Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Failed
The formal portion of the evening commenced with the heavy, calculated pageantry typical of the Ministry of Commerce. Chandelier lights dimmed slightly as the Minister of Commerce, Troy Husks, stepped up to the podium on the elevated dais. Feedback from the microphone buzzed briefly before his voice echoed over the eighty tables.
Husks smiled warmly, delivering a sweeping opening address that welcomed the country’s legacy titans, prominent members of parliament, and the institutional directors anchoring Veyra’s economy. He went down a pre-approved list, explicitly acknowledging the contributions of the legacy families, the Meridian Group, and the energy boards.
Yet, as the speech wrapped up, the names Aurelia Capitals and Golden Investments were completely omitted.
A subtle wave of glances shifted toward Table Nine. It was an intentional, public snub, and everyone in the room noticed it immediately.
Waiters in pristine white jackets soon glided between the tables, serving slow-roasted squab and pouring vintage local wines, while a classical string quartet on the upper dais provided a soft, rhythmic backdrop. Despite the music, the atmosphere inside the Grand Pavilion remained thick with unspoken friction. The gravitational pull of the room had permanently shifted toward Table Nine, leaving the surrounding tables noticeably muted.
Jake picked up his water glass, his gaze sweeping across the room. He noticed several ministry officials deliberately bypassing their row, their eyes lingering anywhere but on him.
"The tension in here is fantastic," Noah murmured, cutting into his food with deliberate slowness. "Look over at Table Eleven. They’ve been staring at Marcus for twenty minutes like they’re trying to read his mind."
"They’re trying to figure out if our acquisitions are going to disrupt their third-quarter freight margins," Marcus replied without looking up, taking a measured sip of his wine. "They should be worried. The next project is already finalized."
With the construction subsidiaries they had recently acquired, Aurelia Capitals was currently ranked the second-largest construction power in the country, sitting right behind the Sheele family itself.
Adrian leaned back, his posture impeccably straight as he glanced toward the elevated VIP lounge. "The appetizer course is ending. Timber and Kaelen are moving."
Jake tracked Adrian’s gaze. Duke Timber had set his wine glass down on a passing waiter’s tray, murmuring something to Director Kaelen. The two men stepped away from the velvet-draped lounge, navigating the rows of tables with practiced, political ease. They weren’t heading toward the main stage; their trajectory was locked directly onto the center of the hall.
Seeing them approach, Jake set his glass down. "I’m going to get some fresh air." He slid his chair back, standing up smoothly and walking through the glass doors toward the expansive, stone-paved balcony overlooking the city plaza.
Inside, Timber and Kaelen hesitated, stopping near the edge of Table Nine. They clearly hadn’t wanted to confront Jake while he was flanked by the other four core members. Seeing him step onto the balcony alone, their pace quickened.
At the table, Leon watched the two politicians march toward the glass doors. "Should we go back him up?"
"No," Adrian said smoothly, unfolding his linen napkin. "Jake is more than capable of handling them."
Out on the balcony, the night air was cool against the granite pillars. Jake leaned back slightly against the heavy stone railing, looking out over the flashing security lights of the plaza below. The glass doors slid open behind him, and the shadow of the Member of Parliament fell across the floor.
"Mr. Rivers," Duke Timber spoke first, his voice carrying the deep, theatrical warmth of a veteran politician. He extended a hand, the gold signet ring on his finger catching the light from the banquet hall. "An exceptional evening, isn’t it? I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of a formal introduction since your... remarkable ascent."
Jake didn’t offer his hand. He simply stayed as he was, leaning slightly against the railing, looking at the older man with a calm, unreadable expression. "Member Timber. Director Kaelen."
Timber’s hand remained in the air for a fraction of a second before he smoothly pulled it back, adjusting his silk tie as if the rejection had been part of his plan all along.
Kaelen, however, didn’t possess the politician’s restraint. The bureaucrat’s jaw tightened, his fingers twitching against the side of his trousers. "Mr. Rivers, while we appreciate the contributions your group and company brings to the country, the Ministry expects a certain level of procedural respect. Taking over Table Nine without an administrative clearance wasn’t just a breach of protocol; it was entirely unnecessary."
"The table was empty when we sat down, Director," Jake said levelly, his tone completely void of defensive weight. "Just like the wallets of many citizens out there before I helped them inject some liquid into them. I didn’t think the Ministry minded the help and efficiency."
Kaelen’s face flushed a deeper shade of red, but Timber stepped forward, cutting off his director before the man could escalate. He leaned down slightly, lowering his voice so it wouldn’t carry past the balcony doors. "Let’s skip the administrative theater, Jake. We’re all businessmen here, one way or another. Your uncle Darius spoke highly of your intelligence, but he also mentioned you were new to the realities of Veyra’s ecosystem."
