The Protector (The Return Of The God of War)

The Return of God of War Chapter 21

“Don’t think we are ignorant of what you’d done to the Garrison family,” Aaron scoffed, “they have warned us to prepare ourselves for a bloodbath.”

“Why do you have to piss off the Garrison family? Are you looking to get yourself killed?”

Caitlyn and Aaron were raving mad.

“If it’s not for Zoey, I’d have kicked you out of our house a long time ago.” Aaron spat with such fury that his veins stood out in his neck, “You could have been sleeping at the streets by now!”

Zoey did not want to aggravate the hostility of his parents towards Levi, but she felt Levi had acted too rashly as well.

We were lucky to have Azure Dragon bail us out this time. But what about next time? Will we get lucky again?

“Who are you to step on the toes of the Garrison family?” Caitlyn glared at Levi with total contempt, “You don’t even have a place to stay on your own!”

“Mum, Levi actually has the villa…”

Zoey was trying to explain to her mum that Levi had just got his villa back, but Caitlyn cut her off abruptly, “Don’t give me that crap about his villa. He’s simply a ticking time bomb, you shouldn’t hang around with him all the time. I’d rather you use your time to source for investors instead!”

“You should know well that the Garrison family is untouchable, not even the Lopez family could hold a candle to them. We’ll be doomed should the Garrisons decide to come at us. I’m warning you, Levi, I’ll get Zoey to seek a divorce with you if you ever dare to infuriate the Garrison family again!”

The next day.

Zoey and Levi planned to source for investors for their upcoming project. They were about to leave the house when Caitlyn reminded Zoey, “It’s going to be the National holidays soon and your cousin is coming over to spend the holidays with us. Can you go and pick her up as your dad and I are too busy with our chores?”

“Sure, mum.”

Levi knew both Aaron and Caitlyn had got their hands full at the moment. Caitlyn worked in the hospital while Aaron had just started a small business.

It was another frustrating day for Zoey. Every investor she met had snubbed her proposal.

However, Levi watched quietly without interfering. All he did was take down the names of those companies who had snubbed Zoey’s proposal.

The string of ill-luck days for Zoey had left her with no choice but to hold back her project as long as she could, since she could not source the investments she needed to kick-start her project. She was just three days away from the commencement date, as stipulated in the contract.

It had definitely stressed Zoey to the extreme.

Aaron and Caitlyn were exasperated and wore a worried look on their faces.

“Don’t be too worried, Mum, Dad.” Levi gave a placid smile, “I’m sure the investors would show up when the time comes.”

He said it with an air of confidence, since he knew he had made all the necessary arrangements.

“You should just keep your mouth shut!” Aaron flared, “Of course it’s easy for you to say that, since it’s none of your business!”

Ding Dong…

The doorbell sounded. It surprised them to see Shaun at their doorstep.

“It’s good that you’re all here, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Caitlyn. Grandpa would like all of you to come for a family meeting tonight.”

Shaun left promptly after he had relayed the message.

Shortly after, Levi, Zoey and her parents came to the family complex of the Lopez family.

It was a vast complex that comprised several buildings. Its structure and scale were one of the most affluent and lavish in North Hampton.

Zoey instantly felt animosity in the Lopez family’s members looks when they greeted her. It was as if she had just snatched away the love of their lives.

It dawned on Zoey and her family that they were no longer seen as part of the Lopez family anymore, now, they are seen as enemy who had taken their cake away and have it all to themselves.

“Come over here, Aaron and you guys. Take a seat.” Harry and the rest of them greeted them with an unusual friendliness.

“How’s your project going along, Zoey?” Harry asked once everybody was seated.

“There’s a major issue with the funding, grandpa!” Zoey sighed, “We’re just three days away from the commencement date but I’ve yet to rope in investors for the project.”

“Hahaha….Didn’t I told you that this is too large of a project for a small company like Imperial Meadows?”

“That’s right, it’s good to know your own limits. Don’t act like some big guns when you’re just nothing but a soft and limp fry!”

…

Everyone started to mock Zoey when they heard about her funding problem.

Zoey and her family could only put up with their sarcasm in silence since she could find nothing to rebuke them. The lack of funding had now put her entire project into jeopardy.

The Return of God of War Chapter 22

“I’m a bit offended, Zoey.” Harry smiled ruefully, “How could you forget about your own family?”

“Grandpa, I…”

“You should have come to me instead. The Lopez Group could work out something for you. You know it’s well within our means to take on that Ecological Park project of yours.”

“I could even provide the startup capital for your project!” said Harry seriously.

“I bet there’s going to be some conditions attached to it?” Levi drove straight to the point. “Or you wouldn’t be so kind as to provide the funding.”

He had seen through the ulterior motive for Harry to fund the project.

