"I can't believe those two bitches lied to my face. They think they got away with it, but joke's on them," Mandy huffed, sprawled out on the couch opposite her nephews. The adults were outside checking the damage the Apaches had done to the fields, leaving her stewing in betrayal and frustration.
Then, suddenly sitting up, she turned to Ace and asked, "Okay, seriously—why are they really here? And what the hell happened earlier?"
"I hired them to protect you guys while I'm not around," Ace replied casually, though he kept it vague. He noticed Danny wasn't paying much attention, engrossed in his handheld console.
"Say what now?" Danny blurted, his head snapping up. He'd managed to skip school thanks to the Apaches scaring his parents into remembering how much they loved him—even if he did seem destined to live in their house forever and amount to nothing.
Ace smirked. "I'm kidding. How would I know why they're here? Maybe she just needed to stay close to her best friend." Then, glancing at Danny's headphones, he added, "And those earphones, are they just for show?" Signaling Mandy to watch what she said.
"Ugh, I am so pissed right now. Those two were the only people I thought I didn't have to be on guard around." Mandy groaned dramatically, then chucked a cushion straight at Ace's face. "Nephew, you ruined my friends for me—give them back!"
Before Ace could respond, Danny suddenly spoke up. "Hey, guys. Brooke and Brock Rockworth dropped out of school. Their family sold all their estate and left town overnight." His voice carried pure disbelief as he read the news on his phone.
"What?" Mandy's jaw dropped. She couldn't wrap her head around it. The Rockworths sold their entire estate overnight? That didn't just happen. Even if David Rockworth was willing to sell the estate at a third of the price, she couldn't think of anyone with the capital—or the sheer boldness—to pull off a deal like that.
This was exactly why Mandy had boldly given David one day to make arrangements before she turned in everything she had on him to the authorities.
What really pissed her off was that she should have seen this coming. The moment David failed to visit their estate to return her brother-in-law's family land and apologize, she should have known something was up.
Narrowing her eyes, she suddenly blurted, "I bet it was Gregory. He must've used the money I helped him gather for the Lansky orchard to buy the Rockworth estate instead. Shit. I thought those two assholes didn't get along."
"They don't," Ace confirmed. "But once David realized you screwed Old Greg over in the auto salvage yard and the Lansky orchard deals, he ran straight to Gregory with a discount too good for the greedy old man to refuse. However, just as Gregory was about to seal the deal, another buyer swooped in and bought the estate at its original price."
Mandy's eyes narrowed. "Wait… was that buyer you?" She figured considering the sensitive details Ace revealed.
Ace smirked. "Where would a high schooler like me get that kind of money overnight?" He paused, then added, "But yes. I bought the Rockworth estate."
Mandy shrieked in excitement, clapping her hands before launching herself at Ace. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she plopped onto his lap sideways and planted a celebratory kiss on his cheek.
"It's official—you are my favorite nephew!" she announced dramatically.
Ace, still slightly stunned, blinked at her. "Wait… aren't you mad I let the Rockworths leave with the money?"
"It's a bummer that I don't get to see his ass rot in jail, but this is good enough," Mandy said, practically vibrating with excitement. "Not only did we strong-arm the Rockworths out of town, but we own their entire estate now. Dan is gonna lose his mind!"
She jumped off Ace's lap, reaching for her phone to call Dan, but then hesitated. "No. I gotta tell him in person—I need to see his face when he hears this."
Ace watched her in amusement but kept his mouth shut about the other little detail. After the deal was done, he'd had Dame Wasp steal all the money back, leaving the Rockworths completely broke. They were already halfway across the globe, on the run. If they ever dared to come back, Mandy would definitely get her wish of seeing David rot in prison.
Since he didn't trust the Rockworths to begin with, Ace had Dame Wasp keep tabs on David. So, the moment she found out that David was trying to offload his property to Gregory at a huge discount, Ace made his move. He quickly set up an agribusiness company, hired a top-tier law firm, and had them legitimize the deal. Within one day, the entire transaction was completed—no hiccups, no loopholes, no chance for David to weasel out of it.
Danny, who had been quietly absorbing all of this, suddenly turned to Ace, eyes wide asking, "Ace… Rockworth's estate is worth, like, twenty million dollars. Where the hell did you get that kind of money?"
He was genuinely baffled. Just a little while ago, his cousin had been struggling to afford a damn sex doll—and now he was out here buying entire estates like it was nothing.
"Don't worry about the details," Ace said, waving off Danny's concern. "What you should worry about is losing weight—because you're going to be the face of our agribusiness company."
He expected Danny to be thrilled at the idea of making tons of money just for losing weight and, well, being his cousin.
"What?!" Danny and Mandy exclaimed in unison.
Ignoring their shock, Ace continued, "Mandy, you're going to be the CEO. Your main job will be buying up as much land around here as possible. And I don't mind if you hire women from your shelter as staff—either for the factory or for farming."
"Wait—hold up!" Mandy interjected, eyes narrowing. "I thought you were gonna think of an idea and discuss it together—"
Before she could fully voice her disbelief and displeasure over Ace trying to railroad her from her project and take over it, Danny freaked out yelling, "WHO said I wanted to be the brand ambassador of your damn agribusiness?!" he yelled, his face twisting in horror. "This is EXACTLY why I don't talk to people about wanting to lose weight!"