Chapter 42: Are you serious?

The next day, Cian contacted Dr. Keane.

He had some money, but not enough, and compared with the whole Fitzgerald family’s wealth it was a drop in the ocean. Luckily, Dr. Keane still had some funds that could be used.

According to the original plot, in two months at most, Fergal would be exposed in a huge scandal and face the risk of prison. Public anger would close in, shareholders would flee in droves, and the share price would crash again and again. This could be a good chance for a complete shake up.

The two met as usual at a hotel. Before that, the System had used a huge amount of computing power to simulate and analyse the possible outcomes, and it had listed one workable plan.

When Cian sat down across from Dr. Keane and explained what he wanted, discussing the plan seriously, Dr. Keane looked at him with suspicion, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Wait... Cian, are you serious?"

Cian raised an eyebrow. "Of course I’m serious."

Dr. Keane had watched his nephew grow up and knew better than anyone how hopeless Cian had been. In the past he had a violent temper and a habit of hitting people. Dr. Keane had only had three hopes for him: that he wouldn’t go to prison, that he wouldn’t end up in a psychiatric hospital, and that he wouldn’t be ruined by Fergal.

But now Cian was sitting up straight, talking seriously about business investments?

Dr. Keane picked up his coffee to hide his shock. "Why the sudden interest? Weren’t you completely uninterested in taking over the company?"

Just two months earlier, when he had just come back from abroad, he had shown no interest at all.

Cian sighed. "No choice. I have to support my family, after all."

Dr. Keane spat his coffee onto the table.

He coughed and grabbed a few napkins to wipe the table, his face full of disbelief. "What did you say?"

Cian sighed and repeated, "I said, I have to support my family."

If the gap between him and Eoin was too big, he would feel embarrassed.

Dr. Keane: "..."

The renowned psychiatrist, trained in America, felt dizzy, as if his brain were short of oxygen. His eyes rested on his nephew’s young face, and he felt confused and as if in a dream.

His once violent, irresponsible, failing nephew, a university dropout, was now thinking about supporting a family?

Dr. Keane knew about Cian’s bond with Eoin, and that Cian liked him. Otherwise, five years ago, Cian wouldn’t have suddenly controlled his temper, nor would he have set aside a fund and asked Dr. Keane to look after Eoin. A few months ago, when Cian was admitted for a bipolar episode, Eoin had quietly come to visit. Dr. Keane had half guessed, but he hadn’t realised Eoin had such a strong influence that Cian was now planning to settle down and support a family.

Dr. Keane was silent for a moment. "How far has your relationship gone?"

Cian looked away and coughed. "...To the point where it’s non negotiable."

Cian was old fashioned at heart. He had hugged and kissed Eoin, lived in the flat his mother left him, and swapped branded jewellery. In this life, Eoin was non negotiable.

At that point, Dr. Keane had nothing more to say. He flipped through his nephew’s plan and found no problems. Since he was really an amateur with funds and shares, less skilled than Cian and Eoin, he nodded in agreement.

Before leaving, Dr. Keane took out his laptop and asked Cian to complete one more assessment form.

Cian agreed readily.

He had always exaggerated how bad it was before. In fact, the painful and confusing experiences of his school years were long past. With Cian’s open mind, he wouldn’t have stayed stuck in the mud for so many years.

He quickly ticked all the options and clicked submit. Dr. Keane went through them one by one and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Bipolar disorder is hard to cure, especially the kind that forms from childhood trauma like Cian’s, where symptoms often last a lifetime. But Cian’s assessment showed he was in good spirits and optimistic, no different from a normal person, even better. Self harm would no longer happen.

Dr. Keane pushed up his glasses and smiled warmly. "Congratulations. It seems you won’t need to come to Glenmore Hospital any more."

The suffering of his sister Maeve was a thorn in Dr. Keane’s heart, and the child she left behind was another. Dr. Keane had no children of his own. He was Cian’s uncle and also his half guardian. Years ago, he had gone abroad to study for a doctorate in psychiatry, partly because of Cian. Now he finally felt relieved.

He looked out at the distant sky, toward Glenmore Hill, with a touch of sadness. "This way, I can consider my duty done."

*

Two months later, Fergal did indeed get caught up in a shocking scandal.

It was said that he had taken part in certain parties involving minors. The social circle was known for being wild, but such red lines were never crossed. Fergal was the first to cross one, and the scandal exploded at once.

With Declan’s death, the walls came tumbling down, and everyone turned on them. The Fitzgerald family had always had many enemies, and Fergal had set himself up as a live target. Many sides joined in, and public opinion was in uproar. The authorities stepped in directly and opened an investigation. With solid evidence, Fergal was arrested and taken away during a company meeting.

Within a few months, two chairmen had left their posts in unusual circumstances, and the Fitzgerald Group inevitably suffered heavy damage. Rumours were everywhere.

Since Fergal took over, the old guard Declan had left behind had been pushed out. Now, in the rush, his own trusted people hadn’t been built up yet. The leadership was in chaos and full of holes like a sieve. The company was in a panic, with small investors selling off and shareholders fleeing. The once glorious group was almost instantly on the edge of delisting.

As the share price plunged, one account went against the trend and bought heavily. When things settled, everyone looked around and found the account traced back to Cian.

This young master, who had come back from studying abroad and had never been involved in company affairs, showed stunning ability. In just a few months he led a restructuring of the company’s shares and became another top new figure in Dublin, elusive and mysterious.

Cian was extremely busy.

With his own means it would have been impossible to take over the company in such a short time, but he had a cheat tool: the System.

Although the System usually seemed unreliable, almost like artificial stupidity, it came from an age of explosive technology and had a vast, complex database. Its computing power let it quickly find the relevant parts in a mass of data and pass them to the host.

Cian already had the relevant knowledge, and with this help he was like a tiger with wings. In just a few months, under the surprised and suspicious eyes of many, he firmly took the top seat in the Fitzgerald Group.

The remaining shareholders gladly accepted this decisive young man, since his methods were no less sharp than Declan’s and Fergal’s. To show their loyalty, they even held a dinner for Cian in the same hall where Declan’s memorial had been held.

This time the solemn decorations had been swapped for gold and red, and the young man who had sat at the edge during his father’s memorial now stood at the centre of the room.

Cian wore a pure black dinner jacket with golden buttons, and his usually casual hair was carefully groomed. He chatted politely with the various shareholders, witty and easy in conversation, but when no one was looking, he often checked his watch and seemed quite distracted.

The System, which was invisible to others, kept looking toward the door. When it saw someone, it flew back and said cheerfully, "Hey Host, your partner is here."

Eoin had come to discuss business on behalf of his company.

To others, Cian and Eoin were old enemies, like fire and water, apparently ready to destroy each other. They had heard rumours of a patron and protégé relationship, and given Cian’s past actions, Eoin must have despised him to the core.

After Cian came back to Ireland, there were rumours in Dublin that Eoin had blocked his door and beaten him several times to let off steam. The evidence was that Cian lived in an old, run down flat in the city, and Eoin had often brought people in and out of the neighbourhood, seemingly to provoke him, carrying a bright plastic bag that was suspected to hold weapons like sticks.

There were also eyewitnesses who said Cian had gone out to put out the rubbish, and the rubbish was clearly bloodstained, which suggested he had been beaten and bled, couldn’t afford medical care, and had to deal with it at home.

Cian kept quiet about all this.

He and Eoin later went over it and worked out what had happened. The "sticks" in the plastic bag were fish heads and parsnips just bought at the market. They had cooked fish head stew and pork ribs with parsnips that day.

As for the bloodstained rubbish, it was the blood from thawing beef.