Chapter 341: Sixty Million Reasons

"Emily."

Yohan got up and gave her a warm hug, the kind that felt overly intimate, but Emily didn’t seem to mind, lingering for a few seconds longer.

"What brings you down here?" she asked as they separated. "Are you also here for the meeting?"

"What meeting?" Yohan wondered.

"The one concerning the Jade Island project. Didn’t you get a call?" Her brows furrowed. "As a major investor, I’m sure they must have reached out."

"I didn’t get any call or message. I wonder why..." He took out his phone just to confirm.

"Well, you’re here now, so why don’t we just go in together?"

Everyone else in the lobby just stared. Those who knew who Emily was were even more stunned to see her talking to Yohan.

Since he was young and good-looking, a few immediately suspected that there was something going on between them. But it was hard to imagine the millionaire businesswoman cheating on her husband with a kid like Yohan, no matter how remarkable he was.

Then again, he did look like someone was spending good money on him... Maybe business partners?

There was murmuring all around the hall, so Yohan knew they were probably talking about him. He considered using his Mind Unlock technique to listen in, but he wasn’t that interested.

There was no reason to concern himself with rumors from people he didn’t even know.

And it didn’t seem like Emily was bothered in the slightest.

Her smile remained radiant, and her steps were bold and confident, like a woman who could solve any problem without breaking a single sweat.

His eyes caught the curve of her chest, her ample cleavage clearly visible, her gown doing very little to conceal it.

’How can Freddie’s mom be this hot...?’

He asked himself as he looked away.

’After this, I should probably follow her back home.’

He felt a pulse through his cock.

It took him another second to realize that this was neither the place nor the time to be thinking about sex.

Emily pushed open the door, and they entered the mayor’s office.

A few people were heading out just as they arrived. Among them, Yohan spotted the woman he had come to give the money to.

She locked eyes with him for a moment before looking away, as though she had never seen him in her life.

"Emily." The mayor got to his feet to welcome her. "Thank you for coming."

They shook hands before he pulled out a chair for her.

"Mr. Yohan, glad you could make it too."

"You sure? Because I don’t seem to have received an invitation."

"My apologies. It must have slipped my mind," he said with a firm handshake and a small grin.

Yohan didn’t say another word, but he was certainly thinking it.

’Slipped your mind? For fifty million dollars? Please don’t try to be funny...’

"Have a seat," Mayor Grant offered before returning to his chair on the other side of the table.

He began talking even before Yohan’s butt could touch the cushion.

"Let’s get straight to business. As you know, the Jade Island project is ninety percent complete, and we’re set to finish by the end of the month."

"That’s nice. It went by faster than I expected," Emily said with a celebratory clap.

"Our engineers are some of the best in the world. That’s why," he said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, really great." Yohan nodded, even though he already had a feeling he wasn’t going to like whatever came next.

"Well..." The mayor continued, "A buyer has appeared. He’s offering sixty million dollars—"

"Sorry, but we’re not interested," Yohan interrupted, stopping him in his tracks.

Even Emily was shocked by his reaction.

"Yohan, we should at least hear him out..." She gently rubbed his arm as she suggested it.

The gesture felt a bit too intimate, catching the mayor’s attention.

"Mr. Yohan, I hope you haven’t forgotten that I informed you there was a chance something like this could happen..."

"But you said we’d be allowed to refuse."

"Yes, but you have to understand that you two aren’t the only investors. The city also put up fifty percent of the money."

"So, is the city getting bought out for sixty million too?"

"Yes, of course. We were actually hoping for something like this. It would be the easiest ten million of our lives. Isn’t it the same for you? You don’t turn down a chance like this without at least considering it."

"He’s right, Yohan. We have to at least discuss it before making a decision," Emily said calmly.

Yohan looked at her as though he wanted to protest, but in the end, he sighed.

"I guess..."

He understood that Emily was certainly obligated to consider it since she had to involve the board members of her company but Yohan was also in business with Mason Blackfire, and ten million wasn’t going to cut it.

"Thank you," Mayor Grant continued. "Now—"

"Who is this buyer?" Yohan asked. "You can at least tell us that, can’t you?"

The mayor hesitated for a few seconds before speaking. "I’m afraid I can’t reveal that at the moment."

His resistance suddenly piqued Emily’s interested.

"Why not?"

"They’ve requested to remain anonymous. I imagine it would make the negotiation process even easier."

"How so?" she asked.

Her tone was serious, as though she genuinely wanted to understand, and it seemed to catch him off guard.

"You see..." He stalled.

"Mr. Mayor, forgive me for saying this, but I will not be signing anything if I don’t know who the buyer is," Emily stated firmly.

Yohan smirked inwardly, though all that appeared on his face was a small grin.

’I don’t remember the city ever selling Jade Island in my previous life, so this must definitely be some kind of plot to get us off the project. I knew this guy seemed suspicious from the start’

How could anyone trust a guy with a tattoo like that on his hand?

"Emily, don’t be like that. You know how these things work. Sometimes, you do business with unusual people..."

"I’ve made up my mind, and it had better not be some random shell company or a figurehead, because I’ll make sure to investigate properly and you’ll regret messing with me."