radicalducati Page 136
Page 136
"I need money, you need access. You are smart but not greedy, ambitious but know how to restrain yourself."
Caroline put down her coffee cup. "The important thing is, you don't seem like someone who gets emotional."
Viktor nodded slowly.
He walked to the sofa and sat down, gesturing for Caroline to sit opposite him.
"What if I say no?"
Caroline's expression stiffened slightly: "That would be a different story. My father might inject capital and ruin your business."
A gentle threat, delivered in a voice as soft as silk.
Viktor laughed; he appreciated the directness.
“I can find another white man, though he might not be as prestigious. I might even succeed if I marry into the Kennedy family.”
He pondered, “This deal is not quite balanced, Miss Qian Ning.”
She was originally called Caroline, but now she's called Miss Channing.
"You want more money?"
Victor looked her straight in the eye. "I need to go even further!"
Caroline looked at him warily: "What do you mean?"
Victor leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
“All this time, I’ve played the role of your devoted boyfriend. Now you want me to risk going to jail to play an even bigger game with you. So Martin needs to be even more supportive of me!”
Caroline nodded: "You can rest assured about that. Your agent should receive the message, and brands related to my father will contact you."
"That's great!"
Viktor was still wearing a tank top and shorts, and his sweat was clearly visible. Looking at the shapely Caroline, Viktor extended an invitation: "I think before we begin, I should at least know what my 'girlfriend' is really like."
Caroline's expression became complex, a mixture of shock and a hint of offended anger, but unexpectedly, there was also a faint curiosity.
"I'd also like to know."
Victor stood up and picked Caroline up in a princess carry: "Then let's begin the endurance training!"
As she was carried up the stairs, Caroline remained silent for a full minute, her gaze sweeping over him. She could clearly feel the force applied to three points on his body.
She was carried all the way to the third floor, then she reached out and grabbed his collar, leaning down to kiss his lips...
Chapter 114 Noble Lady and Roughneck
Ethan, Michael, and the driver were having lunch downstairs.
Is your house soundproofed that bad?
"Mr. Qian Ning can contribute money to make some modifications."
"It won't do any good. You heard it yourself, the bed clearly collapsed."
"Nonsense, there has never been a bed in Viktor's room, only a mattress."
"what is that?"
"It should be a desk."
"I didn't realize Caroline was such a profound woman."
"Gentlemen, I'm still here, and I'm receiving my salary from Qian Ning's family."
“We are not from the Qian Ning family.”
“Victor is already the son-in-law of the Qianning family.”
"Caroline's practically Victor's shape. You're so dedicated, why don't you go up and ask her?"
"You have no manners."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Won't Victor get angry because you're talking about his women? You're just his brothers!"
"Heh! Do you know why it's not soundproof?"
"why?"
"Because they are in the strength training center on the third floor, where soundproofing is not needed."
"What does this have to do with what I'm saying?"
Ethan patted the driver on the shoulder: "Because Victor doesn't consider Caroline his girlfriend."
The driver looked bewildered.
Michael tidied the table: "Our bedroom is on the sixth floor, with super high soundproofing; you can't even hear a gunshot."
······
The next three days felt like a surreal dream.
Caroline Channing stayed in Victor's apartment, and the two rarely went out.
When they are together, there are passionate moments exploring each other's bodies, and there are calm conversations discussing plans at length, switching between them as easily as if they were on an emotional switch.
To Viktor's surprise, he discovered that beneath Caroline's cold exterior lay a sharp mind and an unexpected sense of humor—but none of this could make Viktor develop feelings for her.
She was drawn to Viktor's straightforwardness and intelligence—he was far from the simple boxer she had expected.
On the morning of the third day, when Victor woke up, he found that Caroline had already left.
There was a note and a business card on the bedside table.
"The company documents will be delivered within a week. Contact this person; he will handle all legal matters. Stay in touch. —C"
There was no farewell, no extra emotion.
