Chapter 440: Who Schemed Against Whom (4)

Chapter 440: Chapter 440: Who Schemed Against Whom (4)

"You’re still too naive! Think about it. If you had information on how to make a quick buck, would you just give it away that easily? Especially to the very person who just sabotaged your business?"

As she spoke, Jacinta Hale made a call. ’Trying to set me up? It’s not that easy. It’s just the black market, after all!’ Although she wasn’t in the antique business herself, the Fenton Family ran a bank. If there was one thing she had in abundance, it was connections. Finding out a bit of information would be simple.

"Mom, are you saying Joel Xavier told us that on purpose? Just to lure us into a trap! He thinks that once we hear the news, we’ll definitely track down that old man, buy the authentic Shan Franklin piece from him, and plan to flip it for a profit! But in reality, the price for a genuine Shan Franklin on the black market isn’t nearly as high as he claimed! We’d end up losing money!"

Shelby Fenton considered this. After hearing what Jacinta Hale said, she immediately discarded her initial assumptions. If her mother hadn’t been there today and she had encountered this situation on her own, she probably would have fallen for it and lost everything. At the thought, Shelby Fenton couldn’t help but curse that unscrupulous shop owner in her mind.

"What else can you think of besides that? If we spent a fortune on a genuine Shan Franklin piece but couldn’t find a buyer, what would we do?" Jacinta Hale put her phone down. She had already asked someone to look into it and would have an answer soon.

"To avoid losing money, our only option would be to work with Joel Xavier! Then he’d have the perfect opportunity to mock us! Since he’s planning to acquire a genuine Shan Franklin for the high price of three million, he must have his own buyers lined up! In the antiques trade, there’s a saying: ’Three years with no business, one deal feeds you for three.’ Based on that, his selling price must be astronomical!"

The more Shelby Fenton thought about it, the more alarmed she became. "Then, he’d offer us a slightly higher price, acting like he’s doing us a favor! We’d be thrilled and sell it to him right away! In the end, he still gets the deal done and gets revenge for us messing with his business today! It’s a perfect case of killing two birds with one stone! Mom, you’re brilliant!"

"My dear daughter is clever too, but this is just my theory! Nothing is set in stone; maybe the situation really is just as you first thought. After all, Joel Xavier is still young. He might not be capable of such a deep-seated scheme. The scenario he described isn’t impossible, either. It’s happened before. Some bigwig has a milestone birthday, and everyone wants to curry favor with them. They find out what the person likes and spare no expense to find it, causing the item’s price to skyrocket. It ends up getting hyped to an outrageous price!"

As they talked, the two of them arrived at The Hale Antique Collection. Just then, Jacinta Hale received a call.

"Mrs. Fenton, I just asked around. That genuine Shan Franklin piece has been hyped up to nearly ten million! If you come across a piece like that, you have to act on it immediately. Word is the price is going to keep climbing!"

"Do you know why the price shot up so fast? Shan Franklin may have been a great calligrapher of the Early Dynasty, but his work typically goes for only six or seven hundred thousand on the market. This price is absurd! Are you sure your information is reliable? You haven’t been swindled, have you?" It wasn’t that Jacinta Hale was being overly suspicious; the price was just that bizarre. It was so abnormal it defied all market logic.

"Absolutely not! Actually, this whole thing has something to do with you! Logically, you should know the inside scoop better than anyone. Why are you asking other people for information? This is about the old master of the Hale Family!" The person on the other end hung up after saying this.