Chapter 693: Pre-Exchange Interactions
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Wendy immediately tensed up in fear and hurriedly explained, “Vince, trust me. I really didn’t do it. That punk is just making things up to sow discord between us! Don’t fall for his trick!”
Vince looked at her for several seconds before slowly saying, “This had better be the case. If I find out you lied to me, you should know what will happen to you! Regardless of who killed my son, I will definitely make them pay the price in blood!”
A menacing and murderous aura erupted from him.
He was a strong contender for the next head of the Smith family, and he wouldn’t show any mercy to Wendy even though she was his cousin and the daughter of the current helmsman!
Vince snorted coldly and strode into the Walton Hotel. The expert behind him naturally followed closely behind.
Wendy and Lance were the only ones remaining at the hotel entrance.
Lance was almost scared to death when Lucas mentioned Wendy’s ex-husband and son just now. If Vince found out that Wendy had had an affair with Moses and that Lance had also partic.i.p.ated in killing Roy, the Kingstons would definitely be dead meat.
Wendy took a deep breath and warned Lance, “Mr. Kingston, I don’t need to say much. You should know the consequences once this matter is exposed.”
Lance shuddered and hurriedly said, “Yes! I know, Mrs. Smith. Please rest a.s.sured. My lips are sealed!”
This was not only about Wendy’s life and death but also the Kingstons’. Now, the Kingstons and Wendy were on the same boat, and they could only insist on denying it.
The Walton Hotel was indeed worthy of being a fixed venue for holding the Elite Business Exchange. Everything was arranged well for the exchange.
Before the exchange officially started, there was a special reception room for the attendees of each of the major cities in California. Those from the same city would share a room.
After taking a quick glance, Lucas walked toward a reception room with the sign ‘Orange County’ on it.
“Lucas! You’re finally here!”
Just as Lucas walked in, a voice of surprise came. Lena quickly walked over to him.
But perhaps because she recalled the embarra.s.sing incident this morning, she had a dismayed expression, afraid that Lucas would dislike her.
Lucas said, “Regarding the matter this morning, I’ve already explained it to Charlotte. It’s just a misunderstanding, so you don’t need to be bothered by it anymore.”
Hearing the words ‘just a misunderstanding’, Lena felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart, but she couldn’t express it at all. She could only force an awkward smile on her face.
Lucas was puzzled. At this moment, a few more people walked over to greet Lucas.
“Lucas, you’re here!”
“Mr. Gray.”
“Mr. Gray, you’re here.”
These people were none other than Bruce and Ethan, as well as Connor and Lena’s sister, Yvette, behind them.
In the s.p.a.cious reception room, there were the Sawyers and the Hales, whom Lucas was familiar with, as well as Frederick Taylor, the head of the Taylor family, and Darren Wallace, the young helmsman who had recently succeeded his position.
Behind them were the juniors of the Taylors and the Wallaces, but Lucas had no friends.h.i.+p with them.
In the reception room for the Orange County attendees, except for Lucas, everyone else was from the four top families of Orange County. After all, the invitations to the Elite Business Exchange were strictly for only top-tier families and forces.
After the Hales and the Sawyers greeted Lucas, he picked a random seat and sat down.
As soon as Lucas sat down, Frederick suddenly asked, “Mr. Gray, I wonder what your thoughts are about today’s Elite Business Exchange.”
Lucas smiled faintly. “Mr. Taylor, you must be joking. It’s my first time attending this exchange, so I’m just here to gain some knowledge and experience. Mr. Taylor, you should know more than me, right?”
Frederick narrowed his eyes. “Mr. Gray, let’s be frank with each other. I’ll get straight to the point! The Elite Business Exchange this time is extremely unusual! There’s definitely going to be a great difference between this exchange and the usual ones. I’m afraid it’s no longer going to be a peaceful exchange but a meeting to divide the pie and determine a new order!
“The pie that’s going to be divided belongs to the three top families of San Francisco, the Kingstons, the Coles, and the Walkers. The ones getting a share are the forces here in California!
“So, I think that if the major families of Orange County can’t stand together and unite against a common enemy, we will be powerful only in name!”
As soon as Frederick said this, everyone present was shocked.
After all, these words were too bold and unbelievable.
The Hales and Sawyers were fine. Apart from feeling surprised by Frederick’s straightforward actions, they weren’t too shocked about what he said. After all, they had already received a lot of useful information from Lucas, and they had long known that the Kingstons and the Smiths would be doing something during the Elite Business Exchange today.
Since the Taylors were backed by the powerful Peerless Martial a.s.sociation, getting some insider information was definitely easy.
In comparison, Darren, the helmsman of the Wallaces, was completely uninvolved and the one most surprised.
“Mr. Taylor, what you said just now is too fearmongering,” Darren said with disapproval.
“The top three families of San Francisco have been in power for a long time, but they’ve never shown such ambition in the past. It’s not that they don’t want to but that they’re not capable enough!
“Even if these three top families are the strongest in California, the other powerful families are not pushovers either. Take LA for example. The Parkers are about to catch up to the top three families.
“The Coles, Kingstons, and Wallaces are probably not strong enough to take the entire pie for themselves!”
Actually, Darren made sense. But the problem was that with the interference of the Smiths from DC, other considerations had to be taken into account.
Frederick ignored Darren, who had insufficient information, and instead stared closely at Lucas, paying attention to his opinion.
Based on his previous dealings with Lucas, Frederick had long known that he wasn’t an ordinary person.
The fact that the heads of the Hales and the Sawyers had personally stood up to greet Lucas respectfully as soon as he entered was enough to show that he must have a high status in their eyes.
Thus, he just needed to find out Lucas’s att.i.tude in order to find out the general att.i.tudes of the Hales and the Sawyers.
As for the remaining Wallace family, they wouldn’t matter.
Frederick looked at Lucas and asked cautiously, “Mr. Gray, what is your opinion?”