Chapter 1 Price tag

"I learned that your business is having a downtime," Alex said, his sharp eyes piercing through Mr. Green, while he swirled the glass of wine in his hand.

"Yes! President Alexander Edwards" Mr Green responded, feeling tensed under the fierce gaze of Mr Alexander.

"That means you lack management skills for your business," Alex said, his gaze not shifting from Mr Green.

"Is not what you think Mr. Alexander, I'm pretty good at what I do. I was only attacked by fraudsters." Mr Green replied, hanging his head down to avoid Alexander's piercing gaze.

Mr. Green's business went bankrupt, after a very serious cyberattack from one of his rivals, a few years back, Mr. Green was doing well in business, so much so that, his incredible level of success made him the envy of so many people.

Soon enough, some persons in the same line of business with him, began to attack his business, threatening him to back down. But he refused and was still winning effortlessly against all odds.

When one of his rivals saw that their efforts to pull him down were futile, he launched a cyberattack against him, stealing most of his financial assets, and freezing the ones he couldn't take away.

Mr Green got weary by all the losses he had accumulated and started putting a lot of money into tracking the culprits behind his losses, but his efforts were no match for those criminals.

Things were very bad to the point that he ran into debt. His debtors connived together and shot down his business activities because he wasn't able to clear those debts.

"Hmm! What are your plans? Or do you just want to fold your hands, and watch your business close permanently?" Mr Edwards asked again, with a stern face, his voice icy.

" have exhausted all the options I have, I'm now looking at other businesses I can start with a small capital" Mr Green explained, his eyes darkened, a pang of grief engulfing him.

His heart tinged with pain, as he reminisced over how hard he had been trying to save his business, but all his efforts were useless.

He has tried collaborating with some business partners but none of them were willing to work with him.

He also talked to some distressed debt investors, to acquire the business, while he became a partner, they agreed, but all of a sudden, everybody backed out, saying they were no longer interested.

"You're such a simp! what kind of a man gives up a widely recognized business without a fight?" Alex spat out those words, with a hint of irritation in his eyes.

Now I'm convinced that you lack effective leadership and management skills for business. People like you shouldn't be doing business. Alex fumed, flames of anger sparking in his eyes.

Mr Green shivered at the outburst of his anger, wasn't this man supposed to help him? Did he call him out here, to remind him of his failure?

"Errm... you see, Mr. Alexander, I might not be as ruthless as you are, but I gave my best to that business", Mr Green said, furrowing his brow, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead.

" Save that for yourself, I want to invest in the business," Alex said, dropping his glass of wine off the table, and re-adjusted himself on the chair.

"What? Mr Green screamed, his jaw-dropping, please tell me this is not a joke President Alex" He said, becoming more impatient, his ears itchy and his heart leaping in joy.

Alex remained calm, scanning his demeanor with a cold face, and a burning gaze.

"Do I look like a joke to you? Do you think I left all the important things I was supposed to attend to, and came here just to have fun with you?" Alex replied.

" I'm sorry Mr Alexander." Mr Green apologized, rubbing his temple.

.Mr Alex grabbed his briefcase, opened it, brought out a document, and slammed it on the table. " Here! I will invest one billion dollars into your business." He said, staring at Mr Green, his face expressionless.

Mr Green gasped, his eyes widening in shock, he wanted to say something, but the words weren't coming out. "Mr Alex! A whole 1 billion dollars? For me?" He finally managed to say, staring at Alex in disbelief.

"Are you also deaf?" Alex asked, furrowing his brow.

" N...No! Mr Green stammered, snapping back to reality.

Earlier that day, when Mr. Alexander Edwards called him, and told him he wanted to have a meeting with him, he was puzzled, not knowing why such a prominent figure would want to have a meeting with him.

While he was on his way to meet Alex, his heart was pounding in his chest, worried that he was coming to face trouble, but here he was being offered the rare opportunity in the world, just when all his hope was crushed.

"Are you trying to acquire the business or do you just want to partner with me?" Mr Green asked, still trying to process what he just heard.

"I do not need it for your business, it is only going to be baggage, I already have enough business to run" Alex replied, his hand clutching the documents, placed on the table.

"Wao! I don't even know what to say, I'm just overwhelmed by your kindness, thank you so much." Mr Green said, grinning widely, his gaze fixed on Alex.

"You're welcome Mr Green, but there's a price tag for this, I believe you know that, nothing goes for nothing., " Alex said, his lips curling into a cold smile.

"A price tag? Alright, what could that be? I'm willing to do anything it takes, for my business to bounce back." Mr Green replied, feeling nervous.

Mr Alexander sneered, biting his lips in satisfaction, he responded. "your daughter Mia is the price... I want her as compensation for my generosity towards you."

Mr Green's countenance failed immediately, his jaw dropping in shock, and his eyes flickered. "My daughter! How did you know about Mia?"