"What is the meaning of this?" Keith stepped close to Valerie and whispered into her ear. He had no intention of joining the Sawyer family's mess.
"Do me a favour, help me out this one time…"
Valerie pleaded as she turned around and hugged Keith, pressing her voluptuous breast against his chest.
Her action gave Keith a great shock. In addition, before Keith could react, she kissed Keith on his cheek, denying him a chance to refuse her.
"Grandmother, let me introduce Keith Hall to you!"
Following Valerie's introduction, Keith could only grit his teeth and step forward.
Valerie was his only ticket into the completing the months target net profit, and he definitely wouldn't want to lose it.
And to be fair, who could reject a request from such a pretty woman?"
'Ah! Fuck it! What's the worst that could happen?' he thought to himself.
And like he had expected, the entire ballroom turned completely silent when they took a closer look at him.
Everyone in the ballroom had dropped what they were doing and could only stare at him, including Valerie's grandmother.
If Keith had the option to disappear from the world right at this moment, he would do so at the drop of a hat.
"Ha!" a booming laughter burst out into the air. "Miss Valerie, there is no way that penniless trash is your fiance!" the same mocking voice penetrated the silent atmosphere which prompted everyone in the ballroom to look towards the direction of the voice.
"Everyone! don't be fooled by this man! He is merely pauper good for nothing man, don't you see the ordinary clothes he's wearing? There's no way he belongs to the same class as us!"
Donald Matson mocked loudly. Jena's new fiance felt it was a perfect opportunity for him to shine and show his face to Valerie's grandmother.
"Hold on, Valerie… is it possible you hired this common man just to lie to us?" Victor Sawyer confronted Valerie with a stern tone.
It would be bad for him if Valerie had a relationship with another man other than his adopted son.
"Of course not!" Valerie firmly denied.
Then, she dashed towards her grandmother and held her hands.
"Grandma, remember that cheap restaurant we ate at, The Pine Cone? Keith was the genius behind the marketing stunt… he invested a lump sum of money as a gamble to promote that establishment and he succeeded!"
"Woah! I highly doubt that this common looking man would have that much money to spend, I bet he doesn't even have ten dollars to his name!" Donald Matson loudly interrupted, laughing like a maniac all for the sakes of making Keith look bad.
The next person to speak silenced everyone in the crowd by the mere clearing of her throat.
"Ahem…"
"Who are you? And do you have evidence to prove that your words are right?" Valerie's grandmother turned to Donald and said, squinting her old, wrinkly eyes at him.
"Of course your eminences…" Donald Matson replied with a faint bow.
"Look at him, do you not find him familiar? He is the infamous son-in-law of the Carpenter family, if you don't believe my words, my fiance here had divorced him. Not only is he poor and a leech to the Carpenter family, he even cheated on his wife Jena Carpenter!"
Donald Matson's declaration sparked a huge frenzy of gasps and murmur amongst the crowd.
Then—
"What Donald said is the truth, not only is he worthless, he is also a womanizer, I have suffered greatly from his infidelity!" To support her fiancee and future husband, Jena Carpenter spoke up in favour of his story.
Following Jena's accusations, murmurs and gossips began to rise amongst the crowd again. This time, it was even more louder and profound without considering the presence of the Sawyer matriarch.
Keith had no interest in being Valerie's fiancee in the first place, so he wasn't really concerned about what the Sawyer family thought of him.
However, Jena carpenter and Donald Matson tinting his image like that in front of Valerie who was a potential business partner for both the antique item: Ashen Halo and in the future was something he wouldn't tolerate.
'Tch!'
Keith turned to face Jena and Donald, to his ample surprise they were starring down at him with evilish desire etched in their eyes.
"Is it true?" Valerie turned to ask Keith. Her puppy dog eyes sagged with shame and disgrace, if he didn't something now he would never gain her trust.
"Huh…" faced with her question, Keith closed his eyes and sighed.
"It is true that I was once the son-in-law to the Carpenter family. But, my infidelity is entirely false. It was Jena Carpenter here who cheated on me with her present fiancee"
"Now, I truly don't care if any of you here don't believe me… including you… old lady…" Keith said gesturing towards the Sawyer matriarch.
"I really don't give a shit… I know rich people like you guys will never trust my words given my status…"
"However, the only person I need her trust is you Valerie… do you trust me?" Keith looked towards Valerie Sawyer with sincere expression on his face.
In that moment, Keith summoned the Business God System—
Ti-tiring.
[Business Partner Loyalty Panel>]
[Subject Loyalty]
[Valerie Sawyer> 30%]
'How much BGS Credit do I have available?…'
Ti-tiring!
[BGS Credit Balance> 100 Credits]
'Good! I have enough BGS Credits to sway Valerie to my side… she is the only one here I truly value her trust'
'I would like to allocate all credits to Core Stats of my choosing'
Ti-ring.
[Affirmative!]
[Allocating BGS Credits to Core Stats> {Intelligence} INT and {Charisma} CHA]
'Yes…'
Ti-tiring.
[Credits Awarded]
[INT {Intelligence}> 12 + 50: Enhances Forecasting, Data Analysis, And Innovation.]
[CHA {Charisma}> 15 + 50: Boosts persuasion, networking, and media appeal.]
Ti-ring!
[Business God System> Status Panel]
[Name> Keith A. Hall
Class> Business God Candidate
Level> 6
Title> Investment Messiah
Reputation> First Time Millionaire]
[Core Stats]
[INT {Intelligence}> 62: Enhances Forecasting, Data Analysis, And Innovation.]
[CHA {Charisma}> 65: Boosts persuasion, networking, and media appeal.]
[MAN {Management}> 10: Increases staff efficiency and production output.]
[FIN {Finance}> 13: Grants smarter budgeting, better investments.]
[INN {Innovation}> 8: Unlocks unique business domains, models and patents.]
[Available BUSINESS GOD SYSTEM CREDITS {BGS Credits}> 0]
[Skill Tree Panel]
Current Skill> Income Multiplier x30.
>Any income gained from chosen Domain gets multiplied by x30.
Passive Skill> Eye OF Apollo.
> Allows host to find out an object or a person net worth just by looking at them.]
[Quest Log Panel]
Objective> Achieve the target profit value of $1,000,000,000 from the Domain Antique Business.
Ti-tiring.
Valerie's response could not have slowed time any further. Just when the anticipation was at its peak—
"I believe you wholeheartedly… Keith"