Ice and Fire novel Chapter 272

Jackson and Derek returned to the military's residential compound very late that night, and when Derek arrived, he saw that Selina was sitting on the couch and watching TV. He then went over to her, and seriously said, "Selina, come to the study with me, we need to have a talk."

"What's up? Can't we talk about it here?" casually said Selina.

"It's business, " said Derek, as he walked towards the study.

After Selina heard the word "business", she rushed to follow Derek into the study.

As soon as they were in the study, Selina nervously asked, "Derek, what happened?"

"Selina, we need to talk about the JS Group's severe crisis, " carefully said Derek.

"Crisis?" Selina was stunned and repeated his word. She said, "Currently, our business runs pretty well. I haven't seen a crisis coming."

Derek didn't give her a straightforward answer, and carefully asked, "Selina, have you heard about the ZM Group?"

"Of course, I know that it's also running very well. I always kept an eye on its development, but I would have never thought that it would develop so rapidly, and I also don't know its president, Mond Xu. Who is he anyway?" Selina thought of Mond Xu, and wondered how had he managed to successfully develop the ZM Group so fast.

"Selina, I have to tell you something, " said Derek. He paused and thought for a moment, and then continued to say, "Mond Xu actually wants to go against Jackson. The ZM Group's sole existence is to bring down the JS Group."

"But why? Do Mond Xu and Jackson know each other?" It then suddenly occurred to Selina what had happened at her office a couple of days ago. On that day, both Jackson and Derek had come to her office, and Derek had rebuked her severely. She had wondered what was wrong with him, and now it turned out that Mond Xu and Jackson had known each other all along.

"Yes, they do. Actually, Mond Xu is...", but Derek stopped, and after he thought for a second, he decided to keep some of the information about Mond hidden from his sister. He gloomily continued to say, "An acquaintance of Jackson's. They had some misunderstandings in the past, and that's why Mond Xu is determined to ruin both the JS Group, and Jackson."

"I understand, " said Selina. She didn't think much, and asked, "Ruin the JS Group? Hasn't Mond Xu thought too much of himself? Does he actually think that I'm a wuss that he can trump on so easily?"

Derek seemed to have gotten the answer that he wanted from Selina's voice. He looked into Selina's eyes and went on to say, "Selina, now that I've told you about the ZM Group's true intentions, I think that you know how to deal with it."

Selina pondered for a few moments, and said, "I'm okay with corporate development, you can trust me on that brother. But.." She then stopped, and after she gazed at Derek, said, "Does Jackson have anything to tell me? Have you gotten any order from him?"

Derek stared back at his sister, and answered, "Selina, both Jackson and I think that you might have to..."

"What? Accelerate the overseas development?" Selina blurted out her first thought. She clearly knew her company's status in the city, and currently, the ZM Group had already built stable and reliable business relationships with almost all of the companies in the city. It wasn't because the JS Group hadn't gained a foothold in the city, but that the room for its development was becoming smaller and smaller and more worrying in the long run.

Derek nodded his approval. He looked at Selina, and said, "Do you have any problems being social?"

"No, I'm actually quite good at it, " answered Selina ruminatively. "I know many foreign clients, and we're doing fine with the overseas development. It's possible that the JS Group will also go abroad to foreign lands."

"That's good, but Selina, there's another thing that you should know, " said Derek. He didn't have to worry about the JS Group's development anymore, but he did care about some other trivial matters.

"What?" asked Selina curiously.

"First of all, don't tell anyone about your plan for overseas development; everything must be secret. Do you understand?" said Derek seriously.

"Yeah, I know that, we're doing this to fight against the ZM Group. Don't worry, I know what to do, " said Selina, while sternly nodding her head. She was a clever woman, and she didn't need to be told about the best decisions that she had to take for her and her company.

"You should also keep all that I've told you today away from Cherry."

"Why? Cherry's family, " said Selina, confused. She wondered, 'Why is he asking me to keep a secret from a family member?'

"Selina, Jackson only wants to protect Cherry and keep her safe. If she finds out about all of this, she might start to get worried about Jackson, and then she would certainly ask him about his connection with Mond Xu. Jackson doesn't want to burden Cherry with all of this and let her get hurt, " answered Derek. Obeying Jackson's order, Derek didn't dare to enlighten his sister with any more knowledge about the topic, and he also hoped that his sister wouldn't be privy to some of the darker secrets and more hideous information. Jackson was determined to protect his beloved wife, while Derek wanted to protect his sister, and although Selina was smart and sensitive, it was best for her not to know some of their older stories.

"Alright, I know what you mean, " said Selina, while nodding her approval. She knew that Jackson had always wanted to keep Cherry out of the fighting and the other unnecessary troubles that didn't concern her.

"Selina, do what we've discussed. If you have any difficulties, call me and Jackson and we'll solve them together, " said Derek.

Selina still had some doubts, and couldn't help but ask her brother, "But if the JS Group fails with the overseas development, does Jackson have another plan to resist the ZM Group's expansion?"

"Yes, he has, but it might completely ruin the ZM Group at an unimaginable price. Jackson won't use it because innocent people would be involved in it and get hurt, " answered Derek. "The plan won't be carried out unless it's unavoidable, otherwise the most dreadful of consequences might be produced."

"Brother, is Mond Xu really such a badass guy?" continued Selina to ask.

Derek had no idea how to answer her question. He thought for a moment, and eventually said, "Mond Xu is the type of character that would use unimaginable cruel means to achieve his goals. He has no bottom lines."

Selina was a bit taken aback by his answer, and thought to herself, 'Is Mond Xu actually that terrifying?'

Derek added, "Selina, don't underestimate him; one day, you might also personally witness his ruthlessness. He's different from Jackson; Jackson might be bossy sometimes, but he still abides to his strict principles, while Mond cares about nothing. There's nothing in this world which he doesn't dare to ruin if he thinks that it's in his advantage to do so."