Chapter 174: Felix Faulkner’s Backer

Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Felix Faulkner’s Backer

This was Vivian Lowell’s first time hearing Julian Faulkner swear.

In Vivian’s impression, Julian had always been a man of excellent upbringing. Even when faced with difficulties, he never uttered a word of complaint. Naturally, swearing was entirely out of character for him, let alone using vulgarities like "get lost" and "bullshit."

While such profanities were relatively mild, hearing them from Julian—a man who usually seemed as aloof and pristine as an immortal—was more than enough to leave anyone astonished. It was clear that at this moment, Julian was truly furious.

As for Felix Faulkner, bringing up the past with such "deep affection" in an attempt to absolve himself of his past mistakes was already a rather low posture for him to take. He simply hadn’t expected that even after lowering himself to this extent, Julian would still relentlessly tear into him without leaving him a shred of dignity.

Felix was utterly enraged. "Julian Faulkner, watch yourself! I am your father! Is this how a son speaks to his old man? Where is your filial piety!?"

Hearing this, Julian shot him an icy glare. Just as he was about to speak, Grandma Faulkner beat him to it.

"Filial piety?" Grandma Faulkner seemed to find Felix’s words incredibly amusing. A cryptic smile flashed across the corners of her lips before she retorted, "Do you even have the right to speak of such things to Julian?

"Filial piety... what a fine concept. For someone who has spent so long abroad, I’m genuinely surprised you still remember such a traditional virtue!"

Grandma Faulkner was openly mocking him. Back then, he had stayed abroad because he believed everything there was superior. Now that he had returned, the first thing he used to reprimand Julian was the concept of "filial piety." It was dripping with irony.

Grandma Faulkner struck her Dragon Head Walking Stick forcefully against the ground. She glanced at the people gradually filing into the banquet hall, many of whom she recognized. They were all people from the Faulkner Group—some of the very individuals who had fought alongside the elder Mr. Faulkner to build his empire.

Of course, most of them were the descendants of those pioneers. As for the original generation, apart from President Ward—who was about a decade younger than the elder Mr. Faulkner—hardly anyone was left. However, when the incident occurred years ago, a small fraction of them had already been involved in the family’s operations. The sight of Grandma Faulkner appearing at the Faulkner Group with her Dragon Head Walking Stick was a memory still fresh in their minds.

Now, it was as if the memories of that era had been reawakened.

"Madam Faulkner."

Seeing the imposing Madam Faulkner, the attendees who had just entered looked slightly embarrassed. After all, their families shared a history of friendship with her. For things to have reached this point was profoundly awkward.

Grandma Faulkner turned to look at them and said evenly, "If you still value the friendship from years past, then leave. If you are willing to walk away now, both this old woman and Julian will remember your loyalty.

"In the future, our business partnerships and collaborations will naturally continue as usual! But if you choose to stay, then I must apologize. Since Julian is here today, what belongs to the Faulkner Family is destined to remain with the Faulkner Family.

"Staying here will only be a futile effort, like trying to fetch water with a bamboo basket."

Grandma Faulkner’s tone was incredibly flat, yet unquestionable. Hearing her words, the new arrivals couldn’t help but halt in their tracks, visibly hesitating.

Julian Faulkner had come. They were all well aware of his financial power and his status within the Faulkner Family. If today truly turned into an auction, they would definitely be no match for him as long as he was determined to win.

Those who had come hoping to score a cheap bargain began to waver. After weighing the pros and cons, they decided that their ongoing cooperation with the Faulkner Family was far more important. For a businessman, sacrificing guaranteed vested interests for something they were highly unlikely to obtain was simply unwise.

"Madam Faulkner, we understand what you mean. We apologize for the intrusion today. We will take our leave now. As for our future partnerships..."

An elegantly dressed middle-aged woman was the first to speak. Julian recognized her. He offered her a polite smile and replied, "Our previous partnerships will naturally remain unaffected."

"That is good to hear." The middle-aged woman breathed a sigh of relief and led her people away.

Others who shared her mindset smiled and cupped their hands in a respectful salute to Julian from afar before following suit. However, a scattered few stubbornly refused to leave.

Though Vivian had never set foot in the business world, she recognized these individuals from the internet. Every single one of them was a prominent titan in their respective industry, figures of immense prestige. It seemed they were determined to get a slice of the Faulkner Group pie. Backed by their own formidable wealth and confidence, they naturally felt no fear.

"Everyone, please take a seat," President Zane greeted them, no longer paying any attention to Julian’s side of the room.

Meanwhile, facing the aggressive Grandma Faulkner, Felix suddenly straightened his back and said, "Mom. You know full well what kind of life I lived abroad all these years.

