"Alright, please wait a moment..."
In the office, Bellamy was discussing with Trollope the response plan to be enacted after the matter reached headquarters.
A knock on the door interrupted their train of thought, and Bellamy had no choice but to shout, "Come in."
"Director Bellamy, Director David wants to see you!"
"To see me?"
After pondering for a while, Bellamy eventually replied, "Tell him I'm very busy and don't have time."
He knew why the other party wanted to see him; it was nothing more than having been rebuffed by Director Ducray and now looking to make a move on him instead.
But he had already made up his mind to freeze that sum of money indefinitely, naturally leaving no need to meet with the other party.
"Alright..."
"Wait a second."
Just as the person who had come in was about to leave with the message, Trollope stopped him, contemplated briefly, and said, "Go out for a moment and give me five minutes."
After the visitor left and closed the door, Trollope turned to Bellamy and said, "Director, I think we should meet with him."
"Is there a need?"
"I think there is because I've just thought of something... we could, perhaps, strike a deal with him!"
"What do you mean?"
"Director, you're curious about how he managed to hit GCO Corporation with a fine, right? If we could learn his secret from him, perhaps we could do the same..."
Trollope's words brightened the previously doubtful Bellamy.
Having already seen each other's photographs through files and news channels, they were not too unfamiliar to one another.
After a brief handshake, David went straight to the point, "Director Bellamy, I know that the freezing of GCO Corporation's tax funds is related to you. In one word, unfreeze the money and give it back to me, and I'll turn around and walk away without troubling you!"
Bellamy seemed amused by the remark, replying, "Unfreezing isn't impossible, but there's something I'm very interested in. I wonder if you could satisfy my curiosity."
"Let's hear it."
"I want to know how exactly you got GCO Corporation to willingly give you that sum of money."
"Director Bellamy, as a member of our federal tax bureau, I believe you should know that we have the right to keep tax affairs confidential. That's something I cannot tell you."
Hearing this, Bellamy's expression turned icy as he responded, "Director David, it seems you haven't realized the situation yet."
David didn't waste further words and activated his 'golden finger' viewing feature, beginning to scrutinize Bellamy's information.
But soon his eyes revealed a hint of disappointment.
He had planned to see if there were any vulnerabilities in Bellamy's record, hoping to take advantage of the fund-freezing incident to bring him down and thus remove a competitor.
However, to his surprise, this man's track record seemed much cleaner compared to Director Ducray's.
For the moment, David couldn't find any leverage to use against him.
Bellamy continued, "In a word, if you explain to me how you managed to leverage GCO, then the funds will be immediately returned to you!"
David laughed, now understanding that this man wanted to 'steal his trade.' With a hint of mockery, he replied, "Want to learn, huh? Why don't you apply to transfer to my audit team, and I'll teach you bit by bit!"
"What did you say!"
The remark infuriated Bellamy, his face flushing with anger. He was a star figure at the federal tax bureau and the Chief Tax Officer of a major branch like the Los Angeles Long Beach Branch.
And yet, David had the audacity to suggest he transfer to his audit team, which was nothing short of a blatant insult.