Chapter 15 Drop the Rich Act

Zack was stunned. The earlier mood had been pretty friendly. What happened? He was still thinking of striking the deal and signing the new contract today, so imagine his surprise when Jeremy came in and blurted out those words.

Before he could recover from the shock, Jeremy dashed to his work desk and tore up the contract that Zack had brought into shreds.

“Trying to seal the deal? Deal my *ss! Leave with your car seats right now!”

Zack was anxious and looked flummoxed.

“Wait, Mr. Laster. Didn’t we agree that there’s no issue with the new contract? I’ve produced and sent the car seats here without having the contract signed first based on my trust for you. You can’t do this! Even if we’re not signing the new agreement, for now, that’s fine, but you could at least take this batch of car seats off my hands first!”

Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, Zack wanted to go up and offer Jeremy a stick but the latter swatted it away. Not only was he not accepting the stick, but he also grabbed the expensive cigars under the table and tossed them all at Zack.

“You better leave now with those car seats in the warehouse. Otherwise, I won’t be paying you a cent even if they get installed in the cars!”

Zack was at the brink of tears. “No, wait. Mr. Laster, tell me what’s going on!”

“What’s going on? It’s none of your business. P*ss off!”

Not wanting to say another word to Zack, Jeremy hauled him out angrily and threatened to call the security if he refused to leave.

Zack, who had just been a guest earlier, stood at the office door like an unwelcome dog in just a blink of an eye. He was still muttering aggrievedly, “Why…”

At the same time, Jade was on the road, speeding her way home. When her phone rang, her heart dropped at the sight of the name on the screen.

“Sh*t! Jeremy’s calling. I knew I shouldn’t have let Javier go alone. See, we’re in big trouble now!”

Answering the call promptly, Jade was already rehearsing her sincere and genuine apologetic speech. But before she could say a word, Jeremy’s voice came through.

“Ms. Odell, our talk went well. Fusion will be taking its entire supply of tires from you from now on.”

“What?!”

Jade’s apology hung off her lips at Jeremy’s announcement. It surprised her so much that she nearly ran into the car in front of her that was making a turn. It was after some frantic swerving that she managed to park her car by the curb.

“Hold on, Mr. Laster. What did you just say? I didn’t quite catch it.”

Unable to believe her ears, Jade realized that what she heard was real after Jeremy repeated himself. The man hung up politely after informing her about the signing of the contract. Jade was left in a stupor as she held the phone against her ear.

“How did Javier go about the negotiation? This is amazing! He managed to score the deal within half an hour and it’s an exclusive supply deal!”

Delight filled Jade’s face as she murmured to herself. Although she was skeptical about Javier’s negotiation, what mattered most was that she had something to bring back home! Her family had been asking her to come back but she was without any concrete accomplishments. This time, she could finally keep her head high.

She had filled up one-third of the company’s loss now and there were still two and a half months before the quarter was over. As long as she could get two more deals in the remaining time and recover Beacon Tires’ loss, she would win!

Jade could not help but be thrilled once she thought of it and danced in her car, her limbs flailing as she squealed like an excited lunatic. A passerby stopped his bicycle to peer into the car in surprise and asked, “Do you… Do you need me to call for help?”

Embarrassed, she said no and quickly drove off. Despite that, Jade felt that Javier was truly her lucky star. He was brilliant for securing the investment and scoring such an important deal!

While Jade was overjoyed, her self-acknowledged lucky star, Javier was glum. He had been waiting for a ride by the side of the road but buses sped past with blinking signals despite reaching the stop and the cabs that passed were all filled with passengers, even Uber had no driver available. It had already been more than ten minutes since he started waiting.

He had millions of dollars in his pocket but he could not even get a ride. Javier was indignant. He was going to buy a car!

Recalling that there was a car dealership by the road from when he passed by earlier, he made his way there instantly. As for the USSV Rhino GX, that tank of an SUV was too eye-catching. Javier did not like that and decided he would give it to Ciara.

As he crossed the street and strolled past shaded walkways, he came to the dealership a few minutes later.

“Hello, welcome to Mercedes-Benz.”

The saleslady welcomed Javier with a smile, to which the latter nodded in response and moved to walk in.

It was exactly at that moment that a mocking voice spoke up behind him. “Oh, look who got himself in with a Mercedes dealer. What now? You didn’t get your sales and you’re trying to put up a façade with a new Mercedes? Or are you here to enjoy the free air-conditioning?”

Javier turned to see Zack’s derisive sneer staring back at him.

The latter was here to buy a car too. Although he had spent 120 thousand dollars loading up the restaurant card this afternoon, he was a crafty one! He put in another 15 thousand dollars before he left the hotel and went home to show it off to his old man.

“The hotel’s having a promotion now. There’s a complimentary 7.5 thousand dollars for each 60 thousand dollars reloaded and 15 thousand dollars for each 120 thousand dollars. I was thinking that we usually host our clients and guests there, so we’d get 15 thousand dollars for nothing. Instead of buying the car I wanted, I put 120 thousand dollars in the card.”

His old man was delighted at the news, praising Zack for being sensible and giving him another 150 thousand dollars to buy a car.

Zack had wanted an Audi but that would not do now. He had tanked the order with Fusion Electric Cars and the car seats sent there were currently being sent back to their own plant in a truck. He’d better buy his car now or his old man would withdraw the money when he found out and got angry.

That explained why Zack had come to the nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer—so he could spend what he had and get himself a car first!

He was not expecting to run into Javier here, so his disgruntlement prompted him to taunt the man.

“Hey, Kersey. I heard from Terry that you got a sugar mommy? What, is it her 60th birthday today, so you’re making her buy you the car in the name of gifting it to her?”

The car dealership was a public space. Javier had no right to make Zack shut up but he could ignore him. Turning around, Javier entered the lobby and began browsing the cars as he was led by the saleslady.

“See, he won’t admit that he’s poor and is still putting up a rich act. You’ll leave empty-handed by the end of the day anyway! Pfft!”

Making a show of entering the showroom, Zack raised his right hand.

“I’m buying a car, a luxury Mercedes. Get a pretty girl to serve me. I have the money, come get your commission!”

It was not like the salesladies in the dealership had never met nouveau riches before, but this was their first time seeing one who was so insolent. Out of their professionalism, however, a saleslady went up to Zack and inquired amicably.

“Hi, sir. What model would you like? We have the A-Class, the CLA coupe, the GLA…”

Zack was immediately offended. “What are you trying to say? I told you, I want the luxury one. Why are you introducing the 30-45 thousand dollars subcompacts to me? Are you looking down on me? Do you think I don’t have the money?

“I’m letting you know I have the money! It’s just a stupid Mercedes. The price is like a drop in my money ocean!”

Alright… The saleslady understood the man.

“Here, sir. Please come this way. This is the latest model we have, G500. It is 248 thousand dollars and a perfect match to your honorable status.”

Uh…the car looked wonderful and the status befitted Zack’s but…he did not quite have enough money for it…