Insta Empire Ep 33 - 42
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00:00:00 Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
00:00:06 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
00:00:09 After Gwen Archer passed out, Kevin suggested that they move her to a table by the window and then open it wide.
00:00:17 Next he had them blow out all the centerpiece candles and take them into the kitchen.
00:00:21 Adriana and the others still had their doubts, but they were hopeful that this would help.
00:00:27 Otherwise, they would have to rush Gwen to the hospital.
00:00:30 Some of them whispered rudely to each other because they thought Kevin had no idea what he was talking about.
00:00:36 From what Jason Jones had said, Kevin was a complete failure in everything that he tried.
00:00:41 Drake overheard some of them who were standing nearby and he was less than pleased. He turned around and roared angrily.
00:00:49 "Whoever makes the next night remark about Mr. Williams is going to take a swim in the Chicago River."
00:00:55 That certainly wiped the smirks off their faces, but Adriana still didn't understand.
00:01:01 "Mr. Williams, could you please explain again why you had President Archer taken over to the window?"
00:01:07 "It's very simple," he explained.
00:01:09 "President Archer had a reaction to one of the ingredients in the scented candles.
00:01:15 I can smell an herb that can lower blood pressure. She's obviously more sensitive to it than anyone else here.
00:01:21 I'm not sure exactly why though."
00:01:24 Dr. Willow still wasn't convinced. There didn't seem to be any scientific basis to what he was saying.
00:01:30 "President Wright, in my medical opinion, you'll need to transport this woman to an emergency room immediately,"
00:01:38 Dr. Willow said with a serious expression.
00:01:40 Just then a group of guests walked into the room led by a tall, powerful-looking man.
00:01:46 "Please step aside,"
00:01:49 Dominic Archer ordered the crowd. The guests respectively made way for him.
00:01:54 "Who put my sister on this table?" he bellowed.
00:01:57 "Mr. Archer, please don't worry. I can explain this,"
00:02:01 Adriana said calmly. There wasn't a trace of fear in her voice.
00:02:06 "President Wright, I don't need an explanation. I just want to know why my sister isn't on her way to the hospital.
00:02:13 What are you trying to pull here?" Dominic asked sternly.
00:02:17 The onlookers started to throw Kevin straight under the bus.
00:02:21 "It's his fault," one of them blurted out. "He's that useless son-in-law who's been leeching off the Jones family for years."
00:02:28 "Jones family? Which Jones family?"
00:02:32 Dominic asked. Then his eyes lit up when he remembered what he'd heard about Kevin. He looked at him and snarled.
00:02:39 "Are you responsible for this?"
00:02:41 "Dominic, I'm warning you. You need to show more respect to Mr. Williams," Drake said as he stepped between Dominic and Kevin.
00:02:51 Dominic and Drake had always been rivals in Chicago's underworld, but the two of them had always kept their conflicts quiet.
00:02:57 They'd never battled face to face.
00:02:59 "Not yet."
00:03:02 "Drake, since when do you stand up for such a useless piece of crap?" Dominic asked him.
00:03:08 "Drake, please let me handle this. I can explain it to him."
00:03:12 Kevin pleaded as he stepped forward to try and convince the large man that this was the best course of action.
00:03:19 "Please be careful what you say to him. He admires strength most of all.
00:03:23 It may be useless to try and reason with him," Drake said to Kevin quietly.
00:03:27 Drake and Dominic had been in competition for years and he was a good judge of the man's character.
00:03:33 But if Kevin was injured under Drake's protection, Cook would never forgive him.
00:03:38 "So, what do you have to say, you son of a bitch?"
00:03:41 Dominic asked nastily as he looked at his sister Gwen lying on the banquet hall table.
00:03:48 Drake started to reply, but he was interrupted by Kevin.
00:03:51 "Your sister is fine. Her blood pressure dropped for a while,
00:03:56 but I can guarantee that she'll be up and back on her feet in less than five minutes."
00:04:00 "If she's not, I promise I won't let you leave this hotel in one piece," Dominic threatened him.
00:04:07 Then he glared at Adriana and added, "President Wright, you'll have some explaining to do, too."
00:04:13 "Dominic, how dare you take on that rude tone of voice with my friends?"
00:04:17 Drake said arrogantly.
00:04:19 Nobody dared to step between the two of them to interfere.
00:04:22 Just when it looked like the two of them were about to start swinging at each other, Gwen suddenly coughed.
00:04:28 They were all amazed that Kevin had been right,
00:04:31 especially the ones who had been swayed by Jason's gossip about him.
00:04:35 Dominic grunted at Kevin and Drake. Then he quickly walked over to his sister and asked her,
00:04:41 "Gwen, how do you feel? Are you okay?"
00:04:45 "Dominic, when did you get here?" Gwen shook her head slightly before continuing.
00:04:50 "It felt like the room was spinning and then everything went dark."
00:04:54 Her voice was still faint, but everyone could hear her clearly. Most of them still didn't believe Kevin was right.
00:05:00 Dominic frowned a little and looked at Kevin.
00:05:03 "President Archer, think about this carefully. Did you see anything before you fainted?" Kevin asked her.
00:05:11 "Stop pretending to know what happened. My sister woke up all by herself. This has nothing to do with your nonsense."
00:05:18 Dominic shouted indignantly.
00:05:20 A lot of the guests who were watching this nodded their heads in agreement.
00:05:24 They also thought that Gwen waking up right now was just a coincidence.
00:05:28 Gwen thought for a moment and then slowly opened her mouth to reply.
00:05:32 "Now that you mention it, just before I passed out, I was starting to have a hard time breathing.
00:05:39 There was a strange smell in the air and I just couldn't seem to breathe.
00:05:43 I took the candle from the table and smelled it to see if that was where it was coming from.
00:05:47 Suddenly everyone felt extremely awkward.
00:05:51 How could they all have been so wrong?
00:05:54 But somehow a few of them still blame Kevin and the Jones family."
00:05:58 "That makes sense," Kevin explained. "The candles were made with some ingredients that are used in herbal remedies to lower blood pressure.
00:06:06 I asked one of the waiters to bring me one of the boxes from the kitchen.
00:06:09 He pulled one of the candles out of the box and smelled it as he explained.
00:06:14 This has been made with a powerful combination of ingredients.
00:06:17 Usually scented candles can be pretty safe with enough air circulation, but these look like they're homemade.
00:06:24 He handed one of the candles to Dr. Willow to examine. Dr. Willow took the candle and checked it out for herself.
00:06:30 Then she nodded her head.
00:06:33 Based on this slightly more scientific explanation, she was a little embarrassed for having been so rude to Kevin earlier.
00:06:40 With Dominic's help, Gwen slowly got down from the table and walked over to Kevin.
00:06:45 She was still confused and asked him, "There are so many people in this room. Why am I the only one who fainted?"
00:06:53 Some of the guests were wondering the same thing.
00:06:56 Lots of them had been in the room for at least an hour.
00:06:59 A couple of them had even leaned down to inhale the fragrance of the candles.
00:07:04 Kevin reflected for a moment trying to recall what he had read. Then he looked at Gwen and speculated.
00:07:09 "President Archer, I've learned that in high concentrations for someone who's sensitive, the effect can be very serious."
00:07:17 "What the hell are you talking about?" Dominic interrupted.
00:07:21 Kevin sighed.
00:07:24 "President Archer, it's probably just a bit of susceptibility you have."
00:07:27 "Alright, that's enough."
00:07:30 Dominic couldn't hold it in any longer. He gestured for his bodyguards to come over. A second later, Kevin was surrounded.
00:07:38 Drake stepped forward to put himself between Kevin and the men.
00:07:42 "All of you stop!" Gwen snapped. "I think he's right about this. I've always been kind of sensitive about some things."
00:07:50 "Remember when we were kids?" She looked into her brother's eyes.
00:07:54 The explanation seemed to make sense to Dominic, but he would never apologize to Kevin in front of everyone.
00:08:00 It wasn't in his nature.
00:08:02 Instead, he asked someone to put the gift that he'd brought for Adriana on the table in the corner.
00:08:07 Then he helped his sister walk out of the hotel.
00:08:10 "Mr. Williams, that was very interesting. Have you been studying the subject for very long?"
00:08:16 Adriana's eyes were full of admiration.
00:08:19 "I just happened to be studying New Age medicine recently. I'm nowhere near an expert."
00:08:25 Kevin smiled and added, "Please go mingle with your guests. This is your evening."
00:08:30 "Okay, Mr. Williams," Adriana agreed. Then she leaned in and told him, "There's a private room upstairs for a small group of us.
00:08:39 Cook should be up there in a little while. Why don't you make your way up there and I'll join you later."
00:08:44 "Okay, I'll head up there with Drake," Kevin said enthusiastically.
00:08:49 About 15 or 20 minutes later, Cook arrived at the hotel and, after checking on things at the party, he went upstairs to join his friends.
00:08:57 Gilbert Rhodes and Emo Squire showed up, too. They all spent a lot of time catching up.
00:09:03 Finally, after all the guests had left the banquet hall, Adriana joined her friends and they all chatted until early in the morning.
00:09:11 That night, because Kevin was tired from such a long day and because he had drunk a little too much to be safe on the road,
00:09:19 he spent the rest of the night at the hotel.
00:09:21 Early the next morning, right after he woke up, Kevin got a call from Lily. "Hi, Lily. Are you doing okay?"
00:09:28 "Kevin, please come home quickly. I need a ride to Grandma's place."
00:09:33 Lily sounded very anxious. "What's the matter?" Kevin immediately realized something bad had happened.
00:09:40 "My dad's friend disappeared right after he got all the money, so now..."
00:09:46 Her voice trailed off. Then she said, "You should take care of your business first. I'll take a taxi there myself."
00:09:53 Then Lily hung up the phone in a hurry.
00:09:56 Kevin was sure he knew what had happened. When Oliver told them all about the investment, he and Matilda had been against it.
00:10:03 But the rest of the members of the Jones family were only thinking about how much money they could make in this get-rich-quick scheme.
00:10:09 Nobody was willing to listen to reason.
00:10:12 Just as Kevin was thinking about how pleasing it would be to see the Jones family suffer a little, he thought of another problem.
00:10:19 Since this whole idea had been suggested by Oliver, Lily might suffer from the backlash.
00:10:26 Kevin said to himself,
00:10:28 "Lily, I'm only helping the Jones family because of you. This is definitely the first and last time."
00:10:35 Then he took out his phone and made a call to his old friend, Tyler Dawn.
00:10:40 "Mr. Williams, it's wonderful to hear from you again. I was beginning to think that something had happened to you."
00:10:46 Hearing his colleague's playful tone, Kevin couldn't help breaking into a grin.
00:10:50 "Don't be ridiculous," Kevin told him. "Tyler, I need your help with something."
00:10:56 "What? You need my help again?" His friend answered mischievously.
00:11:00 "Seriously, what can I do for you, Kevin?"
00:11:03 "I want you to contact the Jones family in Chicago and discuss a partnership.
00:11:08 But I want you to do it using the KWTD Corporation's name, not mine."
00:11:14 Several years ago, Kevin invested a large sum of money with his friend Tyler and they formed a company called the KWTD Corporation.
00:11:22 They were in a hurry, so they didn't have time to research a good corporate name.
00:11:27 They just used their initials. At first, the company only did import and export business, but over the past six years,
00:11:34 Tyler had built KWTD into one of the top companies in the country, and it was definitely the top import-export company.
00:11:42 However, the real boss of KWTD had always been Kevin. Other than him and Tyler, no one else knew about it.
00:11:50 It was important for Kevin to hold on to the company,
00:11:54 so he was careful not to mention it to anyone when he was driven out of his family. That's how much he cared about Lily.
00:12:01 "Okay, Kevin, I'll get on that right away. It just so happens that I've been working on a project in Chicago lately,
00:12:08 so it'll be no problem for me to drop in on the Jones family personally."
00:12:12 They discussed a few more details before hanging up.
00:12:15 Kevin couldn't help wondering how the Jones family would react if they found out that he was behind all of this.
00:12:26 "Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
00:12:32 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
00:12:35 Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
00:12:42 Click the link in the description to install the app now."
00:12:45 While Kevin was setting up the deal with Tyler, all the Joneses were rushing to the family mansion.
00:12:52 Grandma Jones was sitting in the big chair in the middle of the room looking despondent.
00:12:56 Oliver was standing in front of everybody looking fearful and very ashamed.
00:13:01 "So, Oliver,
00:13:04 where did your friend go?"
00:13:06 Grandma Jones asked him sharply.
00:13:08 Usually, the Joneses would mutter to each other, but they were beside themselves this time. One of his cousins shouted,
00:13:15 "Where's all the money you promised?"
00:13:17 Another one yelled,
00:13:20 "Unbelievable! You lost everything in just one night!"
00:13:22 The crowd looked like they wanted to eat him alive.
00:13:26 "Please don't worry," Lily said in a panic. "My dad has already called the police. They'll track him down soon."
00:13:33 Dorothy anxiously tried to appeal to them, saying, "We're all family. Let's talk about this peacefully.
00:13:41 As long as we find him, we'll get our money back."
00:13:44 But their pleas fell on deaf ears. The family was too furious with Oliver right now.
00:13:50 Grandma Jones gave Oliver a sad look and said, "You've really disappointed me."
00:13:55 The discussion turned to the next step they would take.
00:13:59 Having lost all their liquid assets, the family was on the brink of ruin.
00:14:03 And it was so much money, over a hundred million dollars, that there was no way Oliver could ever pay them back by himself.
00:14:11 It looked hopeless.
00:14:13 If Grandma Jones hadn't been in the room, they might have gotten violent.
00:14:18 "Mom, I really had no idea it would turn out like this. I transferred the money to my friend last night,
00:14:24 but I couldn't contact him this morning," Oliver explained.
00:14:27 Of course, Oliver had been fooled, but the family didn't believe his explanation.
00:14:31 As they became more and more emotional, a few of them started rolling up their sleeves.
00:14:37 They looked like they wanted to take a swing at Oliver, whether Grandma was there or not.
00:14:42 Just then, everyone turned to the entrance as it was announced that Bella Ortez and Eugene Kim had arrived.
00:14:50 They were financial partners with the Jones family.
00:14:53 There were also some Jones Enterprise clients who wanted to speak with them.
00:14:57 This was too important, so they all came straight to the mansion instead of waiting to meet in the corporate office.
