Chapter 400: No Match

"Exactly. Linden is such a great catch—handsome, capable, and honest. The key is, he even bought a house here in Veridia. Look at you... how can you not value yourself? If Linden finds out you’ve been with another man..."

The second brother was still nagging Amina when the eldest brother was struck by a sudden thought.

"We absolutely cannot let Linden know she’s had a boyfriend before. Otherwise, he’ll definitely call it off. Even if he’s willing, his parents won’t be. By then, forget the bride price—it’ll be a question of whether she can even get married at all."

"Then what do we say when Linden comes over tomorrow?"

"Forget it. Let’s not say anything to anyone. I’ll feel him out, ask some indirect questions. Anyway, we’re not in a hurry to leave just yet."

Amina listened to their discussion. Seeing that neither of them planned to say anything, she breathed a sigh of relief. ’There’s still a chance to turn this around,’ she thought silently.

She was just starting to scheme—as soon as her second brother let go, she would find a way to get the property deed back from her eldest brother—when he tapped her cheek with the document.

"While we figure out how to sell the apartment, you’re not going to work. Don’t want you causing any trouble. Second Brother, take her phone. We can’t have her calling that punk."

That made sense.

The second brother took Amina’s phone.

"Let’s go. Take us to Grandma’s. You’ll stay with her and Mom for the next few days. Watch them, and don’t you dare cause any trouble."

Amina couldn’t struggle free, so she could only resolve to bide her time and think of a plan, allowing them to drag her downstairs.

The eldest brother drove, while the second brother sandwiched her in the middle. The three of them squeezed onto a single electric scooter and headed for their rented apartment.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Walton’s housekeeper received a live update from the surveillance team.

"For some reason, the woman returned to the apartment tonight, and her two brothers came with her. Looks like they had a fight. Her brother dragged her downstairs by the arm, and now they’re taking her somewhere. We don’t know where."

The housekeeper could tell that Amina was a decent person; the problem was her two brothers were just too greedy.

’They still refuse to go back to their hometown. Who knows what nasty scheme they’re cooking up now.’

"Continue following them."

「The next day」

The surveillance team reported back to the housekeeper.

"The woman didn’t go to work today. Her second brother is with her in the rented apartment; neither of them has come out. The older one came out alone. He’s looking at fliers on a wall and making a call, but we don’t know to whom."

The housekeeper’s intuition told him the man was up to no good.

"Are you an idiot? If you don’t know who he’s calling, go find out!"

The two trackers had no choice but to get out of the car. Each lighting a cigarette, they pretended to be professionals, sauntering around the entrance of the residential complex before approaching the eldest brother.

"Excuse me, sir. Sorry to bother you, but we were hoping to ask you something."

The eldest brother was trying to call an agent’s number from one of the fliers on the wall, but for some reason, he couldn’t get through.

He was getting frustrated when two men who looked like executives in sharp suits walked over to him.

He quickly straightened up. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, hello. We’re from Vanguard Properties Inc. We’re considering redeveloping this area and are conducting a survey on local population density. You’re a resident here, aren’t you? Would you mind giving us a rough estimate?"

The two had just made up an excuse to strike up a conversation, but to their surprise, the eldest brother’s eyes lit up.

"A real estate company? You sell properties?"

"Ah, yes, that’s right. We buy and sell properties—we handle anything real estate-related. What’s on your mind, sir? Are you looking to buy or sell?"

"I..." The eldest brother wasn’t a complete fool. He shot them a wary look before he spoke.

"Do you have business cards or something? How do I know if you’re really from that company?"

Since they weren’t actually from the company, they didn’t have business cards. But they did have flyers.

Someone had randomly stuck a few flyers for Vanguard Properties under their windshield wipers while the car was parked. The two men went back to the car to retrieve them.

"Here’s our company’s promotional brochure. Take a look."

The eldest brother glanced at it. It looked so professional and well-designed that he was convinced.

"I don’t know how many people live around here, but I do have a property to sell. Are you really buying?"

The two men exchanged a glance. "Of course we are. Where’s the property? Can you take us to see it?"

"Yes, of course. Wait here, I’ll go get the keys."

Things were progressing much more smoothly than they’d expected. As the eldest brother scurried upstairs, the two men quickly reported back to the housekeeper.

"He’s probably trying to sell the Young Master’s apartment. Where else would he get a property?"

The housekeeper’s brow furrowed. He quickly relayed the information to Mrs. Walton, who flew into such a rage that she smashed the coffee cup in her hand.

"Those shameless peasants! How dare they target my son’s apartment! Have them arrested at once, teach them a harsh lesson, then throw them out of Veridia! The nerve! They chose to do this the hard way!"

The housekeeper soothed her. "Madam, you’re being impulsive again. If it were that simple, would we have waited this long? The goal is to shut them down completely, so that if the Young Master ever brings this up in the future, we’ll have the moral high ground. I believe there’s a better way to handle this..."

「Soon」

The eldest brother brought the men to Zeke Walton’s apartment.

The two men looked around and were very pleased.

"It’s in a great location, and the floor plan is decent. It’s not huge, but it’s a good property overall. We’ll take it. What’s your asking price?"

The eldest brother had no idea what to ask for. "What’s the most you’re willing to offer?" he asked tentatively.

"We don’t have the authority to make an offer. How about this? We’ll have our manager come over. If he likes it, he can make the final decision on the spot."

After a phone call, the man arranged by the housekeeper arrived. He professionally presented the eldest brother with his business card before taking a tour of the apartment.

"Are you looking for installment payments or a full, one-time payment?"

"What are installment payments?"

’He doesn’t even know what installments are. What an idiot.’

The manager explained, "Installments mean the buyer gives you a down payment, and then pays you the rest in monthly increments of, say, a thousand or two."

’That would take forever,’ the brother thought. ’I’m in a hurry to get married.’

The eldest brother quickly said, "One-time payment. Definitely a one-time payment."

The manager said, "Here’s the deal. With a full, one-time payment, the price is usually knocked down. We’re talking a discount of up to twenty percent. Why? Because very few clients can produce that much cash at once, so we have to give them an incentive to prioritize your property. Look, here’s a sale from another client. It’s in the complex right next door—identical floor plan, identical size. The final transaction price was 2.6 million, but they took a lump-sum payment of two million. Can you accept a price like that?"

The eldest brother had thought the apartment was worth three to five million. But the market price was only 2.6 million, and he would only get 2 million in hand?

Even for a man who couldn’t scrape together 20,000, that still felt a little low.

"You’re not trying to lowball me, are you? A great property like this... how can it only be worth two million?"

"Two million is a lot of money. If you think we’re lowballing you, feel free to get an appraisal from another company. We do honest business; we’re not afraid of a little comparison."

With that, the manager gestured to his two colleagues, and they started to leave. The eldest brother quickly stopped him.

"Wait! I didn’t say I don’t believe you. It’s just... I have a particular situation. Let me ask you—the name on the property title is my sister’s. Can I sign on her behalf?"