“Good, I like to deal with smart people.” Harry grinned, “It’d save me a lot of my time.”

His words prompted Samuel Robertson, who was sitting next to Harry, to pass over the contract to Zoey.

“Take a look at this, Zoey.”

Zoey immediately studied the contract when they passed it to her.

The content was straightforward.

The contract stated that Lopez Group would get up to ninety percent of the profits for the Ecological Park project for providing the funds to Imperial Meadows Limited.

It sent Aaron into a fit of rage after he read the contract.

The Lopez family are simply too cruel to ask for such a huge chunk of the profits.

Aaron was utterly pissed off. He felt that Harry had never regarded him as his own son, but just another prey he was targeting.

“Don’t be mad, Aaron and Zoey. Think about it, in three days’ time, the project would be automatically annulled if you can’t come up with the funding.” Harry’s grin was sly and pernicious, as if he was trying to lure the bait to the hook, “You would end up without a cent once the project was annulled. But if you accept our funding, you’d still get a ten percent cut out of the profits. That would translate to quite a considerable sum of a hundred million. It’s up to you to decide…”

“Unless you’re confident to pull in the funds that you need before the stated deadline.”

Given the tight deadline of just three days, Harry was pretty sure it was nigh impossible for Zoey to secure the funds she needed for the project. This would only leave her with no other options but to agree to his terms.

It would make the Lopez family the biggest winner with a whopping ninety percent of the profits. Even Mr. Jennings could do nothing about it.

“That’s true, Aaron.” Henry chipped in, “We should work together since we’re family. Let’s share the profits instead of having the cake all to yourself.”

“There’s no hurry to sign this. I’ll leave you guys alone to discuss it among yourselves.”

Harry and his company left Levi, Zoey and her parents to talk things out.

“Why don’t we just agree to their terms, Zoey?” Aaron and Caitlyn persuaded, “At least there’s still something left on the plate for us. You should know better that your chances of getting the funds are almost as good as zero!”

Their words almost swayed Zoey to put her name down on the contract. But she held back and sought Levi’s opinion.

“Don’t sign it!” Levi was adamant.

“Trust me, Zoey! I’m sure that I can secure the funding you need before the deadline expires!”

A fuming Aaron intervened before Zoey could fumble out a reply, “Don’t give me that crap again! Do we hold you responsible if we lose that hundred million? I firmly believe we should sign it.”

Zoey was in a dilemma as she eyed Levi skeptically. She did not have complete faith in Levi’s words.

“Alright, how about this?” Levi shrugged, “Since we have three days left to go, why don’t we hang on till the last day to see if we could pull in some investments?” he suggested, “It’s still not too late to sign the contract by then.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“I could work with that!”

Everybody gave their nods of approval.

The same goes for Harry and his men. They agreed to the suggestion readily.

They were certain that Zoey would never secure the investments that she badly needed in just three days’ time.

…

For the next three days, Zoey worked tirelessly from day to night to meet with potential investors for the project.

Yet, there was nothing to show for all her efforts.

Those who were interested demanded a ridiculous amount of return for their investments.

It would make more sense to work with Harry, since his offer was more or less the same than the rest.

Three days passed by without a trace. The deadline was set on tomorrow before ten o’clock to kick start the project, once over the given time, the project would be automatically annulled.

“Come on, we’ve got to sign the contract with Harry now.” Aaron stood up and said.

“What’s the hurry? Why don’t we just wait a little longer?” Levi tried to dissuade them from signing, “We have all the time till next morning eight o’clock to sign it.”

“Let’s wait until tomorrow morning, Zoey. Don’t sign the contract today.” Levi instructed.

“I need to step out for a while.” Levi left the house after he urged Zoey to stay patient for one more night.

The Return of God of War Chapter 23

Levi left the house to meet up with Azure Dragon, whom he had instructed to wait for him outside the house.

“What can I do for you, Sir?” Azure Dragon asked.

“I want you to contact these companies.” Levi handed him a list of company names.

The following morning.

Zoey was woken up by Aaron in the wee hours of the morning.

“Where the hell is Levi? I presume he was out last night to source for funding, but what’s taking him so long to come back?” Aaron said disapprovingly, “He just can’t do anything right. He’s a born loser, a good-for-nothing!”

It angered Zoey to think that Levi did not even bother to inform her when he knew he would be out the whole night.

“We’d better sign the contract before it’s too late. Let’s meet up with Harry now!”

Harry and his men were already standing by at the family mansion when Zoey and her family arrived.

An euphoric smile hung on their faces as they greeted Zoey and her family.

It was all too gratifying for Harry and company to see the three of them come begging with their tail between their legs.

“You should have known better than to make a fool out of yourself, Aaron.” Henry and Fabian jeered at him, “Can’t you see that there’s no way you guys could ever get the investments?”

