-Chapter 17-
David was standing not far away, eyes blazing with fury, killing intent surging as he glared at him.
Damn!
When did the male lead arrive?
And he just stood there, watching with his own eyes as he kissed Rose—wasn't that asking for emotional damage?
Lucas instinctively wanted to let go of Rose's hand, but to his surprise, Rose clung even tighter, half leaning on his shoulder.
"Honey, what are you looking at?"
Lucas blurted out, "I... I'm looking at that loser over there. Why is he here again? Is he following us?"
Rose had already noticed David, but she didn't take him seriously.
When she heard Lucas say this, she immediately cooperated, "Maybe. He's always been jealous of you, honey."
Hearing that, Lucas nearly choked.
[What? Is that even something a human would say? No, wait, more importantly, is that something the female lead is supposed to say?]
[The mighty male lead's harem now says the male lead is jealous of this villain. This completely goes against the heavens!]
And then Yelena chimed in, "I think so too. Otherwise, why does he always look at Lucas like that? He must be jealous of how handsome, charming, and attractive he is and the fact that he's engaged to you, Rose."
Huh?
Lucas widened his eyes and looked at Yelena.
[You too? Why do you always have to join in this nonsense? Wouldn't it be better if you just stuck to being David's confidante?]
The two great beauties of Su City were now both clinging to Lucas, making him the center of attention in the banquet hall.
As for David…
At this point, he was still keeping a low profile, hadn't made a name for himself, and had no beauty by his side. He appeared all alone, and no one paid him any attention.
To avoid stealing the male lead's spotlight, Lucas had no choice but to grab a wine glass and retreat into a corner.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried to hide, as long as Rose was by his side, there were always people secretly glancing at him.
[Sigh, when will the female lead finally go run off with the male lead? I'm so sick of being watched every day. I just want to be an ordinary person that no one cares about, living freely and without worry!]
Rose heard his internal shouting but didn't show any expression on her face.
She had been used to being stared at since she was little, used to confessions, stalkers, even kidnappings.
Since he chose to be her fiancé and would become her husband in the future, he had no choice but to get used to it.
Fortunately, the banquet soon began.
Most of the people attending were either interested in that piece of land or had already purchased some of it.
After all, it was a mass grave, so there weren't many buyers. Especially since ninety percent of the land had been bought up by the male lead, not many people came to the banquet.
But what no one expected was that the first person to speak was an official from Su City!
The moment he appeared on stage with a microphone, everyone held their breath.
David even showed a confident smile and faintly turned to glance at Rose.
His eyes were filled with pride and disdain.
You didn't believe me, and you wouldn't buy the land with me. Rose, you're about to find out just how ridiculous that decision was.
"Everyone, I'm here today to announce two important things. First, Su City has decided to build a new urban district!"
The moment those words fell, everyone in the banquet hall froze.
"A new urban district? Damn, I've been hearing vague rumors lately but didn't quite believe it. Didn't expect it to be true!"
"It's about time we built a new district. The old part of Su City is way too hard to rebuild. Roads are too narrow, traffic jams all the time."
"Are they trying to boost their performance metrics again? This is a major project. Anyone who grabs this opportunity is bound to make a fortune."
When Lucas heard the words "new urban district," he immediately let out a sigh of relief.
[Great, the plot point has arrived! The land David bought is about to skyrocket in value, dozens of times over. My face as the minor villain is about to get thoroughly slapped.]
[At that time, I don't know what Rose will say or choose. But since I tricked her so badly and she lost so much money, even if she runs off with David on the spot, I could accept it.]
[After all, he does have the male lead halo.]
Someone quickly asked out of curiosity, "Where's the new urban district going to be built?"
The official smiled into the microphone, "We've already planned the location. It'll be slightly west of the northern part of the city."
"..."
As soon as those words came out, David looked like he had been struck by lightning.
And not only him—Lucas's smiling face froze instantly.
What? West of the north side?
He rubbed his ears and turned to Rose, doubting what he had just heard, "Did he just say the new district is..."
