Chapter 400
On the night of the banquet, Myra and Tony were dressed morously for the event—a sophisticated
presentation was the best weapon on such asions. The couple put on a solemn expression as they
entered the venue. They knew that this invitation couldn’t be as simple as it seemed, so they had to be
prepared to handle any situation seriously.
Tony stole a nce at Myra who was beside him; she was wearing a turquoise dress which brought out
her brightplexion wonderfully, making her look more beautiful than ever.
Even though her waist wasn’t as slim as before, her current supple and full figure added a touch of
womanly charm! The gown entuated her elegant posture, and every move she made was filled with
charisma befitting of a young mistress.
Myra was able to recognize Matthias in the midst of the huge crowd after seeing his photo beforehand.
She asked Tony in a low voice, “Should we go to him?”
Tony was exchanging greetings with his fellow attendees, so he took a half-hearted nce in Matthias’
direction. When he saw the man in person, it felt like their subject of conversation for many days had
finallye to life.
The couple weren’t far from Matthias, so the man was bound to notice them sooner orter. Moreover,
a nobody like Matthias wasn’t worthy of Tony to initiate their greeting.
In actual fact, Matthias had felt Tony’s eyes on him for some time; he simply didn’t react to it. He’d
heard that Tony had a unique way of handling things, so he was eager to have a go at him.
Nevertheless, Matthias was still waiting for the right time to make his move. After all, it was noughing
matter to be enemies with the Hart Family in Bradfort City.
Moreover, the Waltons had just beenpletely trampled on and ruined by the Harts not too long ago;
the way Matthias simply picked a fight with the Hart Family considering their current power and
influence proved just how ambitious the man was.
Thus, the two parties waited for one another in silence. Eventually, Matthias made his way to Tony;
after all, the former was the host of the night, whereas thetter was a guest. Thus, it was basic
etiquette for Matthias to take the initiative this time—he had already anticipated this to happen when he
sent Tony an invitation.
Right now, things were going in Tony’s way; he faced the situation confidently and naturally, whereas
Myra maintained an elegantposure by his side. Matthias observed the woman as he approached
the couple since he already had a detailed understanding of Tony’s background. On the other hand,
Matthias didn’t pay attention to Myra’s background; as a woman who had caught Tony’s interest,
though, Matthias was quite interested in her abilities as well.
“Director Hart.” Matthias’ voice had an inexplicable charm to it. If only he put more effort in his
artiction and tone, he could very well be a qualified TV announcer.
He was lean and had a clean and sculpted appearance; it made him appear schrly and neat. No one
would have guessed that Matthias was affiliated with shady business just by looking at him.
“Director Locke,” Tony returned his greeting politely. Next to him, Myra smiled courteously as well.
“Miss Stark,” Matthias’ eyes lingered on Myra for a while; a deep, iprehensible look filled his gaze.
Matthias’ way of addressing Myra made the two feel a little ufortable—she was Tony’s fiancée,
after all. Not only that, the blunt and unreserved look in his eyes as he stared at Myra was quite rude as
well.
“Good evening, Director Locke.” Myra’s smile stiffened a little. She wasn’t fond of the way Matthias
looked at her at all, for it seemed like he was sizing up a prey.
“Please excuse theck of hospitality. I’m truly honored to have the two of you here tonight.” Matthias
finally looked away from Myra; he turned to Tony and gestured to them politely as he spoke.
“You have quite a beautiful home, Director Locke.” Tony looked around casually. Matthias had quite a
taste in furnishing and decoration, so Tony’spliment wasn’t all empty praise.
“I just moved in not too long ago, so the decorations are simple. I heard that Miss Stark is more of an
expert in this field.” Matthias wasn’t short of things to say; it seemed that he was quite well-prepared.
“You tter me, Director Locke.” Myra’s expression was getting unnatural, for Matthias’ behavior and
tone of speech was very disturbing to her.
“It’s good to be humble, but I’d still like some ideas from you, Miss Stark.” At this point, Matthias had
arrogant.
Tony stepped closer to Myra without missing a beat and wrapped an arm around her. As he pulled her
close, he stared at Matthias in an unfriendly manner.
“You’ve been quite active as ofte; what are your ns, I wonder?” Tony asked him directly. Needless
to say, he didn’t want to beat around the bush anymore.
“Naturally, I’m hoping that the Locke Group could coborate with the Hart Group.” Matthias gave him a
genuine smile. It seemed like he was truly interested for the twopanies to work together.
“The Hart Group always wees new coboration partners to grow our reach, but we ce a huge
priority on our partners’ capabilities. There’s no need for us to work with apany with no potential,”
Tony replied, his words carrying a hidden meaning to it. Since Matthias wasn’t holding back with his
words, Tony decided to attack him verbally before resorting to other measures.
“Of course—the Locke Group only coborates with capable, leadingpanies as well.” The smile on
Matthias’ face grew triumphant as he returned Tony’s eyes confidently.
Myra watched the two men from the side. Their behavior was simr to two lions who had trespassed
on each other’s territories, both not backing down without a fight.
“Would you like some juice?” Just then, Tony looked to his side at Myra as he gave her a ss of juice.
He wasn’t affected by Matthias’ words at all.
“Sure,” Myra was a little ufortable; she still wasn’t fond of being treated so dearly in public.
Myra couldn’t get used to being part of a public disy of affection. Moreover, it was just a second ago
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that Tony was engaged in a hostile conversation with Matthias.
Why was he suddenly shifting his attention to her and asking about how she felt? As a result, Myra
couldn’t even look into Tony’s eyes which were overflowing with deep affection.