Typical Kanin style.
Viktor couldn't tell whether he was disappointed or impressed by the clean and efficient approach.
He instructed Blair to contact the lawyer as directed, and the documents were quickly obtained.
Five million US dollars from the Qianning Group were injected into the newly established Sky Farm.
Subsequently, with professional advice, Victor made a series of "investment decisions".
The Oklahoma sun scorched the earth, and as far as the eye could see, there was an endless expanse of ochre and withered land.
Victor stood on the 1.5 acres of land he had just bought at a huge cost, the hot wind whipping up dust that lashed against his increasingly rugged face.
This place, jokingly referred to by locals as "a place even birds wouldn't bother to poop in," is barren and desolate, seemingly forgotten by life—so the losses are real.
After incurring losses, it was sold to Victor's company at a low price.
But in Viktor's eyes burned a flame that bordered on obsession.
What he saw was not the desolation before him, but an ultimate concealment, an excellent shelter from the prying eyes of Wall Street, and an unpredictable "development potential" that could be ignited in the future by cheap water resources and some special drought-resistant crops.
This "investment" from Caroline Channing is rapidly disappearing from the company's accounts as a fog of "operating costs" and "investment losses."
Five million dollars bought him this silent wasteland and a barely perceptible sneer on Victor's lips.
Franky was right beside him. There were a hundred security personnel here, half men and half women, all of whom could shoot and all of them had guns.
"Tulsa isn't a good place, but there's one good thing about it: marijuana is legal! Grow it! Security company, get this business going!"
Franky nodded: "Don't worry, with a hundred guns, thirty cars, and two cloth-tearing machines, no gang in Tulsa can stand against us!"
·······
On the East Coast of New York, a storm suddenly erupted without warning.
The Brooklyn Eagle's vicious front-page headline, like a precisely dropped bomb, instantly shattered the facade of high society's tranquility:
"Caroline Channing has a boyfriend; Chicago typist kills Wall Street socialite!"
The subtitle is even more sarcastic.
The accompanying photo was a picture of Victor carrying Caroline up the apartment stairs—the angle was private, the lighting was clear, and it was something no outsider could have captured.
The three legs are clearly visible.
A stone stirred up a thousand waves.
Carolyn Channing, a jewel of Wall Street, is known in the Vanity Fair for her elegance, intelligence, and unapproachable family background.
In an instant, she found herself transformed from a darling of the financial section into a feast for gossip tabloids.
Her apartment building, her office, and even the club she frequented were instantly swarmed by reporters like locusts.
Long lenses and short lenses were pointed at her, the blinding white light almost making her dizzy, and countless sharp questions came at her like poison needles:
"Ms. Qian Ning, is this true? What is your relationship with that... 'Chicago Typist'?"
"Are you secretly dating a professional boxer?"
"There are reports that the other party is large in stature and behaves rudely. Does this signify a break with your family's values?"
"Is this Victor, as reported, the way you use to rebel against your family?"
"A Wall Street socialite falls for a boxing beast: is it true love or just a publicity stunt?"
Can you handle it completely?
Every question was like a slap in the face, striking her proud self-esteem.
The juxtaposition of "Wall Street socialite" and "Chicago typist" (a derogatory term implying his boxing background and potential violence and vulgarity) did not evoke romantic fantasies within her social circle, but rather shock, ridicule, and incomprehensible contempt.
Her phone was ringing off the hook, and the questions and "concerns" from friends and business partners nearly drove her to the brink of collapse.
She felt like a luxury item being publicly torn apart and displayed, all her carefully maintained image and dignity shattered under that photo and vicious headline.
Their original idea was only circulating within a very small circle.
However, the atmosphere was quite different inside apartment 2312 in Chicago's South Side.
Viktor's popularity has "blown up" in another way.
Michael and Ethan, holding the day's newspaper, chuckled and whistled at the headline featuring Victor carrying Caroline's strong back.