, Jack's voice interrupted. "Do you think that it's too much? Maybe you have no confidence in winning?"
"If I were like you, I would have surely made you crawl around the city on your knees while apologizing. But, that won't help me in any way. After all, your reputation and dignity doesn't concern me. So, I want to get something that can be of use to me." Jack stated as he looked at Ben.
"Currently, I lack some connections. These shares would surely help me in that. As for that ten million dollars, that would be used for maintaining my car." He continued.
Ben's expression darkened further. Jack's words had just made him even more furious. But, he still maintained his sense of mind. He knew that's it wasn't worth it making this bet. Although he was arrogant, that didn't mean that he was an idiot.
"If you're not confident enough, then you can get lost, no need to waste our time. After all, I'm doing you a favor by racing with you. For Mrs. Gravy, I don't think I owe you an explanation. If you can't make her like you, then don't blame others for being better than you. So, I don't owe you a cent or explanation to bet with you."
With that said, Jack turned around to leave. Although he really wanted to bet with this guy to earn a few bucks, there was no way that he was going to try persuading him to race if he had no guts. For Jack to kneel and apologize at the center of the city, that was a loss of his dignity and reputation.
He was going to start a big enterprise. If he had such a dark history, then it won't be good for the reputation of his enterprise in the future. So, if Ben wanted him to bet on that, he surely would have to pay more.
Even what Jack asked for was something very small. After all, with a decrease in his reputation, the profits that he would be earning would be lower and he may even suffer losses.
His reputation was worth more. The reason as to why he agreed to the bet was obviously due to how confident he was in winning the race.
"Hey, who are you calling not good enough!? You think that I'm afraid of you?! Then it's agreed on! I will give you all the shares in my hands and fifteen million dollars Consider that five million a charity!" Ben roared without care.
At this moment, he remembered that he was good at racing. So, why should he be afraid that he would lose? Humph, he can even add more to this. That five million was just a means of making sure that Jack didn't back down when he saw how confident he was. He was tempting him.
Jack halted his steps and looked at Ben with raised brows. He wondered to himself, had he asked for little money? If he knew that this guy could give out so much money, he surely would have made him spit out a few more million dollars.
To Ben and the others, five million was just five million. But, to him, as long as he got them through a rightful means, he would have it multiplied by a hundred times. At the end of it, he would have five hundred million dollars.
So, he accepted it. With a few million dollars in his account, he would surely have his foothold faster. That was not to mention the fact that he would get shares in Ben's hands.
"Okay then. Let's sign a contract. The one that goes against it, will have to pay three times what was originally supposed to be paid before." Jack stated as he looked at Peter.
Not only Peter, but everyone present immediately had their eyes widening in disbelief. Wasn't this Jack a profiteer? He was looking for ways to make sure that Ben paid more.
It was also at this moment that Ben noticed that, Jack was taking advantage of him. But, since he had agreed, he wouldn't go back on his words. Furthermore, with his own confidence in driving, why should he be afraid of such a thing as losing?
"Okay. Let's sign the contract. And, I want the condition of one violating the contract to be that, if one is asked to pay and there's a more than ten seconds of hesitation, it would be seen as violation of the contract." Ben stated.
He knew that, since Jack had a good relationship with Celine, he surely wouldn't want his image to be destroyed in her presence. So, it was likely that he would hesitate. That hesitation was what he wanted.
When Jack heard his words, he immediately revealed a shallow cold smile. He then thought to himself, 'Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks that the price paid for my reputation is so small after all.'
"Okay. But, I have a question here. Triple your current shares. If you will give me all the shares in your hands after losing the bet, how are you going to triple it after violating the contract?" Jack asked curiously.
Ben was surprised as he hadn't thought of this. But, after a moment of thinking, he said, "I'll just compensate you with my property."
"You sure are confident that your fixed assets are worth double the price of the shares in your hands?" Jack asked with raised brows. He could already see that this guy was trying to look for a loophole here.
If the shares in his hands were worth a hundred million, he would have to have assets worth at least two hundred million. Was that possible? Considering that he owned no company at all, he only had shares, it was obvious that there was no way that the assets in his hands would reach such a big amount.
Seeing that he was caught, Ben frowned for a moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "I will ask part of the shares from my father."
Jack wasn't the only one that was surprised by Ben's courage. William and the others were also surprised. After a moment, they smiled, thinking how this guy was going to be reduced to nothing in half an hour at most.
"Okay then. But, your old man has to give his word. Otherwise, there's no way that the condition is valid." Jack reminded.
Upon hearing this, even Ben became flustered. He knew that there was no way that his father would agree to this. So, he only gritted his teeth and said venomously, "You're going too far! Then, remove this condition. A person has to pay up according to the agreement. If not, he would be sued by the legal department of Off-track Racers."
Ben had seen that he was falling into a disadvantage. At the end of it all, he decided to take back his words. Anyway, they hadn't signed a contract yet.
Jack's impression of Ben improved by 0.0001%. It seemed that this guy knew when to give up when things went too far for him to manage. So, he didn't try taunting him. What he was going to lose was already enough to make him suffer for a good while.
But, if he dared to come and look for trouble, Jack would surely not let him off the hook. So, his and Ben's bets were out of the way. But, there were others that needed to benefit from this, right?
"Can you make a bet with us? We don't want that much. Just 500K dollars for each of us if you lose the race. We're only sixteen, that would bring a total of eight million. That amount is only pocket change to young master Ben, right?" William quipped.
Ben frowned. He then thought to himself, why were these people so confident? But, I can't lose. It won't hurt to have a few people kneeling at the center of the city. So, he immediately agreed to the bet.
This made the group so ecstatic. They were looking forward to earning some dollars, free dollars. All they had to do was sit there, wait for Jack to win the race before receiving their money.
Although they were all from big families, their monthly allowance was only in ten thousands while William and the four was about $100K in two months, which was the same as fifty thousand a month.
Of course, this money was monitored. If they spent it recklessly, their allowance for the next month would be reduced. If they earned five hundred thousand each, they would end up with enough money to spend on better sports cars. Once they added the amount that they were saving, they would be driving better cars.
Just this thought made their blood boil as they hungrily stared at Ben. Their gazes intimidated Ben. He wondered what had gotten into these guys in that they looked like they wanted to swallow him.
"Boss, you have to see this." A flunky hurried towards Ben and showed him a video. Looking at the video, Ben's expression changed drastically.
The video was one that showed Jack's car during the race on Friday. Although it was recorded, since Jack didn't allow for his image to be posted, it only showed his back and not his face.
Looking at the back that looked familiar, Ben looked at Jack for a moment and wondered to himself, 'Am I being played here?'