60 Xander Sylvex

"Xander Sylvex. The recent Head of the Sylvex family who has just given up his term 5 years ago. He is the youngest of them all, and he also happens to be cleanest. We've found nothing about him; not one mistake, not one skeleton in his closet, not one smoking gun. There's no proof that links him to any criminal activity whatsoever, and he's even a philanthropist for God's sake! Will, I don't know what we will do. We have spent boatloads of money trying to find something, SOMETHING, but there's no progress. It makes me so frustrated! I mean, look at his smug face! HE WALKED IN BY HIMSELF! I was even racking my head for ways to invite him over!"

Seeing Keren say these words emotionally, Liz raised her eyebrows while once again going through the file in her hands.

Beside her stood the CEO, who stood with his hands folded.

Liz could tell that he was similarly stymied by their situation. In the same bare room in front of them where they had 'convinced' 6 members of the Sylvex family, there sat a man who had actually come into this meeting himself.

All the other 6 had been blackmailed to come over by threatening to disclose whatever it was that they were trying to hide.

After they had been done with those 6, the trio had sat together to figure out their next steps. Yet, they had been shocked when they had gotten the message that the person they wanted to handle next had actually shown up at the casino and was asking to see them.

He had short blonde hair, and his strong jaw showcased the natural confidence he had. Standing at over 6 foot tall, he was even a bit taller than the CEO.

His features were also very handsome, and he had this kind of rugged charm that would pull any girl towards him.

Seeing him, Liz had doubted whether he was even who he was claiming to be. After all, all the other Heads either had scars on their bodies or looked like they were tough men who had been through a lot.

Yet, this man looked like he was just a typical guy at a bar, just sitting at the counter in hopes of picking up some girl.

As if he could feel their eyes staring at him, he rapped on the table and said, "If you make me wait one more minute, I will walk out of here. I know you're watching, so just come in."

With an exasperated sigh, Will raised his arms and said, "Miss. Liz, let's go. We don't have a choice."

Nodding, Liz followed behind the CEO as both of them made their way into the room.

"Finally! Now, I'll just make this clear. I could have sent a message all by myself, but I decided to come over. I know that you have already blackmailed all the other Heads in the interim council. How do I know this? Well, you can try to find out. Either way, understand this. There is something that I need from you. Give me that something in 3 days, or I will reveal whatever it is you are using to blackmail those 6 by myself. As for what that something is, you just have to figure it out by yourself. My advice: look somewhere you haven't before. I could tell you what it is, but then, you wouldn't have proven your worth to be people whom I would be interested to work with. Good luck, and goodbye. I will be back here in 3 days."

Saying so and leaving the three with confounded expressions on their faces, Xander Sylvex got up and left the room.

He had come in like a hurricane, and had left after making them all feel wrecked.

At this moment, there was only one thing passing through all of their minds.

What the heck is going on?!

——

3 hours later, Liz found herself walking up to the terrace where she was supposed to meet the CEO and his sister for dinner.

They had all been puzzled about what had happened, and Mr. Will had ordered another probe into the man's life with the hope of finding some clue they might have missed.

In the meanwhile, they had decided to meet for dinner to brainstorm.

Liz had opted to wear a grey cocktail dress which her mother had packed for some reason. The dinner was on the roof of the casino, and as she got to the restaurant, she looked up to see a beautiful sky of stars.

Smiling at the wonderful sight, she looked around for a bit before finding the CEO sitting at a table, alone.

Walking up to him and taking a seat, she asked, "Where's Miss. Keren?"

The answer given by the CEO with a cocky smile on his face made her almost get up and leave, but there was also a conflicting feeling inside her which stopped her from doing so.

"She had something to attend to. I guess it's just us two. Maybe it's time to continue that dinner, after all?", he had said, with a tone that made it seem as if everything was happening 'coincidentally'.