Aaron lowered his head and said feebly, “We’re here to sign the contract, dad.”

Anger welled up in his chest when he thought of Levi.

Had it not been Levi who advised them to hold back for three more days, they would have signed it on the same day when it was offered to them, It would have seemed more like a respectable deal at that time.

It had become anything but respectable in the eyes of Harry and his company now that Aaron had to beg them for the contract. Knowing the contract was now the last resort for Zoey, it would only make Aaron looked desperate and defeated in the eyes of the Lopez family.

Aaron and his family had never felt such humiliation before. This is all thanks to Levi.

“Yes, we are ready to sign it now, grandpa.” Zoey informed Harry.

“Sure, we can sign the contract. But there will be a change of terms.” Harry’s expression changed and he curled his lips into a grim smile, “We are no longer asking for ninety but ninety-five percent of the profits now. The remaining five percent would be yours.”

“What? Didn’t we agreed on a ninety percent cut for you and ten percent for us?”

A sudden terrible pang of shock hit Zoey as she stared at Harry incredulously. Harry had just dropped a bombshell on her.

know the terms changes accordingly?” Harry said scornfully, “That’s our

in his court, Harry knew it was he who called the shots. The change of terms seemed justifiable to him

the cold-bloodiness of

her grandpa for his callous

pass! I’ll give up the project altogether!” she said in a fit of

that, Zoey? Five percent would still give us fifty million, at

We can’t afford to lose

and Caitlyn left Zoey with no choice but

sign the

to ink the contract, Levi showed up

the pen from Zoey’s hands,

wanted to slap Levi across the face “Why are you stopping us from getting the fifty million? Is it because you’re jealous you’ve got nothing

you please.” Levi glanced at his watch and said, “You can sign

through gritted teeth, “Make sure you produce something in ten minutes’ time, or I’ll never forgive you for the rest of my life, much less allow Zoey to stay with

“Okay!”

curious

wait for another

excitement. They could not wait to get their popcorn ready to watch some hilarious comedy in ten

in a flash. Everything was

He was

Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!

the same moment, a thunderous roar of engine noises filled

attracted the curiosity of everyone to step out of the

eyes was a succession of luxury cars making their way into the Lopez family mansion. They all came to a halt when they reached their

God

of top end luxury cars which

easily cost over

on with a dazed expression. What the

are all these cars doing

they saw the faces of the people who alighted from the cars. They were a group of impeccably dressed, middle-aged men and women

savvy look synonymous to the directors of

Isn’t that the President of Far East Investments, Mr. Feliciano Hayes? What

General Manager of Orc Investments Limited,

boss of Starlight Property Development Limited,

the President of Hercules Property Development Company, is here

…

of them murmured

the super-rich and powerful leaders who ruled the corporate world of North

the eyes of these super rich. Any one of them

so many big shots coming together was a sight to

took

forward and greeted the billionaires with fawning attention; “Greetings,

the billionaires walked past them as if they were non-existent and headed straight to where Levi and Zoey were

Harry said in disbelief, “Could it be they are here to provide

eyes widened in stupefaction,

eyes were playing tricks on her. These were the same group of people

going on? What are they doing

I’m Feliciano Hayes from

Pedro Zinno and I represent

Ms. Lopez. I’m Lorenzo

…

introduced themselves in a

Everybody gasped in awe.

the Lopez family were utterly lost

to think that these billionaires would show up to fund for

trembling inside even though she tried to recompose herself, “H-Hello everyone…how are

Lopez! We’re here to discuss our cooperation on the

cheesy smile, “Far East Investments would be

Lopez, Starlight Property Development would be willing to provide up to two billion to fund your

is willing to invest

and even take over the construction of your project. Please let Hercules Property Development be your

your project! We would not ask for a share

…

that had gone out of control. Every billionaire

highest bidder had offered to invest up to

the project, which

bidding war had skyrocketed the total available funding by

blood pressure to shoot up exponentially, causing him

Shaun and the rest were almost

hell is going on

everyone behaving

an earth-shattering feeling

and dismissive look in their eyes

group of people were now lining up to impress her, begging her to let

emotional to say a single

Levi put his arm around her to offer his support, “Why don’t you say a few words to show

keen to invest in my project.” Zoey

to hear it from

the billionaires let out a hefty sigh and wiped

God of War

the amount of funding that I’m seeking. The amount you’ve mentioned is way beyond what I’m asking for.

name any amount, Ms. Lopez.” Lorenzo Woods said with an air of indulgence, “Unless you’re asking for tens of billions, I’m ready to

was ‘ready to pump

she quivered in her reply, “Everybody, I am humbled by your overwhelming interest

swept his eyes across the room and suggested. “Since there are fifteen of us here, why don’t we each come up with ten

each of us an opportunity to help Ms. Lopez.” Feliciano Hayes said, “Make sure we are not treating this as an investment or loan.

