Empire of Shadows

When you unconditionally treat someone well, but receive results you couldn't have imagined, your first thought is often, "Why did this happen?"

Curiosity manifests faster and more intensely than anger or hatred!

He looked at Dover with a strange expression, like a defendant standing in the dock awaiting sentencing. He wanted to know not just the punishment, but also why this had happened.

"Since you were a child, I've always been good to you, no matter what they said…"

"I've always tried my best to make up for everything you lost, do you remember?"

"I even attended a few parent-teacher conferences for you!"

For a time, Paul truly treated Dover like his own child. His father died for him, so he had an obligation to take care of Dover.

However, after Dover's mother died, the problems between them not only didn't ease or lessen, but the gap widened.

Paul actually knew some of the reasons, because of Dover's mother's death.

Dover's mother's death was the only direction she found in her mental exhaustion and torment.

Her husband died, and then Paul was so good to Dover, as if he was competing with her for her child, and she couldn't resist this process.

In the end, she chose to use death to tell Dover that Paul was not his father, nor could he ever be.

Things that come at the cost of life are often impossible to ignore, like the extreme anger of ordinary people, like the pencil gradually clenched in the hand of a bullied child, or like... revolution!

Of course, a woman's death is not a revolution, it won't bring any heavy or unavoidable topics to the world, but it affects a young child, affecting his present and his future.

Dover looked at Paul, he didn't know what to say, just looked, a little dazed.

Paul was waiting for his answer. Dover blinked, coming back to his senses from his wandering thoughts, "They said… if he hadn't been stupid enough to take a bullet for you…"

Paul looked at him, "I've heard it said that if my father hadn't taken a bullet for me, maybe he would have had the opportunity to sit where I am now."

"But, Dover, tell me, do you believe it?"

"The inheritance of the Pasreto family has always had rules. Look at Mueller, he's also a Pasreto, he didn't take a bullet for me, but did he become me, or replace me?"

"No, he didn't. Even if your father hadn't taken that bullet for me, even if I died, the position of head of the family wouldn't have fallen to your father."

Paul looked at him, mercilessly tearing apart the beautiful dream that Dover himself, and his friends, those people with ulterior motives, had woven for him.

Dover looked at Paul, staring straight at him, "Why… didn't you say this before?"

Paul looked at him like he was an idiot, "Do you think I need to clarify such rumors?"

"And how would I clarify it?"

"Would I walk up to you, put my arm around your shoulder and tell you, 'Hey, your father was just one of my subordinates, his being alive would only make your life worse than it is now'?"

"After you lost your father and mother?"

"Dover, I appreciate everything your father did for me, so I will protect you as much as possible, give you better conditions, and even not refute these rumors."

"I hoped that your father's heroic deeds would give you a better growing environment, but I didn't expect that you would actually be entangled in the relationship between your father and me?"

He showed a very regretful and disappointed expression, "If this is your reason for betraying the family, Dover, you disappoint me very much!"

Paul took a deep breath and stopped talking. Dover suddenly felt a burst of fear. He keenly realized that Paul's attitude was changing.

He understood Paul. Although Paul was often a good person, when he made up his mind, he would become someone else, like that dog!

Paul used to keep a dog, a hunting dog. He liked that dog very much, it was shiny black and very loyal to him.

Once, Dover secretly ran over, wanting to take the dog out. He wanted to show off in front of the other children.

After all, such a big, beautiful dog was rare, but what he didn't expect was that the dog, which was docile in front of Paul, bared its fangs at him.

He was bitten. Paul came over after he found out. He comforted Dover for a while, then hugged the dog.

At first, he didn't understand why Paul hugged the dog after he was bitten.

Until two minutes later, Paul took out a gun and shot the dog in front of him.

Paul's eyes and expression at that time frightened him!

Even today, he can't forget the moment when Paul took the gun, pointed it at the dog's head, and said "I'm sorry" before firing!

That moment of Paul seemed to reappear!

Dover knelt on the ground with a thud. He didn't want to die, "It's them, they all bewitched me, they said my father should be the head of the Pasreto family, and I am the young master."

"Uncle Paul…", he crawled on the ground to Paul's legs, hugged his legs, trying to gain Paul's forgiveness through such a plea.

Paul put his arm around his shoulder, his eyes were very gentle, but behind the gentleness was a trace of pain and determination.

He really raised Dover as his own child, and gave him everything he could!

But now, he had to make a choice.

Dover was his relative, but he had more relatives, he couldn't give up the others for Dover.

He reached out and rubbed Dover's head, forcefully holding his shoulders, his eyes became a little painful, and then he took out the pistol, "I'm sorry…"

However, the next second, his eyes suddenly widened, because Dover actually grabbed his pistol at some point!

After a brief eye contact, their gazes became sharp. Dover desperately fought for the pistol unexpectedly, so that the pistol was snatched by him!

