Chapter 294 - 182: Mellon’s Family Banquet
"Mr. Mark," Li Wei said, looking down at the silver treasure chest before him. "What’s wrong?"
The silver treasure chest slowly lifted his head. His eyes, which usually sparkled with shrewd intelligence, were now filled with red veins. "Li Wei? You... what are you doing here?"
"Sorry, I... I’m not feeling well today," he said, swaying as he tried to stand and get away. "I don’t think I can make it for lunch."
Li Wei didn’t bother with words. He just grabbed Mark’s shoulder with one hand.
’This is my treasure chest monster. I can’t let him get away.’
Mark felt a vise grip clamp down on his shoulder, immobilizing him.
"Get in," Li Wei said, applying a little pressure and pushing the frail Merrill Lynch Securities partner—who made several million USD a year—into the Cullinan. "Whatever’s going on, we’ll talk about it after a drink."
「Ten minutes later, on the edge of Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, outside an Irish pub that had yet to open for the day.」
"Two tequilas, straight. No lime, no salt."
The bartender glanced at the two impeccably dressed, obviously wealthy men and the Rolls-Royce parked outside. Without a word, he pulled out the most expensive tequila the bar had.
"I’m done for, Mr. Li Wei. I’m completely done for..." After just two rounds, Mark was already seeing double. "My friend and classmate of ten years, David, that son of a bitch... he told me about a guaranteed, can’t-lose shadow pre-IPO deal. He said it just needed some short-term bridge financing for a 3x return..."
Li Wei sat beside him, gently swirling the drink in his glass without interrupting.
"I didn’t have that much cash... Sarah’s due any day now, and the mortgage on our Upper West Side place, plus the club fees for Long Island, have completely drained my cash flow," Mark rambled, unconsciously caressing his empty glass. "The 1.5 million USD in stock Merrill Lynch gave me hasn’t vested yet—I can’t exercise my options until I hit my one-year mark. But David said the opportunity wouldn’t wait, that it was now or never."
"So you went for it?" Li Wei raised an eyebrow. "And now 1.5 million USD is gone."
"More than that..." Mark said, rubbing his head. "David... I was a little drunk at the time. I mortgaged my place on the Upper West Side for another 1.5 million. All told, I gave David a 3 million USD bridge loan in cash, which he was supposed to wire to his shell company in the Cayman Islands to buy the shares."
"But David disappeared this morning. The project’s underlying asset was just a money-laundering pig-butchering scam. All the money is gone!"
"If it were just the money, it would be manageable. I could probably cover some of it when my year-end bonus comes in a few months," Mark said, nervously chewing his thumbnail and shaking his leg uncontrollably. "But for some reason, Merrill Lynch’s compliance department suddenly caught wind of it. As a partner, I’m not allowed to make private trades. They’ve launched a compliance risk investigation into me... Dammit... Why is it that everyone does this, but I’m the one who gets caught?"
"Then the shadow bank found out my license is about to be revoked," he slumped into his chair, completely defeated. "They’re demanding I pay back the loan in full within forty-eight hours, or they’ll come to foreclose on my house."
"I’m completely fucked," he concluded. "David completely played me."
"This is great—oh, I mean," Li Wei said, consoling him, "this is terrible."
As Li Wei listened to Mark’s story, he felt a flicker of sympathy, but his thoughts quickly returned to the mission.
[Mission Objective: Pull him from the abyss and display a Knight’s virtue.]
’So, pulling him from the abyss starts here, huh?’
’But that’s a 3 million USD loan... I don’t have that kind of money right now.’
’I’ve only got a little over 2.4 million in cash myself.’
’But then he remembered Anya. He had a girlfriend who was ridiculously rich.’
"Hey, honey, it’s me," Li Wei said, having dialed Anya’s number. "Transfer three million USD to my account. It’s for something important."
"Okay," Anya replied, not at all concerned about what he needed the money for. "I’ll have it sent over as soon as I’m done shopping."
"You’re not going to ask why I’m suddenly asking to borrow money?" Li Wei asked with a laugh. "What if I can’t pay you back?"
"If you can’t pay it back, you can pay me back with your body. Ten thousand USD a session," Anya said casually. "Wrap up this whole row for me (in French)... Okay, I can’t talk anymore, I have to—"
"Hey," a woman’s voice suddenly cut in, having snatched Anya’s phone. "Are you Li Wei? Don’t worry, under my watch, Anya definitely hasn’t been sneaking looks at any other handsome—AH!!"
"Ida! Suka Bulie! Do you have a death wish?!" Anya yelled, grabbing her phone back. "Ahem... I’m having someone transfer the money to you now. You be good. That’s all. Love you, love you."
After hanging up, Li Wei turned to Mark. "Anya said she’ll lend you the money to handle the immediate emergency. We’ll sort out the rest of your problems one by one."
Mark was stunned. He’d always thought Anya was just a pretty face and had never considered her family or background.
But seeing how easily she could come up with three million USD, and thinking about the gifts she’d given him...
"Is Miss Anna’s father... very famous?" he asked tentatively. "You’ve both really saved my life this time."
"Let her tell you herself when you get the chance," Li Wei replied, deflecting. "Do you have a photo and the contact information for this David?"
"I do," Mark said, pulling himself together and taking out his phone, "but I can’t find him."
"That’s not your problem anymore," Li Wei said. "After all, we still have to get that money back from him. Also, tell me everything that happened with the Merrill Lynch compliance department."
