After Pepper learned from a secret message that someone had secretly acquired shares of the Stark Group in the market, he began a secret investigation. Not to mention, relying on the Stark Group's strong connections and their own strength, they quickly noticed some hidden moves in the stock market.
In fact, there are no secrets in the stock market. The difference lies in the ability to discover them. There is no doubt that Stark Group is at the top of the pyramid, and it is really not difficult to check things. So Pepper knew that Wayne Group was acquiring shares of Stark Group.
Pepper didn't know much about Wayne Group, except that the group was very low-key in the market. And unlike Stark Group, it is not a listed company! In other words, the company has always been privately owned.
This kind of company does not need to announce its shareholder list to the market, and they do not even need to announce the list of senior executives to the public. After all, others are privately owned companies and do not need to answer to anyone.
Therefore, if you want to check Wayne Group from the market, there is basically no chance.
But Pepper also has a way.
Check from the tax bureau!
No matter what, Wayne Group needs to pay taxes! It goes without saying how awesome the IRS is. As it happens, Pepper has connections in this area. Although it is not allowed to investigate a private company's tax payment list through the IRS, even the IRS needs to consider privacy issues. But what is a privileged class if they don’t have privileges?
It didn't take long for Pepper to find what she was looking for.
Then she began contacting higher-ups at Wayne Group.
…
A private club in the West End of Los Angeles.
This club is not famous at all in Los Angeles. It doesn’t even have a sign outside the store. It is just hidden in a business building. Not many people know about it. Moreover, this club is not open to the public. They only entertain members.
The conditions for applying for membership here are very demanding because the entry threshold is very high.
First of all, they will verify the identity of the members. They only accept business people and are not sensitive to people with high attention such as celebrities. Then you must have certain assets. This is a must. After all, the price of membership is really expensive.
Finally, the terms of membership are very demanding and there are many things to pay attention to. ,
This is actually a marketing method, but in a place like Los Angeles, this marketing method is very popular. More importantly, the club can provide the most perfect and private service.
In short, this club is very suitable for business people who need to have confidential discussions.
Pepper arrived early, and she had to reach a deal with Wayne Group before the market reacted. Otherwise, when the Wall Street group and the opposition intervene, the variables will be too great.
Even though Pepper is already considered a very important figure in the Stark Group, she is still very nervous when facing the negotiations that may affect the direction of the group at any time.
As time passed by, Pepper felt the torment. Because the appointed time has passed.
She was afraid that the other party would change their mind or be intercepted.
In short, there are many possibilities. The more this happens, the more anxious Pepper becomes.
She wanted to call to urge her, but felt it was inappropriate to do so. I can only be restless there by myself.
Almost ten more minutes passed, and Pepper's heart became heavier and heavier.
until.
"Sorry...something happened, we were late."
The moment she heard the sound, Pepper quickly turned around and looked at the door.
But she discovered that the person who came was actually Kai!
"Kai? Why did you..."
Kai smiled helplessly.
"Sorry, I'm late. Something happened at the last minute."
Kai originally planned to come at the agreed time, but the temporary crime squad came to investigate a case, a murder case. In Venice Beach, a body was found washed up by the waves. The surface of the body was completely rotten, leaving only a highly decomposed white skeleton and cement blocks on both feet.
This is killing people and dumping their bodies, and it is also a common tactic used by gangs to deal with traitors.
What's more important is the identity of the body.
According to the tooth mark test on the corpse, he was an undercover agent sent out by the Western District Police Department seven years ago.
Seven years ago, the undercover agent disappeared suddenly. The top brass of the police station knew that something was wrong. Unexpectedly, the body was found today, and the superiors immediately paid attention to it.
Because his body is very likely to be an important breakthrough for moving to a gang.
Kai went to the scene.
However, no useful clues were found, which is normal. After all, it was not the scene of the crime. The body was washed up by the sea, and after seven years of seawater corrosion, even if there was any evidence, it would have disappeared long ago.
