Secret Scion
Chapter 57 -

Asher revealed a thought-provoking smile. "You are looking down upon the Capital City. The Elite Ranking that I'm talking about is just a superficial ranking. If the people are ranked according to their strengths, he won't be able to get into the top twenty given his strength." While mentioning that, Asher glanced at Hunter thoughtfully. He then continued and said, "If you have the chance to go to the Capital City to make a living there one day in the future, you'll naturally understand." Hunter dwelled on Asher's final words carefully. Did Asher mean to tell me something? He wondered inwardly. Could he lead me to a larger world?

"Mr. Crawford, I'll try my best."

Sometimes, things could be left unsaid as long as one understood their underlying meaning. Asher peeked at Winston. "It's dangerous here. Hurry up and get him somewhere safe."

He then walked straight out of the place after he had given an order.

When he was back at Noelle's place, she had cooked a meal. When she saw Asher come in, she got up from the sofa. Pouting, she asked, "Didn't you promise me to take a rest at home?"

"I went out for a while because I had something to do." The moment Asher entered the house, he could smell the delicious food. He subconsciously looked toward the dining table. As

expected, several dishes were served there. When he saw that special wine pot, he could not help frowning. That wine pot came from Phoebe's restaurant.

"I went to thank her. Before I left, Miss Webb gave me this. She said you used to like to drink it," Noelle said with a smile.

Asher hummed in response.

While eating, Noelle seemed to have something weighing on her mind. There seemed to be something troubling her. She wanted to speak up several times, but she did not do so in the end. Asher had long noticed that something was wrong with Noelle. However, since she said nothing about it, he did not inquire about it. In the end, he asked her about the family meeting. Noelle then said frankly, "I drove Erick out of the Stewards. Was I out of line?"

"Erick is a person without principle. He would sacrifice the whole family for his gains. It'll be a disaster sooner or later by keeping a person like this. Of course, it's a kind of solution to disown him. But in this way, he'll become more vengeful. You'll need to be more careful and discreet from now on."

Noelle nodded and said, "Got it. What happened last night is all on me. If not, they wouldn't have had the chance."

Asher soon finished eating, but he ignored that wine pot. After wiping his mouth, he went to sit down in the living room.

After a slight hesitation, Noelle also got up and walked out of the dining room. She brewed a cup of tea and placed it in front of Asher. After being hesitant for a few seconds, she could not help but ask, "I heard that Garrett's sister is coming to Rollinsford. Is that true?"

"Do you know Rose too?" Asher was slightly surprised.

Noelle said honestly, "Phoebe told me about her. She even claimed that it's hard to deal with Rose."

Phoebe had exposed those incidents to Noelle. What did she want?

Asher could not figure out Phoebe's thoughts. But he did not hide it from Noelle either. He wore

a complicated expression as he nodded. "Male: Sebastian, Female: Rose. They gave her such high praise. Of course, it's hard to deal with her."

"Miss Webb even told me that..."

Asher broke into a faint smile. "She told you that I like Rose, didn't she?"

Noelle looked slightly disappointed. When she heard that, she felt rather ill at ease.

"It's all in the past. Let's just forget it." Asher wanted to skip the topic. Not everything in this world could be done even if one wanted it done. Similarly, not everyone could become a couple with the person they liked. Asher had understood quite a lot of things in the past two years. After a pause, he changed the topic of conversation. "Your cooking skills are improving pretty quickly. You're now no worse than those great chefs working in hotels."

Noelle wrinkled her nose and smiled smugly. She then said, "That's for sure. I just didn't show it." However, she did not tell Asher that she had specially hired a great chef to learn secretly during those few days just to improve her cooking skills. During their two-year marriage, it was always Asher who cooked for her. She wanted Asher to eat only the meals she cooked from now on. When Noelle went to the company the next day, Shaun had long been waiting for her outside her office. He knew how serious his mistake was that time around. Erick, the son of the Stewards, had been disowned too. If it was not settled nicely, he might very likely lose his job at Steward Corporation.

Noelle saw Shaun standing outside of her office. However, she ignored him and walked straight into her office. Her secretary habitually brewed a cup of light tea for her and placed it on her office desk.

"Director, I would like a chance to make amends."