"No matter what, I am still Dad’s son. He lived such a glorious life; for me to be such a useless son is a disgrace to his name.

"I’ve muddled through all these years, and I truly don’t want to live like that anymore. That’s why I came back, bringing my shares in the Faulkner Group, ready to carve out a new empire of my own.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. I’m not the only one who returned this time; the Drakes have come back as well. They know Julian has been doing very well domestically, so they also want to return and develop here.

"Mom. You know that back then, the Drake Family going abroad was largely an act of desperation, a forced move. Now that they are back, the country values them highly. They hold a massive amount of patents in their hands.

"Foreign factions were entirely unwilling to let them go. It took them years of effort and sacrificing quite a lot of things to finally let go of their reputation and status abroad to return to their homeland."

After Felix finished speaking, he suddenly cast a glance at Vivian, which left her both puzzled and slightly unsettled. She couldn’t shake the feeling that his gaze harbored some hidden meaning, a look that only appeared after he had brought up the Drake Family.

The Drake Family.

Vivian wasn’t very familiar with this family. She only vaguely remembered that back in the 1930s and 40s, a prominent traditional Chinese medicine family surnamed Drake had relocated their entire clan overseas. They had been persecuted by lawless elements domestically and fled abroad with the help of powerful figures at the time. Leveraging their family’s unique expertise, they conducted inventions and research overseas.

Because of the Drake Family, the foreign medical community had even gained a newfound respect for traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, due to their immense number of pharmaceutical patents, the Drake Family enjoyed an extremely high status abroad. Many celebrities and influential figures had ties with them.

Was the Drake Family really willing to abandon a century’s worth of painstakingly built achievements abroad just to return and contribute to their motherland’s development? Vivian found it somewhat unbelievable. But judging by the intent behind Felix’s words, it seemed he and the Drake Family shared countless, intricate connections.

"Young Madam." Just as Vivian felt there was some hidden secret to all this, Ms. Shaw gently tugged at her side and reminded her in a hushed voice, "The Drake Family.

"Years ago, the family Miss Rachel insisted on marrying into was none other than the Drake Family! It’s just that... that Mr. Drake was merely from an inconspicuous branch family.

"Even just by securing a tiny fraction of the Drake Family’s projects, they were already immensely powerful and wealthy in their local area. If it’s the main branch of the Drake Family returning this time, then...

"This news will be enough to send shockwaves throughout all of Veridia."

Vivian fell silent upon hearing this. So, it was the family of Rachel Faulkner’s ex-husband.

Vivian remembered that in the descriptions given by Grandma Faulkner, Julian, and Ms. Shaw, the Drake Family was an incredibly vast clan. Even a mere branch family could rival the current Faulkner Family. Of course, this was also partly due to the Faulkner Family’s sparse population. Between the main and branch lines of the Drake Family, Rachel’s ex-husband had twenty or thirty peers in his generation alone.

Still, for such a massive family where a single branch could match the Faulkner Family, Vivian found it almost unimaginable just how formidable the main branch must be.

Fortunately, Ms. Shaw also mentioned that the Drake Family wasn’t particularly united internally. The decision for them to return to Veridia this time was primarily Master Drake’s will. He insisted on coming back because, many years ago, his only daughter and son-in-law had met with a fatal accident while conducting scientific research back in Veridia. Now, having heard there were new leads, he wanted to return and investigate personally.

At the same time, although Master Drake had grown up abroad, his own father had been a born-and-bred Veridian who deeply yearned for his homeland. Veridians believed in the concept of "returning one’s soul to their homeland." Naturally, Master Drake’s return was also driven by his desire to bring his father’s remains back to Veridia for burial.

Some of the branch families opposed this, unwilling to give up everything they had abroad. But since Master Drake insisted, there was nothing they could do about it. Consequently, a few branch families opted to remain overseas. Those who stayed still retained a portion of the Drake Family’s assets, but the vast majority of it was being brought back to Veridia by Master Drake.

Master Drake had declared it himself: These were the quintessential treasures of Veridia to begin with. Although he had propagated and glorified them abroad, the time would inevitably come for them to be returned. And that time was now. Veridia had grown strong, and it was time for him to add to its brilliance.

Vivian listened to Ms. Shaw recount the tales of Master Drake, feeling a profound sense of admiration. At his advanced age, he was still willing to do so much for Veridia. Moreover, she had heard that his only daughter and son-in-law had passed away. To lose his biological child yet still maintain absolute control over the entire Drake Family through sheer capability—even orchestrating the relocation of the entire clan back to their homeland—proved he was a truly formidable man.

It was no wonder, then. No wonder Felix had returned with such brimming confidence; it turned out he was leaning on the Drake Family as his backer!