Chapter 119: Chapter 119

Chapter 119 The next day, Thomas Dunn himself came to pick Nathan up. He went along with him to meet Harvey Babcock and to discuss the amount of compensation.

But before Nathan and Thomas reached the auction house, they received a call from Colin.

Colin reported, “Sir, the experts left out some details last night. Even though the porcelain shard itself is authentic, they also detected signs of polishing.”

“What does that mean?” frowned Nathan.

“It means that the porcelain vase was already broken even before excavation, and not smashed recently,” explained Colin.

“So what you’re saying is, someone found a piece of broken porcelain, polished its edges, then mixed it in with other fake shards to con my father-in-law?”

“Yes, sir. It appears that Mr. Smith is the target of a scam,” confirmed Colin.

Nathan narrowed his eyes, “Alright. I understand.”

Nathan hung up the call and uttered coldly, “Bloody low lives! How dare they try to con my father-in-law?”

Thomas spoke up immediately, “Sir, I’ve looked into Harvey Babcock’s background. People call him the T-Rex, and he also has the backing of the Zabinski family which is one of the Southern Four.”

“Simon Peters, whom we took care of last time was a follower of the Zabinskis and also the spokesperson for them in Channing.”

“Could T-Rex’s actions be related to the Zabinskis?”

Nathan’s lips twitched upwards when he heard Thomas’ analysis. “Rumors have it that the Zabinski family is behind most of the shady business in the South. If this incident has something to do with them, Hehe, I won’t mind giving them a little of my attention.”

In the auction house, fifty bodyguards in spiffy suits were standing by.

Their gazes were sharp and their stances firm indicating that they were all highly-trained men.

Harvey Babcock the T-Rex wasn’t part of the underground circle nor the above-ground circle.

He was a powerful man who had dealings in both legal and illegal matters and thrived in the grey areas in between.

And because he was also a follower of the Zabinski family, people from both sides of the law were courteous with him.

Right then, T-Rex was sitting in his leather chair smoking a cigar lazily as he watched his men bringing in Nathan and Thomas.

He narrowed his eyes, “I assume you’ve validated the authenticity of the shard?”

Nathan pulled out a chair and sat on it nonchalantly making it looked like he was the one running the show with Thomas stood dutifully behind him.

“Yes we have. It is indeed an authentic porcelain shard,” answered Nathan indifferently.

T-Rex’s eyes brightened. “So you’re here to discuss the amount of compensation?”

Nathan nodded, “Correct.”

T-Rex looked intently at Nathan. “You’re prepared to pay me two hundred million?”

Nathan shook his head, “Two hundred million seems a bit much.”

“That porcelain vase that was worth two hundred million and was shattered by your father-in-law. So tell me, how much are you offering to pay?” asked T-Rex coldly.

Nathan raised two fingers.

T-Rex’s face contorted and his voice turned harsh. “Twenty million? Do you take me for a fool?”

“Not twenty million. Gosh, no!” chuckled Nathan.

T-Rex’s expression eased a little. “Then how much?”

Again, Nathan raised two fingers.

Anger flooded through T-Rex as he glowered at Nathan. He smashed his fist onto the table and thundered, “Two million? Are you f*****g kidding me? Should I just cripple the two of you right now?”

The trained men who were standing by all got into positions at T-Rex’s roars. With their deadly gazes, they looked like a pack of wolves who were itching to rip Nathan and Thomas apart.