After reaching an agreement to help each other in the castle's dining room, Keith and Valerie went their separate ways.
Sitting in the backseat of a refined, black limousine provided by Valerie, Keith began to recall his conversation with her.
To allow Keith an easy transition to the antique business, Valerie suggested he work in her antique company as a solicitor, offering a monthly rumuneration of a million dollars.
That way, Keith could learn and familiarize himself with the company operations and the ins-and-outs of running an antique business while he pretends to be her fiancee.
Her idea had initially excited Keith as he could achieve the monthly target profit of a hundred million dollars and complete the system's quest without any difficulty.
However, after taking some time to contemplate about it, he realised it wasn't going to be as easy as anyone would like.
But who was he to ask for easy, in his past life, his rise to the top of the business world was never an easy journey. So, why should he ask for one now?
And with his oppositions taking notice of his current status as the fiancee to the Sawyer heiress, he needed to grow more powerful… and fast!
"Huh!!!" Keith let out a huge sigh of relief as his sights fell on a familiar place. "The Pine Cone is expanding as expected and I'm making a lot of money from it… too bad my multiplier skill can't be applied to that income stream."
"Alright then, let's begin…"
He summoned the Business God System with a single thought of its signature golden, enchanting colours.
Ti-ring!
The interface came to life, hovering along his peripheral view.
"Now how are Daphne and Lucio doing…"
Ti-ring!
[Business Partner Loyalty Panel> ]
[Subject> Lucio Nagelsmann ]
[Partner Loyalty> 10%]
Ti-ring!
[Business Partner Loyalty Panel> ]
[Subject> Daphne Nagelsmann]
[Partner Loyalty> 40%]
"Huh??!!!"
Keith gasped with horror, both his business partners at The Pine Cone had their loyalty plummeted significantly.
That in no way was good news to him.
In light of this new information, he became restless.
Rythimic tapping of his feet.
Constantly cracking of his knucles.
Biting of his finger nails.
His mind racing, trying to figure out what possibly could have happened to cause their loyalty to flunder.
Especially Daphne, she was an exceptional asset that was fully on his side.
"What happened? Did someone get to them? Convince them that I am a fraud?…"
Keith waited patiently, looking out the window as the limousine pulled to slow stop.
"Mr. Hall, we have arrived at your destination…"
After thanking the chaufer who drove him back to Noir York City, Keith got out of the luxurious car and turned towards the alleyway where the The Pine Cone was located.
He was getting increasingly puzzled at the realization of the lack of customers queuing up, especially at peak hours.
He had only been gone for a few days, thus, there was no reason why there was no customer present.
With an anxious heart, Keith quickened his pace.
When he reached the restaurant, everything leading up to that very second made complete sense.
The restaurant was completely destroyed!
The large window glass that was recently installed had been smashed into smoldering ruins, and the tables and chairs were completely destroyed as well.
"What! Who did this?!!" Keith roard with bloodshot eyes. His furious voice continuously echoed in the empty alleyway.
Step!
Step!
Step!
"I'm going to kill whoever did this!" he yelled as he ran towards the restaurant.
The place was in total ruins and Keith could see dried up blood spilled everywhere on the restaurant's newly installed walls and floors.
"Daphne! Lucio!" looking at the blood all around the restaurant, Keith's sense of urgency kicked in and he rushed inside.
Rather than the restaurant, Keith was much more worried about their safety.
Upon entering the restaurant, Keith promptly called out to Lucio and Daphne, frantically searching for them.
His heart pounding rapidly as he searched high and low for their figures in the destroyed restaurant, praying for their safety.
Broken utensil and ceramics were all over the floor, chairs and table were toppled over, the lights that once illuminated the entire space were hanging by threads of wires that kept sparking.
"Come on!! respond! Where did everyone disappear to?" Keith uttered to himself as he took out his smartphone and started dialing Lucio's number.