00:15:04 Before anyone could react, the large group entered the Jones mansion's main hall,
00:15:11 where it was obvious that Oliver had just been called on the carpet.
00:15:14 Bella Ortez was the first to speak. She said glumly,
00:15:19 "I'm sorry to inform you that our board just had an emergency meeting.
00:15:24 We've decided to end our association with your company."
00:15:27 Grandma Jones was shocked. She asked Bella,
00:15:31 "Why would you do that? We've been working together for so many years!"
00:15:37 Before Bella could say anything, Eugene Kim followed suit and said,
00:15:41 "It looks like President Ortez is trying to spare your feelings,
00:15:45 so she hasn't told you the real reason that we need to end our relationship with your company."
00:15:49 Kim got straight to the point.
00:15:52 "We have a reliable report that the Jones family's corporation has been cheated out of all its assets.
00:15:57 To put it bluntly, we do not want to be drawn into your bankruptcy.
00:16:01 We hope that you can see this is purely a business decision."
00:16:06 Grandma Jones lip quivered as she replied,
00:16:08 "President Kim, you've gone too far. Our situation isn't as desperate as you think.
00:16:16 Can you please reconsider?"
00:16:18 Bella responded to this request with a directness that left no room for doubt.
00:16:23 "I'm sorry, but we have no choice.
00:16:26 According to our contract, we are requesting only our initial outlay of funds."
00:16:30 As soon as she finished speaking, the rest of the group spoke up to request their capital too.
00:16:36 They realized that the Jones family would be unable to repay them,
00:16:40 and the discussion turned to selling off the Jones family's real estate holdings,
00:16:44 including the mansion.
00:16:46 The Joneses knew that they were ruined and started arguing with their former partners and clients.
00:16:52 Suddenly, Grandma Jones slammed the table hard and shouted,
00:16:56 "That's enough! What's the point of arguing?"
00:16:59 "All that we're asking is clearly laid out in our contracts.
00:17:03 We have no choice now that the Jones family and your corporation are now-"
00:17:06 Bella Ortez didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.
00:17:11 Grandma Jones let out a long sigh.
00:17:14 "President Ortez, President Kim, don't worry. We will definitely reimburse you.
00:17:22 But can you please give us a few days? After all, we've been business partners for many years,
00:17:27 and we need some time to raise such a large sum of money."
00:17:32 "Agreed. Out of respect for you, Mrs. Jones, we will give you five days."
00:17:36 After saying this, Bella turned around and walked towards the door.
00:17:40 Before leaving, President Kim added,
00:17:44 "Mrs. Jones, doesn't your granddaughter's husband know Mitchell Cook and Adriana Wright?
00:17:48 Perhaps you can ask them for help.
00:17:50 Remember, if we don't see our money in five days, there will be serious consequences for all of you."
00:17:55 After they had all left, Grandma Jones sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples.
00:18:01 How could they raise over $50 million in just five days?
00:18:05 At the same time, they were also trying to track down the $100 million that had
00:18:09 been stolen by Oliver's friend. It didn't look good.
00:18:12 Not to mention the fact that they had no idea if Mitchell Cook and President Wright would even
00:18:18 agree to help them. Even though they obviously had great respect for Kevin,
00:18:22 it was impossible for Grandma Jones to ask them for help.
00:18:25 That's when someone suggested,
00:18:28 "Why don't we ask Kevin to approach Mr. Cook and President Wright for us?"
00:18:31 This seemed to be their only solution, but nobody knew if it would even be possible.
00:18:37 They certainly weren't on good terms with Kevin right now, to say the least.
00:18:40 As they were discussing their limited options, a striking-looking man in a dark suit walked in.
00:18:46 The man slowly walked to the middle of the room and said,
00:18:50 "I'd like to speak with Mrs. Victoria Jones."
00:18:54 "I'm Mrs. Jones. May I ask who you are?" Grandma asked with a slight frown.
00:18:59 She didn't recognize the man, so she was fairly certain that he wasn't someone who
00:19:04 was currently doing business with the Jones family. The man replied in a friendly tone of voice,
00:19:08 "My name is Tyler Dawn. I'm the CEO of the KWTD Corporation."
00:19:14 As soon as he finished speaking, the room became filled with an excited buzz of conversation.
00:19:20 This was a shocking development. Everyone in the entire country had heard of the KWTD Corporation.
00:19:26 They also knew that the company president, Tyler Dawn, rarely showed his face in public.
00:19:32 He was a very private man. Grandma Jones was stunned. She had never expected to meet such a
00:19:38 famous business tycoon, especially right here in the Jones mansion. Tyler was unimpressed by their
00:19:44 reaction. The Jones family didn't have the best reputation in Chicago, but he trusted Kevin,
00:19:49 so he continued to be pleasant to them. If his friend hadn't asked him this favor,
00:19:54 he was pretty sure he wouldn't even be talking to Grandma Jones.
00:19:57 "Mr. Dawn, what brings you here today?" Grandma Jones asked nervously. While they were talking,
00:20:05 some of Tyler's assistants walked in and one of them brought over an empty chair for him to sit
00:20:09 in. Tyler sat down and casually explained, "Grandma Jones, I hope you don't mind if I call you that.
00:20:17 Please don't be nervous. I came here to discuss a joint venture that should be profitable for all of
00:20:22 us." Everyone became excited when they heard him say this. "Mr. Dawn, how do we fit into your plans?"
00:20:30 Grandma Jones was starting to get a little short of breath. With the help of the KWTD Corporation,
00:20:37 the Jones family would be able to easily pull out of this crisis, and she wouldn't be forced
00:20:42 to ask Kevin for help. "It's very simple. I know that you currently have no available funds,
00:20:48 so I'm prepared to invest $300 million to set up an import-export company in Chicago,"
00:20:55 Tyler explained. As soon as he finished saying this, everyone looked at him enthusiastically.
00:21:00 "What are your conditions, Mr. Dawn?" Grandma Jones asked him somberly. Except for the fiasco
00:21:07 with Oliver's investment, she wasn't usually very trusting. This sounded too good to be true.
00:21:14 "The conditions are actually very simple. All you would have to do is handle the day-to-day
00:21:19 activities of the company. In exchange, I only want 60% of the Jones family's shares,"
00:21:25 Tyler said casually. "You know that you're in a dire situation. $300 million would not only pay
00:21:32 off your debt but put you in a position to expand your family's business." For a moment,
00:21:37 the entire room fell silent. Grandma Jones thought long and hard before answering.
00:21:42 "Mr. Dawn, you understand the situation perfectly. However, don't you think that
00:21:48 the conditions are a bit extreme?" "Grandma Jones, you know very well that
00:21:54 the family's assets are worth $300 million," Tyler said very seriously. "This is a very fair offer.
00:22:01 If you can accept my conditions, then I'll move on. I'm sure there are people in Chicago who would
00:22:06 be willing to sign on with KWTD." Without waiting for Grandma Jones to speak,
00:22:12 Tyler continued, "To be honest, I could easily walk away from this deal. I run a business,
00:22:17 not a charity. You have three minutes to consider my offer." Everyone in the room turned and stared
00:22:24 at Grandma Jones. They all knew that without this opportunity, they would be finished.
00:22:28 Grandma Jones gritted her teeth and replied hesitantly, "All right, Mr. Dawn, I agree to
00:22:35 your conditions." Suddenly, the room broke into lively debate. Some of them were against it.
00:22:41 They knew Tyler was taking advantage of them, but they also knew that they were facing liquidation
00:22:46 and bankruptcy. They didn't chumpet this offer. It would just go to someone else.
00:22:50 "Stop," Grandma Jones shouted. "I've decided. The discussion is closed."
00:22:56 "Why this decision?" Tyler said. "I'll have my attorneys draw up the contract and arrange
00:23:03 for the transfer of funds." Tyler walked out, followed by his assistants.
00:23:07 Twenty minutes later, while riding in his limousine, Tyler read through the contract
00:23:12 and financial plan on his laptop. Then he pulled out his phone and called Kevin.
00:23:16 "Kevin, everything's been set up according to your instructions.
00:23:21 Three hundred million for sixty percent of the shares in the Jones Family's Corporation,"
00:23:25 he reported coolly. "Thank you, Tyler. I hope this goes well for you,"
00:23:31 Kevin replied calmly. "If you don't have anything else, I won't take up any more of your time."
00:23:36 After saying this, Tyler hung up the phone. Kevin took a moment to think about what he
00:23:41 had just done. He put his phone in his pocket and headed for the exit.
00:23:46 Just as he walked out of the Whitsler Hotel, a black car pulled up in front of him.
00:23:50 Two men dressed in black suits quickly got out of the car and called to him.
00:23:55 "Mr. Williams, our employer would like to meet with you."
00:23:59 "Dominic Archer?" Kevin raised his eyebrows and asked.
00:24:03 "Please come with us." The men in black didn't answer Kevin's question.
00:24:07 They opened the rear door of their limousine and gestured for him to get in.
00:24:11 Kevin shrugged and got into the car. As they drove along, Kevin thought back on a question
00:24:16 he'd asked Cook just last night. He was wondering how Dominic Archer compared to Drake.
00:24:22 As it turned out, most of Drake's strength came from having Cook's support.
00:24:27 However, Dominic Archer was different. He relied on his own strength.
00:24:31 So Drake and Dominic were pretty much equal.
00:24:33 Half an hour later, they arrived at a luxurious mansion. When Kevin entered the foyer,
00:24:39 he saw Dominic stretched out on a sofa in the library.
00:24:42 "Glad you could make it," Dominic said as he glanced at Kevin.
00:24:47 "Mr. Archer, I don't understand why you've called me here so early in the morning,"
00:24:51 Kevin asked candidly. "I know I can be a little headstrong,
00:24:55 but in our family, we know how to repay kindness. You really helped my sister yesterday,
00:25:01 so I'd like to give you something." Dominic Archer stood up in motion for
00:25:05 one of his aides to place a box in front of Kevin.
00:25:08 "Yesterday at President Wright's party, my sister and I could tell that you're interested in the
00:25:13 miraculous benefits of herbal medicine." Dominic walked over to Kevin and opened the box.
00:25:19 He said, "We have connections with a research lab that is developing some very powerful herbal
00:25:25 ingredients. I believe that you'll find the contents of this box extremely helpful."
00:25:30 "Really?" Kevin replied. He was surprised at this turn of events.
00:25:35 "Then I guess I should say thank you," Kevin said quietly.
00:25:39 Dominic Archer waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me. I'm just returning the favor."
00:25:46 Kevin looked in the box for a few seconds and then said,
00:25:50 "I would never have expected the two of us to have something in common."
00:25:54 But he couldn't help wondering what else Dominic may want from him.
00:26:21 While Kevin stepped outside of the Whitsler Hotel, a black limousine pulled up and the driver asked
00:26:26 him to get in. They drove him to Dominic's mansion where he and Kevin discussed advanced herbal
00:26:32 supplements. Dominic offered him a special blend that he said would increase his strength.
00:26:37 "I've been interested in natural ways to increase my strength and focus," Dominic explained. "It's
00:26:44 made a huge difference in my ability to succeed in business." When Kevin heard this, a faint smile
00:26:50 appeared on his face. "If I offered you something that could help you reach your goal, how would you
00:26:56 repay me?" "Are you joking?" Dominic retorted. "Trust me, there are no shortcuts in this process.
00:27:04 It takes time and effort." "What if I could help give you an advantage?" Kevin said as he smiled
00:27:10 and took out a pill of his pocket. It was one of the pills that he had made from the recipe in
00:27:15 Officer Emmett's old book. "This combination that I discovered can be very effective." Dominic glanced
00:27:22 at the pill in Kevin's hand. If it had the effect that Kevin claimed, it could help him reach his
00:27:27 goals of having more energy and mental focus. In his business, you could never have enough of that.
00:27:34 But he really didn't believe that Kevin would have access to something like this,
00:27:39 especially based on the rumors that he'd heard about him. "What do you think?" Kevin asked with
00:27:44 a smile. "Keep it," Dominic replied rudely. "Then I'll be on my way," Kevin said as he took the box
00:27:51 and stood up to leave. Before Kevin got to the door, Dominic stopped him. "Is that pill of yours
00:27:57 really that effective?" Dominic asked Kevin. It was clear that the man had his doubts, but he was
00:28:03 intrigued enough to consider trying it. "Since you don't believe me, there is no point in trying to
00:28:09 convince you," Kevin answered. Dominic hesitated for a moment before he continued. "How much do you
00:28:15 want for it?" "What do you mean?" Kevin asked in shock. "I mean, what's your price?" Dominic asked
00:28:22 again. Actually, Dominic still didn't believe that Kevin's pill would work, and knowing that
00:28:27 Kevin was in the Jones family didn't help. But he just couldn't pass up this chance. He already took
00:28:34 the special supplements that had been developed for him, and he watched his lifestyle. Everything
00:28:39 he did was driven by his will to be better than his competition, some of whom could be vicious,
00:28:45 considering the circles he moved in. Dominic had also spent years training in the martial arts,
00:28:51 but he was also fighting against the aging process. It was worth a try. "Mr. Archer,
00:28:57 I know you're rich and powerful, but you can't solve everything with money," Kevin said coolly.
00:29:03 "Just name your price," Dominic said stubbornly. Kevin didn't answer right away. He thought about
00:29:09 it for a second and said, "Five hundred." "Okay, five hundred thousand dollars. Deal,"
00:29:16 Dominic said right away. Kevin couldn't help looking surprised. Five hundred thousand dollars
00:29:23 for a simple herbal pill? He was afraid to tell Dominic that he actually meant just five hundred
00:29:28 dollars. "Maybe Williams Media should drop the entertainment industry and switch to this,"
00:29:35 Kevin thought to himself. Dominic slowly walked up to Kevin and told him, "Money isn't a problem,
00:29:41 but if your pill doesn't work, you know what will happen to you." The man's posture and tone were
00:29:47 coldly threatening, but not only did Kevin not show any sign of fear, he even smiled more broadly.
00:29:55 "Don't worry. I always make sure that my customers are happy," Kevin said as he took
00:29:59 out the pill again. But just when Dominic reached for it, Kevin suddenly took a step back.
00:30:05 "What's going on? Do you think I won't pay you?" Dominic snarled. "Mr. Archer, I didn't say that
00:30:12 I would give it to you for a measly five hundred thousand," Kevin said mischievously.
00:30:17 "What other conditions do you have?" Dominic asked. He saw that Kevin wanted a bargain.