"Mr. Li Wei..." Mark said gratefully, "I... I don’t know how I can ever repay you."
’Then hurry up and show me that Knight’s virtue!’
Li Wei patted his silver treasure chest. "Don’t worry about it," he said. "That’s what friends are for."
Mark looked at Li Wei’s bright smile, his heart swelling with gratitude.
He silently swore an oath: if it ever came to it, he would be willing to die for Li Wei.
After getting the dead-drunk Mark settled, Li Wei left the bar and got back into the driver’s seat of the Rolls-Royce.
Anya’s money had temporarily plugged Mark’s financial hole, but to truly "pull him from the abyss," Li Wei had to get the stolen money back and resolve the compliance investigation at Merrill Lynch Securities.
Li Wei took out his phone and made his first call to Lady Delores.
"Mr. Li Wei?" Lady Delores’s characteristically calm voice came through the phone, accompanied by the faint sound of machinery whirring in the background. "It’s been a while. How have you been?"
"I’m doing well, my lady," Li Wei said with a smile. "And how have you been?"
"We are all well, thanks to you," Lady Delores said. "Emma and I even went to see your last game."
"I’ll send you tickets for my next home game," Li Wei said with a smile. "And if I make it to the Super Bowl, I’d be honored to have you there."
"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Li Wei," Lady Delores said, expressing her thanks in advance. "Was there something you needed from me?"
"Not an order, just a favor. I need you to find a Wall Street broker named David. His passport number is..., address is... I’ll send you his social media profile, it has his photo. He ran off with three million USD, funneled through a shell company in the Cayman Islands," Li Wei said.
"Sounds like he used our channels," Lady Delores mused. "We’re familiar with that particular money-laundering pipeline on Wall Street. Give me forty-eight hours. I’ll find him."
After hanging up, Li Wei considered his next move. The trickiest part would be the financial compliance issue.
He scrolled through his contacts, found Elizabeth’s name, and placed the call.
"Merrill Lynch Securities’ compliance department... you need to get an investigation dropped..." Elizabeth thought for a moment. "All right, all right. I’ll see what I can do."
After hanging up, Li Wei sat in the car, a sudden wave of guilt washing over him.
Elizabeth was already overwhelmed with the mess involving the Skull and Bones Society and Charles Mellon, yet here he was, asking to use her connections to pull strings for him.
He then recalled the time Director Harrison had completely disregarded Elizabeth’s position.
"I owe Elizabeth a favor, and now I owe Anya money," Li Wei muttered to himself. "Damn this system. Can’t you hurry up and give me a boost?"
’I’m going to wreck this world.’
Li Wei, who had been feeling rather complacent about his situation, was starting to realize how small he was and how thin his resources were stretched.
"Hey, Uncle," Li Wei said, dialing Don Quixote’s number. "Let’s have dinner tonight. We can talk about team building and endorsement deals, have a few drinks... How well do you hold your liquor? Do you... fall asleep when you drink? Never mind, never mind, just asking."
Elizabeth stared at her phone after the call ended. She flipped through her contacts, thinking hard, but realized none of her usual connections could help Li Wei with this.
*CREAK.* She threw herself onto the large bed in her dorm room, staring dazedly at a single name in her contact list.
Her trembling finger hovered over the screen. She hesitated for a long time, but still couldn’t bring herself to press it.
Annoyed, she tossed her phone aside and began pacing around her dorm room.
After several minutes of pacing, she finally took a deep breath, picked up her phone, and tapped the name.
A moment later, an old man’s voice answered:
"Liz," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Elizabeth paused. "Grandfather, good day."
There was no reply from the other end.
"I need a little of your help," Elizabeth continued. "I need to get in touch with someone high up in the compliance department at Merrill Lynch Securities, or a partner at a clearing bank who has some influence." She did her best to keep her voice steady and professional. "It’s to get an internal investigation dropped for a partner named Mark."
The other end of the line went silent, the only sound the crisp clinking of ice cubes in a glass.
"How long has it been since we’ve spoken, Liz?" Alexander Mellon’s voice was devoid of emotion. "Two years? Three? You and your father refuse to come and visit your grandfather, and now, after all this time, the first thing you do when you call is ask me for a favor? You don’t even ask how I’m doing?"
Elizabeth bit her lip, saying nothing.
"And you’re doing this for that little basketball player, aren’t you?" Alexander Mellon said. "Just like a little girl, willing to throw everything away for love."
"He plays football. And we’re just friends," Elizabeth corrected him. "This is for me."
"This Christmas, bring your father—actually, never mind. If your father wants to collect his antiques, let him," Alexander Mellon snorted. "This Christmas, you bring that football kid back for the family dinner. Otherwise, you can get lost and stop bothering me."
Elizabeth’s immediate impulse was to refuse. Go back to the family dinner? See all her uncles and aunts?
"I’ll talk to him," she sighed. "Thank you, Grandfather."
"Good." Alexander Mellon hung up.
After the call ended, Elizabeth felt as if all her strength had been drained away. She slid from the edge of the bed and crumpled onto the carpet.
Just then, her phone rang again.
"Hello? Li Wei?" Elizabeth paused. "I was just calling to ask you... My grandfather agreed to help, but he wants to meet you at Christmas—oh, this isn’t really something to discuss over the phone... What? You have something to talk to me about in person, too?"