Ch 660 - Playback Time

Alex noticed that everyone around the table had fallen silent, and all eyes were on him.

"Please, nobody needs to worry about me," he said. "Go ahead and enjoy this delicious food."

Everyone slowly began to pick from the various dishes.

"I've been meaning to ask you something else, too," Maryann said, trying to change the subject. "How did you defeat Gabriel that day? I didn't see any weapons."

"You mean you haven't heard about my famous inner power?" Alex grinned. He had no problem sharing his story with these people. "I channeled it a little that day. Then I aimed it at Gabriel, and he fell down."

"Inner power?" she asked, frowning. "What's that?" She had never been involved in the martial arts world, so she didn't understand what he meant.

Most of the others didn't understand, either, but they were astounded by the idea that Alex could have defeated someone so easily without even touching them. They stopped eating again, and their eyes were completely fixed on Alex. Those at the far end of the table edged closer to hear his explanation.

"Really, it comes easily to me," Alex said, shrugging. "Once I focus my mind and my breath, I can inflict the damage of a sword or a catapult—according to the situation. That's how I've been able to defeat so many attackers. Best of all, it leaves no trace, so the cops can't do a thing."

Everyone gaped at him, unable to believe what they were hearing. They had never met anyone who spoke like that, and they realized he wasn't a respectable, dignified chairman like the ones they had worked with before.

Alex had no interest in being a stuffy, conservative chairman. As far as he was concerned, as long as the company made money, then it shouldn't matter who he was.

"That's unbelievable!" Maryann exclaimed, her jaw dropping. "I mean, how many people are there who can fend off their enemies with their mind? Are you invincible?"

"Yes, chairman," one of the others chimed in. "I really don't know of anyone else who could do those things."

"I'm sure there are more like me out there, but I haven't met them yet," Alex replied. "So I guess I'm invincible until another master shows up."

Alex may have been displaying humility, but around the table, the board members knew the truth. There would be no enemy in the world capable of defeating this man.

"Here's one more little secret," Alex said. "As I focused on Gabriel that day, I detected a weak liver. If I aim at a person's weak points, then it takes very little effort to achieve a result."

Everyone was stunned. How could anyone ever match Alex's skills? If anyone else had claimed such things, they wouldn't have believed it, but they knew Alex was telling the truth. The idea that this inner power could kill without leaving a mark was shocking, and they realized that Alex was something out of the ordinary.

After a few minutes, they recovered from their daze, and they all went back to eating, talking, and laughing.

"We're getting a lot more than we bargained for with our new chairman," one of the men remarked to Maryann.

"I know," she replied, smiling. "We're in safe hands."

**

In the deserted headquarters of Robinson Winery, Julie sneaked into Maryann's office. When she had delivered paperwork to her boss an hour earlier, she had also stuck a tiny recording device underneath the desk. Now she removed it and hit the stop button before placing it in the breast pocket of her coat.

She had heard part of their conversation before entering the office earlier, so she knew the recording would reveal information about Golden Health.

Mission completed, she walked to the parking lot. She had worked hard to buy her luxury car, and it pleased her to settle into the cool leather seat. She longed to listen to the recording, but didn't dare to do so right outside the office.

Five minutes later, she pulled up outside a shopping mall. It had closed for the day, and there were only a handful of parked cars around.

She removed the device from her pocket, wound it back to the start, and hit play.

The device had been a good investment; each word was crystal clear. She sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the words sink in. Wow! Golden Health powder has a market value that high? she thought. And even more if they export it. This is unbelievable!

She took a deep breath, started the car, and activated her car phone.

"Call Riley," she ordered.

After two rings, Riley picked up.

"I'm on my way over," she said. "You're not going to believe what I have for you."

**

Twenty minutes later, Julie arrived on the third floor of Haus. The private club was empty, apart from Riley, who waved to her from a doorway.

"Over here," he called. "Come in!"

As Julie removed the recording device from her coat pocket, Riley poured two glasses of red wine. Under the soft lighting, she noticed how handsome he was in his tailored suit with his designer watch shining just below the cuff. Before either of them took a sip, she began to play the recording.

A few minutes in, Riley hit the pause button. "So, let me get this straight. Robinson Winery is going to work with Alex to produce this trauma medicine?"

"Correct," she responded. "And, believe it or not, they've already signed an agreement."

Riley looked unshaken by this, but she noticed his hand tighten around the stem of his wine glass.

The silence stretched out, growing uncomfortable.

"This agreement…" he began, before pausing to take a sip of wine. "Do you happen to know the details?"