00:30:24 With his other hand, Kevin pointed at the small wooden box on the coffee table.
00:30:28 He had noticed the ring inside the box as he walked in the room earlier. For some reason,
00:30:33 he wanted it. "You want it?" Dominic glanced at the ring and gave Kevin a strange look.
00:30:39 He walked over to the coffee table, picked up the box, and tossed it to Kevin.
00:30:43 "So all you really wanted was a ring?" Dominic said with a sneer. Then he called his aide over
00:30:50 to have the money transferred to Kevin. After they'd concluded their deal, Dominic had his
00:30:56 driver take Kevin back to the Witzler Hotel. As he rode along, Kevin looked out the window
00:31:01 and thought about what had just happened. He'd just sold one of his herbal pills for
00:31:06 five hundred thousand dollars and a ring. Maybe it would be worth looking into this further.
00:31:12 After stopping to pick up his car, Kevin headed back to his penthouse.
00:31:17 When he got home, Lily was sitting on the sofa. As soon as she saw him step out of the elevator,
00:31:23 she immediately stood up and exclaimed, "Kevin, you're finally back!"
00:31:27 "What's wrong? Did you really miss me that much?" Kevin replied gently. Lily rolled her eyes and
00:31:35 said, "You came back just in time. I need you to go someplace with me."
00:31:40 Kevin nodded and they headed down to the lobby to send for his car.
00:31:45 Since things had been going so well, he'd added to his car collection.
00:31:48 Lily's eyes lit up when she saw the sleek blue Pagani Roadster.
00:31:53 As they pulled onto Lakeshore Drive, Kevin asked Lily, "Where are we going exactly?"
00:31:59 "My mom is having a reunion with some of her school pals. When she saw that everyone else
00:32:05 was bringing their children, she called me too," Lily replied softly. "It's at a cafe on the north
00:32:11 side. I've got it set in my GPS. Just head north along the lake for a little while and I'll tell
00:32:16 you where to turn left. It's near Evanston." "If your mom's classmates will be there,
00:32:22 do you think it's okay for me to come along?" Kevin asked uneasily.
00:32:25 "I'll understand if you don't want to see her. Just drop me off and you can head back home,"
00:32:31 Lily said sadly. Kevin smiled but didn't say anything else about it.
00:32:36 After about a half hour, they arrived at the cafe. The event was being held in a private room in the
00:32:41 back. When Lily entered, Dorothy was chatting with a few of her old classmates. Upon seeing
00:32:47 her daughter, she smiled broadly. Then when she saw Kevin, her smile immediately left her face.
00:32:53 However, in front of so many of her old classmates, Dorothy couldn't kick Kevin out of the place.
00:33:01 "Dorothy, is this your daughter? She's so beautiful!" her friend exclaimed. A couple of
00:33:07 her friends had heard that Lily was in charge of Brittany Davis's account at Williams Media
00:33:12 and they were very impressed. All the praise brought Dorothy's smile back. Then her friends
00:33:18 introduced their own children. It seemed they were all successful business executives and doctors.
00:33:24 Then one of Dorothy's friends looked at Kevin and asked loudly, "So who is this young man?"
00:33:31 The woman who was asking about Kevin was Iris Reid. Ever since she and Dorothy were children,
00:33:37 the two of them liked to show off to each other. The moment Iris saw Kevin, she'd figured out who
00:33:42 he was. It seemed that everyone in their circles knew about Dorothy's good-for-nothing son-in-law.
00:33:48 Everyone looked at Kevin. Dorothy stopped smiling and gave Kevin a disgusted look.
00:33:53 Lily suddenly stood up and introduced him to everyone with a smile.
00:33:58 "This is my husband, Kevin." "So you're Dorothy's son-in-law?"
00:34:04 Iris deliberately emphasized the word "son-in-law." "He's very handsome," Iris said to Lily.
00:34:12 Turning to Kevin, she asked, "Where do you work? What's your position?"
00:34:16 "I work for a small company downtown," Kevin said casually. "I help my boss with his accounts,"
00:34:23 he added. He could tell what Iris was trying to do, but he didn't want to play her game.
00:34:29 "A small company should have a name, shouldn't it? If you help your boss with his accounts,
00:34:34 you must have some kind of title." Iris wouldn't drop the subject until she was satisfied.
00:34:39 "I guess you could call me a clerk," Kevin replied modestly.
00:34:43 Nobody was impressed and it showed on their faces.
00:34:46 "I guess it doesn't matter that you're just a clerk. In any case, Lily has a powerful position
00:34:52 at Williams Media. Even if you don't earn a lot, she can still support you," Iris said proudly.
00:34:59 She knew that she'd beaten Dorothy this time. Dorothy wanted to go over and tell Kevin off,
00:35:04 but she couldn't do that in front of all of her friends. Lily looked uncomfortable and began to
00:35:09 regret bringing Kevin along. Then Iris stood up and waved at a young man on the other side of the
00:35:14 room. "I'd like to announce a joyous occasion. On the 26th of this month, my daughter Rose will be
00:35:21 getting married," Iris said proudly. "Vito Booker, please stand up and introduce yourself to my
00:35:27 friends." Iris took her seat and a man quickly stood up. He politely waved at everyone.
00:35:34 "Hi, my name is Vito. I'm currently the general manager at the KWTD Corporation Chicago branch."
00:35:42 When he said this, everyone was clearly impressed. One of Dorothy's friends gushed,
00:35:49 "The KWTD Corporation? That's one of the top three companies in the country."
00:35:54 Another one added, "Iris, I'm so excited for you. He's already a manager at KWTD,
00:36:02 and at such a young age, Rose will be set for life."
00:36:06 The more Iris smiled, the more Dorothy frowned. Even though Lily had a promising career,
00:36:13 Iris' son-in-law was way better than Dorothy's. It looked like Iris had won today's private
00:36:19 little competition. Suddenly, one of them asked, "Vito, how's it being a general manager at the
00:36:25 KWTD Corporation?" "The word can be exhausting, but as I move up the corporate ladder, I have
00:36:32 greater and greater responsibility. I don't have much free time right now, but that's because I
00:36:36 manage a few hundred people," Vito said very modestly. He smiled at Iris and said, "Mom,
00:36:43 for the wedding between Rose and me, I've arranged for a limo that's worth half a million dollars.
00:36:48 What do you think?" They seemed to find this almost as impressive as his position at KWTD.
00:36:54 "That's fine with me, Vito. I'll leave all the decisions up to you and Rose," Iris replied.
00:37:01 She was trying to act humble, but you could see the pride in her eyes.
00:37:05 "I know what you mean, Iris," Lily commented. "No matter how good a car is, it's just a means
00:37:12 of transportation from point A to point B." Then she turned around and asked Kevin,
00:37:18 "Don't you think so?" Before coming to the reunion, Iris had asked Vito to help her
00:37:23 embarrass Dorothy's son-in-law. So Vito naturally couldn't let an opportunity like this pass him by.
00:37:29 "Everyone's aesthetic sense is different. If you think that a car is just a means of
00:37:34 transportation, then it's just a tool," Kevin said with a smile.
00:37:39 "Then what kind of car do you drive?" Vito asked Kevin. He was sure he'd win this round.
00:37:44 They all turned to Kevin. Everyone seemed to think that Vito was in another league and Kevin
00:37:49 couldn't possibly compare with him. And Dorothy was ready for her friend Iris to beat her again.
00:37:55 "My ride?" Kevin slightly raised his eyebrows and said, "It's just a Pagani Roadster,
00:38:01 nothing special, basic blue color." Vito looked at Kevin in disbelief.
00:38:06 "A Pagani? That's worth at least three million dollars."
00:38:09 Everyone in the room gasped when they heard this. Lily coughed on the pastry she was eating
00:38:15 and reached for a sip of coffee. Iris recovered from her shock and said, "Dorothy, I really didn't
00:38:22 know that Lily treated her husband so well. What a lovely gift she bought for him."
00:38:26 She didn't say it out loud, but Iris thought that Kevin was just a gigolo who was mooching
00:38:32 off her friend's daughter. Lily probably got her husband the car just to make Dorothy look good.
00:38:37 However, when Kevin heard that, he said, "Actually, the car is my boss's. It wasn't Lily who
00:38:43 bought it for me." When he said this, everyone laughed. Dorothy couldn't take it any longer.
00:38:49 She wanted to chase Kevin out into the street. But Kevin interrupted the laughter to clarify what he
00:38:55 just said. "So, I didn't buy the car, but my boss gave it to me because I'm doing so well in the
00:39:00 company." That seemed to shut everyone up. They all looked at Kevin in amazement. They couldn't
00:39:06 imagine what kind of boss would give a $3 million sports car to an ordinary employee.
00:39:11 "Kevin, may I ask where you work? What's your boss's name?" Vito asked in disbelief.
00:39:18 Kevin looked at Vito with a smile and said, "My boss's last name is Dawn."
00:39:23 Vito dropped the subject. This conversation definitely wasn't helping his mother-in-law.
00:39:29 Besides, he didn't believe that Kevin really had such a generous boss. He was obviously just
00:39:35 bragging to look good. So, Vito changed the subject and turned to Iris. "Mom, this is a gift I got for
00:39:41 you a while ago. Because of all that was going on at work, I never had a chance to give it to you."
00:39:47 He reached under the table and took out a gift box. Then he said to her, "This is a small token
00:39:52 of my appreciation, and I'd like to tell you that you can rest assured that after Rose and I get
00:39:57 married, I'll always treat her well." This was just too much for Dorothy to bear. What would happen next?
00:40:05 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
00:40:12 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
00:40:15 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
00:40:22 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
00:40:25 "Vito, we're family now. There's no need for you to give me anything."
00:40:31 While Iris was saying this, she reached out and took the gift. Her friends practically
00:40:36 begged her to open the present. As they all watched enviously, Iris happily opened the package.
00:40:41 When she pulled out the gift, everyone immediately gasped in surprise.
00:40:45 Inside the box was a lustrous green emerald bracelet. They couldn't believe their eyes.
00:40:51 One of her friends exclaimed, "Iris, your son-in-law is so generous!"
00:40:57 Iris was also very surprised and asked Vito, "This bracelet is beautiful. I hope it didn't
00:41:03 cost you too much." "Not much, Mom. Just about thirty thousand dollars," Vito smiled and said.
00:41:10 "But the price isn't important. What matters is whether you like it."
00:41:14 Lily looked at the expensive emerald bracelet and was a little envious herself.
00:41:19 Iris was ecstatic but pretended to protest. "No, Vito, this is way too expensive. I can't
00:41:26 accept this gift. You should give it to Rose." Her friend's jealous looks filled her with pride.
00:41:32 "Mom, it's only thirty thousand. How is that expensive? Why don't you let your friends
00:41:37 decide if it looks good on you?" Vito smiled casually and added, "If Rose likes it, I'll
00:41:43 buy one for her too." "Okay, since you insist, I'll keep it," Iris said as she excitedly put
00:41:50 the bracelet on her wrist. "Vito, you're more than a son-in-law to me," Iris said very seriously.
00:41:57 "You're a wonderful young man and a welcome addition to our family."
00:42:02 After Iris said this, she gave Dorothy a haughty look. Lily understood exactly what Iris meant by
00:42:09 this. Vito was the general manager of KWTD Corporation's Chicago branch and Kevin was
00:42:16 only a clerk in a small company. There was no comparison between the two.
00:42:20 Kevin suddenly put down his coffee and got up to leave the room. Dorothy let out a little snort.
00:42:27 She'd already decided that, after this embarrassing afternoon, she would definitely
00:42:32 let Lily and Kevin divorce. "Dorothy, why did your son-in-law just leave?"
00:42:37 Iris asked in a tone that was full of ridicule. "Maybe he has to get back to work," Dorothy
00:42:45 replied coldly. "He's just a clerk. What could he possibly be so busy with? Could it be that
00:42:52 his tiny little company doesn't allow him to take a day off?" Iris said in disdain.
00:42:57 A few of the other women heard this and couldn't help but laugh. Now that there wasn't anyone there
00:43:03 to ridicule, their little gathering started to get a little boring. Just as some of them were
00:43:08 thinking of leaving, Kevin came back with a red gift bag in his hand. "Why did you come back?
00:43:15 Haven't you had enough?" Dorothy asked him in disgust. Lily sighed and walked over to Kevin.
00:43:21 She whispered in his ear, "Just wait for me downstairs. There's no need to stay here and
00:43:27 put up with this." But Kevin didn't say anything. He just gave her an enigmatic smile.
00:43:32 Before they entered the cafe earlier, he'd already expected something like this would happen.
00:43:38 So he texted Adriana and asked her to buy something special for him to present to his
00:43:43 mother-in-law. Adriana had spent a lot of time in the upper class and knew how competitive some
00:43:48 people could be. Kevin trusted her sense of taste, so he figured the gift couldn't be too bad.
00:43:54 Kevin slowly placed the bag in front of Dorothy and said in his sweetest voice,
00:43:59 "Mom, Lily and I have been married for a long time now, and I've never given you anything decent.
00:44:06 This gathering seems like a nice place to present you with something to show you how much you mean
00:44:11 to me." Most of them figured that Kevin, who was just a lowly clerk at a small company,
00:44:17 had bought her something from the supermarket across the street. It couldn't be nearly as nice
00:44:23 as the expensive bracelet that Vito had just given to Iris. Dorothy could hear her friends
00:44:28 whispering to each other and hesitated to open the gift bag while they watched.
00:44:33 She couldn't handle any more embarrassment today. When she pulled the gift box out of the red bag,
00:44:38 it was obvious that it came from an expensive store, not one of those kiosks at the mall.
00:44:43 Even before Dorothy opened the box, they all knew that whatever it was, it wasn't a knockoff.
00:44:50 Vito saw this as another opportunity to try and embarrass Kevin.
00:44:55 The strategy hadn't gone too well when he asked about Kevin's car, but it was certain that this
00:45:00 gift wouldn't be as expensive as the one he'd just given to Iris. "How did you find that so
00:45:05 quickly, Kevin? Did you just grab it from one of the shops down the street?" Before Kevin could say
00:45:11 anything, Iris stood up and said, "Quick, Dorothy, open it up. We're dying to see what your son-in-law
00:45:18 just bought for you." The rest of her friends joined in, egging her on. Dorothy took a deep
00:45:24 breath and looked anxiously at the box. Finally, she made up her mind. This would probably be
00:45:30 another disappointment in her competition with Iris, but with all the peer pressure,
00:45:34 she had no choice. As soon as she got home, she was definitely going to make Lily divorce Kevin.
