Ch. 33..34: An Understated Dominance Chapter 33-34

An Understated Dominance chapter 33

An Understated Dominance chapter 33-“You must be kidding, right, Dad? This can’t be aged wine!” James‘ eyes were wide as dinner plates.

“Look at how yellowish it looks, though. It must be fake!” Florence accused.

“You guys must not have seen brews like this before. Aged craft brews get this color, and it only darkens the longer it’s been aging. Every wine connoisseur knows this.”

The looks on everyone’s faces quickly changed. Their accusations had just been dampened significantly, not by just anyone but by John Nicholson himself, a well- known wine enthusiast. His judgment couldn’t be wrong.

“I was blessed to be able to try such a fine wine years ago with a government official, but this brew right here must be finer than the one I had that body and finish tell me it must’ve been aged for at least 50 years!” John smacked his lips, still enjoying the brew’s aftertaste. ?

“How much would it cost on the market?” James asked curiously.

“It’s priceless. You couldn’t find a willing seller even if you offered a city’s worth. But if we judge based on recent wine auction values, it should cost at least two million dollars,”

“Two million?!” Everyone gasped. They’ve never even heard of wine that costs this much! Chris‘ Grand Cru was nothing compared to that!

“N–no way!” Florence refused to believe it. “Are you sure about this, John? How could Dustin be able to afford this?”

“Yeah! He can’t even afford a nice pair of pants, not to mention something this expensive!” James cried. His argument brought forth the table’s resounding agreement.

“He has a point. How could that vagrant have that much money?”

“Hmm… where did you get this brew, Dustin?” John asked gently.

“A friend gave it to me,” he answered truthfully.

“Gave it to you?” Florence scowled. “How could someone like you have friends rich enough to buy a drink like that? Even if they did, why would they give it to you in the first place? I bet you stole it from them!‘

“Yeah, he must’ve stolen it!” James nodded vigorously, finding a new accusation to

slap Dustin with. He refused to believe Dustin could afford this sort of quality wine, whether or not it was given to him by a friend.

“Why did you have to steal this of all things, Dustin? Do you know how

many years you’ll have to spend in prison for theft?” Chris huffed, appearing to be considerate.

How could that pauper have gotten a hold of something not even he could.

“Whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter to me. I didn’t steal it, and that’s enough for me,” Dustin droned.

First, they called his wine cheap. Then, after revealing it wasn’t, they find another accusation of him having stolen it. Next, they would just say he blackmailed Natasha into giving it to him.

That’s why there was no use explaining to them further.

“Hah, see? Where’s your excuse now? I knew you stole this!” Florence screeched.

“You thief! I can’t believe you stole this just to look good in front of us!” James gasped, playing along.

“Whatever. I got this wine for Granddad and Granddad only, so you guys don’t have to drink any if you don’t want to!” Dustin rolled his eyes. He had had enough of this crap.

“Enough, all of you! I trust Dustin with my whole heart, and I know he didn’t steal this wine, so stop it!” Henry finally ground out.

“But Granddad…

“Be quiet! Eat your food!” the old man ordered once again. Only then did everyone shut up.

Even Florence and James, who still didn’t believe he could have lawfully gotten his

hands on the craft brew.

Dinner finally began. Even though everyone had their turn at smearing Dustin’s name, they still gladly took their share of the craft brew. Even those who didn’t drink alcohol tried a few sips.

After all, this brew cost over two million dollars on the market, a precious delicacy they had never had the luck to try before. Why pass on the opportunity?

Dustin could only snort at how stubborn this family of people was.

 

An Understated Dominance chapter 34

An Understated Dominance chapter 34-Chris rapped on the table, calling for everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, I would like to share some good news with you all. Nolan Pharmaceuticals. has been looking to increase its share pool, so we are currently welcoming new investors. Is anyone here interested?”

“New investors?” Everyone’s attention was immediately captured.

Nolan Pharmaceuticals was an industry–leading corporation with very limited shares available. That was why Chris‘ announcement came as a shock to everyone at the table.

“Hasn’t the company been doing alright, Mr. Nolan? Why the sudden invitation?” Dahlia asked curiously.

“Of course, it has been. We’ve just been planning to list our company publicly, that’s why. As everyone knows, our company is not short on talent or the capability to overcome competition. This share listing is just so we have some funds to give our employees a good bonus this season.” Chris smiled. “We haven’t officially announced this to the public yet, and the spots are limited. If anyone here is interested, we can save some spots for you.

That sure got everyone on board. Nolan Pharmaceuticals could easily bag them all hefty profits!

“Count me in, Mr. Nolan. I have five million to spare!” James called out eagerly.

“Eight million on me!” Florence followed.

Chris beamed. “Alright, two spots for you guys.

“Hey, I want a share too! You’ve got yourself another three million!”

“Five… five million for me–that’s all my life savings!”

The family started shouting over each other, worried they wouldn’t be able to get at share. It was a perfect example of herd mentality.

“What about you, Dahlia? How many shares would you like to get?” Chris turned to Dahlia. “I can give you extra from the pot, given our relationship.”

“I…” Dahlia gave it some thought.

She had learned a lot on her way up to where she was today. Naturally, she knew not to make decisions based on personal sentiment.

“Don’t you trust me, Dahlia? I’m offering you a share because you’re important to me. You can say no if you want to–there are loads of other people waiting to get their share.” Chris huffed lightly.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that I’ll be joining as a shareholder in a company with the Harmons very soon, so I’m being extra careful with how I’m spending my funds, just in case,” she explained.

“How much do you have in hand right now?” Chris asked.

“Not much. So million tops.”

“That’s more than enough! To be frank with you, you don’t need that much to work with the Harmons. Why don’t you consider investing in my company instead? We pay out really solid dividends each year.”

“He’s right, Dahlia. This is a once–in–a–lifetime opportunity!” Florence cried.

“What are you waiting for, sis? You can trust Mr. Nolan. He’s already helped you out so many times!” James added.

“If you believe in me, Dahlia, then invest in my company. But if you don’t, it’s fine too,” Chris finally relented.

“L… Alright then.”

After some hesitation, Dahlia finally nodded. She was only doing this to pay back the favor she owed Chris, and he had insisted so much that it would be disrespectful to reject his offer.

This investment wasn’t a bad idea either.

Just like that, Dahlia’s So million dollars were all promised to Nolan Pharmaceuticals.

“What about you, Dustin? Wanna buy a share?” Chris suddenly asked with a smirk he didn’t bother hiding.

“Oh, and by the way, one million is the minimum investment amount. You can have at go at earning big if you have that much as a starter.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Heh, I see… Are you not interested? Or… don’t you have that much to spare? How about this: For Dahlia’s sake, I’ll let you have a ten–million share if you can fork out a hundred thousand dollars at least.” Chris grinned.

Dustin replied nonchalantly, “No, thank you. I have no interest in a company that’s on

the verge of packing it up.”

That brought Chris‘ mood to a shocked standstill.