"Noah, you're going too far," David said angrily.
Noah was openly encouraging all the other managers and executives to betray the Drake family. David understood that the senior executives who had already resigned had probably also been persuaded to do so by Noah.
The other members of the Drake family turned on Noah. They were young and loyal and refused to show him any mercy as they scolded him for what he had done to their family.
Noah ignored their accusations as he continued to encourage the other executives to resign. David's cousins and brothers wanted to beat him up.
With Noah's persuasion, several other executives decided to leave. One of them stood up and asked Reginald to accept her resignation. The others started to follow her lead.
"Mr. Drake, I'm also quitting," one said.
"I'm quitting, too. I don't think the Drake family can survive this crisis," said another.
"Yes, Mr. Drake, you'll only take us down with you," said a third.
Finally, all of the senior executives had expressed their certainty that the Fidelity Group was finished and their desire to resign before that happened. Noah had told them all that he would find them new positions when the company was bought over, so they all wanted to stay on good terms with him.
After only ten minutes, eighty per cent of the senior executives of the Fidelity Group had resigned. The Drake family was in far worse trouble than they had imagined possible.
"Who's behind this? Who is it that's targeting my family? Can you tell me now?" Reginald asked Noah.
He was right to think that someone must be behind his company's problems. He felt that Noah's behaviour had been extraordinary. He could only think of one reason for his performance, which was that he knew that the Drake family had no hope of saving the company. He must, therefore, know more than he was letting on. That's why Noah had dared to openly encourage the employees to resign in front of him.
After listening to his father, David also realized that Noah knew who was trying to destroy the company. He said, "You're a snake in the grass, Noah. Tell us who's behind it. Our family have been so good to you, at least you owe us that."
"Ha, you're both very smart. Yes, I know who's behind your troubles," Noah said complacently. Now that his task had been completed so perfectly, it didn't matter what he told Reginald.
As soon as he admitted that he was involved, the other members of the Drake family started cursing him and calling him the most insulting names they could think of.
"You are not qualified to scold me. I'm still your superior!" Noah denounced the young people and said, "Don't you want to know who's targeting Drake family? As a matter of fact, you all know him already. Like all of you, he is an ambitious young man living in D.C."
The family members looked at each other. All were thinking, How's that possible? No one in D.C. is on the same level as the Drake family.
Jason, a close friend of David, and head of one of the subsidiary companies looked at Noah and said, "Nonsense. All the young D.C. entrepreneurs are standing here, and we all support David."
"Wait a minute. Why isn't Colin Patterson here? What about Colin?" someone said. They all looked around the room and realized that Colin Patterson wasn't there.
David and Reginald were equally astounded. It must be the Patterson family who was responsible.
At that moment, the door of the meeting room opened, and Colin and his father, Joseph Patterson, walked in. "Everyone's already here. I'm so sorry that we're late." Oddly, Colin was wearing a pair of round glasses and there was a group of reporters behind them.
When they saw the reporters following the Pattersons into the room, the young men immediately approached them and started to drive them out, yelling at them, "Who let you reporters in? Get out of here now."
The Drake family was now in a very difficult position. Some so many people wanted to resign and now there were reporters present. Once this had been featured in the media, the family would lose all the confidence and respect of their clients, partners, and investors. Their current situation would become even direr.
"Wait. It's all right. I let them in," Colin revealed smugly.
One of the young men whispered to him, "Colin, what are you trying to do? We're here to help the Drake family solve their problems, not to add to the chaos by bringing the media."
At that stage, they were still under the impression that Colin was there for the same reasons as them—to help the Drakes save the Fidelity Group. They never considered the possibility that the Patterson family, who were much less influential than the Drake family, was the behind the crisis.
"It's because I want to help the Drake family that I've invited these reporters. What's about to happen will be an important event in the history of our city, and they're here to cover it," Colin said, pushing aside a few of the young men who had approached the reporters.
They all wondered what was about to happen.
The other young people were surprised to see Colin's performance. He seemed unusually strong and confident. No one had seen him for a while, and he seemed completely different from the polite college student that they remembered.
"Hello, David, Mr. Drake," Colin greeted the Drake family.
Standing beside him, Joseph looked at Reginald and Colin. He was very worried. Could his son succeed in buying the Fidelity Group? He thought, If we mess this up, we'll offend so many important families in D.C. We'll never be able to show our faces again.