"I remember the conversation," Jake said.
"Then you should understand how the machine works," Timber continued, his eyes narrowing into cold, calculating slits. "A house as large as Golden Investments cannot stand on market sentiment alone. You’ve grown very fast, very quickly, and in doing so, you’ve stepped on a lot of delicate toes. The frozen rail line extensions for the Steel Refinery Phase 2... that’s just a routine environmental sound-pollution review. Standard procedure. But as you know, those reviews can take months. Sometimes years, if the committee remains unsettled."
Kaelen nodded sharply behind him. "Without those extensions, your logistics corridor is effectively a dead end, Mr. Rivers. The Meridian Group’s supply chain will stall before the winter quarter even begins."
It was an overt shakedown. The implication was clear: Offer a concession, smooth things over with the committee, bend the knee, and the review disappears.
"A routine review," Jake repeated softly. The corners of his mouth tucked into a cold, dry amusement. "Tell me, Member Timber, when you look at me, do you see a traditional old-money heir?"
Timber frowned slightly, taken aback by the question. "I see a very wealthy young man who has yet to learn that laws dictate the market, not the other way around."
"That’s where your calculation fails," Jake said, his voice dropping into a hard, unyielding register. "I didn’t inherit old-money empires, which means I didn’t inherit old-money debts. I don’t owe any favors to you or anyone else. I don’t need your administrative permission to survive."
"The law is the law, Rivers," Kaelen hissed, leaning in. "If we pull the zoning variances, your steel assets collapse!"
"Then pull them," Jake replied instantly, his voice entirely flat.
The utter lack of hesitation caused both Timber and Kaelen to freeze. They had spent decades intimidating executives who panicked at the mere mention of a frozen license. They expected bargaining; but they didn’t expect total indifference.
"You think I’m playing a short-term game with the Steel Refinery?" Jake asked, leaning forward, his eyes locking onto Timber’s. "Let’s talk about what actually happens if the country’s number one steel refinery stops working at efficiency. The moment production drops, out-of-state contracts fail. Output plummets, and thousands of industrial workers lose their jobs in a single week. The public fallout won’t land on my desk, Timber. It will land squarely on yours as the Minister of Trade."
Timber’s breath caught slightly in his throat.
"If you freeze that rail line," Jake continued, "the local steel market drops twelve percent by next week due to supply panic. My team will then short the sector before the opening bell, clearing an immediate liquid profit. I am more than capable of surviving this because I can continue making billions from trading alone while your industrial sectors burn. Meanwhile, the tens of millions of citizens of Veyra will see exactly which ministerial names signed the delay order on their primary economic lifeline."
Jake stood up straight, his presence completely dominating the narrow balcony space.
"I don’t need to carry favor with you," Jake said, his words cutting like glass. "You are holding empty guns, Member Timber. If you pull the spectrum or the rail lines, the public relations nightmare won’t stay in this pavilion. It will land directly on the steps of parliament before your next legislative session. You are afraid to take real action against me because you know the moment you do, the entire sentiment of this country will turn you out of your seats."
For three long seconds, the balcony was entirely silent save for the distant hum of the string quartet inside. Duke Timber’s hand slowly dropped to his side. His face had gone entirely pale, the political mask shattered to reveal the deep, genuine fear of a man who realized his leverage had just evaporated into thin air.
Kaelen went to speak, his chest heaving, but Timber gripped the bureaucrat’s arm with an iron, trembling hold.
"We’ll see how long that public shield protects you when the formal audits begin, Mr. Rivers," Timber said, his voice stripped of all theatrical warmth. He didn’t wait for a response. He turned sharply, dragging Kaelen along with him as they retreated through the glass doors, completely avoiding Table Nine as they headed toward the dark corners of the VIP lounge.
Jake walked back inside, smoothly sliding into his seat at the center table.
Noah watched the two politicians walk away, then let out a low, appreciative whistle. "Jesus, Jake. You didn’t just refuse them; you stripped them bare."
"They needed to know the old rules don’t apply anymore," Marcus said, a predatory smile spreading across his face as he looked at Jake. "Plus they simple underestimated the power of the general public."
Jake didn’t answer immediately. He picked up his water glass, his expression entirely calm, though his left eye gave a brief, faint tingle of warmth. The front line had been held, but as his eyes scanned the upper balcony near the technical booths, he noticed a familiar silhouette ducking out of sight.
The political pressure hadn’t been an accident of state bureaucracy. The specific technical vulnerabilities Timber had targeted regarding the Steel Refinery extensions were too precise for a politician to have found on his own. Someone had fed them the blueprint.
---
Comments