Chapter 160 The Enemy Next Door
The whole interior of the shop went completely quiet.
Veyra’s soft, steady voice had just echoed off the bare concrete walls. Will you rent it for forty-five thousand?
Xander stood frozen, staring at her with his mouth slightly open and his dark eyes wide in pure shock.
Beside Veyra, Mia’s jaw had dropped entirely, staring at her friend as if she had suddenly grown a second head.
Behind them, Leon’s dark eyebrows rose just a tiny fraction, a rare, silent sign that he was genuinely impressed by her sharp nerve.
Xander’s two burly henchmen exchanged stunned glances. In all their years on the street, they had never seen a single soul attempt to negotiate down a price with their boss like this. Nobody ever talked to Xander Hale as an equal, let alone demanded a price cut.
Xander finally found his voice, shaking his head in disbelief. "Forty-five thousand?"
"Yes," Veyra said calmly.
"That is a massive twenty-five thousand dollar discount every single month."
"I am well aware of that."
"That cuts almost a full third off the original asking price."
"I know."
Xander shook his head, a frown touching his brow. "That is simply too low. I cannot agree to that number."
Veyra’s voice remained grounded, smooth, and completely unbothered. "Let me break down the real numbers for you."
She took a small step toward him, raising her right hand and cleanly counting off on her slender fingers.
"The ground floor spans roughly thirty square meters," she explained clearly. "At the local commercial rate of seven hundred dollars per square meter for ground retail, that comes out to exactly twenty-one thousand."
Xander blinked, caught off guard by her instant calculations.
"The second floor spans one hundred square meters," she continued smoothly. "At the upper-level rate of two hundred dollars per square meter, that totals twenty thousand."
She paused for a brief second, looking him straight in the eye.
"Twenty-one thousand plus twenty thousand brings the true market total to forty-one thousand. I am offering you forty-five thousand, which means I am voluntarily paying four thousand dollars over the current average market rate."
Xander’s mouth opened, closed, and then opened again, completely speechless.
She didn’t stop there. "You were attempting to charge me seventy thousand a month. That is twenty-nine thousand dollars above the standard market rate, meaning you were actively trying to overcharge me."
A dark flush of red crept up Xander’s neck and face.
He was a feared man in this district, completely unaccustomed to being called out on his bluff, challenged on his math, or questioned about his property rates.
Yet, she was completely right, and he knew it.
He had deliberately inflated the price tag, fully expecting a fresh business owner to fall for it. He had never anticipated that she would have done her homework on local commercial real estate figures.
He looked down at her, taking in her calm face and steady, unblinking eyes. She wasn’t backing down an inch.
"You actually did your homework on the district market," he noted.
"I always do my research before walking into any meeting," she replied simply.
Xander shook his head with a quiet chuckle. "You are certainly not what I expected."
"And what exactly did you expect?"
"Someone who would take my initial offer without question and thank me for the privilege."
Veyra offered a faint, polite smile. "I am definitely not that kind of person."
Xander fell completely quiet for a long moment.
He glanced around the spacious, light-filled shop. The prime location right across from the medical university would easily command seventy thousand from any big corporate chain, bringing him massive profits over time.
Then he thought about his mother’s fragile heart condition, which could flare up again without warning. She needed ongoing medical monitoring, and she needed top-tier care from specialists like Dr. Harrison.
Veyra was the sole reason his mother had gotten that life-saving operation in the first place.
He let out a heavy breath, his tense demeanor relaxing.
"Forty-five thousand a month," he conceded, looking down at her. "For a fixed one-year period."
Veyra felt a surge of victory in her chest. "Done."
"Plus a standard security deposit up front."
"Of course."
"And a guaranteed three-year total lease agreement."
"That works for us."
Xander extended his large right hand. "Then we have a solid deal, Mrs. Thorne."
Veyra reached out and shook his hand firmly, his grip warm and strong.
Beside her, Mia let out a long breath she felt like she had been holding for ten minutes. She leaned over and whispered softly, "You actually pulled it off."
Veyra smiled back at her. "We pulled it off together."
Xander turned to his henchman standing by the door. "Contact our legal team and have them draft the official rental lease contract immediately."
The man gave a quick nod, pulled out his phone, and stepped outside to make the call.
Xander turned back toward Veyra with a much more relaxed demeanor. "It will take them about an hour to finalize the paperwork and print it out. We might as well sit down for lunch nearby while we wait."
Veyra hesitated for a brief second. She wasn’t particularly eager to spend unnecessary leisure time with a local underworld figure like Xander.
On the other hand, her stomach was empty, and they still needed to sign the physical documents to lock down the shop space.
"Alright," she agreed. "Let’s get lunch."
Xander led the small group down the block toward an upscale dining establishment.
It was an exclusive, traditional restaurant, quiet, refined, and set up with private dining suites. Crisp white tablecloths covered the tables, soft cushioned chairs lined the rooms, and the warm, ambient lighting created a peaceful atmosphere.
He had already reserved a private room toward the back. A polite waiter escorted them through the main dining area, leading them past busy tables toward the quiet rear corridor.
Veyra walked alongside Mia, while Leon maintained his watchful position a couple of paces behind.
Xander walked up front, his remaining guard keeping pace beside him.
They turned into the narrow hallway where the private dining rooms were situated. The corridor was lined with polished wooden sliding doors and traditional paper screen walls.
As they passed one of the closed rooms, Veyra caught the faint sound of lively chatter, light laughter, and the clinking of wine glasses from inside. A woman’s sharp voice rang out, but Veyra paid it no real mind, assuming it was just another party enjoying their afternoon meal.
The waiter stopped right outside the final private suite at the end of the hall, sliding the heavy door open and gesturing politely for them to step inside.
Veyra lifted her foot to step over the wooden threshold.
At that exact moment, the door to the adjacent private room clicked open and slid back.
Eleanor stepped out into the hallway.
Her sharp eyes instantly locked right onto Veyra.
The entire world seemed to freeze in place.