"West of the north side."
"And the land David wanted you to buy…"
"Is in the east."
What?
Lucas's eyes widened. Didn't that mean the land wasn't even in the new district?
Not only was it not in the commercial center of the new urban area, it wasn't even touching the edges!
Wait, can that be right?
David's face turned pale as he suddenly stood up and looked at the official, "Why did it move to the north? A few days ago, you clearly told me it was in the east!"
The official gave an awkward smile, "That was what we initially discussed, planning it for the east. But we suddenly got notified from above to reject that and switch it to the north. Nothing we could do."
What's more, David had already finished buying the land at that point.
The official had worked hard to sell that land. He couldn't possibly tell David to cancel it last minute just to be nice.
They were going to announce two major updates at today's banquet. If the sale got reversed, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to the higher-ups.
Faced with the choice between returning a favor and protecting his own interests, he chose the latter without hesitation.
And so, David got sold out.
David clenched his fists, grinding his teeth, "You played me?"
"What do you mean I played you? I told you already, it was an order from above. If you don't believe me, go ask around! Seriously... when I told you before, I meant well. The policy changed last minute—how's that my fault? You're being ungrateful."
Being questioned so harshly in public, the official couldn't keep face and immediately turned hostile.
He turned away from David and continued, "Next, I'll be announcing the second item. The mass grave in the eastern district has been auctioned off and will be redeveloped into a public cemetery. Now, I'll reveal the auction results."
The moment those words fell, David's expression became even uglier.
Turning the mass grave into a cemetery... a public one at that.
Not only would he earn nothing, he'd lose a huge sum!
That amount of money might not mean much to him, but the face he lost—no amount of money could buy that back.
Soon, the big screen displayed two names.
It turned out that only two people had bought land in the mass grave. One was a relative of the official, who bought ten percent. The remaining ninety percent belonged to David.
As soon as the two names appeared on the banquet hall screen, the crowd burst into laughter.
"No way, someone actually bought it?"
"Who's the idiot that bought a mass grave? They must've been kicked in the head by a donkey!"
"David? Who is that? Never heard of him. Probably some nameless kid with no clue at all. He actually made such an unlucky and money-losing deal. What a joke."
The mocking voices around him came one after another, and David's face grew darker with each word.
As the God of War of the North, he had been completely played.
And now he was being mocked in public.
If word of this got back to the North, how could he continue holding his head high?
Lucas sat on the sofa, staring at the scene in front of him, completely dumbfounded.
[I'm not dreaming, am I? Why did the city center suddenly shift from the east to the north? That makes no sense.]
[The female lead's personality changed because of me, so that was still fixable. But this part of the plot has nothing to do with me. Why would it change too?]
[System, are you seriously going to keep pretending to be dead? If you don't come out soon, this world is going to spiral out of control.]
While he was lost in thought, Yelena suddenly walked over.
The moment Rose saw her, she raised an eyebrow. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"Hm?" Yelena smiled faintly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Rose said directly, "Only one person could make a call to influence the site selection for the new district. And you're that person's goddaughter. If it wasn't you, then who else?"
Lucas suddenly turned to look at Yelena. "What do you mean? Are you saying it was Yelena who changed the new district's location?"
Seeing how surprised and anxious he was, Yelena couldn't bear to keep it from him anymore.
"It really was me."
"Why!" Lucas was confused. "If you knew the new district was going to be in the east, you could've just talked to David and bought the land from him. Why go through all this trouble to change the entire location?"
[Doing this turns the male lead into a complete joke. How is the story supposed to move forward? What's left for the male lead to do? And what use am I as a villain now?]
Yelena smiled with squinted eyes. "I don't like taking things that belong to others. When I heard Su City was planning a new district, I acted early and bought land in advance. Then I got in touch with my godfather and had the new district built around the land I bought."
"This way, I can maximize my profits without taking advantage of anyone else. Isn't that even better?"
Damn...
Lucas didn't know what else to say. All he could do was give her a thumbs-up.
