Calvin nearly cracked his teeth from clenching so hard. “Five hundred million. The Peck family is willing to offer five hundred million to secure Terry’s advancement. Does that work for you?”

The wrinkles on Alex’s face slowly smoothed out, one by one. He chuckled and said, “Mr. Peck Senior, come on now. Why bring money between us? We’ve known each other for years. Talking about money only hurts the relationship. Alright then, I’ll see what I can do for Terry.”

He continued, “Now, I can’t guarantee he’ll get into the inner circle, but let’s just say the odds are looking a lot better.” Calvin finally let out a long breath of relief and shot Zachary a sinister grin. “What the hell do you have to compete with me, Zachary? This isn’t over. Just wait for the Peck family’s revenge.”

Terry staggered to his feet, hatred blazing in his eyes. “Dad, I’m not just getting into Mr. Thornton’s inner circle; I want you to find a way to kill that bastard. I want him begging for death, suffering like hell!”

Calvin doted on him without hesitation. “Don’t worry, Terry. Whatever you want to do, I’ve got your back!”

Zachary’s face darkened with rage as he turned to Alex. “Mr. Wallace, what is this supposed to mean? I clearly won the first match! Terry used a dagger and blindsided me, and he should’ve been disqualified!”

Alex casually waved his hand. “Are you trying to teach me how to do my job? You won the first round. End of story. As for the rest, just pretend you didn’t see anything.”

He didn’t even bother offering a proper explanation. After all, Zachary was only an outer disciple under Jerome, and outer disciples under Jerome meant nothing at the main headquarters. There were hundreds of them.

Only those who became inner disciples had the right to inherit Jerome’s teachings; only then would elders like Alex show them any real respect.

Zachary was fuming but dared not speak up. He hadn’t expected those under Jerome to be so corrupt. Just then, a calm voice echoed in Calvin, Terry, and Alex’s ears.

“Mr. Wallace, excuse me. Do you happen to have Mr. Thornton’s contact?”

Alex turned, utterly baffled. “Who the hell are you? Maybe check the mirror before you talk about getting his number, huh?”

Zachary was stunned, wondering what Andrew was doing. Asking for Jerome’s contact information seemed highly inappropriate.

Then, he heard Andrew continue with a smile. “Who I am doesn’t matter. I just want to contact Mr. Thornton and send him a video. This video is about the conversation between you and the Calvin father-son duo colluding to manipulate the inner disciple selection.”

He added, “Just now, I recorded every detail of your pathetic display of being unable to resist bribes! I’m sure Mr. Thornton will be quite shocked when he sees it. He never would have imagined that someone so close to him could be so greedy, bold, and disgraceful!”

Just as Andrew was about to continue, Alex’s face turned ashen, his eyelids twitching wildly. “Bastard, shut up! Shut your mouth right now! Where’s the video? Hand it over to me and delete everything, or I’ll make you regret it!”

Calvin also broke out in a cold sweat. “Andrew, you were eavesdropping and recording? Damn it, delete it! Delete the video right now!”

His panicked and frantic appearance suggested Andrew had him by the throat.