Joseph still looked at him indifferently without saying anything. A wisp of smoke rose from the burning cigarette and soon vanished after reaching his chin.
"I came here to see you since you are so lucky." Leo leaned against the couch leisurely but didn't light the cigarette in his mouth. He fondled the lighter and showed a faint smile to Joseph. "Many people committed suicide from gambling in ore, but why are you not a part of them? Joseph, don't you think you might be too lucky?"
"Maybe." Joseph also leaned back with one of his hands holding his cigarette while the other rested on the couch. Two of his shirt buttons were undone, revealing his sturdy chest. Unlike Leo, he looked graceful and elegant as the dark sky, but his voice sounded cold.
Leo squinted and continued, "I'm really confused, why are you so lucky?"
"It is because God placed the entrance of that huge diamond mine inside of M100-1, and no one knew this secret except me." Joseph smiled faintly and took a drag of the cigarette, gazing at Leo through the smoke with his deep eyes, adding, "If you were not so eager to defeat me, you would also have found it since you are so smart."
Leo slammed the lighter on the table while his eyes turned severe, but he still showed a cold smile, "It turned out you have suspected me for a long time."
"However, you got the wrong information and lost this huge diamond mine." Joseph smiled, which looked very enchanting. "I assume you're very clear about how much profit I can gain from 9 billion tons of diamond, I remember that you are good at math."
Leo stared at him and lit his cigarette after a long while.
The cigarette in Joseph's hand was not extinguished yet, and the fire slowly swallowed it. He flicked the cigarette ash away and said to Leo, "You got the news that it is an empty mine before me, and then you colluded with Hall to mark up the diamond price. Finally, you pretended to compete with me with just a small amount of money to force me to bid on that so-called empty diamond mine with my total worth. In this way, you were able to vent your hatred. Leo, your motives are despicable."
Leo dropped cigarette ash on the ground directly but still didn't remove his eyes from Joseph. After hearing this, he sneered and asked, "When did you begin to suspect me?"
"You are my deadly foe, so it is normal for me to be vigilant towards you." Joseph smiled and put the cigarette butt out on the ashtray, pressing to extinguish it with his slender finger. The last wisp of smoke rose from it and surrounded him but soon vanished. After a few seconds, Joseph said continually, "But I truly realized what your ambition was on the day when I was kidnapped."
The tea cooled down while the smoke dissipated, but the atmosphere remained very tense in the room. The two of them were deadlocked.
Joseph leaned back on the couch after extinguishing his cigarette, and the smile on his face was even fainter. He then continued, "Alston was determined to enter the American market, so M100-2 was essential for him, and he needed to try his best. Then we all became his enemies. In this way, it was natural that he would kidnap me. I just waited to see who would come to rescue me in the end."
"Joseph, don't forget that I was your savior." Leo squinted.
"You were so anxious that you lost your mind," Joseph said slowly. "I never thought you would want to compete with me because we are all the same. I know you wanted to defeat me, so you wouldn't care what kind of means you used as long as you won. You just wanted me to lose everything I have, so the most splendid part of the game was on the bidding day. How could you allow me not to show up? In order to achieve your goal, you would find me at any cost. I had been suspecting your relation with Hall, and it was not until you showed up at the kidnapping scene that I was sure that you must have made a great effort against me. I am familiar with South Africa, but you are not, so it was not easy for you to find a reliable man. The only man who could help you was Hall because he knows everything in South Africa, like Tuell. But obviously, you don't know Tuell at all."
"I never thought Alston's kidnapping would help you."
"Yes. Perhaps, just as you said, I'm too lucky." Joseph sneered and then asked, "But there is still a point that I don't understand. Why would Hall help you and tell you the secret about this mine?" Zone B of the diamond mine did create a false appearance, and it deceived Tuell as well as Hall.
Leo drew back his eyes and said, "You don't know the reason?"
"Hall is not an honest man, but how could he listen to you and tell you the secret unless you coerced him with something." His eyes flickered and continued, "But I can't figure out how you coerced him."
Leo smiled and said, "It was easy. He had an affair with one of the South African councilors."
"But as far as I am concerned, the politicians here are all men." Joseph was a little shocked and frowned.
"Can't men be with men?" Leo said ironically.
Then Joseph realized what he meant, and he smiled while shaking his head, "Leo, you are so contemptible."
"You are no better than me, and don't forget, I learned it from you. It was you who told me that businessmen are all crafty." Leo sneered and stood up, and then he continued to say, "You'd better consider carefully how to comfort Irish before you are going to rake things up against her. Did you think how she'll feel when she finds out that you purchased a huge diamond mine at such an extremely low price by using her? Oh, perhaps she knows that already. I guess she was bitterly disappointed when she saw Daisy show up at the 'empty' mine."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