71 Family 1

Inside the room sat the CEO with a calm expression on his face, while Liz was currently sitting outside in the observation room beside Keren.

Keren had a calm expression on her face, but Liz couldn't help but feel tense.

After all, everything would come down to this.

The only saving grace had been that Will had been able to confirm that 4 of the other 7 previous Heads would still follow Happle, as he had given them offers of amnesty in case the things they were trying to hide really did come out into the open.

Still, this route would result in many risks that Will really didn't want to take. Also, a lot more resources would be needed, which might make this a losing deal overall.

As the top CEO in the world, he wasn't someone who made losing deals. Hence, he had seemed to be in a really serious mood before he had gone into the meeting.

Alas, they had looked everywhere, but nothing had really jumped out as something that Xander would want. Hence, they were actually going into this meeting blind.

While Liz watched on, the CEO stood up from his seat on seeing Xander enter and said, "Hello, Mr. Xander. I hope you have been well. Why did we have to push this meeting forward, by the way?"

"A casual question with the hope to pull out some information from him. I don't think it'll work."

The second sentence was said by Keren, who also had her full attention on the monitor in front of them.

Liz also agreed, as she had read in the report that Xander was known for his skill in reading people.

Yet, the CEO obviously had no other choice and had chosen to ask this question out of desperation.

However, the response by Xander made both Liz and Keren stand up with shock.

On hearing it, he had sighed deeply while a sad expression came on his face.

"If you're asking that, then it means that you have been unsuccessful. I guess I expected too much from the famous Bradshaw scion."

Saying so, the most recent Head of the Sylvex family turned around and walked to the door with drooping shoulders.

Seeing this sudden and unexpected response, even the CEO was lost for a few moments.

Thinking quickly, he blurted out, "I know about Lily."

This made the man pause mid-step. As Liz watched his back quiver oh so slightly before he turned around, she realized that that dead-end might be the jackpot that they had ignored foolishly.

Yet, it was still a fact that they had no additional information.

"It seemed that you didn't fail completely, after all. I will give you one last chance. Tell me that you will do what I want. Or give me some clue that you are at least close to finding out what that is."

With these words, Xander sat down, but his face was now frozen in a rigid expression that didn't let anyone guess what he was feeling.

Will also sat down with relief, but inside, he was rummaging his head and trying to decide what the hell to say next.

He had only said those words before because he had seen the emotion in the man's eyes when he was leaving. Knowing that the probability was high that such an emotional reaction might be because of family matters, he had shot an arrow in the dark by saying the name of Xander's wife who had supposedly drowned on the way to Europe.

Now, he was at a loss.

A silence stretched on for a few moments, but it was becoming apparent to all three of them that Xander's patience was stretching thin.

Just as he was about to let out another deep sigh and get up, Will spoke.

"We can employ all the resources we have to find out about their family in the US. We are also willing to give any help you want."

Hearing this, a wild laugh erupted from Xander Sylvex's mouth.

He laughed and laughed until tears flowed from his eyes, while Will, Liz, and Keren watched on with confounded expressions.

Finally, after a minute or so, the laugh was abruptly cut off and replaced by an expression of worry.

Intense, agonizing worry, that seemed to be eating him alive.

Getting up, he pointed a finger at Will and said In a harsh tone, "Thank you for giving me hope and then taking it away. Goodbye, William Bradshaw. Your plan will never succeed. Even if you kill me here, I've already made sure of that. So you can go ahead and try if you want."

Will, who had gotten up in response, took a step back, knowing that he had probably failed.

However, just as he was about to give a secret signal, the door burst open to reveal his PA whose eyes seemed to be moist with unshed tears.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!", she said loudly, making Xander pause and turn around to see just who had the gall to scream at him.