Chapter 32: The plot drifting.

Halfway through the dinner, Eoin did arrive.

He looked as if he had just finished work, and his suit was spotless. As he walked in, he casually handed his coat to a waiter and scanned the room. His eyes rested on Cian for a moment, then moved away fast.

The System wondered aloud, "If he didn’t visit you so often, I’d really think he doesn’t know you."

In public, Eoin always stayed cold and distant, in both face and voice. Cian was admiring this when someone sat down beside him and chuckled. "Young Mr. Fitzgerald, isn’t it?"

Cian turned and saw a young man he didn’t know. He had seen him briefly at the entrance, walking with Ronan.

Cian nodded politely. "Yes?"

The man said, "I’ve seen you looking at Mr. Brennan. Do you know him?"

Everyone in Dublin knew that Eoin had once been with Cian when Cian was at his peak. Many people had been waiting for Cian’s fall since he came back, eager to see the once proud Young Mr. Fitzgerald brought low. The man’s question was clearly meant to provoke him.

Cian kept a straight face. "Yes, I know him. What about it?"

The man laughed. "Aren’t you going to toast him and say hello?"

He wanted to mock Cian and make life hard for the current Young Mr. Fitzgerald. But Cian just glanced at him and looked away, as if he were watching a silly clown.

Feeling snubbed, the man picked up his drink and left.

Still, Cian did want to talk to Eoin.

He wasn’t sure what to say. His task was finished, but he still felt a bit of regret, and he wanted a proper conversation face to face.

Eoin was sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by layers of people. Cian was a nobody now and couldn’t squeeze through. He wandered around the edges with his drink but found no way in.

Everyone was busy networking, and no one had time to notice him. Cian didn’t bother pushing through. He sat down at the edge and stared blankly at a round table.

He didn’t mind, but some people minded a lot. Young Mr. Fitzgerald was famous for his pride, and many wanted to see him fall, the harder the better. Cian overheard a few remarks, mostly mocking his cheap clothes, which all came from market stalls, since he could no longer afford the brands he used to wear. Some even brought up the Micra he drove, which was two or three levels below a Bentley.

Cian didn’t mind. In his own world, he couldn’t even afford a Micra.

The remarks weren’t whispered. Some were deliberately loud so Eoin would hear. In the middle of the noise, the chatter around Eoin suddenly stopped.

Eoin raised his hand and clapped for quiet. "All right, let’s get back to the investments."

After all, gossip about Young Mr. Fitzgerald was only a side issue. The investments were the main point. The talk went back to normal, but twenty minutes later a waiter bent down beside Cian and whispered, "Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Brennan would like to see you."

Cian looked up. Eoin was still in the middle of the crowd, explaining something, and he hadn’t even looked his way.

Cian nodded to the waiter. "Of course."

The venue had private rooms for confidential talks, well stocked with food and drink. Cian took a few sips of his drink, and soon Eoin arrived.

His eyes swept over Cian and his market stall clothes, and his eyelids drooped slightly, perhaps in mockery or perhaps from something else. "You’ve really come down in the world."

Cian’s hand paused on his glass.

Eoin knew exactly what state Cian was in, so it was odd for him to say that.

Cian wasn’t angry. He simply answered, "Yes."

Eoin sat down across from him. "Are you really planning to give up the Fitzgerald family’s shares?"

"Fergal has been working behind the scenes. The price they offered you is far below the market value. After inheritance tax and other costs, what you actually get won’t be more than this."

Cian glanced over. Eoin had written a number on a piece of paper. He didn’t count the zeros, but it was enough for most people to live comfortably for life. For a trust fund heir’s spending habits, though, it was a bit tight.

Eoin went on. "As far as I know, you still owe Rory Doyle and others several million?"

His voice was cold and flat. Cian remembered. "Yes."

They used to spend money together, both at the top of Dublin’s rich crowd, and neither cared about a few million. Later, when Rory fell from grace, they had a falling out. If it went to court, Cian really would owe several million.

Eoin said coolly, "Paying that back would take you twenty or thirty years."

Cian: "..."

He still had several million in his account, so he wasn’t really short of money. And his task was finished, so he was about to leave.

But when Cian looked at Eoin, he saw that Eoin’s fingers were gripping the table tightly, as if he were nervous. Cian couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

He asked softly, "So what should I do?"

Eoin didn’t look at him. After a long while he said, "In your situation, you must be feeling the pinch, right?"

His tone was stiff and cold, a bit of bluster to cover something up.

Cian ignored the balance in his account and agreed. "Uh, yes?"

Eoin: "I can help you get back the shares that belong to you."

Cian didn’t answer. He had a vague idea of what Eoin wanted.

Honestly, he didn’t need the shares. But Eoin looked worn out, with faint dark circles under his eyes from running between the office and the psychiatric hospital lately. Those lovely eyes were downcast too. Eoin was already one of the top figures in Dublin, but right now he looked a bit down and out.

Cian saw all this and felt a pang in his chest, and he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

When he was sick in hospital as a child, no one had ever visited him, not once.

Cian asked, "So what should I do?"

Eoin said calmly, "Sign an agreement with me, like the one we signed five years ago."

As he said it, his face was blank and he didn’t look at Cian. It sounded as if he were discussing a valuable business deal rather than looking for a lover. He had none of the usual carefree air of a trust fund heir. His fingertips pressed on the table, and the veins on the back of his hand showed slightly, a sign of nerves.

Why was he so anxious?

Cian was the one in the hot seat, yet Eoin was the one who was anxious.

Cian could even imagine how crushed Eoin would look if he refused. His perfectly styled hair would probably droop, and those cold eyes would lose their spark. That made it impossible for him to say no.

Even in those first six months, he had never made Eoin this upset.

He couldn’t stand to see Eoin so upset.

The System was shocked by how far the plot had drifted. It circled around Cian, even more anxious than he was, muttering, "What’s going on here? Is this part of the plan? But the task is finished and the host is about to leave. Host? Why aren’t you saying anything? Host?!"

Its voice suddenly stopped.

Because they heard Cian chuckle softly. "All right."

He agreed without hesitation. His tone was calm and gentle, as if he weren’t signing a contract that cost him his personal freedom but deciding what to have for dinner.

The System: "?!"

It was stunned. "Host, don’t you still want to go home?"

Cian was easygoing about most things but always kept his word, and he signed the contract. For now, at least, he wouldn’t be leaving.

But wasn’t the whole point of the contract that he could go home?

The System was confused.

Cian waved it off. "Not going back for now."

After all, there was no one waiting for him at home.

Cian had always been distant from his family, in this life and the last. His mother died early, and as for his father, Cian counted him as dead. When he died in his old life, he had no one to miss. He had accepted the System’s offer only to avoid dying so suddenly. If you asked whether he missed his old life, he really didn’t.

But some people in this world made him feel a little nostalgic already.

Eoin let out a quiet breath of relief and pushed a contract across the table, speaking like a businessman.

"Fergal is ambitious, decisive, and shrewd. Over the past few months he has taken a large share of the market, which has hit our company’s overseas business hard. Backing your rise will benefit us both. It’s a win win."