00:45:40 The room grew silent as she opened the velvet box to reveal a sparkling diamond necklace.
00:45:48 "Kevin, is this really from you?" Dorothy asked in disbelief. "Do you like it, Mom?" Kevin asked
00:45:55 with a smile. But Dorothy's friends still didn't believe that it was a genuine diamond necklace.
00:46:00 How could someone like Kevin afford to buy something so expensive? On the other hand,
00:46:05 it sure looked like the diamonds were real. Vito felt his mouth go dry as he looked on.
00:46:11 Even from where he was sitting, he could tell that the diamonds were genuine, not cubic zirconia
00:46:16 like you could get at a department store. "Who is this guy? He's not what I expected
00:46:22 from all the rumors I've been hearing," Vito thought to himself. Lily got over her initial
00:46:27 shock and tugged on Kevin's sleeve. "Tell me honestly, where did you get this necklace?"
00:46:32 "A friend of mine gave it to me," Kevin said very honestly. "When Dorothy heard this,
00:46:38 she immediately wanted to throw the necklace in the trash. How could Kevin make her look like a
00:46:43 fool?" Just then, one of Dorothy's classmates walked over to her and asked, "May I take a look
00:46:49 at your necklace? I just studied jewelry appraisal in college and I'd be happy to give you my opinion."
00:46:54 "Oh, all right," Dorothy said hesitantly before handing the necklace over to her.
00:47:01 A few minutes later, the woman raised her head and then gave Kevin a puzzled look. She said,
00:47:08 "In my opinion, these diamonds are all real. Judging from the color and size of them,
00:47:13 they're all top quality. Also, the cut and polish are exquisite. Obviously the work of an expert."
00:47:21 She looked at the necklace again and added, "I believe that this necklace has a value of at least
00:47:27 $200,000." Iris and Vito felt very awkward when they heard this. The $30,000 emerald bracelet
00:47:36 that he'd given his new mother-in-law paled in comparison. "Kevin, are you really giving
00:47:42 this necklace to me?" Dorothy was so shocked that she couldn't even speak clearly.
00:47:47 Kevin didn't answer Dorothy's question. Instead, he asked her, "Mom, do you really like it?"
00:47:53 "Of course I like it," Dorothy answered without thinking.
00:47:57 "I'm happy that you like it," Kevin said with a pleasant smile. Dorothy was so excited that
00:48:03 she got a little short of breath. As everyone watched, she carefully put the necklace on.
00:48:08 Her friends were envious and started commenting on how lucky she and Lily were to have Kevin
00:48:13 in their family. One of them even invited them to visit them at their home. Dorothy was happy to
00:48:20 have everyone sucking up to her for a change. Better yet, Iris and Vito were no longer the
00:48:26 center of attention. Lily and Kevin left soon after and drove back to Corwin Tower.
00:48:31 While they were heading down Lakeshore Drive, Lily looked sideways at Kevin and asked him,
00:48:35 "I'm very curious to know what kind of friend would give you a necklace that's worth over
00:48:41 $200,000." "Oh, it's just a friend who borrowed some money from me a while back,"
00:48:47 Kevin answered carefully. Lily thought about this and said,
00:48:50 "Since he gave us such a valuable gift, we should at least invite him to dinner."
00:48:56 Kevin wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Lily to meet his best friend yet, so he explained,
00:49:01 "He was just passing through town and working abroad for a couple years. I think he's already
00:49:07 headed back." Lily could tell that Kevin was hiding something, but she didn't want to start
00:49:12 an argument. She just shook her head silently. When they returned home, Lily went to her room
00:49:18 to rest. Kevin went to the study and pulled out the box that Dominic gave him and looked at the
00:49:23 special blend of supplements. $500,000 for a single herbal pill? This guy's definitely wealthy,
00:49:31 Kevin thought to himself. Then he opened one of the books that Officer Emmett had let him borrow
00:49:36 and flipped through it. He found the instructions for putting the ingredients Dominic had given him
00:49:42 into an energy drink. After carefully mixing everything and drinking the entire glass,
00:49:47 Kevin sat down on the living room couch. He didn't feel any different at first, but about a half an
00:49:52 hour later, he let out a long breath and felt a surge of energy. Even though it had been a long
00:49:58 day, he changed his clothes and went to his home gym for a bodyweight workout. It was refreshing
00:50:04 to do this in the comfort of his apartment, looking out on the park from the top of Corwin Tower.
00:50:09 The next morning, Lily got a call from her family. They were having another meeting. She went down
00:50:16 to the lobby and took a taxi to the Jones mansion. A little while later, Kevin woke up from a very
00:50:22 deep and refreshing night of sleep and went to his office at Williams Media. Kevin sat back in
00:50:27 his comfortable office chair and murmured to himself, "That blend Dominic gave me really was
00:50:32 potent. I feel better already." Meanwhile, the Jones family was meeting to discuss how to move
00:50:38 forward after all the upheaval in the past few days. Grandma Jones looked around the room at all
00:50:43 the eager faces and said, "Now that the KWTD Corporation has invested $300 million to help us
00:50:51 get through this crisis, we only have 40% of our company's shares left. Do any of you have some
00:50:58 ideas about what we should do next?" They were unsure how to deal with this. While KWTD had
00:51:05 saved them from bankruptcy, they didn't stand to see much profit at the end of the year.
00:51:09 While they were wrestling with this dilemma, Jason stood up and shared what was on his mind.
00:51:14 "Grandma, I've got an idea. If it succeeds, the Jones family will be back on top in no time."
00:51:21 Jason said confidently. "What do you propose?" Grandma Jones asked. Jason explained, "Grandma,
00:51:28 now that we've turned over 60% of our shares to KWTD, we may never be able to recover them. So
00:51:35 Tyler Dawn now has controlling interest in our company. My suggestion is to forget about the 60%
00:51:41 that we've lost. Let's sell off 10% of the shares we have left. We can use that as seed money to
00:51:47 start a new company. That's how we'll make our comeback." "That sounds like a good idea,
00:51:54 but who would be willing to buy any of our shares?" Grandma Jones asked worriedly.
00:51:58 "Grandma, don't forget that everyone knows that we're affiliated with KWTD Corporation now,"
00:52:05 Jason said with a smile. "When someone buys our shares, it's like they're forming a business
00:52:10 relationship with KWTD. We can use that to our advantage." One of his uncles had his doubts.
00:52:17 "But who would be able to buy our shares? Even 10% is a lot of money."
00:52:22 They all looked back at Jason, wondering if he already had a plan.
00:52:26 "Don't worry, everyone. I've been thinking about this for a while now," Jason said proudly.
00:52:32 "I have a friend who definitely has a plan. I'm going to go to the store and buy some
00:52:37 shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and
00:52:41 buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and
00:52:45 buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and
00:52:48 buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and
00:52:50 buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and
00:52:52 buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store and buy some shares. I'm going to go to the store
00:52:53 proudly. "I have a friend who definitely has enough money to buy 10% of our shares."
00:52:58 "And who might this friend of yours be?" Grandma Jones asked.
00:53:03 "Grandma, have you ever heard of Lucas Meriwether?" Jason asked with a smile.
00:53:07 Suddenly, the entire room filled with chatter. They had all heard of the five-time world
00:53:13 champion of mixed martial arts. Everyone was surprised that Jason knew him personally.
00:53:17 After all, he had dozens of martial arts schools, not just in Chicago but across the country.
00:53:23 Lily sat calmly while the relatives around her were getting excited about this golden opportunity.
00:53:29 But she felt that she should advise her grandmother not to sell the shares.
00:53:33 However, Lily was too shy to speak up. After all, the whole mess had been caused by her father and
00:53:39 his foolish investment advice. "All right, Jason, call Mr. Meriwether right away!"
00:53:45 Grandma Jones exclaimed with a joyful expression on her face.
00:53:50 Jason nodded, took out his phone, and called his friend. Because he was a show-off,
00:53:54 Jason put his phone on speaker mode. "Hello, is this Mr. Meriwether?" Jason said proudly.
00:54:02 "This is Jason. Are you free right now? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
00:54:06 Lucas Meriwether's voice blared from the speaker. "Jason, how are you? I always have time for you.
00:54:15 What's going on?" "Mr. Meriwether, the Jones family is planning to sell some shares. We'd
00:54:21 rather sell them to you than to some strangers. So I'm wondering if you're interested."
00:54:26 Jason felt very important as he saw the amazed look on his relatives' faces.
00:54:31 "How can I turn down an offer like that?" Meriwether said candidly. "Why don't we find
00:54:37 a place to meet face to face? As it happens, I'm in Chicago right now." "That's great, Lucas. Have
00:54:44 your driver take you to the Jones mansion. I'll be waiting for you here." Jason ended the call and
00:54:50 turned around to speak to his grandmother. "Grandma, it's settled. Mr. Meriwether will be
00:54:55 here in a little while." "You've shown yourself to be very useful, Jason," Grandma Jones said with a
00:55:01 smile. "If you succeed in making this deal with Mr. Meriwether, I'll make sure you're next in
00:55:08 line to lead the family business." "Thank you, Grandma," Jason replied sincerely. Inside, he was
00:55:15 jumping for joy. Then he gave Lily a proud look that told her it was thanks to her father, Oliver,
00:55:21 that he had this chance to get back in Grandma's good graces. About a half an hour later, two long
00:55:27 limos pulled up at the mansion's entrance. A moment later, the family butler announced,
00:55:33 "Mrs. Jones, Lucas Meriwether has arrived." As the tall, powerful man walked into the reception room
00:55:41 followed by his assistants, Jason quickly brought Grandma Jones to welcome them.
00:55:45 "Thank you for coming so quickly," Jason said sincerely. "How could I make a good friend wait?"
00:55:52 Meriwether said graciously. "I appreciate your confidence in me. Please let me introduce you
00:55:58 to my grandmother, the Jones Company's CEO," Jason said as he shook Meriwether's hand warmly.
00:56:04 "Mrs. Jones," Meriwether said as he offered his hand to greet her. "Welcome to the Jones Mansion,
00:56:12 Mr. Meriwether." Grandma had a strange feeling as she shook his hand, but she didn't pay attention
00:56:17 to it. Then she gestured to the comfortable leather armchair next to hers and said,
00:56:22 "Please have a seat." After Meriwether sat down, the Jones family members who were in the room
00:56:28 sat quietly as they waited to see the outcome of this meeting. Next, Jason gave Meriwether
00:56:34 a detailed explanation of his plan and how he hoped to get his support for it.
00:56:38 "Unbelievable," Meriwether said angrily. "The KWTD Corporation really made this outrageous offer?"
00:56:46 "That's right, Lucas, and that's why my family wants to sell you our shares," Jason agreed.
00:56:53 Meriwether thought for a while before he made his offer. "I'm willing to pay $150 million for 10%
00:57:00 of the Jones Company's shares." This announcement shocked all of them, including Grandma Jones.
00:57:07 She couldn't hide her joy. Grandma had been expecting Meriwether to offer half that amount
00:57:12 at most. Jason was also stunned. "Mr. Meriwether, are you serious? We can't thank you enough for
00:57:19 this generous offer." "No need to thank me," Meriwether replied with a strange expression
00:57:25 on his face. "Money's not a problem for me, but I do have one condition."
00:57:30 "What condition is that, Mr. Meriwether?" Grandma Jones asked him without thinking.
00:57:35 "It's very simple," he replied calmly. Then he looked around the room like he was searching for
00:57:41 something or someone. "Jason has told me about a cousin of his who is young and very beautiful.
00:57:47 I've admired her for a long time. So Mrs. Jones, I'm not here to just talk about shares. I hope
00:57:54 you will give me your blessing to marry your granddaughter," Meriwether said with a smile.
00:57:58 This was unexpected, to say the least. The Joneses weren't sure what to think. It was unusual to make
00:58:06 this kind of request in the middle of a business deal. What made things even more awkward was that
00:58:11 everyone knew that the most beautiful person in the entire family was Lily, but she was already
00:58:16 married. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," Jason said with some hesitation.
00:58:21 "Jason, how could you forget? I've admired your cousin Lily for a long time," Meriwether smiled
00:58:29 casually. Before Jason could answer, Lily stood up and said emphatically, "Mr. Meriwether, I hate
00:58:36 to disappoint you, but I'm already married." "Yes, Mr. Meriwether, Lily has been married for almost
00:58:43 three years. Perhaps you'll consider one of my other granddaughters," Grandma Jones said awkwardly.
00:58:49 Meriwether smiled and replied, "To tell you the truth, I only came here for Lily. Otherwise,
00:58:56 I wouldn't be negotiating with you today." Then he added, "She can always get a divorce, can't she?"
00:59:02 Grandma Jones's mood had changed from joy to disappointment. "Mr. Meriwether, you can't be
00:59:09 serious." "Do I look like I'm joking?" He replied sternly. Jason was at a loss for words. He hadn't
00:59:17 expected his friend to do something like this. Then Meriwether sneered and said, "Ms. Jones,
00:59:24 you really ought to consider my offer. I've already had my advisors investigate the situation.
00:59:30 Lily's husband is in no position to help your family get through this crisis."
00:59:35 He paused for a moment and added, "You have no choice but to sell me your shares. Do you think
00:59:40 there's anyone else in all of Chicago who'd be willing to pay $150 million for your useless
00:59:47 shares?" "But Lily is already married. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to offer her to you as part
00:59:54 of a business deal," Grandma Jones explained haltingly. "If $150 million isn't enough,
01:00:02 I'll make it $225 million." Meriwether countered as he smiled and looked at Lily.
01:00:08 "According to my sources, her husband hasn't touched her in three years."
01:00:13 Grandma Jones couldn't bear to hear this. Her family listened in complete silence.
01:00:19 But part of her was actually weighing the offer. After all, Meriwether was willing to give them
01:00:24 over $200 million while Kevin had contributed nothing to the family in three years.
01:00:30 And Lily's life would certainly be much easier if she were married to Meriwether.
01:00:35 Then he walked slowly over to Lily and said, "We don't know each other, but I could learn to love
01:00:42 you." When he finished speaking, Meriwether grabbed Lily by the wrist. "Mr. Meriwether,
01:00:48 please let go." Lily struggled hard, but she wasn't strong enough to break his grip.
