Villain: The Play of Destiny

"Samuel Falken wanted me to make my stand clear in what's about to come. He did not mince his words around and honestly admitted to me that his son and Heir, Christian, took a rash step. However, he emphasised that it was in response to the disappearance of his younger brother, who went missing yesterday afternoon after he attended lunch with his friends in the Sameran Downtown." Marcus informed them. "He wanted to assure me that our Business Partnerships would not be affected by the hard times that have befallen his family. He also brought up a matter that the two families had been thinking about for some time now." 

"The marriage between your Heir and his daughter?" Venessa smiled and guessed. 

"Yes." The blonde man was not surprised that Venessa had guessed it right. "He also asked me about Rebecca, and I honestly told him that my daughter wants to marry the Heir of Demiliore Family." 

"And what was his response?" 

"He was seemingly not affected by it." He said and then smiled. "All he was concerned about was Julian, and his daughter, Elizabeth." 

"He intends to hook you into neutrality and make you serve as a mediator between our Families?" The lady of the Demiliore Family slipped on her glass of wine and smiled. 

"Yes. He wants to make sure that no matter what happens, I don't side with the Demiliore Family against the Falken." Marcus nodded to her. 

"He must have been very upset when you refused the marriage proposal for your son." She lightly said, not looking at him, and Marcus' eyes widened in surprise. "It is not hard to guess." She told him before he could say anything. "You want to end your ties with the Falken and form Business Partnerships with us, which would prove more beneficial to your family. Since we mostly operate in the same industries, it will provide you with more business security and profits, and will allow you to focus on expanding your Business in other sectors." 

The Head of the Grayson Family nodded his head but stayed silent. It was the same for the rest of the senior members of the Family, and Susana did not bother hiding her anxiousness. It was clearly evident on her face that she did not want things to reach a deadlock here over some Business, which would jeopardise her daughter's happiness. 

"I have no issues with your intentions, Mr Marcus. We both understand that a marriage between Families in our circle is always done in light of profits." Venessa calmly said. "The Demiliore Business is already diversified enough, and to partner up with your family in the mutual industries would not really be a bad idea." 

Her words surprised everyone since it was very clear that the Graysons were going to profit more out of this as Demiliore were the Market Leader in their industries.

"But since we are going to be relatives, we should be considerate and only do things that are mutually beneficial to both of us." She added after a few seconds, and Susana could not help but tense up. 

"What do you propose?" Marcus calmly asked. 

"Your family plans on entering the E-commerce Industry as well as the Transportation Industry..." As soon as she said this, Marcus frowned, worried that she was planning on wanting to be a part of these ventures, but he was relieved to hear her next words. "And I plan on formally entering the Aerospace Industry." 

The Demiliore were already engaged in Aerospace Industry through indirect channels and they privately owned several Satellites for their Telecom Company and Media Coverage. But now Venessa wanted to open their own Spacecraft Manufacturing and Travel Company.

Space Travel, Exploration, and Resource Mining had already begun, and right now, all the Private Aerospace Companies were in the race to start mining on the Martian Planet. Governments around the world were already extracting Titanium Ore and Helium-3 from the moon. And the latter was an invaluable resource for the Nuclear Fusion Reactors which were the primary source of energy for the countries like Netheria, China, US, Persia, and Germany. 

"You want the land I own in the Province of Luxaria?" 

"Yes. The family land that you inherited from your mother. All 537km² of it." She nodded to him. 

Marcus frowned at her words, and rightly so since that land was worth nearly 5 Billion Neris. And it was an absolutely perfect place to have Launch Sites for Spacecrafts as the weather there was very friendly. 

No one said or suggested anything, and Marcus took his time pondering over the matter. 

"Alright. I agree." He finally made up his mind and nodded, which prompted Rebecca to rush up to him and hug him lovingly. "I love you!" She brightly said. 

"Yeah, yeah..." Her father sighed at seeing her so happy and smiled at Venessa. "We want a public Engagement, and it will take place on her coming birthday, the 12th of February." 

"It's a perfect time." The Lady of the Demiliore Family had no objections to it and then both of them started discussing the key factors of their future Business Partnerships. 

The meeting continued for well over an hour, and at the end of it, Marcus was in a lot better mood since his Family was going to gain a lot more than what he had to pay. 

"The Falkens are going to stay put for a while. You can rest assured that they won't make things difficult for you as you break away from them." Venessa assured the Grayson Family. 