It was also at this time that his finger fired a shot as it came away from the pistol.

But the next second, the weapon fell into Dover's hands. He took a step back, and without giving Paul any more chances to speak, he directly pulled the trigger!

Outside the door, under Mueller's gaze, the people in the room didn't dare to speak, sitting there awkwardly and uncomfortably.

Mueller was of the same generation as Paul, and could be considered their uncle. Some of the younger generations were even Mueller's grandchildren.

When such an "elder" stood here staring at them with unkind eyes, and most of these people were hated by everyone, they would become very uncomfortable.

It's like having thorns all over their bodies, growing hair, very itchy, but they can't scratch, making them feel uncomfortable all over.

They were still discussing in low voices why Paul would suddenly come to find Dover, whether it was to give Dover some task, when suddenly a gunshot rang out in the room.

First one, then several consecutive ones. Everyone stood up and looked at the door in horror and disbelief. Mueller squinted slightly at them, "Sit back down!"

No matter how stupid they were, they knew what had happened. Paul was actually going to kill Dover!

These people slowly sat back, their faces flushed, their hearts beating faster. They began to fear, began to feel uneasy.

Two minutes later, the door opened. Mueller's gaze was still on these people. He was afraid that these people would make some small moves when he turned his head.

Although he didn't think they had such ability, but the situation was special now, so he still needed to be careful when he should be careful.

Then he saw the surprised expressions on the faces of those wastes, and also saw their shocked expressions. Just as Mueller had a bad feeling, a cold thing pressed against his head.

In this instant, his brain went blank!

Paul is dead?

He didn't even care to turn around from the threat. He didn't even have time to see who was behind him when the gunshot rang.

He felt as if something had hit his head hard, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

In his quickly dimming gaze, he saw Dover's shadow stepping over his body.

"Dover?!"

Dover's hands were still shaking. The ivory-handled pistol that was said to be from Paul's grandfather was held in his hand. Until this moment, he had not recovered from the shock of killing Paul!

Paul wanted to kill him, he could only fight back!

Just as he didn't expect Paul to really want to kill him, Paul didn't expect that he would not only dare to fight back, but also dare to kill him!

At this time, Dover put the weapon in his pocket. He pinched and gripped his hands to calm himself down.

He looked at these people, "He wanted to kill me… I didn't agree."

"Haven't you always said… if I want to be the head of the family, you will support me?"

"Now, it's your turn to fulfill your promise!"

Alberto is very depressed now.

Everyone in the company seems to be sullen. After sitting in the chair and losing his temper for a while, he made a phone call to Lance, "Are you free?"

"Have a drink with me."

More than ten minutes later, Alberto came to Lance's office. Lance took out a bottle of wine and poured him a glass.

Alberto looked at the gold-stamped lion on the wine bottle, somewhat curious, "I've heard of this wine, where did you get it?"

Lance shook his head, "I always have my ways. You're here to drink, not to stock up."

He poured Alberto a glass of wine, then picked up the glass and touched it with him, "Did you encounter any trouble?"

Alberto took a big sip and said somewhat depressed, "Dover betrayed family intelligence, we suffered heavy losses."

"That son of a bitch is like a wild dog you can't tame. He should be killed!"

"But even so, Paul is still protecting him!" He didn't wait for Lance to raise his glass, he took another big gulp, then picked up the bottle and started pouring for himself again.

There were ice cubes in the glass, big ice cubes.

The wine would first fall on the ice cubes, and then flow down the ice cubes to the bottom of the glass. In this process, it would be cooled down to a level that wouldn't make people feel spicy.

The advantage of doing this is that the strong wine doesn't taste so uncomfortable, and even women can drink it without any problems.

But the disadvantage is that it's easy to drink too much.

Alberto cursed "Fuck," and then slammed the table hard, "The Howard brothers are dead, and several other people were killed, but now Paul is actually planning to protect him!"

"If he really protects Dover, I'm out!"

Lance walked to his side, put his hand on his shoulder, and took a small sip from his glass, "Why don't you consider just killing him?"

"Kill who?" Alberto asked, putting down his glass after only taking a sip, "Dover?"

"Hmm, maybe Paul isn't easy to deal with?"

Alberto opened the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette, and lit it for himself, "Keep talking."

Lance sat down on the chair next to him, "You see, Dover's father died to protect Paul, so no matter what, Paul must guarantee Dover's life, even if he doesn't want to!"

"Otherwise, people will say that Dover's father died for him, and he killed Dover, and the whole family died because of him. It's difficult for him!"

"But if someone else does it, wouldn't everything be better?"

Alberto's eyes began to light up, "That's a good idea!"

He thought about the possibility of the matter, "I came to you for a drink, and I found the right person, Lance, you know how to solve problems."

He was silent for a while, and soon he had a headache again. This matter needs someone to do it, but not him!