01:00:54 "Your whole family is okay with this. Just ask them," he said as his mouth broke into an evil
01:01:00 smile. The whole family was shocked by the way this promising business deal had turned ugly so
01:01:06 quickly. "Let go of my daughter right now!" Dorothy roared angrily. Even though she didn't like Kevin,
01:01:15 he was still her daughter's husband. Everyone else joined in and demanded that Meriwether let Lily
01:01:20 go. After all, he was in their home, not one of his martial arts schools. This was outrageous
01:01:26 behavior. Lily didn't know where she got the strength, but she managed to push the man away.
01:01:32 Meriwether turned around and looked at Grandma Jones, who was so angry she was trembling.
01:01:37 Then he spoke to Jason. "I thought you asked me here in good faith. I'm very disappointed in you."
01:01:44 "Mr. Meriwether, please don't be angry," Jason pleaded. Then he turned around and said loudly
01:01:51 to Grandma Jones. "I think you should marry Lily to Lucas. We can always offer Kevin some money to
01:01:57 settle with him." But Grandma Jones didn't respond, so Jason tried again. "Grandma, we can't let the
01:02:03 entire family be ruined just to save Lily's reputation." Grandma Jones was at a loss for
01:02:09 words. None of them knew what to say to the man. Seeing Meriwether and his bodyguards,
01:02:15 Lily lost all hope and gave up. Tears silently flowed down her cheeks. In the middle of all of
01:02:21 this, the first person Lily thought of was actually Kevin. "Kevin, please come quickly
01:02:27 and save me from this beast," Lily prayed. Just as Meriwether was leaning down to kiss her,
01:02:33 a powerful hand grabbed his neck from behind. This made him furious. He let go of Lily and
01:02:40 as he turned around, he cursed. "Who the hell did that?" "Get away from my wife!" Kevin growled at
01:02:48 him. "Kevin, please save me," Lily said tearfully when she saw Kevin. "So, you're Lily's piece of
01:02:56 crap husband?" Meriwether said with disdain. "This is none of your damn business. Lily's mine now."
01:03:05 The anger flashed in Kevin's eyes as he grabbed Meriwether's arm and pulled him away from Lily.
01:03:11 Then he threw the big man ten feet away. The room shook as Meriwether's body hit the wall.
01:03:17 The onlookers were shocked to see Kevin's show of strength, but they knew that Meriwether was a
01:03:23 highly trained fighter. Kevin was definitely in trouble now. "Do you have some kind of death wish?"
01:03:30 Meriwether bellowed as he stared at Kevin coldly. "Well, as long as you're here today,
01:03:35 you'll save me the trouble of hunting you down." Then he rushed toward Kevin like some kind of
01:03:40 ferocious animal. Everyone was certain that Kevin was a goner now. Not even his friends could save
01:03:47 him. Lily shouted, "Kevin, run! You can't beat him!" They all watched helplessly as the powerful
01:03:53 man attacked Kevin. Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively
01:03:59 on the Pocket FM app. Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:04:04 Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:04:11 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:04:14 Kevin and Meriwether were fighting right in the main reception room of the Jones mansion.
01:04:20 Although Kevin had taught Jason a lesson at Grandma Jones's birthday party, Lily doubted that
01:04:25 her husband could beat Meriwether. But it made her feel good to see Kevin stand up for her.
01:04:30 "Hurry, Kevin, get out!" Lily shouted as she ran to grab her phone and call the police.
01:04:35 Kevin acted as if he didn't hear Lily's warning and just stood there calmly facing Meriwether.
01:04:41 Once her phone connected, Lily said, "This is an emergency. Come to the Jones family mansion
01:04:48 right away. There's a terrible fight." Lily's voice trailed off. Over the phone,
01:04:53 the police operator could hear the fight going on in the background.
01:04:56 The Joneses were all amazed to see Kevin standing there tightly clenching Meriwether's fist.
01:05:02 "With your punching speed, you should consider going into the martial arts,"
01:05:07 Kevin said sarcastically. "How dare you mock me?" Meriwether snarled.
01:05:12 While Kevin was holding his fist, Meriwether turned and gave him a powerful kick to the head.
01:05:18 The 911 operator told Lily, "That sounds dangerous. Please keep at a safe distance.
01:05:24 Who's fighting?" "The MMA champion Lucas Meriwether is attacking my husband!"
01:05:30 Lily cried. Everyone closed their eyes. They were sure that Kevin would be severely injured by the
01:05:36 kick. A cold smile emerged on Meriwether's face. He had used this move to knock out a lot of his
01:05:42 opponents. But in the next second, to everyone's surprise, Kevin calmly reached out his left hand
01:05:49 and grabbed Meriwether by the ankle. When he squeezed his hands together, Meriwether screamed
01:05:55 in agony. Then Kevin grabbed Meriwether's hands and feet and threw him onto the ground with a
01:06:01 dull thud. Everyone there, including Meriwether's bodyguards, were stunned. They couldn't believe
01:06:08 he had beaten the world champion so easily. Before Meriwether could get up from the floor,
01:06:13 Kevin put his foot on the man's chest, pinning him down. "So what were you saying about my wife,
01:06:20 you arrogant bastard?" Kevin said as he leaned down and slapped Meriwether on the face.
01:06:25 "Stop hitting me! I was wrong!" Meriwether begged him. "So you admit that you were wrong.
01:06:32 Then maybe you should apologize," Kevin said coldly. "All right, I apologize," Meriwether
01:06:40 said in a muffled voice. "Not to me, to Lily." After Kevin finished speaking, he glared at
01:06:47 Meriwether's bodyguards. None of them dared to move. They knew that they couldn't beat their
01:06:52 boss even if they joined forces. Seeing how easily Kevin had defeated Meriwether,
01:06:57 how could they possibly stand a chance? "Never!" Meriwether said bitterly. "Never?"
01:07:04 Kevin grabbed the man by the collar and raised his palm to slap him.
01:07:08 This is unbelievable, they all thought. Was this really happening? Lily gulped in disbelief.
01:07:14 She'd been married to Kevin for three years and had never seen the side of him. Kevin gave
01:07:20 Meriwether another punch to the jaw. It looked like he may have knocked out a couple of his teeth.
01:07:26 "We're still waiting," Kevin said threateningly.
01:07:29 "I'll do it, I'll do it, just stop hitting me!" Meriwether begged.
01:07:33 Kevin turned the big man to face Lily. As everyone looked on in shock, Meriwether said,
01:07:39 "Lily, Mrs. Williams, I'm sorry, I should never have done this. Please forgive me."
01:07:46 Before Lily could say anything, Kevin said, "I'll call the police now and let them handle this."
01:07:52 "I've already called the police," Lily said softly. Kevin nodded and lowered Meriwether
01:07:58 to the floor. Then he turned around and looked at the man's bodyguards. He ordered them,
01:08:02 "Come over and sit on the floor with your hands on your heads." They frowned and looked at each
01:08:08 other. "What are you waiting for? Come over here and sit down next to me!" Meriwether shouted at
01:08:14 them. "Yes, sir," they replied and sat on the floor to wait for the police. A few minutes later,
01:08:20 they all heard sirens approaching the mansion. Officer Emmett walked in, followed by several
01:08:26 backup officers. "What's this all about?" she asked. Then she looked at Meriwether and his
01:08:32 bodyguards sitting quietly on the floor with their hands on their heads. "What's going on?
01:08:37 Why are these guys sitting on the floor?" Officer Emmett frowned and asked. "Officer,
01:08:43 please help me!" Before Meriwether could finish what he was saying, Kevin grabbed him by his
01:08:48 throat. "Kevin, what are you doing? You can't do that in front of a police officer," Officer Emmett
01:08:54 said. "Well, Officer Emmett, I've already guessed what Meriwether was about to say.
01:08:59 He just wants to complain. I figured I'd save you some time and just make him shut up,"
01:09:05 Kevin said calmly. Officer Emmett rolled her eyes at Kevin. Then she turned to the other officers
01:09:11 and asked them to have two more cars sent over. She looked at the Jones family standing in a big
01:09:16 circle, then pointed at the men sitting on the floor and added, "Take these guys back to the
01:09:21 station for questioning." After Officer Emmett finished giving these instructions, she turned
01:09:25 to Kevin and Lily and said, "Please follow me." "Of course, Officer Emmett," Kevin said as he
01:09:32 shrugged his shoulders. Then he hesitated for a moment before saying, "Does my wife have to go?
01:09:38 She was a little frightened by all of this and she should go get some rest."
01:09:43 "It's fine. I can go with you," Lily said worriedly. Officer Emmett said, "I'll be in touch,
01:09:49 ma'am." Then she nodded at Kevin and said, "Let's go." Kevin turned to Lily and said, "Go home and
01:09:56 rest up. I'll be back soon." Then he and Officer Emmett left the Jones mansion.
01:10:01 Kevin sat down in the front seat of Officer Emmett's cruiser. She put it into gear and
01:10:07 drove through the gate toward the city. After about ten minutes, Kevin asked her,
01:10:12 "Aren't we going to the police station?" He knew that they weren't in the right neighborhood.
01:10:17 "You know the police station pretty well, don't you?" Officer Emmett gave him an odd look and
01:10:22 then smiled. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "I drive by the police station all the time
01:10:28 and this is definitely the wrong direction. What's going on?" "Forget it. I won't tease you anymore,"
01:10:34 she said in a slightly playful tone. "Actually, I already know what kind of guy Meriwether is.
01:10:40 I can find out all I need to know from the Jones family." Suddenly, Kevin's eyes lit up.
01:10:45 "That pill I made actually helped you, didn't it?" "How did you guess?" she said in surprise.
01:10:52 "I'm not just another pretty face," Kevin joked. "Don't flatter yourself," Officer Emmett said as
01:10:59 she went back to looking at the road. As they got closer to downtown, the traffic started to back up,
01:11:05 even though it wasn't rush hour yet. Officer Emmett slowed down and squeezed into the next
01:11:10 lane over. "Kevin," she said, "do you have another one of those pills?"
01:11:14 "Officer Emmett, what kind of man do you think I am? I don't just go around handing out pills,"
01:11:21 Kevin replied as he smiled casually. "I really didn't expect it to have such a great effect on
01:11:27 me. A few hours after you left, I started to feel fantastic," Officer Emmett said enthusiastically.
01:11:34 "If you have one left over, may I have it?" she asked awkwardly.
01:11:37 "The supplement has already done its work. Why would you want another one?" Kevin asked.
01:11:44 He found her request puzzling. She didn't strike him as someone who was greedy.
01:11:48 "I have a very good friend who needs some help," she explained. She knew that something this
01:11:54 miraculous would be difficult to make herself. Somehow, Kevin seemed to have a gift for it.
01:12:00 "I'm not sure I can help," he explained honestly. "I understand," Officer Emmett answered. He could
01:12:06 see in her eyes that she was disappointed. "However, there may be a way for me to help
01:12:11 your friend," Kevin said with a smile. "How?" Officer Emmett's face lit up.
01:12:16 Kevin glanced at her first, then asked, "Do you know Dominic Archer? I sold him one a couple
01:12:23 of days ago." "You mean you want me to pay for it?" Officer Emmett asked. Kevin slowly nodded
01:12:29 his head. He hadn't heard a lot of the ingredients and the recipes that he'd found. If he wanted to
01:12:36 keep experimenting with this herbal medicine, he'd need a lot of money. But he couldn't use any of
01:12:41 the Williams Media or KWTD Corporation assets to pay for his personal research. He wanted those
01:12:47 companies to continue to grow because he knew he'd need them in the future. So he had to fund the
01:12:53 project himself. "As long as your friend is willing to pay, I can do it," Kevin said calmly.
01:13:00 "Don't worry, money isn't a problem. My friend is pretty well off." Then Officer Emmett asked
01:13:05 curiously, "How do you know Dominic Archer? And how much did he pay for your pill?"
01:13:10 "How did I meet him? I'd rather not talk about it," Kevin casually said. "But he didn't pay much,
01:13:17 just $500,000." Officer Emmett slammed on the brakes when she heard this. "How much did he pay?"
01:13:24 Officer Emmett repeated. "$500,000. Didn't you say that your friend could afford it?"
01:13:30 Kevin said with a smirk. Of course Kevin knew very well that Officer Emmett's friend would never be
01:13:35 able to afford to pay that much. After all, hardly anyone in the whole city was as rich as Dominic.
01:13:40 As Kevin expected, Officer Emmett didn't say anything else. She just quietly followed the
01:13:46 car in front of them and slowly crossed the next intersection. "Let's go to the police station for
01:13:52 a statement," Officer Emmett said blankly. "Officer Emmett, I consider us to be friends.
01:13:58 Why don't I give your friend a 20% discount?" Kevin said nervously.
01:14:02 Was Kevin really afraid of going down to the police station? Of course not. He knew that
01:14:08 Meriwether was completely in the wrong, although he may have gotten a little carried away defending
01:14:13 Lily against the bully. Kevin was acting anxious so he could give Officer Emmett a way out.
01:14:18 "A 20% discount? Isn't that still a few hundred thousand?" Officer Emmett said sadly. "Kevin,
01:14:26 are you teasing me? Are you having fun?" He knew that she couldn't possibly afford to help her
01:14:32 friend no matter how generous she was. "Forget about it, Officer Emmett. I value our relationship.
01:14:39 In the short time I've known you, we've faced a lot together, even fought side by side. I'll just
01:14:45 give you the pill," Kevin said gently. "Really?" Officer Emmett said as she pulled to the curb
01:14:51 and slammed on the brakes again. Her sudden move caught Kevin off guard and he grabbed the armrest.
01:14:56 "Officer Emmett, can you please be more careful? I can give you the pill, but I do have one
01:15:03 condition," Kevin said nonchalantly. "I knew it. I already told you I can't afford it, so if you're
01:15:09 asking for any money, we can forget about the whole thing." Officer Emmett said bluntly. "Don't
01:15:15 worry. The condition I want is very simple. All you have to do is say 'please.'" Kevin said with
01:15:23 a smile. Officer Emmett turned her head and continued driving. A few minutes later, she said,
01:15:30 "Okay. Please give me the pill for my friend." "Wasn't that easy?" Kevin said with a smile.
01:15:37 Then he took a small bottle out of his pocket and poured the pill out into his hand.
01:15:41 "Thank you," Officer Emmett said gratefully. Then she quickly took out her phone and called her
01:15:47 friend. "Hello? Where are you right now?" "I've got the pill." She made a U-turn and started to
01:15:53 head back out of the city. "Where are we going now?" Kevin wondered.
