By now, those four words made Joseph bristle. The moment he heard the company’s name, he thought of Aurora. After all, she was the reason he had ended up in prison so many times. And as for Judy leaving him—he still didn’t know if she had been behind that as well. Now, just hearing Aurora’s name made Joseph feel a visceral disgust.

“Since you know about them, Joseph, that makes things much easier,” Daniel said with a smile.

Joseph didn’t quite understand what he meant but forced himself to keep listening. After all, that big project still depended on Daniel. If Daniel refused to talk, the deal was as good as dead. He had already invested so much—he wasn’t about to let such a big fish slip away.

“Their company sent someone over today to set up an appointment. We’re meeting tomorrow.”

“But…” Before Daniel could finish, Joseph cut him off.

“Mr. Lewis, this isn’t how business is done,” he said angrily. “You already told me we had a deal. We were the first to negotiate—are you planning to betray me and talk to someone else? Then what was the point of all we agreed on before?”

Hearing this, Daniel smirked. He had known Joseph would lose his temper, and sure enough, just from his tone, he could tell exactly what he was thinking.

“Don’t get worked up, Joseph. I know exactly what you mean,” Daniel added in a soothing tone. “You’ve given me plenty of benefits, and of course, I haven’t forgotten that.”

Hearing that, Joseph relaxed a little. “Mr. Lewis, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I just think the two of us working together is the only way to achieve a win-win. After all, I’m the one who knows you best.”

He put extra weight on that last sentence—anyone who understood would catch the meaning.

Daniel certainly did. After all his years in business, this was the first time he’d met someone who understood his tastes so well. And every time Joseph arranged someone, they matched his interests and preferences perfectly. For that alone, Daniel did want to work with him. But precisely because Joseph suited his tastes so well, he had grown greedier, wondering if he could get a bit more out of him. After all, it was rare to work with someone so agreeable.

“I know you’re the most suitable partner. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking you like this,” Daniel said, going along with Joseph’s words. “Since I’m willing to tell you this, it shows I still intend to work with you.”

Hearing that, Joseph realized he had a point. If Daniel hadn’t planned to cooperate, there would have been no reason to bring this up at all. He could have just gone behind his back and dealt with Walton Corporation privately, cutting Joseph out entirely. But Daniel hadn’t done that.

That alone told Joseph there was something he wanted. He quickly understood—if Daniel was bringing this up, it was either to drive up the price or to add a few extra conditions.