When Jonathan muttered those three words lowly, Thompson almost choked.
"What? Weren't you aware?" he asked. Shock was clearly written all over Thompson's face as he sat
there with his mouth agape.
"I wasn't. I had no idea at all. I had done everything I could to get rid of him from the company. In the
end, he was still able to solve it with a single word and no one could stop him," Jonathan hissed.
The man was staring fixedly at the ceiling with a blank expression. He could still clearly remember the
events that happened from that day. He recalled himself standing in the crowd when Jacob shot him a
meaningful look.
At the memory of his cousin's penetrating gaze, he involuntarily shivered. They held no malice nor any
hints of emotion at all. It was entirely different from how the old Jacob used to look at him. In the past,
the man deliberately showed his coldness towards him. During that day, however, there was not even a
single ounce of it.
Jonathan's brows furrowed as his mouth turned grim. Until now, he couldn't decipher the mystery
behind Jacob's expression.
He was expecting to be frustrated by his cousin's usual cold demeanor, yet it never came at all. He
wasn't exactly happy as well, however. One thing that seemed to make him feel a bit more relieved was
that he didn't see his cousin smiling that day. He might have felt uneasy otherwise.
"No one could stop him?" Thompson seemed to doubt what Jonathan said as he whispered those
words to himself. His eyes narrowed and his hand was balled into a fist as he touched his mouth and
started to think.
'Why did Jacob act that way? What was all this for?'
Brows furrowed in confusion, a lot of thoughts started to swim in his mind. He kept thinking of various
possibilities, yet he wasn't able to arrive at an answer.
"There were no hints of anything strange, and he hadn't even mentioned anything out of the ordinary to
anyone else?" With a baffled expression on his face, he sat up and leaned forward.
"Yes. There weren't any. When he returned that day, he directly stood in the company's meeting room
and announced this matter. I had initially thought that it would take a lot of effort. However, it wasn't any
difficult at all," Jonathan stated.
There was no emotion present in his face. After doing a lot of thinking, his eyes appeared distant and
drained from feeling anything.
Judging from the man's expression, Thompson knew that he wasn't lying. As he didn't lie what did that
exactly mean?
"I didn't think that he would resign because of the issue regarding Alice. That wasn't much of a big deal.
Come to think of it, he would never resign merely because of that woman. What's even more bothering
is that a lot of people want his position. This...," Thompson trailed off.
The more he tried to analyze the situation in detail, the more it didn't make any sense. Jacob's choices
were a complete mystery. Even him who was experienced and knowledgeable didn't know what the
man was planning to do.
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know anything! That's why I feel depressed. I don't even know how I
defeated him," Jonathan snapped.
His former relaxed demeanor transformed into a somewhat depressed state.
Although Thompson knew that it was hard to tell who would win or lose this time around, he kept silent
for the sake of his accomplice. After all, nothing had been decided yet.
"Forget it. Let's stop worrying about useless things. We'll figure it out eventually," he assured. He tried
his best to comfort the seething man in front of him even though he didn't really mean it.
Despite this, he was still concerned about his partner's situation. All of his efforts would surely go to
waste if Jonathan failed in the end.
"Since I can't seem to decipher him, I have to be extra careful. I'm not afraid of what I've done. What
scares me is the possibility of Jacob being able to successfully retaliate at me in the end. What worries
me even more is that I would probably never see it coming."
It was evident by the way Jonathan had spoken that he was extremely anxious. He used to scold Jacob
at will. Now, everything was different. His feelings weren't the same as before.
Was Jacob now standing where he was at the time and laughing at him? His knees unconsciously
trembled as he felt goose bumps all over his body at the thought of it. Right now, he couldn't deny that
he was actually scared.
Being in a high position, he never expected this feeling at all. Now, he was beginning to regret
everything that he had done in the past.
All he wanted was to prevent Jacob from getting back at him. If however he was given the chance to
turn back time, he would still make the same choice again and again.
"That's why we need to work together. Back then when he was in this position, I couldn't do anything to
him. This time around, everything's different," Thompson said.
His grin grew even wider. He was definitely going to push Jacob to a dead end this time.
"I suppose you're right. To be honest, I doubted your reasons for approaching me at first. Now, I'm
clearly sure that we have the same goal. I'm looking forward to a successful partnership with you."
As Jonathan stood up, his complacent expression had returned as if he had completely forgotten what
he had been previously depressed about. He took a couple of confident strides towards his partner and
reached out a hand for the man to take.
As Thompson took his hand in response, both men grinned at each other after finally reaching an
agreement. When climbing up the ladder to success, there would always be a lot of obstacles in the
way.
An evil smirk appeared on Jonathan's lips as he thought of Jacob's impending fate after all the years he
had waited.
On the other hand, the corners of his partner's mouth slightly lifted as well. In the end, he couldn't help
it as a laugh escaped his lips. Although Jonathan wasn't as competent as Thompson had hoped for, he
was still a little more powerful than he had expected. He nodded slowly with that grin still on his face,
clearly satisfied with their plot.
At least this time around Jonathan knew how to cooperate. There was no doubt about it since it was
pretty obvious in the way he acted towards him.
Of course, the arrogance was still there but it was unlike before. Everything was reasonable, and
everything was unknown.
The man took a long drag from his cigarette and puffed out a smoke ring before Thompson finally left
him covered with smoke in the air.
He hadn't been with Jonathan for a long time and yet he didn't like him. If he were being honest, he
didn't really know how to explain what he was feeling.
At the back of his head, something wasn't entirely right with the whole ordeal. He wouldn't say this in
front of Jonathan, though.
Everything was not what it seemed, and he knew that very well. He would definitely never tell the man.
Everyone had a hidden side after all.
Nevertheless, Thompson had no intention of giving up his connection with Jonathan. It was not every
day that the opportunity to plot together with someone came. Since the two of them shared a common
goal, it was definitely worth a try.
His gaze wandered back to the building of Shi Group as he stood in front of the gate. There was one
thing that he knew he needed to confirm. This matter was by no means trivial. Perhaps it was related to
his future.
Spring was soon coming to an end as the small hints of summer were fast approaching. He focused on
the road ahead, thinking of how time easily flew by. After a while, he stepped on the gas pedal of his
car and the surrounding scenery started to gradually blur. He was already in his thirties.
Yet, he still didn't know what his future would be like.
His face void of any emotion, Thompson drove the car to a quiet restaurant in the city. The
establishment's theme was very retro that he actually felt weird the first time he went there.
However, it was not his first time anymore. He had one clear purpose for coming back, and that was to
look for someone. Even if that person had only appeared once, Thompson had to come back to confirm
it again.
The person he was looking for was the "Generalist", and he was well aware that a lot of people knew
the man.
Even the police couldn't deny the fact that they needed his help in solving some cases. "Generalist"
was indeed powerful. However, his boss was ten times more.
Obviously, the reason why he wanted to find "Generalist" was because he wanted to confirm something
about his boss. Unfortunately, the world was too big. Finding the man wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
Another thing was that he knew that Jacob and "Generalist" knew each other. Back then, he had sent
someone to follow Jacob. That was when he discovered that the both of them had appeared in the
same place once.
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