Chapter 119 119
Saturday, February 9th, 2041
Sameran City, Agnolia, Netherian Federation.
The soft flakes of snow fell onto the Capital of the newly formed Province of Agnolia. After a week-long festive atmosphere all around the new Province, life seemed to have returned to the norm. However, certain pieces of news were still circulating with the usual zeal as they had first come out.
Exactly eleven days ago, on January 30th, the Princess of Persia announced her intentions of building a Business and Entertainment City, Noxville, in the Netherian Federation. She announced it in a press conference where the Deputy Governor General of Internal Affairs, Winsten Arkinson, was also present.
When asked about the World\'s fourth Noxville\'s location, Princess Leilah hinted that it will be in the newly formed Province of Agnolia. And her reason was very simple; Agnolia was a breathtakingly beautiful place.
The announcement took the world by storm. Rumors started circulating about the exact location of the new Noxville, but nothing was confirmed until February 1st, when the First Provincial Governor of Agnolia, Abraham Clark, took his oath and announced the first development plans for the new Province.
Abraham Clark confirmed that the new Noxville will be built near the Captial of Agnolia, Sameran City. In that very press conference, the location of the new Governor House and a plan for a new Military District were announced for the City of Sameran.
This news sent the Business world into a frenzy, and in the last seven days, Real Estate Prices had dramatically risen all over Sameran City. But there was still something that had taken the city by surprise and alarmed the Business Community.
As it turned out, the most sought-after land, which was right next to the planned Military District and Governor House, where the new Metro Station was going to be built, was all owned by the famous Prince of Sameran City, Keith Argus Demiliore.
On February 5th, Amelia Jane Demiliore, Vice-President of the Black Forest Group, and the CEO of the Black Forest Real Estate, announced her plans of constructing a Housing Society, Shopping District, as well as a Hospital, and an Entertainment Plaza on the land that was gaining in value with every passing minute.
After the details came out and the people learned that Keith had bought this land only forty days ago, for 75 Million Neris, even the most seasoned of the Businessmen felt their hearts tremble in apprehension.
Most called it luck, some credited it to the brains of the Lady of the Demiliore Family, and a few credited it to the foresight of the young Heir of the Demiliore Family. There were also a few people who questioned whether the Demiliore Family had already known about the future plans for the Development of the City, which were blatant doubts over the credibility of the Government, but these people were silenced when Deputy Governor General Winsten Arkinson, revealed to the public that all the details of the land that had been chosen for the new Governor House had been finalised only after the Annual Conference on January 27th. And that the place was not even the first choice, but was decided after several meetings with the Deputy Governor General of Defense, Antonio Salazar.
The seasoned Businessmen also agreed with the statement of the Deputy Governor General since their first guess would have been the land in the South-West, which was near the old Military District, not the land in the South of Ashton Bridge, which was very far from the old Military District.
Regardless of what people thought about the matter, the truth was that the Black Forest Group had discovered a gold mine. The land which was brought for 75 Million Neris was today worth over 450 Million Neris, and with every passing minute, its value was only rising.
And this was not all.
Three days ago, on February 6th, Grayson Family bought all the shares of the Falken Family in the Businesses that were previously the Joint-Ventures of the two Families. And on the same evening, the Grayson and Demiliore Families announced the Engagement of Rebecca Grayson to the Heir of the Demiliore Family.
It was clear to everyone that the Government had intervened and punished the Falken over their involvement in the chaos that erupted in Delvon City. The Falken Business had lost tens of Billions in value, and even after conceding some businesses to the Grayson Family, the very next day, the world-renowned Football Club, Sameran City FC, which was worth nearly 2.5 Billion Neris, and was owned by the Falken Family for the last four decades, changed its ownership to the Black Forest Group.
Even after bleeding Billions of Neris, people still felt that the Falken Family had gotten away with just some light punishments. However, it was only because they were not privy to some information.
A lot of High-Ranking Officials in the Government, who were directly related to the Falken Family, had been deposed from their positions.
The Falken Family was weaker than it had ever been in a long while. And the vultures in the Business Community knew that they were going to keep low for, at least, a couple of years. It was a great opportunity for them, and they planned on making the most of it.
And right now, the Young Man who was the talk of the town, arrived at his office, accompanied by his Wife to meet the Delegation of the Provincial Government of Agnolia.
"Good Afternoon!" Keith smiled at the people who stood up when they entered the meeting room.
After a round of greetings with the Delegation of the Government, which included the Deputy Governor of Agnolia, as well as the Mayor of Sameran City, Keith sat down in his seat, and Amelia took the charge of the meeting.
They had already conveyed their intentions of getting the contract for Metro Station, and the Delegation was here to listen to and assess their proposal before reaching a final decision.
The moment the screen showed the two designs for the Metro Station, everyone in the meeting room felt goosebumps all over their skin, and their already keen eyes sharpened some more.
What Amelia had designed were perhaps the most beautiful Metro Stations in the world, and definitely the finest in their country.
She had not even missed the tiniest of the details, and for the next three hours, everyone patiently watched and listened to the details of the projects.
"Each of the projects will have an estimated cost of the build at around 2.8 Billion Neris. And our Group will charge 750 Million Neris, which does not include the cost of the land." Amelia informed them at the end of her presentation. "The Fee is non-negotiable, and we are not going to sell our designs if we don\'t get this Project." She clearly said, and the Delegation was left with some serious things to take into consideration.
The discussion continued for another hour, and the Financial Team from the Government presented their own Build of Cost for each Design, which did not include Taxes and amounted to an estimated price of 2.5 Billion Neris. After including the fee the Black Forest Group wanted and the cost of the land, it was a project that was going to cost them roughly 3.4 to 3.6 Billion Neris.
If given the green light, this was not just going to be the most beautiful, but also the most expensive Metro Station in the country.
The Delegation took its leave at around 7 pm, and the senior officials of the Black Forest Group excused themselves as well, leaving only the husband and wife in the room.
"What do you think?" Amelia curiously asked.
"Of course, they are going to agree. Your designs are just perfect, my Love!" He chuckled and then sank into his seat. "And they will ask us to construct the second Metro Station in Noxville as well."
She knew that the reason why he wanted her to present two designs are to lure them into the trap. In case they took the bait, their Group was easily going to make a Billion Neris on each project.
"Shall we go?" She asked when she glanced at the clock.
Keith sighed when he realized that they still had work to do tonight and nodded to her.
"Let\'s go!" He said and stole a quick kiss from her lips.
Tonight, he was going to attend a football match and hold a press conference at the Royal Camp, which was the home of the Sameran City Football Club. And there, he would announce his plans and meet all the Players as well as the Management for the first time.
He had always enjoyed playing and watching football, and he was quite excited to steal all the future prospects in the coming transfer window. He already knew which young players were going to shine brightly in the future, and it was something that was going to benefit his Black Forest Group a lot.
Though it was not the most profitable Business, it was arguably the finest Advertisement for their Group, and that was why he had taken it away from the hands of the Falken Family.