“How could that be? We’ve been importing and exporting all this while and it’s always been through Harbor City! We’ve never had this problem before so why now?!
“Did you contact the leaders we have there? What did they say?” Ian frowned and asked sternly.
The Hull family had already shifted their entire business focus from real estate in the Mainland to the import and export trade.
While it may not sound like a big deal that only two of their cargo ships were detained, those two ships carried hundreds of tonnes worth of goods. It was accumulated to a backlog of 600 million of the Hull family’s funds!
If something happened to this batch of goods, the Hull family would not be able to sustain such a huge loss no matter how wealthy they were. After all, there was still 500 million of the one billion Somer Dollars they had lost in the Southeast Province to account for.
“The same thing, Mr. Hull. The leaders aren’t willing to pick up our calls at all, and we don’t even have the opportunity to meet them… Excuse me for speaking excessively, Mr. Hull, but I think there’s more to what’s happening here.”
Ian’s expression darkened. He suppressed the unease and anger within him. “Tell me what you think of this.”
His confidant on the other end replied, “Ignoring our goods, Mr. Hull, there are no businessmen within the country in this industry who don’t smuggle at least some sort of goods. Ours are minuscule in comparison, and it’s an unspoken rule that both the Mainland and Harbor City’s customs are very well aware of.
“But it’s because of this that we’ve never forgotten to tip them every month. This time, our ships are the only ones being detained and without us getting any wind of it at all. Aren’t they just targeting us here?”
Ian quickly calmed down after the initial panic. He snapped back to reality with his confidant’s reminder.
Indeed, this incident was too unexpected and there was no way it was pure coincidence.
However, Harbor City’s customs and their inspectors…
Ian came to a realization and hammered his balled fist onto his thigh. With his jaw set, he replied, “I know who did it!”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Life at The Top