Therefore, we can only have more clues after further identification by forensic experts.
Of course, Kai would never tell Pepper this kind of thing.
"It's not...you..." Pepper was still a little confused.
At this time, Afu stepped forward and said: "Hello, Miss Pepper, I'm very sorry for being late."
"you are……"
"I am Alfred Pennyworth, your date."
"Mr. Alfred?" Pepper immediately opened his eyes.
"Yes." Ah Fu smiled.
Kai walked to the sofa and sat down, minding his own business and pouring himself a glass of wine. Like a person who is fine.
Only then did Pepper react: "Kay, you and the Wayne Group..."
"Did you forget? My surname is Wayne."
In fact, Pepper really didn't know that she used to be called Kay... ah no, it should be that Adam's mother was also called Mrs. Milligan. As for her name, she also knew it was Mary, but she didn't know the rest. I really never noticed her original last name.
"so……"
"My mother's side is a British aristocrat. As a result, a relative there died recently, so she took advantage of me." This was the reason Afu and Kingsman devised for Kai, and Kai used it.
"Mary Wayne is the grand-niece of Earl Wayne. After Earl Wayne passed away, there was no direct heir. So according to the inheritance law, the master is the person with the closest blood relationship to the Earl, so he inherited the Wayne Group. "
Ah Fu added on the side.
Pepper was stunned.
When a poor boy suddenly had a rich relative die, and he inherited a large inheritance, Pepper always thought it was a scene from a movie...
Unexpectedly, I came across a prototype today?
Although Kai was not a poor boy, after all, when he was in school, Pepper knew that Adam's family was quite wealthy. But compared to Wayne Group, he can only be a poor boy.
But soon, Pepper realized that this was a good thing.
"Kai, I need your help, Tony..."
Pepper was just about to persuade. But Kai interrupted: "If you tell me this, I don't understand. Ah Fu is the one in charge, and he takes care of all my things."
Alfred stood up, bowed respectfully and introduced himself: "Alfred Pennyworth, the butler of the Wayne family. Pennyworth has been the butler of the Wayne family for generations, and now I am too. Mr. Wayne’s butler. Please give me your advice.”
Although according to Kai's idea, since Pepper needs help, then help her. After all, this kind of thing doesn't matter to Kai at all.
But that's not the case in Afu's opinion.
This involves tens of billions of assets, and any casual concession during negotiations will cause billions of value fluctuations. As a housekeeper, Ah Fu could not sit back and watch his master lose such a large sum of money.
Besides, personal feelings are private feelings and business is business. This must be distinguished clearly.
Kai didn't care, but it could be seen that both Kingsman and Afu seemed to care about the Stark Group. Kai felt that there was no reason to stop it. Anyway, he would support Stark in the end. As for the middle process, Kai didn't care. important.
Pepper can obviously understand this logic. After all, asking Kai to pay billions, or even tens of billions of assets for Tony Stark because of his friendship with her, she couldn't do such a thing even if she asked herself.
So we still have to talk.
But after seeing Kai, Pepper also understood that Wayne Group would eventually support him. So in some details, she can take advantage of Tony a little bit.
There is a difference between closeness and distance.
Although Kai was his first love, he was not his current lover.
Her boyfriend is Tony.
…
The negotiation was very difficult but also very smooth. After all, both Pepper and Afu tended to cooperate. This negotiation was based on this premise. It's difficult, because both Afu and Pepper need to seek the best interests for the people they care about.
Only Kai was the most relaxed.
I don't blame him, because the two of them spoke very few words that Kai had never heard of... They were too professional.
In short, in a tense but friendly atmosphere, Wayne Group and Stark Group reached an agreement.
Wayne Group will send shareholder representatives to Stark Group and will absolutely support Tony Stark on major matters. At the same time, the Stark Group, no, or Tony Stark needs to have an excessive share of interests in the Wayne Group.