The call went through, and as he was about lifting the phone to his ear, a ringtone blared into the air completely stunning him.
The ringing came from the newly refurbished kitchen that was also destroyed beyond recognition. It could only be described as hellish.
Every kitchen machine and expensive equipment had been utterly destroyed beyond repair.
Keith jumped over the service counter athletically and slammed through the kitchen glass doors to get a closer look.
The air inside was filled with the stench of gasoline, causing Keith to shove an arm against his nose.
He quickly looked around for an open flame, acknowledging that a single naked flame would ignite the entire area and cause an explosion within a second.
Still maintaining his arm over his nose, he carefully followed the ringtone to the back of the kitchen until he found Lucio lying unconsciously on the floor behind a huge kitchen cabinet.
"Lucio!!" Keith yelled, scrambling to the floor beside him.
"Wake up! What happened here?!!"
Then, a wet sensation Keith felt in his palm prompted him to scan Lucio's body for any sign of injuries.
"Is this… blood?" Keith couldn't help but stutter. A pool of conspicuous amount of blood had been lost from Lucio's body, particularly from both hands.
His hands looked mangled and bloodied. With a single glance of his hands, Keith could tell that Lucio's hands had been delibrately broken by a blunt object.
Whoever that did this to Lucio was aiming to prevent him from using his hands ever again.
"Keith? Is that you?" out of the despair, Lucio managed to open his pale lips to speak.
Keith was utterly releaved.
"Lucio, what happened to the restaurant, and where is Daphne?" Keith asked in a panicked tone.
"I-I Have no idea…" Lucio pumped a huge amount of air in his lungs to speak.
"Keith… we opened the restaurant and things were going smoothly just like any other day, until a group of thugs entered the restaurant and started attacking the staff and the customers before wrecking the place completely…"
"We tried to stop them but they outnumbered and overwhelmed us completely…"
"Daphne! She remained behind with me and tried to stop them. Please save her!" Lucio begged weakly with tears trickling down his cheeks.
Following Lucio's instruction, Keith gently put down Lucio and began frantically scanning the kitchen for Daphne.
Soon, he had searched everywhere in the restaurant except for the storage room.
With that in mind, Keith hurriedly dashed towards the direction of the storage room and as expected he found Daphne lying unconscious at the entrance.
Keith dropped to his knees beside Daphne, his breath hitching as he gently turned her over.
"Daphne…?" he whispered, eyes scanning the bruises lining her arms and the faint red lines trailing from the cuts on her temple.
His heart sank.
She looked so fragile… so broken.
But as he pressed two fingers to her neck, he felt it—faint, but steady.
She was alive.
Relief flooded his chest, but it was short-lived.
"Daphne, hey," he said shakily, pulling her into his arms. He brushed a few strands of hair from her face, lightly tapping her cheek. "Wake up. Please."
No response.
That was when he noticed it—her smartphone lying inches from her hand, screen lit with a blinking play button. He hesitated for only a moment before picking it up.
The video began playing immediately.
The footage was dim and shaky. Daphne was there, slumped on the floor just as he had found her. Towering over her were two men he recognized far too well.
Victor Sawyer stood front and center, arrogance dripping from his stare. His sharp suit which he wore to the ballroom that night was prestine.
"Stay away from the Sawyer Heiress, Keith! That inheritance is mine!" Victor spat into the camera.
Then another figure stepped forward—Donald Matson. He was even sleeker and far more composed.
"This is for disrespecting my in-laws," he said coldly. "You think you can get away with disgracing me tonight? This is just the beginning… You come near my family again, and I'll do worse."
The video ended.
Keith stared at the black screen, his grip on the phone tightening until his knuckles turned white. His reflection stared back at him in the now-dark glass, but he hardly saw it.
A sharp twitch ran across his brow. His jaw clenched.
Grit.
The sound of teeth grinding filled his ears. A vein pulsed violently at his temple, throbbing with pure, boiling rage.