01:15:58 "Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:16:04 Click the link in the description to install the app now." "Hi guys, Kevin here. Listen to full
01:16:10 episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app. Click the link in the description to
01:16:15 install the app now." As Officer Emmett was driving Kevin away from the Jones family mansion in her
01:16:23 squad car, she decided to ask him for a favor. She needed one of the herbal pills that he'd made so
01:16:29 she could help a friend. When Kevin finally agreed, she picked up her phone and called her friend to
01:16:34 say she was on the way. "All right, wait for me there," Officer Emmett said as she hung up the
01:16:40 phone. She turned her head and said to Kevin, "My friend is having breakfast at the Whitsler Hotel.
01:16:46 We're almost there, so let's head over to meet him." After hearing Officer Emmett say that her
01:16:51 friend was having breakfast at the Whitsler, Kevin had an idea of who it was. "Anybody who has such
01:16:57 an expensive breakfast has to be a snob," Kevin commented. Officer Emmett was surprised to hear
01:17:03 this. Realizing that something was wrong, she said, "Kevin, my friend is just a little spoiled by his
01:17:09 family, so sometimes he splurges. Please promise me you won't bicker with him, okay?" "All right,
01:17:15 I'll go with you, but let's get one thing clear first. If this friend of yours isn't polite,
01:17:20 I may not just hand over the pill," Kevin said calmly. When they arrived at the Whitsler Hotel,
01:17:26 they took the elevator up to a private room on the third floor. As he opened the door,
01:17:31 Kevin noticed that there were five or six couples in the room. Based on the way they were dressed,
01:17:36 Kevin was even more certain that they were just snobs who had nothing to do all day long.
01:17:41 A well-dressed man walked up and stood next to Officer Emmett. It was Sherwin Blair. He took her
01:17:48 by the hand and introduced her to everyone. "I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Kelly Emmett. I'm
01:17:55 sorry," he paused for a moment. "Lieutenant Emmett, as you can see by her uniform." One of his table
01:18:03 companions said, "Delighted to meet you. When are you getting married? We can't wait to attend your
01:18:09 wedding." "Soon, soon, but let me tell you something else," he replied. "Today we have another
01:18:16 surprise. Mrs. Blair just brought me a miraculous herbal pill," he said happily. "Sherwin, how many
01:18:24 times have I told you we aren't married yet, so it's too soon for anyone to call me Mrs. Blair,"
01:18:30 Officer Emmett said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "My fiancé is just a little nervous.
01:18:37 Please, don't be offended," Blair replied. Just then, one of them looked at Kevin and asked
01:18:42 abruptly, "Isn't this the guy who married into the Jones family? What's he doing here?"
01:18:48 There was an awkward pause, then Blair turned toward Kevin and sneered. "Are you lost? This is
01:18:55 the Whitsler Hotel, you know. They don't just let anyone come in here." "Then why can't I be here?"
01:19:02 Kevin asked with a smirk. "Everyone knows that the Jones family is desperate to find people to buy
01:19:09 shares in their company. They'll be bankrupt soon and there's nothing they can do about it,"
01:19:14 Blair said in a snobby tone. Then he glanced at Kevin and added, "Can you even afford to eat here?
01:19:21 You probably should have stayed at home." "Shut up, Sherwin," Officer Emmett said angrily.
01:19:27 "Kevin was kind enough to bring you the herbal remedy I was telling you about."
01:19:31 Everyone in the room was shocked when they heard that. They really didn't expect Blair's
01:19:37 girlfriend to defend Kevin. What shocked them even more was that Kevin actually had an herbal
01:19:42 supplement that could help Blair. It was a rare skill and there were a lot of rich people who
01:19:48 were desperate to have access to the latest breakthroughs. They really doubted that Kevin
01:19:53 had the ability to help their friend. "Kelly, you can be so gullible. Kevin is obviously playing you
01:20:00 for a fool," Blair said arrogantly. "Think about it. How could someone like him have any knowledge
01:20:07 or skill to make an effective herbal remedy?" Before Officer Emmett could respond, Kevin spoke
01:20:13 up. "Because Officer Emmett and I are friends, I was going to give you a good price, but now I've
01:20:19 decided to increase it by 30 percent." "Kevin, what are you doing?" Officer Emmett asked him
01:20:26 in shock. She knew how much Dominic had paid Kevin. An increase of 30 percent would be a fortune.
01:20:33 Kevin shook his head and answered her, "I haven't done anything to these people and they're treating
01:20:38 me so rudely. What did you expect?" "So what? I'm not going to waste any more time talking to
01:20:45 someone like you," Blair said contemptuously. "Listen carefully," he said with a sneer.
01:20:52 "The only reason Kelly has made any progress is her training and her healthy diet. It has nothing
01:20:58 to do with that stupid pill of yours." "I'm warning you right now," he continued angrily.
01:21:05 "If you do something like this again, you won't like what happens."
01:21:09 "Sherwin, why are you saying this? Kevin is my friend and I'm the one who brought him here today,"
01:21:16 Officer Emmett asked him. She was getting very upset. "Kelly, Kevin is obviously a liar. Don't
01:21:23 be fooled. Your sudden improvement has nothing to do with him," he answered firmly.
01:21:29 Kevin took a deep breath. He couldn't believe Officer Emmett had such a jerk for a boyfriend.
01:21:34 "Okay, since her progress had nothing to do with me, then I guess I'll leave." Kevin turned around
01:21:42 and started to head for the door. "Stop! Who said you could leave without asking for permission?"
01:21:48 Blair snapped at him. "Enough! Sherwin, you're hurting my feelings,"
01:21:53 Officer Emmett said angrily. Just then, the door opened from the outside.
01:21:59 Five or six waiters came in carrying enormous trays. They were used to scenes like this and
01:22:05 started serving the meal like nothing was wrong. Blair gave Officer Emmett a bewildered look.
01:22:11 He didn't know why his girlfriend trusted Kevin so much, but he figured it wouldn't be worth it
01:22:17 to have a fight with her over some useless loser. So Blair took a deep breath and said,
01:22:22 "Alright, Kelly, he can eat with us today, but I'm only doing this as a favor to you."
01:22:29 Seeing Blair give in, Officer Emmett's expression softened up a little.
01:22:33 Then she turned to Kevin and said apologetically, "I know this didn't get off to a great start,
01:22:39 but can you please stay for the meal? As a favor to me? I'll definitely make sure
01:22:44 Sherwin apologizes to you later." "Alright, I'll stay." Kevin nodded
01:22:50 slightly as he tossed the herbal pill to Officer Emmett. "Thank you," she said gratefully.
01:22:55 Then Officer Emmett gestured for Kevin to take a seat. She turned to Blair and said,
01:23:01 "Just trust me, okay? Take this." Blair didn't want to risk making her angry again,
01:23:07 so he took the pill and swallowed it. Then he stood up with a glass of rose in his hand and said,
01:23:12 "Kevin, at Kelly's request, you're our guest today."
01:23:17 Kevin thought this was pretty funny. He could eat at the Whitsler Hotel anytime that he wanted.
01:23:22 Blair saw that this hadn't gotten much of a reaction from Kevin. He sneered and went on
01:23:28 with his insulting toast. "The Jones family is on the verge of bankruptcy, so as a favor to Kelly,
01:23:35 I can instruct our company to hire you on as a building custodian. Starting salary would be,
01:23:40 let's say, $1,500 a month. How about it?" The whole room burst into laughter. One of the guests
01:23:48 said, "You're too generous, Mr. Blair. Just make sure he can do a good job cleaning the restrooms."
01:23:54 Officer Emmett was embarrassed. She suddenly felt guilty that she'd brought Kevin along.
01:24:00 If she hadn't insisted, Kevin wouldn't be in this humiliating situation.
01:24:04 "So, you're Sherwin Blair," Kevin said with a mocking smile. "Hardly anyone has heard of you.
01:24:12 Do you really think you're a big shot?" The room got quiet all of a sudden. They all knew that
01:24:18 Blair was hot-tempered and wouldn't put up with Kevin's insults. But Blair held his anger in so
01:24:23 he wouldn't upset Officer Emmett. He shouted at Kevin, "So this is how you respond to my generous
01:24:29 offer? You really are a lowlife!" "Look who's calling me a lowlife! You should take a good
01:24:36 look in the mirror," Kevin replied spitefully. Blair threw his wine glass on the floor. Shards
01:24:43 of glass went everywhere. Just as he was about to make a move toward Kevin, the door was flung open
01:24:49 and Drake hurried into the room followed by a few of his bodyguards. "What's going on here?
01:24:55 Who's causing trouble?" Drake growled as he looked around the room. Kevin was sitting with his back
01:25:00 facing the door so Drake didn't recognize him yet. One of the people whispered to the others,
01:25:05 "This is Drake. He's the head of security here." They all knew the place he had in Chicago's
01:25:11 underworld. Suddenly, Blair had an idea. He straightened out his tie and walked towards
01:25:17 Drake with a smile on his face. "Hello, sir. I wonder if you still remember me," Blair said
01:25:23 warmly. "My father and I brought some gifts to Mitchell Cook's birthday party."
01:25:28 When his breakfast companions heard that he knew someone like Drake, they were very impressed.
01:25:33 "Who are you?" Drake replied brusquely. "Did you throw the glass? I don't like troublemakers."
01:25:39 Blair's face froze. He immediately pointed at Kevin and explained excitedly,
01:25:45 "Sir, I'm Sherwin Blair. Perhaps you've heard of me. I'm not the one causing trouble today.
01:25:51 He's the one who broke the wine glass. He was also very rude to my girlfriend."
01:25:55 "Please, show him the exit for me," Blair said pretentiously. However, Drake didn't seem to hear
01:26:02 what he was saying. He was frowning and staring at Kevin's back. Kevin took a sip of his coffee
01:26:08 and said, "Drake, are you really sure you want to do that?" "Be careful how you talk to this man,"
01:26:15 Blair scolded him. They were all very upset by Kevin's attitude and were afraid that Drake would
01:26:21 take it out on them all. Just then, Drake reached out and took Blair forcibly by the elbow.
01:26:26 "What's the meaning of this?" the man asked. He had no idea why Drake was doing this.
01:26:32 "Stay right here," Drake growled at him. After saying this, he slowly walked over and stood in
01:26:39 front of Kevin. As everyone watched in amazement, Drake offered his hand and apologized. "I'm so
01:26:45 sorry, Mr. Williams. This is all my fault. I didn't recognize you right away, sir,"
01:26:50 Drake said nervously. "You could have heard a pin drop."
01:26:54 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:27:01 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:27:04 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:27:11 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:27:14 That's okay, Drake. How could you have known it was me?
01:27:19 Kevin calmly sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee.
01:27:23 "Mr. Williams, I had no idea that you were eating here today. Unfortunately, we're not prepared for
01:27:28 you. Would you like me to set up one of the upstairs rooms for you?" Drake asked politely.
01:27:32 Blair and his guests couldn't believe their ears. They had never been offered one of the
01:27:38 upstairs private rooms. The highest they ever got was the third floor. Only the most influential
01:27:44 people in Chicago were invited upstairs. "Not today, thanks," Kevin casually replied.
01:27:50 "Alright, Mr. Williams, since you're okay with this room, I won't force you."
01:27:54 After saying this, Drake immediately turned around and said to one of his brawny bodyguards,
01:28:00 "Go and tell the manager in the lobby downstairs to make arrangements.
01:28:04 All the expenses in this room are on the house."
01:28:06 The group had no idea what to think. They'd just spent a half an hour being rude to Kevin and now
01:28:13 Drake was treating him like royalty. As the man was walking out of the room to carry out Drake's
01:28:19 instructions, Kevin suddenly put down his coffee cup. "Wait," Kevin said amiably. "I only drank
01:28:26 half a cup of coffee. Just ask him to count my coffee." Then Kevin slowly stood up and glanced
01:28:32 at Blair, who was standing there in shock. He chuckled quietly and left the room.
01:28:37 "Go back to work, Drake. I'm going to take a stroll," Kevin said nonchalantly.
01:28:43 "Okay, Mr. Williams, enjoy your walk. If you need anything, just let me know."
01:28:47 Drake gestured for his men to follow him out of the room. A moment later,
01:28:52 Officer Emmett sped out of the room and ran after Kevin.
01:28:55 "Kevin, where are you going?" She asked in embarrassment.
01:28:58 "I'm going home," Kevin answered her indifferently.
01:29:02 "Why don't I take you home?" Officer Emmett offered.
01:29:06 "I'm really sorry for all this. I didn't expect it to get so unpleasant."
01:29:11 "It's no big deal. They're just a bunch of rich, spoiled brats," Kevin said very calmly.
01:29:16 Officer Emmett seemed happy to hear that he was taking it so well.
01:29:19 "Thank you so much. I can't let you take a taxi home. Let me give you a ride,"
01:29:25 Officer Emmett said cheerfully. Kevin nodded his head and said, "Okay."
01:29:30 Kevin and Officer Emmett had just gotten to the parking lot when Blair ran over to them.
01:29:35 "Kelly, what are you doing?" Blair asked in confusion.
01:29:40 Then he glared at Kevin. He figured Drake had been so nice to him because he was related to
01:29:45 Grandma Jones. Blair knew that Mitchell Cook had given Grandma a birthday present, so it made sense
01:29:51 for them to be welcoming to Kevin. "I'm taking Kevin home. You know,
01:29:56 I brought him here to help you. After all this, I just can't leave him here without a ride,"
01:30:01 Officer Emmett explained. It was clear that she was pissed at him.
01:30:05 When Blair heard this, he got a little angry. "Kelly, what do you mean?"
01:30:11 "How can this loser be your friend? You'd better go back inside right now."
01:30:16 Officer Emmett gave Blair a nasty look and said to Kevin, "Ignore him. Let's go."
01:30:21 Just then, a long black car with tinted windows screeched to a stop in front of them.
01:30:27 The door opened and someone fired what must have been tranquilizer darts at them.
01:30:32 "Not good," Kevin thought to himself, but before he could react,
01:30:37 he felt the world spinning as he fell heavily to the ground.