"Actually, there is one more thing that Samuel came to see me for." Marcus suddenly said, which prompted everyone to look at him. "He wanted me to facilitate the safe return of his younger son." 

Venessa frowned at his words. 

"Does he believe that my Family is involved in his son's disappearance?" She coldly asked. 

Everyone tensed up at her words. 

"We don't have his son. He should stop wasting his time playing this stupid game and focus more carefully on saving his family." 

After she said those words, no one brought up the matter again before her. The Demiliore stayed for some more time at the Grayson Manor and took their leave right before midnight. 

"Did you kill the Heir of the Rivera Family?" His mother asked after their entourage left the Grayson Manor. 

"Yes." He did not hide it from her and nodded. 

His answer brought a devilish smile to her face and she did not say anything about it. 

On their way back home, she informed him about her plans for entering the Aerospace Industry. 

According to Keith's Dream, she was not meant to make this decision for another three years, but it seemed like a lot of things were changing around him now. 

He was not particularly worried about the changes, but there were some things that he felt needed to be addressed ahead of time. And one of those things was to keep an eye on all of the Children of Destiny that he knew about. It was a necessary precaution that he needed to take. 

He already had eyes on Alana's younger brother Yexuan Parker, and since he was now in contact with the City of Sin, it was not too hard to keep eyes on the major movements of the Inheritor of Hades. However, he had to arrange some eyes for the rest of the Children of Destiny, including Ye Tian, who should be in the Middle East right now, making a name for himself in the Mercenary World. 

He could ask the City of Sin to keep an eye on him as well, but to ask a Tiger to watch over a mouse was disrespectful. Also, his interest in Ye Tian would bring him a lot of attention, which would not be a good thing for his plans. Thus, it was something that needed some careful thought and arrangements.

"By the way, Celine told me that she caught you kissing Qingyue." His mother smirked as soon as they arrived at their home and got out the car. 

And before Keith could say anything, his eyes caught both the mother and daughter walking out of the Manor. 

"Welcome home, little Keith!" The grey-eyed woman mischievously smiled and him and came forward to hug him. 

"It's late, Aunty. You should be resting right now." He smiled at her and said. 

"You promised that we were going to have a chat. And I am not sleeping before it." She clearly said and then hugged Venessa and Amelia before dragging the former with her inside the Manor.

"What's up?" He curiously asked when he found Qingyue holding some grievances in her eyes. 

"I am not talking to you!" She announced and then grabbed Amelia's hand before leading her inside, openly complaining to her about her husband. 

Keith was quite surprised to see it happen since Qingyue was usually quite reserved around Amelia, but it seemed like both of them were warming up to each other, and he was happy to see it.

"Master." 

He was about to walk inside when Ryou called out to him. 

"Yes, Ryou?" He turned around and looked at the dark-eyed boy.

"I plan to try and tackle the Great Profound Realm." The ninja briefly said. 

"That's good news." Keith brightly smiled at him. "You can take as many days off as you need. Just focus on Cultivation." 

"Thank you!" Ryou bowed to him and then turned around to walk towards his house. 

"What's the frown for?" He teasingly asked when he found his beautiful Shadow a little lost in her thoughts. "Worried that the two of them will catch up to you?"

"No." She shook her head. 

"You can focus on Cultivating if you want to. I have already told you that I don't need you by my side all the time." He nudged her nose and gently said. 

"I will be fine, Master." She adamantly shook her head. 

Keith sighed when he heard her answer and shook his head. 

"Well, I guess we will have to use my secret method to help you with your Cultivation." 

"Secret method?" Yingying frowned and curiously asked.

"Yes. And this method is perfect for you." He playfully smiled at her. "Do you want it?" 

Yingying immediately nodded her head without even thinking. 

"Are you sure?" He seriously asked, and she frowned a little before nodding her head again. 

"Okay. If you insist on sleeping with me so much, how can I bear refusing you on such an offer?" He grinned at her and then picked her up in a princess carry. "We can start tonight!" 

"Master!" She furiously blushed at his words and struggled a little in his arms, but she found it hard to escape without hurting him. Which was something she could never bring herself to do. "We should not..." She tried to hide her face in his chest as she meekly said it. 

"Too late now." He cut her off and shook his head. "But well, I can give you some more time to prepare your heart for it." 

His words calmed her down a little and she felt some more heat creeping into her cheeks. 

"Thank you." She sincerely said after he put her back on her feet right before he entered the lounge where Celine was waiting for him. 

"Go. Get some rest." He ordered her before entering the room, and Yingying complied with his words. 

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