Chapter 132

My plan wasn't anything especially grand. Everything would unfold exactly the way Julia wanted it to. Only the outcome would turn out differently.

"So you're saying you want to buy it. Your greed for money really is something else."

Rumdrax wasn't entirely wrong. It was true that I had my eye on that diamond mine. But what really mattered lay elsewhere.

"Are you planning to drive a wedge between Julia and whoever's funding her?"

Cho, sharp as ever.

"Yes. First, keep every other competitor from bidding, and while pretending to go along with whatever Julia wants, win her trust."

"Well, winning people's trust is kind of my job, I suppose."

"And then you drive up the auction price."

"What? Hey, we already falsified the report — how exactly do you drive up the price after that? You need actual competitors for that."

Putting Rumdrax in a bank president's clothes had…