Chapter 70

Something felt off, that is what Reynold Gwane felt as he watched his idiot of a cousin follow along with the sarcastic recommendation he had been given earlier in the day. No, it was not the common sense that Daniel seemed to lack, which could be the only reason why he genuinely thought the best course of action was the agitate Joshua again, that was something the man was unfortunately used to. The stupidity was relatively widespread amongst the Q Group, if not for impeccable leadership, the louts would have collapse before it could even grow. But something did feel off about the whole situation, and the simplistic route of trash-talking Henry Reyes seemed even more flimsy than when he had first considered it.

Reynold was standing back to the side, watching as Lore's eye twitched every time the word 'ugly' popped up. Of course, this time the man was doing a better job of simply ignoring the jabs at his fiancé. If not for the fact that these two had almost singlehandedly shaken the group's most serious attempt on the night of the engagement party, proving that they were truly a threat even in their own rights, Gwane would be laughing at the fact that Joshua's biggest issue seems to be people blatantly lying about his fiancé's looks, as if most people did not have working eyes.

Why the young representative, and possibly the most clearheaded of the Qin Clan three most recent generations, was only watching? Because he abhorred the plan.

His uncles and aunts were being tested with the handling of this situation with the Lore-Reyes alliance, and when it came to the older generation his influence meant nothing. In their eyes he was an ignorant brat who was only a threat because of blood, a cover that Reynold actually welcomed. The longer he could hide his capabilities the better, that was why he was working with the most idiotic of all his uncles, Daniel's mother. To put into perspective how ridiculous the man was: he was a homophobic and transphobic trans man who is in denial about being trans after transitioning. In the politest way possible, the man's head was in with the fairies and the fact that he genuinely seems to be fighting for the right to inherit the role of president was ridiculous.

It was this genius that said they could keep annoying Joshua to get a rise out of him and use his reaction to humiliate him; Reynold's only regret this week was the fact that he had sarcastically agreed. It was a dumb idea, undoubtedly, and he would happily leave the repercussions to Daniel and his friends.

If Reynold had his way, he would have first done an extensive investigation into the couple, especially after they successfully partnered with the triad. If these two were capable of that without batting an eyelid, they almost definitely had other strong connections outside of their family. He would then find a couple pieces of evidence that could be manipulated into selling the engagement as a desperate move from their parents; the biggest backing the Lore-Reyes merger was that they had a near unanimous public backing. With the public image of the prominent families already in question, it would make it much easier to spread doubt about the main couple. Even if it was clear to everyone that their relationship was real, people always leaned towards controversial gossip over the truth.

From there, with tensions so high, it would be much easier spreading discord within the company. Add in a few well-timed scandals and the family's company would no longer be a threatening agent to the Q Group. With their backing collapse, there would finally be a fighting chance against his generation's Lore and Reyes's siblings before they accumulated too much power.

Obviously, in reality it would not be that simple, but it was a better skeleton plan than 'piss off Joshua by trash talking Henry', anything was better than that.

The real reason he stood to the side was the background investigation on the engaged couple Gwane was waiting for. He had hired an investigator when he realised his uncle entirely misjudged the prowess of the power couple, getting involved further than fanning some obviously false rumours with no information was nonsense. And with the current feeling he had on the situation, it was probably for the best. Once the report was in, he could think of what to do to get somewhere against the pair.

Across the hall, Henry had noticed the loud group stood right next to Joshua, as well as the irritation radiating from the targeted man. It was not just him either, Penelope had also seen it, as well as most others. Those closer could hear the nonsensical insults Daniel Gwane were throwing about. However, Henry seemed to be reluctant to go over, he did not want to hear the insults regardless of whether he knew they held no truth. No one wanted to stand there listening to others insult them. Adam had even nudged him, silently asking, but Henry just shrugged in return.

Of course, if things started to look even remotely bad, Henry would be there before even realising it himself, but as long as it seemed like Joshua could handle things, it was up to the older man.

Henry kept an eye on the situation, continuing the conversation he was having with a couple research professors he had met while networking abroad.

Suddenly it hit Reynold Gwane what felt strange: Henry Reyes was strangely familiar with the other guests.

Before he could make any conjecture about what he had realised, however, Melissa Kwon came over to stand next to him, watching her 'friends' digging their own graves. She really did need new friends. While she did not turn to look at the older Gwane cousin, she did hold out a small tablet to him. "Your info's here, you're going to want to see it."

"I'm guessing there wasn't much either way."

"Course not. I don't know who Lore has safeguarding his past, but if the Reyes want to keep something hidden, it will never see the day of light. But still, what's hiding in plain sight is shocking enough."

Reynold skimmed through the two pages of data, there really was not much that was not public information, the only section that seemed to hold any significance was his time abroad, and even then, it seemed to be mostly academic related… wait…

"So, remember the guy you would rave about while we were at uni because he challenged the whole system and shit? Remember what his name was?" Melissa finally turned her eyes to the man stood next to her, smirking as the usually composed man dropped his jaw along with his mature façade.

He could not believe it. "Fuck, no way," he whispered. He snapped his head back, looking at the blond man who watching his fiancé with a frown. "Shit, Henry Reyes is that Henry? How fucking perfect does a guy need to be?" Reynold was now in a dilemma, the academic geek in him wanted to fanboy, the calculative side wanted to recruit and utilise Henry to the max, and the filial part of him wanted to slam his head into a wall for finding such a ridiculously formidable opponent.

"What reason does Henry have to be here, he probably doesn't have the capability to even try and understand the seminar, he doesn't have the looks to be a pretty face either. Henry Reyes is just wasting a seat."

Silence followed his words; Daniel's voice having gotten so loud that everyone present heard his words.

The problematic group seemed to think the silence was due to the words holding truth, all looking strangely haughty over something that they had not said. In reality, it was because other than this group of nth generation elites with zero care for the topic of today's, everyone else was either shocked at the nerve of these children or simply knew the truth.

Reynold Gwane brought a hand up to his face, unable to even look at the scene that would inevitably follow. Even though he held no care for his cousin, the second hand embarrassment made him want to cringe. A small flask was handed to him, and with no regard for whatever crevice of her body Melissa had pulled it out from, he wordlessly took it and threw back a fiery gulp, he did not know how else he was to stomach sitting through the seminar and conference without some liquid courage.

No doubt, without even trying, the Lore-Reyes couple had definitely won the nonsensical social battle.