01:30:41 The three of them woke up one after another in what looked like the basement of an industrial
01:30:47 building. They weren't sure how long they'd been there. A few bare light bulbs were giving off a
01:30:53 dim yellow light. Kevin got up and looked through the tiny window of the heavy steel door and saw
01:30:58 five or six burly men standing guard not far away. "Do you know who I am? Hurry up and let us go or
01:31:06 I'll make you suffer!" Blair shouted as he pounded on the door. "What are you yelling about?" one of
01:31:13 the men said impatiently. "Hurry up and let me go!" Blair roared loudly. Suddenly, one of the other
01:31:21 men barked, "Pull him out!" Moments later, two strong men opened the iron door and pulled Blair
01:31:28 out of the room. Kevin wanted to take this opportunity to fight back but realized that
01:31:33 he was still under the effects of the tranquilizer. He felt too weak to do anything right now.
01:31:38 "Let me go!" Blair said as he struggled with all his might. A second later, a man dressed in black
01:31:46 from head to toe punched him hard on the jaw, knocking out a couple of his teeth. Blood instantly
01:31:52 began pouring out of his mouth. Then he punched Blair in the stomach. He collapsed to the floor,
01:31:58 writhing in pain. "That should calm him down," the man said with disdain.
01:32:03 "Who do you people think you are?" Officer Emmett asked indignantly. "I'm a lieutenant at the 30th
01:32:10 District Station." One of the men walked into the room and said menacingly, "We know who you are,
01:32:17 Officer Emmett. That's why you're here." "You know me?" Officer Emmett asked in confusion.
01:32:24 "Have you forgotten already? You captured dozens of my men lately." Then he added, "The day before
01:32:31 yesterday, you were looking everywhere for me." "Xavier Marshall," Officer Emmett finally reacted.
01:32:39 "From the Alliance? What do you want from me?" Officer Emmett knew that they were in trouble.
01:32:44 These were desperate criminals. Kevin wondered, "What's the Alliance?"
01:32:50 Marshall took a long look at Kevin and Blair. "Officer Emmett, you must be very happy today.
01:32:57 You have very handsome companions." "Don't talk nonsense," Blair growled angrily.
01:33:04 "I have nothing to do with this useless bastard." "Shut up. I don't care what's going on between
01:33:11 you. But as long as you're all here, I may not let you go so easily," Marshall said with an evil
01:33:18 smile. "Marshall, let them go. I was the one who gave the order for your men to be arrested.
01:33:23 It's my responsibility, not theirs." Officer Emmett pleaded with him. She knew very well
01:33:30 what kind of dangerous organization the Alliance was. They were cruel and often cold-blooded in
01:33:36 their methods, and her department had been trying to stop them for years. But she had no idea what
01:33:43 to do to get out of this mess. "She's right," Blair said. "This obviously is between the two
01:33:49 of you, not me. Let me go and I'll pay you whatever you want." Blair was panicked when
01:33:55 he realized the men were from the Alliance. "How much can you give me?" Marshall sneered.
01:34:01 Then he said, "Now that I've captured Officer Emmett, I'm in a good mood. So I'll give you
01:34:07 a chance. If you can name a price that I like, I'll let you go." "I'll pay five million for
01:34:14 Officer Emmett's life and my own," Blair quickly replied. "Five million? Do you really think that's
01:34:21 enough?" Then Marshall smiled cruelly. "Anyway, I didn't say that Officer Emmett's life was part
01:34:28 of the deal." Then Marshall turned around and looked at Kevin. "Since you're friends with them,
01:34:34 I figure you're not too poor yourself. Tell me, how much money would you pay in exchange for your
01:34:41 life?" When Kevin heard this, he clenched his fist. He never thought that Marshall would ask
01:34:46 him this kind of question. "He's just a freeloader and he doesn't have any money at all," Blair told
01:34:53 him. "And I'm not friends with him either." He paused for a moment and then made another offer.
01:34:58 "If you don't think five million is enough, I'll give you another million. Just let me go."
01:35:04 When Officer Emmett heard Blair say this, her heart sank. Kevin looked at Marshall and he could
01:35:10 tell that the man didn't care what happened to them. He said to himself, "I don't think he plans
01:35:15 to let us go at all." Marshall looked at Kevin and said, "Well, I guess money isn't everything.
01:35:22 You can't blame me for asking." Then he said to one of his men, "Take him outside. Toss him in
01:35:28 the lake when you're done with him." Blair got excited when he heard that. He thought that
01:35:34 Marshall was going to accept his offer and only kill Kevin. As soon as they let him go, he'd call
01:35:39 the police to rescue Officer Emmett. She'd have to be grateful to him for that. Suddenly, Kevin
01:35:45 said very calmly, "Wait, I don't have six million dollars, but you may be interested in my ring."
01:35:52 Kevin showed him the ring he had taken from Dominic Archer. Kevin had a feeling that there
01:35:57 was something special about the ring, but he didn't know exactly what it was. The only thing
01:36:03 he was sure of was that it was an antique and it was worth a lot of money. But if he couldn't figure
01:36:09 out its secret, then it would be useless to him. He might as well just give the ring to Marshall
01:36:13 in exchange for his life. As Marshall took a good look at the ring, his face grew more and more
01:36:19 serious. "Where did you get this ring from?" he asked. He had a feeling he knew, but he just had
01:36:27 to be sure. Seeing Marshall's reaction, Kevin decided to string him along. "Where did the ring
01:36:33 come from? Do you really need me to explain it to you?" Kevin pretended to be cold. It took all his
01:36:40 courage to push this as far as he could. Blair, who was standing next to Kevin, got upset by his
01:36:45 behavior. "What are you doing? If you piss him off, he'll kill us all." When Marshall heard this,
01:36:52 he turned to Blair and snarled, "If you say another word, I'll cut out your tongue." That
01:36:58 made Blair shut up right away, but he continued to glare at Kevin. Marshall turned his attention
01:37:04 back to Kevin. "Of course I need an explanation." Kevin seemed to be the only one who noticed how
01:37:11 jittery Marshall seemed to be. "It's always been mine," Kevin said in a tone that made Marshall's
01:37:17 blood run cold. When Marshall heard this, he looked like he'd been slapped in the face. Beads
01:37:23 of sweat started to form on his forehead. Then Kevin looked Marshall straight in the eye, but
01:37:28 didn't say a word. Marshall immediately understood. He said, "Take him to the next room. I want to
01:37:35 interrogate him properly." Blair saw that Marshall was about to leave. He struggled to stand up and
01:37:41 said, "Let me go. I promise that as long as I leave, I'll send someone to deliver six million
01:37:48 dollars to you." "Work him over," Marshall said to his men. Then he turned around and left the cell.
01:37:55 Two strong men escorted Kevin to the next room. When Kevin reached the door, he saw a few men
01:38:01 beating Blair up. It wasn't a pretty sight. When they got to the other room, Marshall asked the
01:38:07 two men to leave. As soon as the door was closed, the frightened man turned to Kevin and said,
01:38:12 "I'm sorry, sir. I had no idea who you were."
01:38:16 As soon as they were alone, Marshall apologized to Kevin and repeated,
01:38:44 "I had no idea you were the Night King." When Kevin heard this, he was puzzled. He had no idea
01:38:51 who or what the Night King was. But now that he saw Marshall treating him like his superior,
01:38:57 Kevin figured he could take advantage of the situation to get out of the place.
01:39:00 "If this guy thinks I'm the Night King, I guess I should act the part," Kevin thought to himself.
01:39:06 "Well, I can't fault you for your ignorance," Kevin said to him coldly.
01:39:12 "Thank you for not punishing me for my behavior," Marshall groveled. Then he cautiously asked,
01:39:18 "What's brought you to Chicago? Nobody contacted me to make preparations for your arrival."
01:39:24 "Do I need to inform you in advance where I want to go?" Kevin said with a sour expression on his
01:39:31 face. Then he added coldly, "Just do your job and leave the rest to me."
01:39:37 "Yes, sir," Marshall replied timidly. What Kevin didn't know yet was that nobody in the
01:39:43 Alliance knew exactly where the Night King was. Marshall had obviously never met him,
01:39:48 but when he saw Kevin, he figured he was too young to be in such a powerful position in the
01:39:53 organization. That's why he'd been caught by surprise when he saw Kevin wearing the ring.
01:39:58 Kevin casually sat down on a chair and asked him,
01:40:02 "You just said that Officer Emmett caught a lot of your gang. How could that happen?"
01:40:07 "It's true. She was able to infiltrate our organization."
01:40:12 "That doesn't interest me," Kevin impatiently interrupted Marshall.
01:40:16 "As long as we haven't been completely exposed in this town, you can handle the rest yourself."
01:40:22 "I understand, sir," Marshall said very obediently.
01:40:26 Kevin suddenly felt hungry. All he'd managed to have for breakfast was half a cup of coffee
01:40:32 at Blair's Fancy Breakfast. "I haven't eaten anything today,"
01:40:36 Kevin said awkwardly, but he didn't finish his sentence.
01:40:39 "Well, you're a busy man. I'm sure it's hard to find the time."
01:40:44 "I'll get someone to make something for you right away," Marshall answered very agreeably.
01:40:49 Kevin nodded indifferently and Marshall left the room. Once Marshall was gone,
01:40:54 Kevin took a look around the room. From the layout, he guessed that this was probably his
01:40:58 private office. As he scanned the room, Kevin saw a black box. What's this?
01:41:04 Kevin slowly walked over to the box and studied it carefully.
01:41:08 The door of the room was still closed, so he forced the box open.
01:41:12 Inside, there was a small vial of powder and a book on how to prepare advanced herbal remedies.
01:41:18 Kevin picked up the book and flipped through it. Then his eye caught a recipe for a powerful
01:41:24 hallucinogenic powder that looked a lot like the one in the vial. Based on the description,
01:41:29 it seemed to be some kind of herbal weapon. "What the hell is going on here?" he thought to himself.
01:41:35 "Everybody seems to be into obscure herbal ingredients. First, Cook, then Officer Emmett
01:41:42 and Dominic, now this guy." Kevin heard a burst of hurried footsteps
01:41:47 outside the door. He didn't have any time to think, so he stuffed the book in the powder
01:41:51 under his shirt. Then he quickly closed the box and returned to his seat.
01:41:55 When Marshall returned, Kevin clearly noticed that he'd glanced at the box.
01:42:00 Was it fear that Kevin saw in the man's eyes? "You seem nervous." Kevin provoked him a little.
01:42:07 "I was afraid I was neglecting you, so I rushed back," Marshall explained.
01:42:13 Then he turned to the door and said, "Hurry up and bring the food and wine."
01:42:18 Before Marshall finished speaking, three men came in with trays of sandwiches and fruit,
01:42:23 along with a few bottles of wine. They placed it all on the table and hurried out of the room.
01:42:28 "I'm very sorry, sir, but since I didn't know you were in Chicago, I didn't make any preparations.
01:42:34 This is the best we could come up with on short notice," Marshall said apologetically.
01:42:40 "I don't mind," Kevin said as he slowly picked up a sandwich. He looked at Marshall and said,
01:42:46 "Have you eaten yet? Would you like to sit down and join me?"
01:42:50 Kevin hadn't been threatening at all, but Marshall looked a little skinnish.
01:42:54 He quickly excused himself, saying, "I couldn't impose. Please, enjoy your meal.
01:43:01 I'll be waiting outside the door if you need anything." Then Marshall rushed out of the room.
01:43:07 Kevin finished off the meal pretty quickly. Then he opened one of the bottles of wine and poured
01:43:12 some of the powder into it. "Is there anyone out there?" Kevin called towards the door.
01:43:17 Marshall immediately pushed the door open and entered. He asked politely,
01:43:21 "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?" "I'd like to reward your men for their diligence,"
01:43:28 Kevin said as he casually offered the bottle of wine. Marshall took the bottle and replied,
01:43:33 "Thank you for your kind offer. However, we only drink to celebrate."
01:43:39 "Are you telling me that my arrival here isn't something worth celebrating?"
01:43:43 Kevin asked gravely. Marshall was happy to hear this. He knew very well that Kevin was trying
01:43:48 to find an excuse for his men to be able to have a drink. "We're very proud to have you with us, sir,"
01:43:55 Marshall answered in the most flattering tone he could muster. "Then what are you standing there
01:44:00 for? Don't you want your men to have this?" Kevin said with a satisfied smile.
01:44:05 "I'll give it to them right away," Marshall said gratefully as he headed out the door.
01:44:10 Kevin was starting to feel like his plan might work. Once these people drank enough wine,
01:44:16 he could try to save Officer Emmett. But he still had some doubts. He'd gotten his ring from Dominic
01:44:22 Archer. Whoever wore it obviously wielded a lot of power. But what was the relationship between
01:44:29 Dominic and the Alliance? And what the hell was he doing with the ring? But he'd have to figure
01:44:36 that out later. Right now, Kevin's top priority was to get out of this place. Unfortunately,
01:44:42 a single bottle of wine wouldn't be enough to get everyone here drunk, even with some of the powder
01:44:47 in it. So Kevin poured more of the hallucinogen into the rest of the bottles of wine. He mixed
01:44:53 them well and called again. "Come back in." Two of Marshall's men immediately walked in. One of
01:44:59 them asked him very politely, "What orders do you have, sir?" "No orders, but I see that you've got
01:45:05 it pretty tough here. So why don't the two of you take this wine and share it with the rest of the
01:45:10 gang?" Kevin said generously. They were overjoyed that he was being so kind to them, especially
01:45:15 considering his rank in the Alliance. They took the bottles and gave him a big grin. "Thank you,
01:45:21 sir." "Bottoms up," Kevin said as he gestured to them to leave the room. After the two of them
01:45:28 left, Kevin walked over to the room where Officer Emmett and Blair were being held. As he approached,
01:45:34 the guards greeted him politely. Kevin gave a slight nod and instructed them, "Go and have a
01:45:40 drink and a bite to eat with your buddies. I can watch these guys for a while." "Thank you, sir,"
01:45:46 they said excitedly as they headed over to join their comrades. What Kevin didn't know yet was
01:45:51 that he'd gotten the whole gang worked up. There hadn't been anything to celebrate lately, so they
01:45:57 hadn't had any alcohol in weeks. After they left, Officer Emmett was baffled. "Kevin, what the hell
01:46:03 is going on? Why are they calling you 'sir'?" "I'm not sure. They probably think I'm some big shot,"
01:46:11 Kevin said with a shrug. "It has to be a mistake. How could a lowlife like you be anyone of
01:46:17 importance? They've obviously confused you with someone else," Blair sneered. Kevin looked at
01:46:24 Blair and saw just how much he'd gotten worked over. His nose and cheek were swollen and there
01:46:29 was still dried blood around his mouth. To add insult to injury, he was shackled to a pipe in
01:46:35 the corner of the cell. Officer Emmett ignored Blair's insults. Instead, she turned her attention
01:46:41 to Kevin and told him, "Since that's the case, you should find a way out of here. Then you can get
01:46:47 some help and come back for us." "Just be a little patient," Kevin said with a smile. Officer Emmett
01:46:53 was confused by his mellow attitude. A few seconds later, outside the room, there was a heavy thud.
