Chapter 84 84 Express

Christina smiled as she was slightly excited to play the villain and graciously accepted her task.

"Then Barry, you will be responsible for managing the private relationship with the Luther family. Make sure to approach them with goodwill and put on a good show to garner their sincerity. Also try to get as much information as possible on the power backing them. In this situation, information can be as valuable as profit. If we manage to find out the force behind Luther family, it might open up new opportunities for business development. And if it turns out that their support is only that dark mage, make sure to establish a good relationship with him. He must be very capable if he was able to hold his own against the Sosis family on his own."

Barry vowed to carry out the task as perfectly as possible just like his sister usually did so his father could have more confidence in him as his heir.

----

As his sister set out to be the villain in the story of the Luther family, Barry needed to do his part of the play as well. At first he wanted to use a straight forward approach to show his sincerity and goodwill towards the family. But then he shirked that thought considering the fact that they had maintained their neutrality up until the moment Luther family managed to gain an advantage. That method although effective had the potential to earn him a bad rapport with the target family. He would come off as opportunistic which was something he needed to avoid in order to build a steady and peaceful business relationship with Luther family.

Therefore, he decided to play a sentimental scenario. Of course the target was someone who was the most vulnerable in his eyes; the head of the Luther family Bruce who was a cripple. He felt that this approach might be more effective on someone like that.

So, while his sister was playing her part, Barry was missing from the action. Instead of visiting the Luther family, Barry went to the burial place of the previous head of the Luther family. He was sure that the target of his 'sincerity' would be there after overcoming such a great upheaval.

As he had expected, Bruce was there. And from the looks of it, he had been there for quite a while. He was kneeling in front of his father's grave and was praying earnestly. And from the looks of it, it should have been a while since he came here to pay his respects. His clothes looked a little dirty. The ground around the grave had been cleaned as if only recently; as the other graves in the vicinity were still covered with dry leaves and dust. It looked like they hadn't been visited by the relatives in a long time.

Barry looked at Bruce who was still sitting in front of the headstone of his father's grave unmoving like the dead themselves. If not for his shoulders that shook from time to time, Barry might have declared him dead from the distance. The silence encompassing the surroundings and Bruce's unmoving figure made him look like a new addition to the gruesome landscape.

Since the situation looked to be ideally in his favor, Barry felt that he should act now to attain the maximum benefit.

Acting on his thoughts, Barry hastily moved towards the grave of the previous head of the Luther family with slow steps so as to not startle the one sitting in front of the tombstone.

Bruce was not of course as oblivious to the world as he appeared from the distance. As soon as he felt someone approaching from the distance, Bruce turned his head to look in his direction as if to state, "Don't think about any funny business just because I am like this."

Barry felt the threat from those cold eyes but he ignored it as the self protection instinct of someone who was reliving some of his most painful memories.

He walked closer to Bruce who had yet to leave his kneeling position. The first thing he noticed was the tear stains hidden around the corner of his eyes. They were telling a long tale about the troubles of the man named Bruce who had to shoulder the burden of being a family head and of losing his legs at the same time.

Bruce didn't try to hide anything about his pitiful condition from Barry because he didn't feel the need to do any such thing. The reason was that he didn't feel any threat from Barry. He had already witnessed Zach's capability from the previous incident and at least until he stayed with his family, there was no need for Bruce to walk on eggshells around those prominent families.

Barry on the other hand had sympathies for this man who had suffered hardships, but like a proper businessman he was trying to not let his emotions get in the way of his profits. He hid his emotions perfectly behind a poker face and bowed slightly in front of the tombstone as if in respect.

Bruce's eyes softened a bit at this gesture of respect towards his deceased father. He no longer showed blatant animosity towards Barry and looked like he was willing to listen to him at the very least.

At the same time, recognition dawned on him regarding the identity of the man that had paid his respects to his father. He was none other than the heir of the Elizabeth family that was the wealthiest family in the city.

Bruce was surprised that a person of such a high status had been sent to him but then the very next instant he understood why that was. It was definitely because of Zach and the recent incident that resulted in the destruction of the Sosis family.

It was only natural for the merchants to look for more business opportunities amidst chaos. That was the kind of people they were and Bruce fully understood their positions.

At the same time, being one of the most influential families of the Elizabeth city they had to make a statement in order to express their opinion about the changes that took place after the obliteration of the Sosis family.

Barry brought out a bouquet of flowers out of nowhere. He had already prepared it beforehand in anticipation of this encounter in order to leave a good impression even though it couldn't exactly be called sincere on his part. He had learnt that in business, he just had to show his sincerity and whether he was actually sincere or not did not matter at all. Therefore, this was all part of the play to show the goodwill of the Elizabeth family.

He laid down the bouquet near the tombstone and bowed slightly before backing away. Once he was done the formal talks between the representative of the Elizabeth family and the head of the Luther family began. This conversation alone was going to decide the stance both families were going to have towards each other in the long run.

Bruce got rid of his spilling sentiments and got back on his wheelchair albeit with some difficulty. Barry wasn't a newbie who would try to help him. He understood the kind of feelings Bruce might have regarding the things he was lacking in. Therefore, he waited until Bruce was done before beginning the discussion.

"Thanks for the flowers even if you didn't mean it and for waiting for me." Bruce said in a placid tone as he turned his wheelchair around to face the heir of the Elizabeth family.

Barry waved both his hands in front of him as if saying, "Don't mention it."

"I suppose the heir of Elizabeth family wouldn't just come here to pay respects to my father with flowers in hand. From what I know our families weren't that close." Bruce initiated the conversation in an attempt to take control of the pace.

"Even though you already seem to know who I am, let me introduce myself anyway. I am Barry; eldest son of the Elizabeth family head."

Bruce didn't seem very surprised as he had already recognized him so he remained silent and urged him to state his purpose with his silent gaze that seemed to be prodding Barry from top to bottom to find and any falsehood or malicious intent.

"First of all, allow me to apologize to you." Barry truly sounded apologetic and regretful as he apologized with all the sincerity he could muster.

"Why would you apologize to me?" Bruce was slightly confused as he couldn't understand where this person was coming from. He didn't believe that he had any previous interaction with this person before.

Barry felt his objective was complete once he saw the confused Bruce looking at him for answers. He was successful in taking away the control of the situation. Being a successful businessman, he knew how necessary control could be in this kind of discussions.

"I believe the start of any business relationship should be from the truth and therefore I want you to know that I and my family are extremely apologetic for not being able to help you when your family was in need. I must look like an opportunistic hyena to you right now." Barry elaborated.

"I don't think you need to apologize for that. As I said already, our families weren't that close and I had no expectations from you in the first place. So there is no disappointment and definitely no hatred in my heart towards you or your family. What transpired was because of the seed of hatred that had festered for too long and the lack of impulse control on the part of the both families. I don't think that the outcome was too bad though."