Austin rubbed the side of the wine glass in his hand a little irritably thinking of the note he just sent out. He quickly sorted out all the information he had gathered before this and concluded.
Austin gritted his teeth and whispered to the man beside him who was nominally his assistant, the man's head was lowered meekly and he almost had no presence amongst the group but the tone Austin used to refer to him was respectful:
"Sir, the news I received is reliable and this is not a price Selwynn can afford, especially with the recent turmoil in the group."
"It's a miracle he even came back alive this time."
"The more he is like this, the more it shows that Norwegia's future value is limitless."
The man glanced up at him silently and Austin immediately put on a flattering face.
The man nodded quietly before resuming his role as an unnoticed assistant.
Austin grinned and quickly regained his composure, waving his hand to raise his placard: "45 million!"
Everyone in the villa was in an uproar again.
James looked out in surprise and his eyes flashed with thought.
Now, all eyes are on Selwynn and Cate who was holding the sign. Everyone is waiting for them to quote another shockingly high price.
Now that the fight has reached such a fever pitch, there should be an increase in the price.
However, Selwynn slightly leaned towards Cate and whispered in his ear, "Abstain."
Cate immediately released a silent sight of release and neatly put down the hand holding the sign.
He didn't understand why his boss performed such unnecessary and risky actions but it was not his duty to question his actions but to follow them and execute them faultlessly.
Those bids, contracts, and documents were all handled by him. He knows the value of the land in Norwegia was crucial but the recent turmoil did not allow Selwynn to make any mistakes.
With Noah's groups watching them closely like a toxic serpent, any problems in cash flow at this moment would only snowball until it became a critical problem that could be used to bring him down.
So they could only give up.
But his mind turned fast, Conant's cash flow for this turnover was a bit high.
Cate calculated that the existing underground cash flow, plus the available real estate to be mortgaged to the bank, plus leverage, can only take out a maximum of 210 million in one go.
Therefore, the average price of 45 million per section has completely crossed their supposed bottom line and he could not figure out which other secret channels they currently held. He took notice of this anomaly, preparing to investigate it later.
Selwynn's behaviour came across like a gambler ready to risk it all, but he was very measured and never passed Austin's bottom line.
However, he did not intend to give up this land.
The host waited for a moment and when there was no other bidder, she announced the final decision: "Congratulations to the Conant Group for winning the North coast development track in Norwegia. The transaction price is 45 million!"
There was polite applause at the scene to congratulate Austin, but most of the eyes of the crowd fell on Selwynn. Most of these bosses had been in the industry for years and this new head of Arlington had only come up recently, and no one knew much about him.
However, they were bound to be disappointed.
Sewlynns face was like an impenetrable ice layer and they could not see past it no matter how hard they pried. In the end, they could only look away regretfully.
However no one noticed the blue veins on the back of his hand that were slightly stretched, as if he was enduring something, and the dark pupils were stormy on his well-defined face.
It wasn't until the stares turned away did Selwynn look at the red wine in front of him, spread his palms silently, and looked at the crescent-shaped wound on his palm that had stopped bleeding and started to scar.
That was the cut left just now in order to suppress the emotion in his heart.
Selwynn stared at the wound, and there seemed to be some unspeakable emotions in his eyes along with a silent sneer.
In the final analysis, he still lost this time just as in the previous life but this time, he did not allow fate to control him.
That land will come back to him.
After the auction, Selwynn did not stay longer in the villa and immediately left the auction hall. From the car back, his guards appeared from all corners and reported no abnormalities to the captain.
Selwynn rested his head against the leather backrest and let out a silent sigh. Cate made note of today and sorted out the schedule for tomorrow.
He glanced at the tightly wrapped gaze around Selwynn's abdomen and saw that the wound had opened and bled through the gauze.
Instead of making a fast rush to the airport and over to London, he signalled the driver and they made their way to Selwynn's residence in Shanghai while simultaneously calling the doctor.
The winter outside was bitter and the snow piled up high on the side of the streets, people walking outside in the weather would feel the icy wind scraping against their skin as if it wanted to peel off a layer of flesh before blowing away.
The inside of the car was heavy and silent, and despite the warmth, the air was heavily suppressed.
The car droved through the luxurious European gate, they were stopped by the security guard who had received special training at first sight after confirming their identities they were let through.
When they arrived at the mansion, Cate exhaled the suffocated air in his chest and dignified the guards to disperse. This mansion was originally owned by Selwynn's grandfather and after his death, no one had been there for a long time. Thinking of his boss's grandfather he couldn't help but sigh again.
There were no maids on duty at this time and the entire mansion was cold and dark. Selwynn nodded at Cate, "Forward me the news of the P2P project and call the driver for a special drive before we arrive back in London, I'll be making a special trip somewhere before going back to the company."
"Okay, sir."
After getting his indication, Selwynn dismissed them all for the night, the doctor arrived briefly to redress his wounds and advised him not to smoke or drink then left.
Finally, it was only Selwynn left.
The darkness quickly swarmed in. There was no noise in the big, empty mansion, as silent as a graveyard. He did not turn on the lights but let himself sink into darkness.
His grey eyes were like two unfathomable ancient wells, calm and deep but the bulging veins on his temple told another story.
He unhurriedly stretched out his hand and pressed it onto his left knee, he still seemed to faintly feel phantom pain in his leg as if the agonising pain from the moment it was shattered still followed him into this life.
Unconsciously his hand pressed harder and harder as if he wanted to forcibly verify that he was still there. Under the deep darkness, feeling the warm blood rushing under his fingertips, he smiled happily, but his eyes were extremely dark and distorted.