These include some of the assets that Stark Group wants to divest. Such as the weapons production and research department.
This is what Kingsman wants most.
The Stark Group's weapons research and development department is also very famous. Although Tony cannot spin off all research departments, Kingsman is already very satisfied with being able to get a piece of the pie.
"Okay, let's drink to our cooperation!"
After Kai finished reading, he quickly stood up to regain his sense of presence. He felt that it was too boring and quickly ended this boring conversation. The truth is that Kai already regrets coming here.
Although it was really cool to see Pepper's surprised expression just now.
Kai really doesn't care much about how much money he has. After all, Tony may not be richer than him.
But sometimes showing off can really make people feel happy.
At least Kai was actually happy before.
Just when everyone was happy, a piece of news suddenly appeared on TV.
A golden and red showman mecha is fighting terrorists in Afghanistan...
Pepper immediately became nervous.
She knew it was Tony.
Although she knew that Tony's Mark I armor was very powerful, but when it came to dealing with terrorists... she was just worried.
"Eh... I didn't expect this guy to have such leisure. His company is about to be robbed, and he still has the intention to go to Afghanistan and fight the terrorists?"
Pepper immediately looked over nervously.
These days, Tony goes to Afghanistan to fight terrorists whenever he has free time. He is more punctual than eating. I will improve the armor when I come back.
No one knew it was Tony except Pepper. (She didn’t know that Obadie knew)
Although Pepper knows that Tony is doing good things, the problem is that such things can be big or small. If one thing goes wrong, Tony will definitely become the target of public criticism.
The most important thing is that the capabilities of the Mark I will definitely arouse the government's covetousness, which is not a good thing.
But I didn't expect Kai to know about it.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't forget, he was wearing this when I rescued him. Although that one was a bit uglier. Speaking of which... this guy's aesthetics have not improved at all. The red and gold colors are too coquettish. It’s covered.”
Among the red and gold-coloured sluts, the one that impressed Kai the most was Jin Shining, also known as Gilgamesh. This guy wears golden armor wherever he goes, he looks so cool.
Not to mention, aside from his self-righteous humor, Tony really does look a lot like Gilgamesh.
The same narcissism and arrogance, the same bad taste.
Like to show off as well.
In fact, Kay doesn't pay much attention to the news. I don’t know yet, but during this period, Tony was very prominent, and many media gave him the title Iron Man. The media speculated on the true identity of this Iron Man, and even many current affairs programs discussed it.
Anyway, it's very hot.
"That's right." Seeing Tony beating up those terrorists like children, Kai suddenly remembered the mole's question: "As to who betrayed Tony, do you already have an answer?"
Tony and Kay discussed this issue on the plane back. But there were too many suspicious people... For a while, Tony didn't know who betrayed him.
When he went to Afghanistan, not many people in Afghanistan knew about it, but in the United States... not many people knew about it, and not too few.
"I haven't found out yet...but by the way, I found out a lot of people who have evil intentions towards Tony..."
It's very helpless to say that you won't know if you don't check. Once you check, even Tony himself is shocked.
He never knew that he was so hated and that a lot of people wanted him dead. Tony had always thought he was quite popular. As a result, I now see the dangers of society.
"This is the trouble of rich people." Kai said with a bit of gloating.
Pepper looked at him with a strange expression.
"Watt? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Have you forgotten that you are also a rich man?"
This time it was Kai's turn to be speechless. He had really forgotten that he couldn't change his mentality.
"That's why I don't like taking care of those things." Kai shrugged. "I still like being a police officer."
Pepper looked at Ah Fu and suddenly thought about reminding Kai that it was a very dangerous move to hand over one's financial power to others. Just like Tony, if Pepper wanted to transfer Tony's property, it would be easy.
Pepper has confidence in herself, but Ah Fu may not be trustworthy.
But seeing Afu standing respectfully behind Kai, Pepper decided...that she must remind Kai when they were alone together in the future.
