After personally seeing Philip off, William watched as the six-car convoy left the building of the Mesta Law Firm. He shook his head and muttered to himself, "Twenty people, drivers and bodyguards included. Is all of that really necessary? Isn't it too much trouble?"
"What's the trouble? Just pretend they're not there. You'll get used to it over time," said Grosvenor, standing next to him. Seeing that William didn't have a single bodyguard with him, Grosvenor hesitated for a few seconds before discreetly reminding him, "Today, Philip was actually traveling light. Usually, he has six people out in the open and at least 20 more in the background.
"I usually have four out in the open, with another 20 or so hidden," Grosvenor added, glancing at William's car. He shook his head. "With your status, there's no issue applying for a bulletproof Rolls-Royce. William, you're going to be our cash cow in the future. If you think it's too much trouble, I'll send you a bulletproof Rolls-Royce."
"Thanks, but if I wanted one, I could get it with a single phone call," William replied with a sarcastic grin. "The reason I don't drive a Rolls-Royce, aside from not wanting to give them free publicity after buying Aston Martin, is because their current models are just too ugly to me. They're completely stuck in the design aesthetics of the '90s, with no sense of beauty at all. Maybe I should find someone to bring my car ideas to life."
"You can design cars too?" Grosvenor was surprised as he looked at William. "Youth is great. You've got such wild ideas."
"Come on, hop in my car. We can talk about your design ideas on the way. If you can impress me, I might even commission you to design one for me."
"Haha," William smirked. "Sorry, but if I design one, I'm not sure if I'd even sell it. Just having a one-of-a-kind car of my own sounds pretty good."
He started thinking about whether to recreate the Rolls-Royce Phantom or the Maybach 62S, or perhaps build both. After all, he could simply copy the appearance of the two cars from his memory and leave the technical headaches to the designers.
Grosvenor shook his head, mistakenly believing that William was just overflowing with energy and wanted to dabble in everything that interested him. "As long as you're happy. Maybe you'll actually design something unique. Anyway, it's almost lunchtime, and I don't want to keep my wife waiting. If you leave, I'll be the one in trouble."
"Haha," William burst out laughing at Grosvenor's dramatic tone. If he hadn't known that Grosvenor, like Andrew, was quite the playboy, he might have been fooled by Grosvenor's harmless-looking demeanor.
Besides, William knew that Grosvenor must have had another reason for dragging him to lunch. If it weren't for the fact that William wanted to learn about land management from him, he might not have given Grosvenor the time of day.
They got into the car and, after about 20 minutes, arrived at Grosvenor's home in London, where William met Grosvenor's wife and his young son, who had been called back from school.
Little Grosvenor was only nine years old, a handsome and shy young boy. After introductions, the child, possibly out of admiration for William, chattered away with him during lunch. As they became more familiar, little Grosvenor kept following William around after the meal, talking about his school life.
Out of politeness, William wasn't particularly interested in the ramblings of a child, but seeing the pleased look on Mrs. Grosvenor's face, he didn't show any sign of impatience.
As they continued chatting, William found himself gradually relaxing, perhaps due to the innocent, unguarded nature of the boy's conversation. By the end, whether it was because the boy seemed to genuinely admire him or for some other reason, William even agreed to take him hunting in the forests around Devonshire Castle and teach him some self-defense techniques.
This made both Grosvenor and his wife very happy. They were pleasantly surprised that William got along so well with their son. In their eyes, William's many accomplishments were exactly the kind of thing their child should aspire to.
Before they realized it, the conversation had carried on until 1:30 in the afternoon. A servant came to inform them that little Grosvenor had to return to school, and only then did the couple let their son, who still seemed reluctant to leave, be taken back to class.
Once the child had gone, Mrs. Grosvenor, sensing the situation, discreetly excused herself and left the room, instructing the servants to bring fresh tea and pastries.
With just the two of them left, there was no need to tiptoe around topics anymore. William took the initiative to ask Grosvenor for advice on land management, and Grosvenor, eager to talk, answered all his questions in detail.
After chatting for about half an hour, William learned that Grosvenor had one chief steward and four deputy stewards managing his estate. Most of the company and manor's affairs were handled by professional managers, which made William feel somewhat disheartened.
At that moment, William keenly felt the deep foundations of old aristocracy, which completely overshadowed him, a nouveau riche. Grosvenor had said something that William now found somewhat reasonable: how could one find trustworthy stewards or employees without giving people the opportunity to work with you?
However, William's secrets were too many. Exposing any one of them could cause serious trouble. "Enough of this. Let's get to the real topic. You didn't invite me here just to meet your little prince, did you?"
"Of course not," Grosvenor replied, after a moment of thought. "A few days ago, I received an invitation from the Four Seasons Hotels. They want to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex on Grosvenor Square—now Devonshire Square.
"I own an eight-story building there, and if we combine it with the shopping mall you own on the northeast corner, the two buildings together would allow for a massive four-acre luxury hotel and apartment complex."
"Work with the Four Seasons?" William was momentarily stunned by this news.
For the past few days, he had been trying to find a reason to clear out the tenants in those buildings. Ever since he realized that Amir Bakavi was targeting him, William had been thinking about how to lure Bakavi into focusing on the buildings around the square.
After acquiring Grosvenor Square, William had briefly considered demolishing the four surrounding five- or six-story buildings. However, after consulting with his lawyers, he realized that clearing out the tenants in those buildings would cost more than £100 million in compensation. Worse yet, there was a 70% chance the tenants would refuse the payout and refuse to leave.
They could make more money by continuing to operate their businesses than by accepting William's compensation. Since he couldn't legally clear out the tenants, why not let Amir Bakavi, a known terrorist, blow up the buildings?
If that happened, William might even profit from the situation by collecting the insurance money to rebuild.
He had already checked the insurance policies on the four buildings, and Grosvenor had taken out a hefty $300 million policy on these century-old structures.
If Bakavi blew up the buildings, not only would it clear out the tenants, but William could also get permission to build new structures. After all, if the buildings were destroyed, they would have to be rebuilt.
Normally, it would be very difficult for William to get approval to rebuild in this area, as the square was located in London's central Mayfair district, where many buildings were considered historically significant and could not be torn down.
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