Chapter 59 A Cold-Blooded President
William often traveled to Europe and once heard this song in a survivor's home.
"Boss, I've heard this online. It's a bit depressing but far away from pushing people to suicide."
Frederic was surprised. As the president's special assistant, he knew little about that.
"The popular versions on the market are all distorted remnants."
Though years had passed, William clearly remembered the extremely oppressive and desperate tune.
As a calm and strong-minded man, he was still somewhat influenced by the tune.
He felt trapped by darkness. The strong sense of loneliness made him depressed.
"Is that song still available?"
The police officers didn't believe him.
"It was deleted."
Lolling in the chair, William felt tired. If it was just a simple tune, it wouldn't have taken hundreds of people's lives.
Only a few survived after listening to it.
"So you didn't call the police when you heard that?"
William shook his head slightly.
As the president of the Duncan Group, he often received different kinds of emails, threats, and extortion. Executives in famous enterprises also had similar experiences. "Probably the day after receiving the song, I got a photo."
That might be the only weird thing.
"What kind of photo?"
The police began to take notes and they were curious about what threats he would face. They seldom dealt with the upper class.
"It is in an old community. There is a crowd of bystanders around the cordon."
William said, "A man is lying on the ground, with a big hole in his head and blood all over the place."
The man's eyes were closed and his face was ashen. There was blood in his mouth, ears, and nose.
A woman lying beside him seemed to be faint after crying. There was also a boy with a stubborn face. William remembered that it was because of him when he strived to expand his business years ago. The Duncans were always profit-driven. As the successor of the Duncan Group, he had to be cold-blooded. Otherwise, he couldn't develop such a successful business.
He believed that money could buy everything.
That man, his competitor, was defeated by bankruptcy and takeover and jumped from the building to kill himself. Admittedly, William used some means for the acquisition. But the man's failure resulted from his incompetence.
The weaker would be the loser. There were no philanthropists in the business world.
"Exactly."
Frederic nodded.
'There are only winners and losers in business. Everyone has to take the consequences. How can a person not play tricks to survive in this world?' He thought.
As William seemed strange recently, Frederic nearly forgot that his boss was a cold-blooded man.
"Yes. There is no kindness in business or the Duncan Group will be a large welfare house."
William looked at his watch. He had to go to the hospital if they could end the talk.
It was the police's duty to find the murderer, not his.
"Alright, please contact us if you notice anything unusual."
Going outside, William was not in a hurry to leave, he lit a cigarette.
"Frederic, what do you think?"
It was already dark. Neon lights were shining in the streets.
Looking into the distance, William suddenly asked Frederic.
"It's more complicated than it looks. Perhaps someone is gunning for the Duncan Group."
But it was too frequent with two affairs happening within a month.
"Madam thinks that a mastermind is behind the kidnappers. It seems to be true."
Jane always lied. Frederic didn't believe her. The kidnappers were mostly for money.
Three hundred million was not affordable for common people. But it was a piece of cake for the Duncans.
Anything that could be solved by money was not a problem for William. So he didn't call the police. Jane insisted that there were persons to be arrested, but they didn't get anything out from the kidnappers. "Perhaps, those who kidnapped Madam also aim at you."
They had to go abroad for business. Many countries didn't implement gun control. Frederic was worried that the murderer would not give up until hitting the goal.
For the sake of safety, it was better to hire more bodyguards.
"Boss, I'm responsible for what happened years ago. It was my fault."
Frederic took a deep breath and remained silent for a while before apologizing to William.
Years ago, he had just graduated. As an ambitious young man, he stood out among thousands of competitors and became the assistant of president the Duncan Group. He felt proud of himself. "You assigned the project to me out of trust and also as a test, but I failed."
Frederic was regretful. At that time, Colin required William to marry Jane. The relationship between Colin and William was quite bad.
A few months passed when William's attitude changed from indifference to compromise.
The business of the Duncan Group was mainly abroad. Six years ago, they shifted their focus to City J and started to grow larger.
The man in the photo started a company with other people who then ran away. So the company was out of cash and went bankrupt.
When Frederic took charge of the project, he dealt with the executives of that company and finished the acquisition. The man failed to accept it and committed suicide.
"But he died because his partners ran away. That's not for our acquisition, right?"
Frederic was confused. They gave a lot of money to the man's wife and child.
Could it be that the murderer at the charity dinner had something to do with his wife and child?
No one could avoid competition in business. Where there was a winner, there was a loser.
Losers might hold the grudge, who had enough motives to commit murder.
"Go to the hospital."
After putting out his cigarette, William got into the car. Jane got hurt for saving him so he had to visit her.
"Boss, the lawyer said the divorce agreement is drafted."
Frederic immediately told William after receiving the call.
Jane was injured because of William. Frederic wondered if it was a good time to talk about divorce.
"Put it aside."
William's face turned serious. Colin was big trouble. He must be angry about the divorce and would blame it on William.
"Until when?"
It was unreasonable to talk about divorce at that moment. But Frederic knew that William was decisive and never changed his mind. William was always arbitrary as long as Frederic had been working for him. He was determined to divorce and it wasn't a hasty decision. Frederic felt uneasy to ask the question. He realized William was offended because the man fixed a cold-eyed stare on his back. "Sorry, please forget it."
As an assistant, Frederic had to take care of almost everything. He felt defeated. He asked for instructions but William rolled his eyes at him. What could he do?