"William," Grosvenor called out with a slightly worried tone, seeing that William had been lost in thought for quite some time.
"Sorry, I got carried away thinking," William said as he was about to agree to Grosvenor's plan—setting up a huge trap by handing over the buildings to Grosvenor and Four Seasons Hotels for management. That way, if the buildings were bombed, William would be clear of any liability.
But seeing the concern in Grosvenor's eyes, and remembering that this old man had just gifted him 4,000 acres of land, William, unusually for him, softened his stance. Forget it, he thought, better not to deceive him. After considering it for a moment, he said, "Sorry, this is too sudden. I'll need to have my team do some research and evaluations. If it looks good, I'll seriously consider it."
"Of course, this kind of thing definitely needs investigation and evaluation," Grosvenor replied, relieved that William hadn't outright rejected the idea. "I just wanted to run it by you today. Once we've done our due diligence, we can discuss it further. There's no rush—the project is still in its early stages, so we have time to research."
With William not saying no right away, Grosvenor felt a wave of relief. He was confident that, after William conducted his own assessment, he would see the huge profits to be made from the deal.
At the same time, he couldn't help but envy William's incredible luck. William had only just purchased the square, and now people were already lining up to give him money. Grosvenor regretted selling the square too quickly, having been blinded by the visible profits. He also admired William's decisive and efficient style of doing business.
With the conversation wrapping up and Grosvenor lamenting the money he had missed out on, he suddenly lost interest in further discussion. William, too, didn't feel like continuing, fearing he might be tempted to trick Grosvenor after all. After sipping a few more sips of tea, William made his excuses and left.
Back home, William went straight upstairs to take a nap. He slept until 5 p.m., when Sunday, his AI assistant, reported to him.
"SIR, Jack Chen and his group have found clues about the Indomitable, but they'll need to head out to sea to verify whether their lead is correct."
"They have clues, but you can't find it?" William asked, confused.
"Apologies, SIR, but I'm not omnipotent. If the location isn't marked on any maps, I can't help."
Damn, William thought. This wasn't the first time Sunday had run into this kind of limitation. With no other options, William sighed and said, "Alright, get them the equipment and a ship. Keep me posted if there's any news."
"Understood, SIR. I'll report any developments immediately."
A few days later, William was at home meeting with Pierre, the general manager of the Bank of France, and his negotiating team. Despite the intense public pressure they were facing, the French team had come to discuss the sale of Château de Chantilly.
Both sides were keen on the deal—one wanting to buy, the other wanting to sell—so the atmosphere during this first meeting was relatively pleasant. They spent the morning negotiating. The negotiation experts, accountants, and analysts from the Mesta Law Firm, which represented William, didn't have much issue with pricing the 7,800 hectares of land at $1 billion. This figure was only about 6% higher than the current market rate. After a morning of back-and-forth, the Mesta team sought William's approval, and he promptly agreed to the price.
After lunch and a short break, the talks resumed.
However, by the afternoon, negotiations hit a snag over the valuation of the château and its artifacts. The two sides were far apart in their estimates, and when things got stuck, they had no choice but to take a break and regroup in separate rooms to strategize.
Just as William was feeling irritated by the Bank of France trying to overcharge him, Sunday reported again.
"SIR, Black Ghost has reported that the island where the Indomitable ran aground has been found. However, Jack Chen's group might have caught the attention of some pirates."
"If someone's planning anything, wipe them out. Do you really need to ask me about this?"
"Understood, SIR."
Anthony, along with the Mesta Law Firm's think tank, approached William, who was standing by the window.
"Boss, after discussing the matter, our experts have valued all the antiques and artifacts in the Château de Chantilly at about $1.7 billion. The château itself is worth approximately $300 million, and with the land included, the total is around $3 billion.
"Even though this figure may not be perfectly accurate due to time constraints, it's definitely more reliable than the $5.5 billion the Bank of France initially quoted.
"Our suggestion is to let the Bank of France stew for a while. The fact that they're even negotiating under such massive public pressure indicates that they're eager to sell.
"If you don't need to close the deal today or in the near future, we could wait a bit and find weaknesses in their position while also bringing down their expectations."
"Hmm," William nodded. He understood this logic perfectly. After thinking it over, he said, "My bottom line is $3.5 billion. If the price goes over that, we'll walk away.
"If we really can't reach an agreement, then we'll change the deal: we'll only buy the château and the land. We can offer the Bank of France some money to cover the costs of transporting and storing the artifacts.
"After all, I have no interest in all those portraits in the château—those people aren't my ancestors. Even if I bought them, I wouldn't display them."
"Understood, boss. In that case, let's leave it there for today," Anthony said. He glanced at his watch and was about to leave, but William, with a hint of annoyance, pointed to the TV.
"My mood isn't great right now," William said, as footage of a protest appeared on the screen.
Anthony turned and saw the news broadcast showing a large group of people holding banners and placards, loudly protesting outside William's estate. Many of the more hot-tempered individuals were cursing at the cameras, calling William a devil, a vampire, and swearing that all of France would never support his purchase of Château de Chantilly.
"Reach out to whoever leaked that information to the media a few days ago—that French bank director," William said with a cold smile. "See if we can find out how much the Bank of France lost during the stock market crash.
"His idiotic sense of righteousness has caused my estate to be surrounded by protesters again.
"Oh, and make sure to secretly film the meeting. Once we get the information we need, leak it out."
"Y-yes, boss," Anthony stammered, taken aback by William's vengeful streak. "This might involve some expenses. What do you think?"
"I'm only interested in results. Everything else is irrelevant," William said, turning to look at Anthony. "Of course, the costs must be reasonable."
"Understood, boss. I'll reach out to my French contacts right away. This director, a man named Luther, has been quite famous lately, so it shouldn't be too hard."
After a 20-minute break, negotiations resumed. Armed with William's bottom line, the Mesta Law Firm's negotiators wasted no time. They directly presented a separated offer: $1.3 billion for the land and château, and $1.7 billion for the antiques and artwork.
As expected, the Bank of France rejected this split offer and were visibly irritated by it.
Everyone knew that the value of the land and château was fairly easy to assess. If the deal were split, how would they take advantage of William on the artifacts?
The two sides began arguing again, with most of the debate revolving around the value of the antiques, which William quickly lost interest in. After a few minutes, he whispered a few words to Anthony, then stood up and left the meeting room.
After all, he had already set his bottom line, and his presence at the negotiation table was no longer necessary.
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