Noelle remained quiet. Hence, Shaun could only take the initiative and speak up. He no longer mentioned his contribution and hard work. He thought about a lot of things when he went home last night. He had contributed to the corporation all those years, and Noelle was aware of that fact too. Hence, it would sound like he was threatening her if he mentioned his contribution again. It would be disadvantageous for him.

"Be specific." Noelle leaned back and looked at Shaun with interest.

"Do you know of Yonder Steel?" Shaun saw her give a slight nod. He then continued and said, "I know a relative who's an executive there. When we were having a drink a few days ago, he told me that both the Leonards and the Hoffmans were about to acquire that company. They had discussed the price too, which was seven million. But one night before they were going to sign the contract, the Leonards suddenly withdrew their funds. Consequently, this cooperation failed. Yonder Steel has always been serving the Yaegers. It's also the largest steel supplier in Rollinsford. If our corporation can acquire this company, it'll be like we've gained full control of the steel market. The profits it'll bring are beyond estimation."

Steward Corporation was involved in real estate too. Noelle naturally knew of Yonder Steel. Besides, the price of seven million was also acceptable. However, given the current working capital of Steward Corporation, they could not get seven million.

"Our corporation doesn't have so much working capital. What's more, I can't put all the funds into this company. Although Yonder Steel is the biggest steel supplier in Rollinsford, the proportion of foreign sources of goods isn't low if we're looking at the whole market in Rollinsford. So, I'm afraid that it's a bit difficult to control the whole market as you said." Shaun nodded and said, "I know what you mean. It's an investment with a high risk if we spend seven million to acquire this company. But based on what I know, the president of this company seems to have offended some kind of big shot. That's why the president wants to sell the company. A lot of companies are afraid of others taking revenge on them, so they aren't bold enough to take action even if they plan to acquire it. So, they may lower the price if we go and discuss it with them at this point."

"Some kind of big shot?" Noelle frowned slightly.

Shaun then replied, "I'm not so sure who that is. But we shouldn't be afraid of them since we have the background of Steward Corporation."

Shaun did not speak frankly, but Noelle understood his underlying meaning. Presumably, the background he was referring to was about Asher.

After thinking about it for a long while, Noelle said, "I'll leave this to you. Sound them out first before we make a decision. Besides that, sound out who they've offended too. Keep this a secret from others."

"Don't worry. I'll go and deal with it right away." Shaun replied as he bowed.

It was the end of August a few days later.

That evening, both Dove and Castor were free and bored. Hence, they decided to go out for a walk.

Night fell and the weather turned cooler. Before they left, Dove took a thin jacket. It was just nice wearing that since the weather had turned cold.

"Castor, I don't understand one thing. Since both the Leonards and Hoffmans have canceled their plan of acquiring Yonder Steel, why don't we acquire it instead? Based on the data of the market, the sales of Yonder Steel are pretty good. They earn without suffering any losses." As Dove was walking, she asked him.

Castor was wearing a white shirt. His figure appeared slim and tall. Smiling faintly, he said, "The boss of Yonder Steel is called Tyler. He won't lift a finger if there are no gains for him. His company is making profits. If there are no other reasons, he won't sell his company. I learned that he has offended a person from the gang. He's afraid that the person will take revenge on him, so he's in a hurry to sell his company."

"A person from the gang? Who is so powerful?" Dove furrowed her brows. "Could it be the illegitimate son of Kendrick from the Hoffmans?"

Castor smiled and nodded. "Who else could it be if it's not him? Tyler came to me a while back. He was hoping that I could step forward and help him resolve this crisis. But I rejected him."

Dove asked tentatively, "Castor, was it because of Asher?"

"Hunter is now a popular person around Mr. Crawford. We don't have to offend Hunter for a mere Yonder Steel. What's more, Hunter is the boss of the underworld in Rollinsford. To the outsiders, he's just involved in some entertainment business. But in fact, he's involved in a lot of trades. Although we aren't bothered to deal with him, other small families are forced to get to know a person like him. If he combines all those corporations, I'm afraid that his strength won't be worse than the four great families. If not, Mr. Crawford wouldn't help Hunter to be the boss. For him, Hunter is a rather useful person."

Castor made a serious analysis. In the end, he glanced at Dove and asked out of the blue, "By the way, have you gone to him again these days?"