Chapter 4

Sean's arrogant announcement became the laughingstock of the city the next day. Everyone thought of him as a parvenu who became full of himself after one victory, and they thought of him as a madman who had no idea what he was up against.

John responded to the media nonchalantly, "I welcome all fair competition, although Baton Corporation can't be taken so easily by just anyone." He did not hide the disdain in his words.

However, everyone was shocked by what happened in the following days. The second day after Sean announced his buyout plan, Baton Corporation's shares dropped drastically. Someone had anonymously handed in a short-selling report of Baton Corporation, pointing out several major financial gaps and illegal operations within the company with great precision.

The report caused a panic in the share market, and buyers started selling their shares in a frenzy.

On the third day, Baton Corporation's core technical team suddenly resigned en masse, taking several major projects with them.

John was in a terrible fix. He went everywhere begging for help, only to find his friends and partners avoiding him. The banks started to demand payment, and his company shareholders wanted to push him out of the picture. Baton Corporation, a titan in the business, was shaken overnight and was now in a precarious situation.

Sean's Imperial Capital was like a shark that caught the scent of blood, and he quickly went forward with a massive acquisition of Baton Corporation's shares. It took only three days for Sean to become the greatest shareholder of Baton Corporation.

The entire city was in an uproar when news about this got out.

"Amazing! Just amazing!"

"Is this the power of an [Emperor] fate? His label has said it all!"

"Mr. Chetman isn't a madman, he's a genius! No, he's a God!"

Every voice that had doubted or made fun of him had been converted to fanatic worship, and Sean's reputation reached greater heights.

He reserved the most luxurious hotel in the city to hold a lavish celebration for his successful acquisition, and John attended it as well. The once powerful [Tycoon] had become a shadow of himself as he came up to Sean in defeat with the label [Bankrupt] on his forehead.

John raised a glass with both hands and bowed 90 degrees to Sean. "M…Mr. Chetman, please accept my apology for failing to recognize what a great person you are."

Sean was in the main seat, and he grunted a reply without even glancing at John until John gulped down his drink and turned beet red from choking on the burning alcohol. That was when Sean started speaking slowly, "Do you still think I can't take you down easily, Mr. Wagner?"

John turned a darker shade of red but was left with no other choice. He nodded, smiled, and replied submissively, "I would never dare think that. I deserve what I got because I was in over my head."

Sean laughed happily as he stood up and walked toward John to pat his face, just like what he did to me before. "If only you knew then…" He turned and swept a glance around the party before finally landing his gaze on me. I had a tray of food in my hand then and was heading toward the kitchen.

"Cole," he called out to me, and everyone turned their attention to me once more. "Get over here right now." I put the tray down and went up to him.

Sean picked up an expensive bottle of red wine and handed it to me arrogantly. "Open this bottle for Mr. Wagner and show him how people around me are supposed to behave." His words were meant to insult not only John, but me as well.

John turned pale, and he started trembling slightly while I took the bottle from Sean and opened it with a wine opener silently. After that, I poured the wine into John's glass until it was full to the brim. "Please enjoy your drink, Mr. Wagner." John stared at the glass as his lips trembled, but he did not move.

Sean sneered. "What's wrong, Mr. Wagner? Aren't you accepting my offer of a drink?"

Mona said daintily from the side, "Sean opened his bottle of wine specially for you, Mr. Wagner. You aren't going to reject him, are you?"

John closed his eyes as if accepting his fate, and he raised the glass to finish every drop inside it. Everyone cheered and applauded, which cheered Sean up tremendously. He seemed to enjoy having control over a person's fate, and he threw me a gleeful glance as he gloated over his victory.

That was when the doors to the party hall were suddenly pushed open, and a group of solemn-looking men in uniform marched in. They were led by a middle-aged man with the gold label [Inspector] on his forehead. He glanced around the party swiftly and stopped when he spotted Sean.

"Sean Chetman?" He called out coldly. "You're under arrest for market manipulation, illegal theft of trade secrets, and financial fraud. Please come with us to cooperate in the investigation."

It was dead silent in the hall as everyone's smiles froze.

"W… Who are you? What right do you have to arrest me?! I'm the [Emperor]!" He said sharply.

The [Inspector] sneered and showed him a document. "This gives us the right." The document had Baton Corporation's official seal and John's signature on it. John was the one who reported Sean.

Sean was dumbstruck. He turned and glared at John with raging fire in his eyes. "How dare you backstab me, you son-of-a-b*tch?!"

John, the man labeled as [Bankrupt] and was bowing at Sean, slowly stood straight. He gloated at Sean sarcastically, and with the glee of someone who had gotten his revenge. "Do you really think you're a God, Sean Chetman? Do you think your little tricks went unnoticed?" He pointed at the [Grand Master] standing in the corner. "We were the ones who fed you every word on that so-called 'short-selling report' you used to destroy me.

"The 'core classified files' you got after buying off my technical team were just a bunch of garbage data we prepared for you. Every cent you used to buy out my company's shares has been transferred to a designated account of ours.

"You have fallen into the trap we prepared for you the moment you announced your intentions of taking over Baton Corporation." John laughed until tears started falling from his eyes. "[Emperor]? Hahaha! You're just an imbecile who got manipulated by his own greed! You're nothing but a clown!"

Sean started shaking violently as he pointed at John, and then at the [Inspector]. His lips trembled, but he could not say a word. Mona was shocked as well. She ran to the [Inspector] while crying and begging. "No! It's not like that! You must have made some sort of mistake! Sean is the fated [Emperor]! He would never break the law!"

The [Inspector] did not even look at her. All he did was wave his subordinates over. "Take him away."

Two men in uniform stepped forward to grab Sean on the left and right. When Sean finally snapped out of it, he started struggling. "Let go of me! You can't arrest me! I'm an emperor! I'm the chosen one!"

Sean went mad as he scanned the crowd to finally find me. "It's you! You did this, Cole Fuller!" He roared hysterically. "You jinx! You did this to me! You colluded with them to do this to me!" He broke free of his restraint and lunged at me like a wild beast. "I'll kill you!"