Myra would always blush in embarrassment whenever Tony looked at her this way, and she’d feel as
though she was a teenager experiencing her first love once again.
The smile on Matthias’ lips stiffened a little as he watched the couple’s interaction. Tony’s disregard
toward their discussion was clearly a means to openly mock Matthias.
“I have other guests to take care of, so please enjoy yourselves, Director Hart. Let me know if you need
anything.” Matthias didn’t want to stay between them any longer and endure the couple’s disy of
endearment; perhaps due to the fact that he had been single for a long time, he couldn’t bear it when
couples acted lovey dovey in front of him.
With that, Matthias’ grudge for Tony deepened even more. As a long-standing bachelor himself,
Matthias was hungry to ruin Tony’s life with his own hands. After all, Tony had it all—he was sessful
in terms of family and work.
After meeting Matthias for the first time, Tony could tell that he was no ordinary businessman. It might
seem like Matthias had all his intentions written on his face, but this could also be a part of his well-
nned disguise.
Now that things were getting more interesting, Tony was curious as to how the matter would unfold; he
hadn’t figured out Matthias’ true goal just yet. After getting to know his mannerisms and conduct, Tony
couldn’t be more unsure of what he was going after—there was still much to discover.
Meanwhile, Myra watched as Matthias left. The man was very tall; he was at least 6 feet tall, which was
a considerable height amongst the attendees of the banquet. However, his tall stature paired with his
lean figure made him appear awfully skinny as a man.
He was tall andnky like a nk, and his skin was perfectly clear—it was even smoother than a
woman’s, not to mention hisplexion was pearly and fair. With everythingbined, he seemed
quite feminine.
A look at him gave off a feeling that he was a little weak and feeble; people like this were said to be
easily clouded with unseemly thoughts and principles. After all, one’s appearance could always reflect
their heart.
“Do you think there’s something off with him?” Tony asked Myra directly.
Myra shook her head. She couldn’t tell what was wrong with Matthias—some of his actions and words
did seem too scripted and nned, so it was indeed suspicious. She couldn’t be sure if the man was a
friend or a foe, but she had a feeling that he probably didn’t mean well.
“I’m a little worried.” Myra expressed her concern truthfully. She couldn’t allow any mistakes when it
came to the Stark Group’s matter. However, there was a sudden newpetitor in town which could
introduce new problems for her—her troubles were endless!
“Don’t worry, for I won’t let him threaten you.” Tony’s eyes were still on Matthias—he wouldn’t let
anyone harm Myra.
“I’m a little worried, Tony.” Myra had a bad feeling about this. Moreover, upon her first meeting with
Matthias earlier, he had be more and more familiar to the eye. Nevertheless, she couldn’t
remember where she’d seen the man before.
“I’m here, so nothing will go wrong.” Tony raised a brow at Myra with a confident look on his face which
made him look like a yuppie; Myra could never get sick of staring at his attractive face whenever he did
that.
“I’m afraid that his target is actually the Hart Group.” Myra felt that Matthias disyed an unusually
hostile attitude toward Tony; it could only mean that something bad was going to happen.
“You noticed it as well.” Tony didn’t deny it—Matthias’ hostility toward him was incredibly obvious. Tony
was unsure whether Matthias had deliberately made his opinion known, or if it was just a cover-up for
his scheme.
“Since the Hart Group sits at the top of Bratford City’s corporatedder, we naturally have the skills and
power to sustain our ce. There’s no need to worry about something like this.” Tony was confident of
the Hart Group’s abilities; he didn’t believe that anyone out there would be able to bring them down.
Myra took a sip of the juice in her hand. She didn’t have much to say anymore; it wasn’t wise to sing
praises about her opponents and forget about the abilities on her own side. After all, there wasn’t
anything that Tony couldn’t do. She could always be at ease with him around, and she believed that the
Hart Group wouldn’t be defeated this easily.
“It’s pretty noisy here; we can leave ahead if you’re feeling unwell.” Tony wasn’t very interested in such
events. Moreover, he was more worried about Myra’s health.
“We’re already here; it’d be bad to leave so soon!” Myra said with a smile. Tony was practically treating
her like a little doll—clearly, she wasn’t as weak and easily bruised as one.
“We’ll stay for a while longer, then. Who knows? Matthias might do something unexpected while we’re
here.” Tony looked around at the surrounding attendees. Sure enough, Matthias was able to invite
many of Bradfort City’s renowned and respected names.
Such a grand gesture must’ve been made with intention; either that, he probably had a huge
announcement to make tonight. Otherwise, all his painstaking efforts to prepare such a morous
banquet would go to waste.
“What do you think he’s nning?” asked Myra as her gaze followed Matthias, who was busy attending
to his guests in the crowd. He was like a butterfly, fluttering here and there to engage in various small
talk—from his appearance, it was evident that he wasn’t a man of pure intentions.
“I can’t say myself; I only know that he used to be active in Tasnia City, but he moved to Bradfort City
all of a sudden. It’s all a big mystery.” Tony thought of a few possibilities for the sudden move, but he
still couldn’t be sure of Matthias’ true motive.
“I guess we can only go with the flow. We’ve been too passive this time.” They weren’t prepared for
Matthias’ forward behavior at all, so Myra was rather emotionally affected during their entire meeting.
Because of that, they weren’t able to take control of the situation in time; they could only proceed with
caution from now on.
“Sometimes, being passive isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Tony said coldly as he stared at the wine
ss in his hand.
With many years of experience in corporate mind games, Tony had realized that fact a long time ago.
Nothing was impossible, so there was no saying in how things would end up before the veryst
second.