Gulp!

were swallowing so hard that everyone

million

daughter turned into a money spinning machine all

is begging for her to take

Zoey insisted, “We should treat

Ms. Lopez. Ten million is nothing

just some petty

should treat the ten million as

you hear what she’d just said?” Levi snapped, “She said

the billionaires shuddered with

It should

Everyone nodded emphatically.

coming to my company, Imperial Meadows Limited, to ink

willing

frenzied nodding

out of the mansion, Zoey walked up to Harry and said apologetically, “I can’t accept your terms now, but I can assure you that the Lopez family will definitely have a share

“You!”

as he pointed a trembling finger at Zoey. He

left the mansion amidst a wave of awe mutterings and under the envious looks in

victory for Zoey and her

think he had

went smoothly, and the funds all came

the project

and went accordingly as

when they finally

family were staring at Levi with interrogating

here, Levi?” Zoey asked, “I’m sure you

it was all orchestrated by

do it?” Aaron was still

actually.” Levi quipped, “All I did was show them the details of the project and let them know that this project is too

our project to them? What makes them snub my proposal when I’m sure I had given them a

mentioned some names like Orlando Jennings, Azure Dragon and God of War.” Levi explained, “They agreed to

went silent. She knew it was something

their stance once they find out that the God of Way has something to do

who decided on the project, with Azure Dragon keeping a close tab on its progress. These billionaires must have been under

of God of War Chapter

seemed plausible to

to please the big guns like Azure Dragon and Orlando that these billionaires showed up in person to invest in

did you explain to every one of them

looked at Levi and felt her heart ached when she thought about

was quite tiring indeed.”

actual fact, all he needed was just a call. His word was almost as

to you, Levi.” Zoey said with heartfelt gratitude, “It’s all

right. All credit goes to Levi. It was him who had

pleased with

still grappling with

starting to see Levi in a more

wearing them for a while.” Caitlyn said, “Just put the clothes in the laundry basket and I’ll get them wash at the hospital. I am on duty tomorrow and I need to

Levi simpered,

The following day.

the house to follow up on the project while Caitlyn

wash her clothes and get them

was because it was free and convenient since she

ever

to save on your utilities bill?” A woman walked in and asked

woman’s name was Jelena Keaton. She worked in the same department

as the favorite to be the department’s next assistant supervisor. There had always been bad blood between the

assistant supervisor would

other, since Jelena was a prickly character who would taunt Caitlyn

you?” Caitlyn refuted, “You’re not the one who’s

gone, Caitlyn emptied her

to toss Levi’s clothes into the washer, she found a lump

careless chap! How could he even forget to

contents out of

of a navy green color. Caitlyn did not read the

he was bound to recognize them instantly. Those were war zone cigarettes that no

connections to have access to

rarest of them would be those with a sniper logo. They were so rare

it turns out, those cigarettes were only provided to the Special

on his smoke.” Caitlyn frowned and dumped the cigarettes into the dustbin, “They could only do him more

was

thought for a moment and

inside the wallet, together with Levi and Zoey’s

only items remained were two small cards,

the two cards was a black bank card. “This guy’s a pauper. How much money could he have in that card?” Caitlyn scoffed and put

with no spending limit attached to it. once used, It could even haul a plane to return to its

was a navy green card

bunch of chips hardly interested Caitlyn.

‘Officer Pass’ written on it, which bore the symbol

pass for an ex-convict?” Caitlyn sneered, “Do you think that would make you a true

thought, she flipped open

God

Caitlyn squinted her eyes to read the

out the full name on the pass when she was startled by a voice from behind, “What

her before she could get a good

“Oh, nothing.” Caitlyn grinned.

Jelena Keaton, who

see, fine.” Jelena shrugged and

she was checking the Officer Pass.

discreet corner of

Caitlyn Black of The Third District Hospital Cardiac Surgery department.” she whispered over the phone, “I saw with my own eyes that she had stolen an Officer Pass along with a bank card. There was a bunch of chips too, I bet there must be some confidential

Did you see the name and rank?” The officer asked from the other end of the

God of War, Officer! I am absolutely sure of that. I have the photo and the video

“Okay.”

after, the sharp shrills of police car sirens filled the air. A succession of police cars stormed into the compounds of

police officers donned in

arrested and tucked into the police car.

stuff, including the photos and videos taken by Jelena Keaton, which

brought her directly to the City District Police Station, where the

nature of the incident alarmed the Captain of Patrol Squad, Xavier Fields,

the Officer Pass carefully

It’s a genuine Officer Pass!” he sucked in a

“We need to be absolutely sure about this, Captain. Why don’t we get someone from the military

my buddy, Steven Shaw to come and check it out. He’s from the First