No wonder David chased after her nonstop, from the beginning of the novel to the end. And he only managed to win her over right at the finale.
But...
There was still hope.
Even though David had taken a heavy blow with the land issue, the trash debt-ridden company he had recommended to Rose was a hundred times worse than the land deal. That was going to blow up too.
To help David lose even more face, Lucas suddenly stood up, laughed wildly, and shouted, "Stupid loser David!"
David slowly turned and looked at Lucas. The killing intent in his eyes felt almost Brownible. If stares could kill, Lucas would already be full of holes.
"What is it."
Lucas looked fierce. "What is it? Ha, still trying to act cool? Just a few days ago, you went to my wife's house, insisted that buying that mass grave would bring in massive profits, and pushed her to buy the land. What the hell were you trying to do?"
The people around them widened their eyes in shock.
"He actually tried to get Goddess White to buy land in a mass grave? That's way too shady."
"He probably knew the land was worthless and was just trying to dump it on someone."
"Wait, that guy looks familiar. Isn't he the one who caused a scene at Goddess White's engagement party? He still hasn't given up on her?"
Someone quickly recognized David.
After all, Rose's engagement had gotten a lot of attention as Su City's number one goddess. There had even been news about someone almost trying to crash the wedding, which made it even more talked about.
David's face looked absolutely terrible. He wanted to explain, but didn't know how to begin.
He couldn't exactly say it was the official who gave him the inside information.
If he did, it would not only make his source look unreliable, but would also drag the official down with him. Offending the higher-ups would not be worth it.
So all he could do was glare at Lucas in silence.
Lucas wasn't intimidated by his stare at all. He laughed loudly. "Weren't you supposed to be hot stuff? Why aren't you talking now? You loser, you actually dared to go after my goddess? Take a look at yourself—do you really think you're worthy?"
Then he turned to Rose.
"Babe, that day when he tried to sell you that land, I recommended you acquire Volt Company instead. You'd make a fortune. So, how's that going? Any updates?"
People had just finished pointing at David and talking behind his back, but once they heard what Lucas said, they were even more shocked.
"Volt Company? Isn't that the company with a boss buried in debt?"
"What's going on with Young Master Grey? Did he hit his head or something? Why would he push Goddess White into something like that?"
"He probably doesn't know the company's situation. That place is a total disaster. If she really buys it, she's going to lose everything."
David obviously knew about it too.
He let out a cold laugh. His angry glare suddenly turned into a smug sneer.
He had thought he would be the one embarrassed in front of everyone today, but this idiot just jumped out and served himself up instead.
He immediately turned to Rose, waiting for her to reveal the truth and expose the massive loss.
Lucas also looked at her with eager eyes.
[It's been a few days now. The acquisition should be pretty much done. Babe, come on. Reveal Volt Company's debt, and say how much money you lost. Let the male lead have his big face-slapping moment. Let me, the villain, be done for even faster.]
Rose held her wine glass, looking at Lucas's face, which was clearly kind-hearted but pretending to be fierce. She curled her lips slightly.
"That day, when you told me to acquire Volt Company, I made the arrangements right away. Yesterday afternoon, I signed the contract with the company's boss. As of this morning, I'm the legal representative of Volt Company and its largest shareholder."
[The acquisition succeeded. That fast? Perfect. It's fine if the rest of the plot falls apart, as long as this part stays on track.]
"Babe, did you check into Volt Company's background? How are their financials? What's their stock status?"
David couldn't hold back his sneer. "Lucas, you idiot. You listened to some hired shills talking nonsense at a party and thought it was real. Then you came back and tricked Rose? Let me tell you the truth. Volt Company is at least thirty million in debt. You had her take over the company, and you're calling that helping her?"
"What?"
Lucas deliberately widened his eyes in shock, his face full of disbelief.
"You're lying! Volt Company has huge potential and a massive operation. If we can take it over at a low cost, it'll definitely bring in huge profits. Rose, hurry and tell him the truth. Slap his face good!"
-End of Chapter 17-