The protesters were asking for fifty million dollars as compensation for every two-story house. When the manager of Trend Company who was in charge of the relocation project didn't compromise, they ganged up on him one day after work and beat him up.
Now, they had become these so-called "nail households"—families who didn't accept the compensation and refused to leave their home. The result was that, over time, they became more anxious and they started to cause more trouble than they did before when they saw that the other houses around them were already torn down.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Evelyn spoke on the microphone. "The amount of monetary compensation for housing demolition is mainly determined by two factors. One is the assessment price of the legal house property, and the second is the compensation for house decoration according to the market price. We have hired professionals to assess the price of each house property of the West Village and calculate the compensation price for decoration. After the calculation process, we've estimated that the fair compensation for each household involved in this relocation project to be 1.2 million. However, in light of the problems, our company has agreed to increase that amount to 1.5 million. We are willing to help, but don't you think asking for 50 million dollars is being highly unreasonable?"
This produced such an uproar that the reporters stared at each other in awe. "Fifty million? That doesn't sound right?"
"How can they come here and make such unfair demands?"
"Yeah, they have gone too far this time! I support ZL Group and Trend Company!"
The reporters' discussions made the ten-odd troublemakers blush with shame.
One of them, however, wasn't convinced. "We've lived in West Village for decades. What we've asked you to compensate is not the market value of our houses, but our love for our homes! Fifty million is nothing to ZL Group. Why can't we ask for this amount as compensation?"
"Right! Do you think we don't know how much you sell each of those apartments for after the reconstruction? Tens of thousands of dollars per square meter, perhaps? Don't try to hide the fact that you will make a lot of money from this. If you ask me, you guys are the ones who are greedy and heartless!"
Once Evelyn realized that these people were making a fuss out of nothing, she stopped feeling afraid. "Who is greedy and who isn't, is a question I would like to leave for the lawyers of ZL Group. I'm sure the
Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex.
To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him.
"As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."
She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.
Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again.But life brought her back to him a few years later, to his astonishment.
withdrew her eyes from the window. She raised her hand to cover her eyes, trying not to let the tears in her eyes fall down. "Sheffield..."
She called out to him by his name.
He replied in the same playful tone as usual, "I'm here, honey. You can continue with your work. Remember to come and sleep with me when you have time."
However, Evelyn didn't laugh. On the contrary, she wanted to cry.
She put down her hand and looked at the man in the driver's seat, who had been restraining his emotions. "Stop the car!" she demanded.
She wanted to get out of the car and look for Sheffield.
In a calm voice, Calvert replied, "There are journalists tailing us. Wait a minute."
"So what? Stop the car!" All she wanted to do was embrace Sheffield and nothing was going to stand in her way.
"You want the journalists to snap a picture of you two? I hope you realize that you, ZL Group and I will all be affected by this sort of publicity. Evelyn, please try to calm down! Even if you don't care about yourself, you should at least consider about the reputation of ZL Group!"
Sheffield heard what Calvert had said over the phone. "Be a good girl, Evelyn. He's right. Just go on and make sure to call me later when you're free. I'll catch you later. Bye!"
Before Evelyn could respond, he hung up.
The whole world quieted down eventually. Sheffield looked away as he sat in the driver's seat and took out a few plum candies from his pocket.
He unwrapped one and put it into his mouth. 'I wonder how Evelyn eats this stuff?
I'd better tell her to stop eating these candies, just in case her gastric mucosa starts acting up, ' he thought to himself.