At Delmar's words, his expression clouded, and he muttered, "Uh-oh."
William felt a brief surge of confusion before adopting a deadpan tone. "What do you mean by 'Uh-oh'? What did you do?"
Delmar chuckled a bit sheepishly and replied, "Well, it's not so much what I did, but rather what I didn't do."
William sighed. "So you didn't buy anything for the guy, did you?" Delmar nodded.
"So now what am I supposed to give him? I planned to use that gift as a pretext to speak with him privately, and now this mess happens. I really didn't expect you to be so careless."
Delmar, clearly embarrassed, was silent for a moment before he stood up, looked at William with determination, and said, "I'm really sorry about this, boss. I genuinely am. I sort of forgot, but you don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm going to find you the perfect gift— something that will secure your place in his inner circle."
William regarded him skeptically. "And how exactly do you plan on finding anything at this hour?" He gestured to the clock, which showed it was nearly 2 AM.
"Don't worry about the time, boss. In the black market, time is irrelevant," Delmar said with a sly grin.
"24/7, huh?"
Delmar nodded and made his exit as William bid him goodbye. Once Delmar was out the door, William sat down, took control of the drone, and directed it to a specific location.
'So, what was all that about?' Anne inquired.
William, now focused on maneuvering the drone over a large estate and above the swimming pool area, responded, "Oh, that? That was just something I needed him to handle before I could move forward, but he seems to have forgot about it."
'What was it?'
"I need to give something to an old, very wealthy man— something that will grant me the opportunity to talk to him privately about certain matters." William grinned as the drone finally located its target— Jenie.
'Then how about I help you find something?'
William momentarily tore his gaze away from the screen, which was displaying Jenie's nearly naked form in a swimsuit, and asked, "What do you mean?"
Anne didn't reply verbally, instead diving straight into the search. William watched as a cascade of screens flashed before his eyes, so quickly that he could no longer see Jenie's nearly naked form.
The screens appeared and vanished for a while before finally settling on one item. Anne said, 'I found it.'
William scrutinized the item on the screen, raising his eyebrows skeptically. "Are you sure this will actually impress the guy?"
'Absolutely.'
Hearing the confidence in her voice, William could only click on the buy option. After completing the transaction, he called Delmar. "Hey, Delmar, you can stop searching for an item."
"Ahh... But boss, I'm really close to finding something that Edward will definitely love."
"I know, but you don't have to anymore. I found something that I'm confident will work, so stop searching for a gift and instead, look for something I can give to his wife."
"A beauty product at this hour?" Delmar asked, puzzled.
"Didn't you say that 'In the black market, time is irrelevant'?"
Hearing those words, Delmar laughed. "Yeah... Alright then, let me see if I can find something that will charm the wife."
"Alright." William ended the call and turned to Anne, "I hope you know what you're doing."
Anne reassured him, 'Don't worry about it. What's the worst that could happen?'
William's confidence wavered slightly as he heard that and sighed before heading off to find a suit.
[ The Next Day ]
William drove his blue Halls-Royz Phantom up to a grand mansion that exuded prominence from the outside. The car came to a halt as the guard approached and requested identification.
"What is the purpose of your visit?" The guard asked, peering suspiciously into the back, but all he saw was William waving at him.
"We have an invitation from your master, who has invited my boss for a 'talk.'" George, the driver, didn't flinch under the guard's scrutiny and matched it with a stare of his own as he handed over a card.
The guard inspected it for a moment before signaling to his colleague to open the gate. "Welcome to Saintsgate Mansion."