01:46:59 Then there was another one, along with the sound of breaking glass. "I drug their wine," Kevin said
01:47:07 with a smile. "Maybe you're not so useless after all," Blair said excitedly. "Don't just stand
01:47:14 there. Hurry up and let us out." Kevin ignored Blair and walked over to Officer Emmett, who was
01:47:19 still tied to her chair. Kevin untied her and helped her stand up. "I don't know exactly how
01:47:25 long they'll be knocked out. We need to leave as soon as possible," Kevin said as he opened the
01:47:30 cell door to let Officer Emmett out. "Can't you see that I'm still tied up?" Blair shouted. "And
01:47:37 keep your filthy hands off of Kelly." "Blair, didn't you just agree to pay six million dollars
01:47:44 to save your own life?" Kevin asked with a sardonic grin. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Blair
01:47:51 complained. "If you two leave me here alone, they won't care about my six million dollars.
01:47:56 I'm finished." "I haven't seen any sign that you're all that smart," Kevin replied. "Just
01:48:03 stop talking and let me out." Blair sobbed. Officer Emmett sighed and said, "Kevin, please just let
01:48:10 him out." "But Blair is so rich and powerful. How could he let a lowlife like me help him?
01:48:17 He wouldn't live it down at the country club," Kevin retorted. "Stop being a hypocrite. If they
01:48:24 hadn't mistaken you for someone else, you'd be dead right now," Blair roared. "Did you hear that?"
01:48:31 "Officer Emmett, Blair definitely doesn't want me to save him," Kevin said calmly. He wasn't worried
01:48:37 at all. From what he saw in the book, they should be knocked out for hours. Officer Emmett sighed
01:48:43 again. "Kevin, I know Blair is far from perfect and I apologize for his behavior, but please let
01:48:49 him out anyway, okay?" "Apologize? It's up to him to apologize, not you," Kevin answered firmly.
01:48:58 "Kevin, you piece of shit. You want me to apologize to you? Dream on," Blair grumbled.
01:49:06 "Kelly, don't waste your breath on him. He's not worth it."
01:49:10 "Can you please stop arguing?" Officer Emmett said impatiently. "Don't you know who Marshall is?
01:49:17 If we leave you here, you'll be dead by morning." Blair was stunned to hear her say this. He knew
01:49:24 she wasn't exaggerating. Kevin didn't want to waste any more time. "I'm not worried. Blair can
01:49:31 afford to pay his way out." "Kevin, I'm begging you. Let Blair out," Officer Emmett pleaded.
01:49:37 But after all of Blair's cruel insults, she wasn't very confident that Kevin would listen to her.
01:49:43 He was under no obligation to save her fiancé. "Okay, I'll do it for you, not him," Kevin finally
01:49:51 gave in. "But there's just one condition. You have to say please."
01:49:56 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:50:02 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:50:05 Hi guys, Kevin here! Listen to full episodes of Insta Empire exclusively on the Pocket FM app.
01:50:12 Click the link in the description to install the app now.
01:50:15 When mom and dad find out you own a place like this, they'll definitely change their opinion of
01:50:22 you. Lily exclaimed as she hugged Kevin tightly and gave him a kiss. "I think we should wait a
01:50:28 while, Lily," Kevin replied. He thought for a moment and said, "You just had a knock-down
01:50:33 drag-out with your parents. If you tell them now, they'll just think that I borrowed it from my
01:50:38 friends." Lily got a sad look in her eyes when he said this. "I guess that makes sense," she said.
01:50:45 "I just don't know why they hate you so much." "It doesn't matter right now. As long as I'm
01:50:50 willing to work hard, one day your parents will come around and accept me," Kevin said as he
01:50:55 reached out and ran his fingers through Lily's hair. Just then, Kevin's phone vibrated in his
01:51:01 pocket. He took a look at the caller ID and saw that it was Cook. While Lily explored the condo,
01:51:07 Kevin sat down and answered the call. "Mitch, what's going on?" "Kevin, do you have any free
01:51:14 time this evening?" Cook asked him. "Sure, what's up?" Kevin asked curiously. "It's Adriana's
01:51:20 birthday tonight. She's having a party at my hotel and she asked me to invite you," Cook explained.
01:51:26 "Okay, no problem," Kevin thought for a second and then added, "And you don't need to send anyone to
01:51:32 pick me up." After he hung up, Kevin looked over at Lily who was standing on the stairs and gazing
01:51:38 up at the top floor. The apartment was like something you only saw in an architecture
01:51:43 magazine. Kevin decided not to take Lily with him to the party. He didn't want to risk having
01:51:49 her find out the rest of his secret. Not right now. "Lily, I've got something to do and I need
01:51:55 to head out. I might be back pretty late," Kevin told her. "No problem. You go ahead and do your
01:52:02 work," she replied. Lily felt that Kevin's boss was really going to help him on his meteoric rise
01:52:08 to the top and she didn't want to get in the way. With his boss's help, he could finally be accepted
01:52:14 by the Jones family. "Great. If you need anything, just use the intercom over there. The concierge
01:52:20 in the lobby can get you whatever you need. I'll give you a tour when I get back," he explained.
01:52:25 Then he got in the elevator to head down to the valet to pick up his car.
01:52:29 Kevin stopped at an upscale mall along the way to buy Adriana a sparkling diamond necklace.
01:52:36 Of course, it wasn't expensive for Adriana, but he wanted to give her a little something as a
01:52:42 token of his appreciation. Then he headed to the Whitsler Hotel. When he got out of his car,
01:52:48 Drake held the door and gave him a warm greeting. "Mr. Williams, what a pleasant surprise. Mr. Cook
01:52:54 asked me to wait for you here." This was quite a contrast from the nasty threats that Drake had
01:52:59 made when they first met, but Mitch had straightened him out and now he treated Kevin with far more
01:53:04 respect. Kevin smiled and said, "It's good to see you, Drake. I hope you've been staying out of
01:53:10 trouble." "I'm at your service, Mr. Williams," he replied. "The party is just getting started. Mr.
01:53:16 Cook will join you soon." Drake stepped aside and gestured for Kevin to head inside. "Where's
01:53:22 Adriana?" Kevin inquired. "President Wright is getting ready upstairs. She wants to be presentable
01:53:28 when she greets all the VIPs," Drake said with a smile. When Kevin entered the banquet hall,
01:53:33 he saw that, even though it was still pretty early, a lot of guests had already arrived.
01:53:39 That made sense. The West Chicago International Group was one of the leading corporations in the
01:53:44 Midwest. There was a table in the corner covered with neatly arranged gifts. Kevin reached out to
01:53:51 put the necklace on the pile and he was interrupted by one of the hotel staff. "Hello, sir. Please
01:53:57 follow me after you finish. We're asking all the bodyguards to move to a private room," the employee
01:54:02 said politely. Before Kevin could say anything, Drake got a furious look on his face and asked him,
01:54:09 "Who said this gentleman was a bodyguard?" "Sir, I don't know," he said to Drake in an
01:54:15 apologetic tone. Mitchell Cook was the most respected person in the Whistler Hotel,
01:54:20 but Drake was close behind. Still, even though Drake had the same last name, the only Mr. Cook
01:54:27 at the hotel was Mitchell Cook. But Drake didn't know anything about managing a hotel. His specialty
01:54:34 was dealing with anyone who dared to commit a crime on the property, and he was known for his
01:54:39 cruel methods. "Why are you apologizing to me? You should be apologizing to Mr. Williams,"
01:54:45 Drake berated him. The young man had noticed Kevin earlier but saw how simply he was dressed
01:54:51 and assumed he was just some big-shots bodyguard dropping off a birthday present.
01:54:55 He'd worked at the Whistler Hotel for two years, but had never made a blunder like this.
01:55:02 "Well, what are you waiting for?" Drake scolded him again.
01:55:05 "I'm sorry, Mr. Williams. Please accept my apologies," he stammered.
01:55:11 "No problem. I get that a lot," Kevin said casually.
01:55:15 "Isn't it time for you to return to your station?" Drake said with a glare.
01:55:19 Just then, they heard someone call out for help. "Please call a doctor. President Archer just
01:55:26 fainted!" The guests formed a circle around the woman and began to discuss what they should do.
01:55:32 Drake squeezed through the crowd and saw her lying on the floor. He furrowed his brow and said,
01:55:37 "President Archer?" "Do you know her?" Kevin asked hesitantly as his eyes were
01:55:43 scanning the surroundings. It seemed as if he was looking for something.
01:55:47 "Mr. Williams, you might not know this, but her name is Gwen Archer.
01:55:51 She's the CEO of Gwendum Real Estate, the biggest agency in Chicago."
01:55:56 Drake explained quickly as he tried to see how he could help.
01:55:59 "Her brother, Dominic Archer, is the head of one of the largest crime syndicates in the city."
01:56:04 Suddenly, someone in the crowd raised their voice. "Is there a doctor here? Please come and take a
01:56:10 look at President Archer." "I'm a doctor. Please let me in," said a tall woman as she made her way
01:56:17 through the crowd. "Dr. Willow?" Drake's face lit up as he said, "Sorry to trouble you. Please
01:56:24 have a look at President Archer." Gwen Archer had been personally invited by Adriana. If anything
01:56:31 happened to her, the hotel and West Chicago Group would have a lot to explain to Gwendum Real Estate.
01:56:36 Everyone was surprised to see Dr. Serafina Willow rendering aid. She was famous, not just in Chicago,
01:56:45 as the medical director of downtown general. She probably had the best medical reputation
01:56:51 in the entire city. Dr. Willow didn't pay any attention to what the guests were saying.
01:56:56 Her focus right now was Gwen Archer. She asked one of her companions to get her medical bag and then
01:57:02 knelt down to start taking the poor woman's vitals so she could assess the situation.
01:57:06 A few minutes later, Adriana arrived with a few of her bodyguards.
01:57:12 "Dr. Willow, how is she doing?" Adriana asked with concern. "The lack of ventilation isn't
01:57:18 helping. Please ask everyone to step back and give her some space," she replied with a solemn
01:57:24 expression. When Adriana heard this, she immediately motioned for everyone to give them some room.
01:57:29 Kevin, who was standing next to Drake, watched this intently. It reminded him of something he'd
01:57:35 just read in one of the books on natural medicine. Gwen still wasn't responding,
01:57:40 and everyone began to whisper to each other. Was it food poisoning? Did she have some kind
01:57:45 of medical condition? They didn't want to say anything out loud because they were afraid of
01:57:50 her brother Dominic. Drake walked up and asked her, "Dr. Willow, has there been any improvement?"
01:57:56 The doctor seemed a bit embarrassed. She said, "I think we should transport her to the hospital for
01:58:03 testing. All I can do is stabilize her." Adriana nodded and asked Drake to send for a car.
01:58:09 It would be faster than an ambulance and the doctor could ride with her.
01:58:12 Suddenly, Kevin walked up and put his arm on Drake's shoulder, saying, "There's no need to run
01:58:19 any tests on her." Some of the onlookers recognized Kevin as the deadbeat who had married his way into
01:58:25 the Jones family. They figured he was just trying to get attention and look important.
01:58:29 As they were making the usual nasty comments inspired by the lies that Jason had been
01:58:35 spreading about Kevin, their chatter immediately stopped when they saw Adriana walk up to Kevin and
01:58:41 say, "Mr. Williams!" The entire hall immediately fell silent. "Happy birthday, Adriana!" Kevin
01:58:49 exclaimed as he smiled and handed her the present that he hadn't gotten a chance to put on the table.
01:58:54 "Thank you, Mr. Williams," Adriana answered as she smiled and accepted the gift.
01:59:01 Drake interrupted politely to ask him, "Mr. Williams, why don't you let me send President
01:59:06 Archer to the hospital?" "Are you a doctor?" Adriana asked in confusion.
01:59:11 Kevin shook his head and simply replied, "No." "So if you've never studied medicine,
01:59:18 why are you questioning my decision?" Dr. Willow asked abruptly. She was a little irked by this.
01:59:25 Actually, Dr. Willow wasn't sure herself that Gwen needed to go to the hospital.
01:59:30 She couldn't find any reason for her not to be waking up yet, so she assumed that some
01:59:34 tests might help to solve the mystery. "I'm not questioning your medical skills.
01:59:39 It seems to me that her condition is unique and the hospital won't be able to do any more than
01:59:45 we can right here," Kevin said politely. The doctor ignored Kevin and turned to look at Adriana.
01:59:51 "President Wright, are you going to put up with this young man's nonsense?"
01:59:57 Some of the onlookers started to mumble again. They were curious to see how this would turn out.
02:00:01 "Dr. Willow, I would trust this man with my very life," Adriana said firmly. The doctor wasn't sure
02:00:09 how to respond. She just looked at Adriana in disbelief. But she probably wouldn't leave the
02:00:15 party. She had pressed for an invitation just so that she could make friends with Adriana.
02:00:20 "So, Mr. Williams, what do you think we should do?" Adriana asked Kevin.
02:00:26 Kevin looked around the room and then pointed to the scented candles that were burning on all of
02:00:30 the tables in the centerpieces. "Drake, please carry President Archer to the table by the window
02:00:37 over there and open it wide. Then have your assistants put out all those candles and take
02:00:42 them into the kitchen." Drake hesitated a little at this odd request, but after seeing Adriana nod
02:00:48 her head, he ordered everyone to do exactly as Kevin had said. "Mr. Williams, can you please
02:00:54 explain why you want to do this?" Adriana asked with a puzzled look on her face.
02:00:59 "Of course," Kevin smiled and said. "I noticed the candles when I walked in. They give a nice
02:01:06 atmosphere, but I'm certain that President Archer is sensitive to some of the ingredients that are
02:01:11 used to produce the strong fragrance. I recognize one of the smells as something that is used in
02:01:17 herbal medicine to lower blood pressure. She doesn't need any expensive tests, just some fresh
02:01:22 air." They all watched to see if Gwen was showing any improvement.
02:01:26 ------------------------------
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