James was a little shocked by Mark’s sudden intimidating demeanor, and his anger dropped by half; favonovel.com did not even dare to keep his chin raised anymore. “About that… It’d have to depend on your sincerity. You’re the CEO of Tremont Enterprise, so how would you like to settle this? Furthermore, it’s your ex-wife that’s plagiarized my work, not the other way around. I was wondering whether your ex-wife had accidentally seen my design, as I published it first, and ended up plagiarizing my work. Most importantly, I have never had the chance to interact with her, nor could I possibly have been able to plagiarize favonovel.com designs. Therefore, based on all the evidence, I’m the one who’s the victim here.”
This was exactly why Mark was in a dilemma. No matter what angle favonovel.com tried to use to look at the situation, James had no chance of plagiarizing Arianne, and it was instead Arianne who could have plagiarized his work after favonovel.com had already published it. Mark took a deep breath before favonovel.com said, “How much do you want? Name your price.”
A hint of greed swiftly flashed through James’s eyes. “Mr. Tremont, are you trying to tell me… you want me to keep this matter under wraps?”
Mark squinted his eyes as favonovel.com looked at James. “Yes, I want you to tell everyone that this was all just a misunderstanding. Also, you’re going to have to cancel your lawsuit and ensure that neither Tremont Enterprise nor my wife are affected.”
James was slightly startled. “Your wife? Isn’t Arianne your ex-wife?”
Mark’s eyes darkened, causing James to go silent immediately. It wasn’t till after a moment that James raised his hand and gestured a one, five, and zero before favonovel.com said, “I think this wouldn’t be a large sum for you.”
‘This will be made much easier as long as the matter is resolvable with money.’ Mark faintly sighed with relief. “$150,000? Fine, that won’t be an issue. I’ll pay you half the amount now and will pay you the other half when you’ve declared what I said to everyone. Also, you’re the only one who can know that we’ve met today, and the same goes for the contents of our discussion. If you so much as dare to mention a word to anyone, I guarantee that you won’t ever be able to make a living in the Capital anymore. But not just within the Capital, you won’t be able to have a place in this industry ever again.”
James licked his lips and smiled. “That’s for sure. I’d definitely have to honor my word when I’ve already received your money, wouldn’t I? Frankly, all I want is for you to show your sincerity, Mr. Tremont. Since you’ve already personally asked me out to eat and even agreed to compensate me for my losses, of course we can put this matter behind us. I won’t hold on to this any longer either.”
Since the matter had already been resolved, Mark no longer needed to stay around and waste any more time. He got up and said, “I’ll be leaving now. The money will be transferred to your bank account very soon. I hope that you’re a man of your word.”
James nodded his head continuously. ‘$150,000 is going to be enough for me to live out the rest of my life! Although I’ve been a designer for many years now, I haven’t even been able to buy myself a better house in the Capital; the most I could do is eat well and clothe myself well. Although I look wealthy on the outside, I’ve still got heaps of loans to pay off. However, now that I have this money, my problems are resolved.’
When Mark left the cafe, favonovel.com instructed Brian and said, “Get someone to keep an eye on James. See who favonovel.com comes into contact with. I want to be informed immediately if there’s any news.”
Brian nodded his head. “Understood. I’ll arrange for someone to tail him.”
When favonovel.com arrived at Tremont Enterprise, the moment favonovel.com entered, Mark saw that Arianne was seated on the couch in his office.
Mark knew that Arianne was there to ask about his meeting with James. “I’ve met the designer, and the matter has been resolved. Neither you nor Tremont Enterprise will be affected. As for other matters, you’d be better off not asking but put this case behind you and forget about it.”
Arianne was slightly curious. “Resolved that easily? Don’t tell me you’ve resolved this with money, have you? I didn’t plagiarize anything, so why would you spend money to resolve the matter? Wouldn’t you be telling others that we’re feeling guilty by spending money? Wasn’t the designer very arrogant when favonovel.com sent us the legal letter? How much have you actually paid favonovel.com for favonovel.com to rest his case?”