"Today, I'm here for only one thing. I intend to buy all the assets of the Drake family." Colin directly expressed his intentions.
When David heard what he said, he became furious. He pointed at him and said, "Colin, it really is you who colluded with Noah to steal my family's assets! You were behind everything that went wrong with our businesses."
He understood now that all the disasters that had occurred with the subsidiary companies over the last few days were related to Colin. However, he also knew that the Patterson family did not have the power to cause the crisis alone. Someone else must be behind it.
The other Drake family members were furious with Colin and started berating and threatening him.
But Colin looked at them and smiled. He had been expecting that reaction from them. He thought, You're all so proud now, but soon you'll be on your knees begging to me.
He said, "Mr. Drake, I think you know as well as I do how bad the situation now is for the Fidelity Group. It's still deteriorating. The loss will be in the billions, perhaps tens of billions. Your only option is to apply to the government for bankruptcy, and your family assets will be greatly reduced. Don't tell me that you still think the Fidelity Group can be saved. Your executives have all resigned. Nothing can save you now."
Colin sounded supremely confident as if everything was under his control. He continued, "I'm willing to pay thirty billion dollars to buy the Fidelity Group and all your assets in D.C. I advise you to consider my offer very carefully."
Nathan had given Colin a total of thirty-five billion dollars, but he expected them to negotiate. He left himself five billion to increase his offer if needed.
Hearing the figure of thirty billion, the reporters were surprised. If the transaction was completed, it would be the largest acquisition in D.C., and possibly the whole of the east coast. The media would be in a frenzy.
But the Drake family looked at Colin with disdain. They knew that the Patterson family couldn't afford to pay thirty billion dollars.
Joseph, standing beside Colin, was embarrassed by their reactions. As the head of the Patterson family, he knew what they were thinking about his family. At most, he had five hundred million dollars in property and less than ten million in available cash.
When Colin offered the thirty billion, everyone looked at Joseph with scorn. He felt like he was being mocked by the most important people in D.C.
Through his mini-Bluetooth headset, Colin heard Nathan saying, "It seems they don't believe that you have thirty billion dollars to spend. You have to prove it to them."
Colin's glasses were also equipped with a micro camera so Nathan could see everything that was happening in the conference room. He could command Colin through the Bluetooth headset, and control everything.
He said, "Now call the headquarters of Metro Sky Bank and ask for the balance of the account number 24565484258. That will prove to them that there are more than thirty-five billion dollars available."
Colin announced, "I know that none of you believes that the Patterson family can afford to pay thirty billion dollars, right?" Following Nathan's instructions, he took out his cell phone and called the headquarters of Metro Sky Bank.
"Hello, this is the Metro Sky Bank headquarters," someone replied.
Colin turned on the speaker on his cell phone so that everyone could hear his conversation. He said to them, "So that you believe me. I'm calling the Metro Sky Bank's headquarters."
Joseph and the rest of his family listened nervously. They believed that he was calling the Metro Sky Bank's headquarters. Could the Patterson family afford to pay thirty billion dollars?
"Please tell me how much money is in my account. The account number is 24565484258," Colin said to the person on the other end of the phone. He raised the cell phone slightly so that everyone could hear the answer.
The reply came after only a few seconds. "Thank you for waiting. The current balance on this account is just over thirty-five billion dollars."
Everyone was shocked and wondered how Colin had suddenly become so wealthy.
David shook his head and looked at Colin in disbelief. Joseph also looked stupefied and in awe of his son. He looked calm, but actually, his heart had been pounding in his chest. Colin ended the call and smiled at his father.
Then he turned to Reginald and said, "Well, now do you believe that I can afford to buy the Fidelity Group? Are you willing to sell it to me? It's a good solution for you because I'm offering you a fair price. If you insist on holding on to it, it will continue to lose money, and the Drake family will lose tens of billions. I believe that with your years of business experience, you'll make the right choice."
David cursed at him, "Colin, get out of here now. I can give you a definite reply right now. There's no way we'll ever sell the Fidelity Group to you. I know damn well that you're at least partly responsible for the crisis that our family's now in. And I promise you won't get away with it."
Noah stepped forward and said, "If you say so, David. Colin's only trying to help by offering to take the Fidelity Group off your hands for a very fair price. Your problems could all be solved, but instead of being grateful you decide to insult both myself and Colin. I think the whole of D.C. will look back and remember this day as the end of the Drake family."