Chapter 69
That afternoon, Stephen could breathe easy at home.
“The worst has passed.”
He was scared out of his wits upon learning the city’s state of affairs. Luckily, he had Simon’s help and narrowly managed to weather the crisis. Still, there was a lot to reflect on.
Most importantly, Stephen may be out of the woods but North Hill City was not. It would take at least another two weeks before the turmoil could settle.
The dwindling number of businesses in North Hill City had resulted in a severe job shortage. If left unchecked, it could cause a massive population decline.
Another issue was with the nature reserve. With the reserve mistakenly turned into a development area, Lytton wrecked and destroyed the habitat, leading to a drop in wildlife. It was a massive loss to the city and the world.
The city’s water supply had also been contaminated, and it would take two weeks to improve the water quality. The area had to be reclaimed before more damage was done.
However, then came another issue, After Brandon took over the development, he promised residential complexes and villas to the public, attracting many buyers.
Since Brandon was likable on screen, the public bought into his persona and paid the deposit for those residences, raking in seven billion dollars in the name of property development.
Now, Brandon had fled alongside the people of Lytton, and it was impossible to get back the seven billion dollars. Some may never see a house despite having handed in their life savings. What was the best way forward?
One option was to refund the money, but the sum was seven billion dollars. The other alternative was to wash his hands of the development project, but the public would not let
it slide.
Caught in a dilemma, Stephen wished he could arrest the perpetrators and annihilate them himself. Yet, they got away, living freely abroad while Stephen was left to deal with all the problems.
After much thought, Stephen could not figure out a good solution. Out of alternatives, he went to George to pick his brain.
George was miserable too. Though the whole thing had little to do with him, Simon directed his anger about Stephen at him.
Simon had just torn into George when Stephen walked and said, “I need some help with a tiny problem.”
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+25 BONUS
George sighed, finding Stephen a nuisance.
Ethan had no issues managing Riveria before, yet trouble and Stephen went hand–in- hand. Still, George could not turn his back on the heir of the Quinns.
“What’s the problem?”
Stephen replied, “Brandon has taken seven billion dollars, claiming to build houses in the nature reserve. Now that we’re taking back the land, how should we approach this issue?”
George found the situation tricky.
Seven billion dollars was a lot of money, and to make matters worse, Brandon hogged all the money, leaving them without anything.
Not only would they have to pay out of their pockets to fix the problem, but they would also gain nothing in return for their efforts. All they were doing was cleaning up after Brandon.
George thought about it before uttering, “There is one way.”
Stephen’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“We can reallocate a plot of land. It doesn’t have to be in a prime location for the residences,” George said, “or in tip–top shape. It just has to be in a livable condition.
“We would have done our part then.”
George could feel the pinch as the project would require at least a billion dollars to get off the ground. Even as the governor, George had trouble taking one billion dollars out of the budget.
