Hoffman's Illegitimate Son

Chapter 7: Real owner

Arthur didn’t flinch.

Neither did he shout nor curse, but simply took out his handkerchief and wiped the pink cocktail from his face and shirt. The movement was precise and slow.

He raised his eyes to find his blood-red irises fixated on Chloe. The total lack of emotion in his stare made her take a step back involuntarily.

“Following you?” Arthur's voice was quiet, but clearly heard over the murmur of the restaurant. “Look around you, Chloe. This is an exclusive lounge of a multibillion-dollar company and doesn't look like your private office or restaurant. Do I require your permission to eat in my restaurant now?”

Chloe became flustered. “You—! A dirty little beggar! Do you still try to scare people after begging in the dirt? Marcus, look at him!”

Marcus put his arm around Chloe's waist and gave a self-satisfied grin. “Babe, save your breath from this stray dog.” Then he snapped his fingers. “Hey! Guards! How come a beggar was roaming in the VIP zone? Get rid of him before he spoils everybody’s appetite.”

The two bulky men emerged from the corridor and stared straight into Arthur’s eyes.

Before they could take another step, a cold and sharp voice rang throughout the restaurant.

“Don’t dare to touch him, and I will get each one of you out of this building before you can blink.”

Both guards froze instantly.

Elizabeth walked out of the private corridor. Her face was icy, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as she marched straight past Marcus and Chloe to stop right beside Arthur's table.

She took one look at his damp collar, and her expression darkened completely.

"Mr. Arthur," Elizabeth said, her voice tight with suppressed anger as she bowed deeply. "I am deeply sorry. We allowed trash to wander into your presence and ruin your clothes. This is completely unacceptable on my part."

The entire restaurant went dead silent. Diners stared in disbelief.

Chloe’s jaw dropped. Marcus’s smirk faltered as he eyed Elizabeth suspiciously.

"General Manager Elizabeth, right?" Marcus forced a tight laugh, stepping forward with an outstretched hand. "I think there's a mistake here. I'm Marcus Dwen, CEO of Dwen Enterprises, and—"

Elizabeth didn't even look at his hand. Her gaze locked onto him like ice.

"I don't care who you are," she cut in flatly. "In this building, you are trespassing, and you just harassed one of our top directors."

Marcus's hand dropped, his face flushing hot. "Director? Are you out of your mind? Do you know who this guy is? He’s a jobless parasite! He was living off Chloe until she kicked him out yesterday! He can't even afford a cup of coffee here!"

Elizabeth gave a dry and cold laugh. “Mr. Arthur isn’t only a director,” she addressed everyone in a loud voice, turning to everyone. “He is our fourth-largest shareholder with the right of ownership of this hotel chain.”

Three seconds passed. Then Marcus gave a loud laugh of pure amazement.

“Fourth-largest shareholder?! Oh God, Elizabeth, did this loser pay you to show him respect? Look at him! His clothes are wet with cheap cocktails and dirt! He doesn’t even have three digits in his bank account!”

“Yeah! He is a beggar!” Chloe laughed. “Not long, he was crying on my family’s doorstep for a hundred bucks!”

Guests around them started to whisper and nod. It sounded ridiculous.

Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She just took out her tablet from her suit and tapped it two times, handing it to Marcus.

“Take a look at the registry seal and the biometric signature yourself, Mr. Dwen,” she said in a quiet voice. “And then prepare to crawl out of this place.”

Marcus grabbed the tablet and sneered. But the second his eyes fell on the screen, the blood drained from his face.

There was an official Royal Life Group registry seal of Arthur's biometric signature, with the transfer timestamp of less than an hour ago.

His hands started to shake uncontrollably as he held the tablet in his hands.

“T-This...” Marcus stammered, looking at Arthur with wide eyes of horror. “It can’t be a fake... It’s impossible...”

“Security,” Elizabeth commanded.

Before Marcus could step away, the four guards surrounded the table. Two grabbed him by the shoulders, and the other two grabbed Chloe by her arms.

“Let me go! Do you know who my father is?!” Chloe screamed, fighting the guards and dragging her expensive dress on the floor. “Marcus, help!”

But Marcus was still frozen in shock. His legs went weak with his mind failing to interpret what had just happened. The man whom they had been mocking was the fourth largest shareholder for a hotel that was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

When they were dragged towards the private elevators, screaming and swearing, the other guests just watched them.

Arthur didn’t even look after them.

He took his phone, cleaned the screen from the sticky cocktail, and opened his trading application.

Numbers ran on the screen. While others were trading blind, Arthur knew exactly which market crashes and spikes were going to happen

Having only $106,672 in his account, putting all the money into a single trade wasn’t the smartest move. He needed a multi-front attack.

He tapped on his screen and allocated the money into three positions:

First, he put a strong short on GBP/USD, betting on the currency collapse before the crash.

Then he took a crashed biotech stock that was trading for $0.45.

And finally, he opened the crypto tab and found a dead meme coin at almost zero. Although this trade was rather the riskiest of them all, it was the one with the most profit if it played out well. A high risk high return trade.

Arthur relaxed in his chair and sipped some water, watching the green execution lights on his screen.

[Trades Executed Successfully. Portfolio Deployed: $100,000]

[Ding]

The system interface popped up suddenly in his field of vision.

[The user has embarrassed his ex-wife in a way she never expected. As a result, a reward has been issued.]

[Reward: An Audi RS6 Avant wagon has been granted to the user. The key is already in the user's pocket, and the vehicle is parked in the lot.]

Arthur slipped his hand into his pocket to check. Sure enough, his fingers brushed against a heavy, sleek key fob. A small, cold smile played on his lips.

[New Mission: The user's ex-wife has not paid nearly enough for the humiliation she put him through.]

[Objective: Crush the Ravenwood Family and the Dwen Family until they have nothing left.]

[Time period: Two weeks.]

[Reward: 1% stake in Hoffman's Corporation.]

A low laugh broke out as Arthur took a slow sip of his drink. “I was already planning on doing that from the start, but getting rewarded for it makes it even better.” He leaned back, his eyes narrowing. “Let's see how their grand wedding plays out starting from today.”