Alberto was very distressed, and he talked a lot with Lance, complaining, regretting, blaming, and he also drank a lot of wine, and finally fell drunk in his office.

He made a phone call to Fordis, and soon Fordis drove over.

He saw Alberto drunk on the sofa, walked to Lance and gave him a hug, "Thank you for letting him drink so much."

Lance smiled and patted him on the back, "Doesn't sound like a good word, Fordis."

Fordis couldn't help but laugh twice, "He's been very distressed these days, being able to sleep for a while is actually good for him."

"Lend a hand!"

Lance helped him up Alberto and stuffed him into the car.

Interestingly, he was stuck in the back seat of the car. He couldn't push him in, so Lance stepped on his butt and kicked him in, leaving a clear footprint on his butt.

"When he wakes up, tell him he was kicked back by me!"

Fordis nodded, "No problem, I will definitely tell him." He hugged Lance again, "Be careful, it's been terrible lately!"

Being betrayed has hurt everyone and made their will depressed. Some people even talked about not continuing to serve the Pasreto family.

They are just distant relatives, not direct descendants of the Pasreto family. They have suffered such a huge loss. Even if they leave the family, no one can say anything.

If Paul still protects Dover this time, they will quit!

Lance watched the car leave. When he turned around, Alvin was standing by the door, pointing to the room, "William's on the phone."

Lance looked at the departing car, stood for a while, then turned and walked into the room.

He sat on the chair and picked up the receiver, "Councilor Williams?"

"I've talked to some of my old friends. If you can make things big enough, they'll intervene directly."

"But, there is a prerequisite here."

Lance leaned back in the chair and asked, "What?"

There was a slight crackling sound from the receiver, which was the sound of Councilor Williams smoking a pipe, "They also have some requirements."

Lance pursed his lips, "Tell me, maybe I can solve their little problems."

Councilor Williams laughed twice, "That's easy for you, Lance."

Golden Port City must be ensured to be under the control of the Socialist Party. This city is too important, you must stand on our side!"

Lance considered for a while, "Am I suitable to join the Socialist Party?"

Councilor Williams couldn't help laughing, "Funny, Lance, you have a great sense of humor!"

A gang leader joining the Socialist Party?

If he really did this, and the Socialist Party accepted him, then tomorrow this would be the headline all over the world!

The Socialist Party has begun to harbor dirt!

So it is impossible for them to agree. Even if Lance actively requests it, the Socialist Party will not allow him to join the Socialist Party and pollute the reputation of the Socialist Party.

For Councilor Williams, it was a funny joke!

"I will run for mayor of Golden Port City later. You must support me with your people. In addition, you must support the subsequent mayors if they are socialists!"

"Besides, you also need to prove to the above that you are on our side, understand?"

"Your sincerity!"

"Sometimes, they will also have some work for you to do!"

"If you can agree to these three things, they will take the initiative to intervene."

Lance thought for a while. The first thing was political support, clearly supporting the Socialist Party. This has nothing to do with whether he is a member of the Socialist Party.

He can agree.

The second point is not a big problem either, just a transfer of benefits. Everyone is doing it. It's not that he doesn't want to send money to Congress, it's that he doesn't have the channel.

So now that Congress is willing to accept his money, he is too happy, how can he object?

What made him feel hesitant was the third point. He didn't object to doing dirty work, but doing dirty work for Congress was a bit bad.

Who knows if they will give him a sensitive dirty job, and then send someone to make him keep the secret, which is equivalent to forcing him to stand on the opposite side of those big shots in Congress.

The lack of response for a long time made Councilor Williams a little nervous, "What are you worried about?"

Lance told the truth, "I don't want to be toilet paper, they throw it away after they use it."

Councilor Williams felt a little... incomprehensible. How honorable is it to do dirty work for the big shots in Congress?

Even if he had the opportunity, he would be willing to take on this job.

This means that he can grasp some deeper secrets of the senators. Although things have two sides, he can't always look at the bad side, he can also look at the good side.

The advantage is that he has a direct channel to Congress. Maybe this channel is not very stable, but at least he has it.

"Lance…"

Lance didn't let him continue, "I can give a little more money, but I don't want to do dirty work."

Councilor Williams thought for a while. He believed that those big shots would agree, "Okay, you can do it according to your ideas now…"

Two minutes later, Lance strode out of the office. He casually pointed to some people, "Get in the car, we're going to the dock."

Alvin trotted to catch up, "Did you make a deal?"

Lance nodded and said, "We made a deal. As long as it's big enough, there's no problem!"

"How are you going to make it big?" Alvin was very curious.

The two walked out of the room. He ran two steps and opened the car door for Lance.

Lance stood by the car door and turned to look at him, "Do you know what there is the most of on the dock?"

Alvin shook his head, "What I'm saying is definitely not the same thing you're thinking."

Lance got into the car, "Money!"

Something came up tonight and I was out, a little late.