abcnovels
Chapter 529
Chapter 529
Chapter 529
Chapter 529 The Man In Front of Him Is A Devil!
They were in utter disbelief when they found out that the man in the conference room was not Luke Crawford, the CEO of T Corporation, but Luke Crowford, the general manager of a medium-scale company.
‘How uncanny!
'How could two people look and sound so alike, and how could their names be so suspiciously similar?'
With the facts laid in front of them, they had no choice but to believe it.
Half an hour later, a group of police officers entered the conference room, bringing with them the disgraced Mr. Schmidt in handcuffs.
Peyton Schmidt was a man in his fifties. He still carried the demeanor of someone in a position of power for a long time, but his face was haggard, his eyes were lifeless, and his body was shriveled. It seemed that prison life took a toll on his physical and mental health.
"Look at that man, Peyton Schmidt. Is he the Luke Crawford whom you have dealings with?" The male officer asked sternly.
Peyton lifted his head weakly and started to carefully examine the handsome and cavalier man in front of him.
When Peyton looked at that face, his clouded eyes sparkled to life.
Scenes from the past flashed in his mind.
Over the years, he had accepted bribes from countless people.
He had lost count of the amount of ill-gotten gains he received.
He had used certain tactics to prevent himself from being exposed as well as implicate everyone who had bribed him.
Basically, he had secretly recorded every act of bribery.
He could not remember most of the people who had bribed him, except for Luke Crawford, who had left a lasting impression.
That was not only because Luke Crawford was the youngest person who had bribed him, but the young man also had an unforgettably handsome face.
Ten years ago, Peyton was the City Secretary of A City, and his future was bright.
A young and handsome man had come to look for him with a briefcase full of tea leaves.
The man was polite, intelligent, and eloquent. His goal was to acquire several plots of undeveloped land.
Being an experienced politician, Mr. Schmidt knew that the tea leaves were but a smokescreen.
He was even more surprised when he saw the neat stacks of banknotes under the tea leaves. That was five million dollars.
Peyton could only find it incredible!
He had asked the young man the purpose of acquiring those plots of land. Without skipping a beat, the young man said that he intended to go into the property business. He wanted to build high-class residential units and a large-scale commercial center.
Peyton had wondered if the young man was insane. It would be a waste of five million dollars to acquire those barren plots of land and develop them!
Those plots of land were very far away from the city center, and surrounding them was nothing but muddy marshland. How was he going to develop it into a commercial center?
Peyton had planned to build a wastewater treatment center there.
However, he was only in charge of receiving the bribes and changing the zoning.
All he had to do was take the money and grant the plots to Luke. He did not have to care why Luke wanted those plots of land.
Moreover, Peyton did not stay in A City for long. In a little more than a year, he managed to pull some connections and got himself promoted to the capital. His influence began to spread there, and he stopped paying attention to A City.
Several years passed in the blink of an eye, and subway lines extended toward the outskirts. The plots of land that Luke acquired happened to be at the intersection of several subway lines and a BRT terminal. Because of that, multiple developers began to scramble forthose unremarkable plots of land.
However, it was already too late. Luke had already controlled 90% of that area.
The other developers could only lament that they did not have the foresight.
In a short few years, the barren land was developed into a bustling area of tall skyscrapers and buildings with unique facades. Thanks to Luke's leadership, it had become one of the busiest new commercial areas in A City. Flagship stores of major international brands were everywhere, leading the forefront of urban life.
Ten years ago, average housing prices in the area were only about eight or nine thousand.
Now, the average prices of the high-class residential properties were around one hundred thousand and were still increasing.
In ten years, property prices of that area increased by ten times.
Even though Peyton was in the capital, he would occasionally pay attention to the development of A City. He was impressed by Luke's foresight, and he did not expect that the young man's far-reaching vision would cause T Corporation to expand so rapidly.
Later, someone exposed Peyton's misdeeds in an act of revenge, and he was sentenced to prison.
He thought that he would never be able to return to A City, but he did not expect to be brought to A City from the capital a few days ago. The police wanted him to confirm that the young man before him was the Luke Crawford who had bribed him ten years ago.
He had a strong impression of Luke Crawford, and he could instantly tell that the young man was indeed the Luke Crawford who had bribed him many years ago. However, he was shocked that the man in front of him
was Luke Crowford with an "o" and not an "a."
The officers exhorted Peyton to recall whether the young man's name was spelled with an "o" or an "a" on the contract.
"It's spelled with an 'a.' I remember it very clearly," Peyton said while deep in thought.
He was very sure that Luke’s name was spelled with an "a."
Being a careful man, Peyton would scrutinize his contracts at least four or five times so that there was no mistake.
The officer's hawk-like gazes instantly shot toward Gordan.
Gordan spread his arms innocently. He stretched, stood up, walked toward Peyton, and whispered something in his ear.
Instantly, Peyton's expression sank, and he started shaking.
He looked at Gordan's gentle gaze, thinking that the handsome man in front of him was a devil!
After thinking for a while more, Peyton suppressed the anger and fear in his heart and smiled toward the officers. "I'm sorry. I was mistaken. It's Crowford with an 'o.'"
After that, the officers interrogated him.
No matter how the officers questioned and threatened him, Peyton insisted that the man who signed the contract with him was Luke Crowford with an "o."
The signature on the contract was very messy. Looking at how the letters were written in one fluid scrawl, one could not tell whether it was an "a" or an "o."
Peyton’s testimony became a crucial factor.
However, the officers did not expect that Peyton insisted that the man who had bribed him was Luke Crowford in the conference room and not Luke Crawford of T Corporation.