Chapter 45: Trouble at the Gate

Across the city, in the backstreets of the financial district...

After Donovan Pierce was officially and publicly kicked out of the Pierce family trust, he wandered the streets of the financial district.

Logically, as a totally discarded member of the Pierce legacy, he possessed no corporate value, and no one on Wall Street would care about him anymore.

However, as he walked past a dark alleyway, Donovan was suddenly shoved into an unmarked black van and kidnapped.

Donovan was scared out of his wits.

A canvas bag was yanked forcefully over his head, blocking his vision, and he could only feel the vehicle jolting over the city potholes.

"Who the hell are you people?! Let me go!" Donovan screamed, his voice cracking. "I’m the eldest son of the Pierce family, and you dare kidnap me?!"

He received no answer, only a shove back against the floor.

"Jude Lawson, did you get your security to take revenge on me, you bastard?!" Donovan cried out blindly. "Or was it Lyla?! Please, let me go! I have nothing left! *Sob... sob...*"

Later, Donovan was roughly dragged into an industrial room and was forcibly sat down on a chair.

His head covering was then abruptly removed, revealing a person smiling bitterly at him.

"Little Donovan, do you still recognize me?" the person asked.

Donovan blinked against the overhead light, saw this person, and was stunned, showing an expression of profound surprise... this was someone he never, ever would have thought of.

Donovan blurted out, "You... could it be... Gregory Vance?!"

***

Meanwhile, across the city, Harper and Jude Lawson left the Pierce Studios headquarters, planning to head back to their own corporate home base at Apex Media.

Harper was driving her vintage car, and she stole a quiet glance at Jude resting in the passenger seat, blushing faintly as she said, "Jude, I really haven’t thanked you enough for today; our studio’s safety was all thanks to your intervention."

Jude smiled faintly and said, "No need to thank me, Harper; dismantling their board wasn’t much effort."

Jude looked out the window and smiled. "Donovan Pierce has already been kicked out of the Pierce family, and the financial threat to our market share has been entirely resolved. In the media sector, no one should be able to aggressively shake your position as President anymore. As for me, my direct intervention is probably useless to you now. If you want to cash out your executive equity and terminate your contract, you can bring it up anytime."

Harper: "..."

She had just started having those deeply loyal, permanent thoughts, and Jude’s words were like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.

She could only nod, gripping the steering wheel. "Okay, if this war is over, we can discuss my severance."

Jude made a nonchalant sound of agreement, and said nothing more on the subject.

He genuinely didn’t care much; he didn’t possess deep romantic feelings for Harper...

Elevating her and protecting her studio was purely a system task to expand his empire.

[Ding!]

Suddenly, Jude heard the familiar system sound clearly in his mind.

[Congratulations to the host for helping Apex Media resolve the Pierce Conglomerate financial threat.]

[You have received: $10,000,000 USD!]

Jude smiled wryly. The system still hadn’t changed its baseline metric...

All the standard milestone rewards invariably turned into ten million dollars in liquid cash.

She suddenly thought of something that had been bothering her and curiously asked, "By the way, I’ve always wanted to ask you: you’re so incredibly wealthy and skilled, why do you personally intervene in these street-level conflicts? You could actually just hire a hundred elite mercenaries to do your dirty work."

Jude shifted his attention away from the system interface and said, "Like what?"

"I’m not interested in hiding behind a wall of bodyguards."

Harper asked softly, "Then why did you agree to elevate me to President and help me build this studio in the first place?"

Jude said, his tone flat, "Weren’t you the one who pleaded with me in the lobby to give you a chance? I was just feeling softhearted..."

"Alright." Harper sighed, feeling a bit hurt by the answer.

This guy truly didn’t seem to have any emotional interest in her whatsoever...

It was like he was just going through the corporate motions because it was a task.

Could it actually be that her personal charm wasn’t enough?

Suddenly, she had a shocking thought; *Oh my god, could it be that he’s not actually into women...*

In the blink of an eye, Harper noticed Jude’s sharp gaze fixed intently outside the car window, as if actively admiring something on the sidewalk.

Harper curiously asked, "What are you looking at?"

Jude pointed ahead with his tailored hand and smiled faintly. "See that girl walking out of the boutique on the corner? Wow, what an incredible figure. Probably a perfect D-cup..."

Harper almost swerved and fainted against the steering wheel; *Damn it, he was checking out street beauties!* This proves he’s normal...

Harper was flustered.

In no time, they safely arrived at the towering Apex Media headquarters.

Director Vance and Maya were both waiting anxiously in the executive lobby for their return.

"Thank heaven you’re alright, Harper," Maya ran over and hugged the young President tightly.

Harper smiled warmly and said, "Maya, I’m fine, thanks to Jude."

Director Vance was much more straightforward, smiling broadly as he stepped forward. "Mr. Lawson, I’ve heard about exactly what you did at Pierce Studios. I didn’t expect you to be so aggressively capable in a confrontation; Harper escaping this corporate disaster was all thanks to you. On behalf of the entire Apex family, I thank you."

Jude smiled and said smoothly, "Director Vance, no need to be polite. She’s my appointed President; of course I have to protect her assets."

Director Vance paused, nodded deeply, and said, "I think I might be starting to fully understand exactly why Harper is so fiercely loyal to you."

Harper blushed. "Director Vance, what are you talking about?"

Director Vance smiled knowingly. "Mr. Lawson may be a Wall Street titan, but he has an unshakeable sense of responsibility for his people. Harper must have seen this in you from day one."

Although the system task was officially completed, since Harper hadn’t actually brought up terminating her contract, Jude continued to use Apex Media as his primary home base.

On this particular day, as usual, Jude’s Maybach cruised back to the corporate estate.

Suddenly, a loud commotion up ahead at the main gates caught Jude’s attention.