Empire of Shadows

Ponda came out of the elevator. He stood in the lobby and looked around, and a happy smile soon spread across his face.

He walked towards the small sofa where Lisa was sitting. His gaze fell on Lisa’s slightly bulging belly; inside was his child.

He had actually fantasized about his own marriage and family before, but at that time, the object of his fantasy was some students from the girls’ school next door, or even… a nun.

He would have very shameful dreams, with these girls who had appeared around his life. He would fantasize about living a happy life with them.

But life was clearly not that simple. He had had girlfriends, and they had all ended in failure.

Only Lisa gave him a crazy feeling. He loved this woman and was looking forward to their child.

Lisa didn’t seem to notice him until Ponda sat down. Her gaze, on the contrary, was fixed outside the glass wall.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Lisa suddenly turned her head to look at him, her face still carrying a trace of solemnity and unease. The two looked at each other for two or three seconds before she quickly rearranged her expression. “No, it’s nothing.”

“You seem very worried?” Ponda didn’t believe it. “Your expression tells me something has happened.”Lisa was silent for a moment. She had actually seen Mr. Hoff.

Before, she had considered that this might happen, but she had also told herself, in self-deception, that it was unlikely.

Because as a key opinion leader, it was highly unlikely that Mr. Hoff would have a face-to-face opportunity with her.

She was just the wife of an ordinary special agent of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials. They were not big shots, and there would be no opportunity or occasion for them to meet.

But just now, she thought she had really seen Mr. Hoff, which made her feel a little terrified.

She was afraid that one day Ponda would find out about these things.

But now, she needed to get through this first.

“I…” she was at a loss for words, but quickly found a reason. “I’m worried about the child in my belly. I don’t know if he is healthy.”

The expression on Ponda’s face quickly softened. He moved to Lisa’s side, put his arm around her shoulder, and kissed the hair at her temples. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

He paused as he spoke. “I found out that a film crew is shooting. They are recruiting some temporary actors. You are very interested in movies. Why don’t we go and experience it?”

“We might have a few shots in the movie, for a few seconds or a dozen seconds,” he said, as if taking credit.

Actually, guest-starring in a film crew was not as simple as he said. He had found a colleague, because an indispensable thing in movies is liquor.

Prohibition did not prohibit the appearance of drinking scenes in movies. The explosion of movies was too fast, so much so that the Prohibition Committee had not yet made a corresponding countermeasure.

And some people believed that the appearance of drinking scenes in movies, especially if the content was filmed before the Prohibition was issued, then it was appropriate and did not need to be prohibited.

So on the set, they might use “prop liquor” as a prop.

The Bureau of Hazardous Materials had the right to supervise their use of this type of prop, including determining whether the prop liquor was real liquor, or just a beverage or plain water.

There would be a special agent from the Bureau of Hazardous Materials on site. It was through this special agent that he got a chance to guest-star.

And the price was that they could use real liquor.

This was equivalent to opening a small loophole for them, allowing them to drink once.

It could be imagined that from the director to the actors, they would definitely have a good drink in the name of “auditioning.”

This was a favor. He didn’t tell Lisa, for fear that Lisa would think he… cared about her.

Lisa didn’t know these things. Even if she did, she would refuse.

Her main client in the later period at the Red High Heel was Mr. Hoff, but before Mr. Hoff, there had been several other clients.

If she appeared in a movie and was discovered by these people, it would definitely be a terrible thing.

So Lisa directly refused him. “I don’t really want to go.”

Ponda was still trying to persuade her. “Just for a little while.”

“Ponda!” Lisa called out his name, and his whole person immediately wilted.

“Alright,” he had also read a lot of books related to pregnancy and childbirth recently. He knew that women’s tempers would be a bit bad after getting pregnant.

After the two discussed where to go to play, they left the hotel lobby. Lisa’s mood seemed a little off all day, but Ponda thought that this was just her mood swings after getting pregnant.

Only she herself knew that her mood was off entirely because of a lie.

The lie she had told Ponda.

One lie has to be covered up with countless lies. She didn’t know if this lie would eventually be exposed, nor did she know if Ponda would still love her after knowing these things, or if he would divorce her.

She didn’t know, wanted to know, but was afraid to know.

Her past experiences and pain tormented her. After going to a few places, she used the excuse of being a little tired to return to the hotel and suggested going home early.

She was very uneasy now. Only after returning to Golden Port would she feel a little better.

Ponda didn’t think much of it, checked out directly, and started driving her back to Golden Port in his car.

It was only a few hours from Creek Valley City to Golden Port. The atmosphere in the car was a bit gloomy along the way. Perhaps to cheer Lisa up, he took the initiative to say, “I have some good news.”

Lisa’s gaze returned from the wilderness on both sides of the highway. She looked at Ponda. “What good news?”

“Actually, I was originally planning to tell you tonight. I’m getting a promotion.”

Lisa didn’t speak. He continued, “I’ve been doing a good job lately, catching a lot of moonshiners and their smuggled liquor.”

“After Lukar left us, there was a senior special agent position that was vacant. Director Dale thinks my performance is very good and has decided to promote me. It’s going through the process now.”

“When I report to the office, I’ll be promoted.”

He seemed a little excited. Becoming a senior special agent not only brought him emotional joy…

He had received positive feedback through his own efforts, which made him feel excited and happy.

At the same time, a promotion would also give him more resources and opportunities.

At this moment, he selectively forgot that some of the credit, and the important credit, was given to him by Lance.

He just wanted to share this news with Lisa now, but for some reason, although Lisa was smiling and saying good, what she showed was not quite right with her emotions.

She didn’t seem very happy about Ponda’s promotion.

Ponda didn’t know why she was acting so strange, nor could he find a reasonable place. He could only continue to see all this as her pregnancy reaction.

But only Lisa herself knew that the faster and higher Ponda was promoted, the greater the probability of her “exposure.”

If one day Ponda became a director or something, then she would inevitably be exposed in front of the Bay Area.

No, now, she would be exposed.

During this period, because of Ponda’s work, she had come into contact with many things that she could not have come into contact with before. She also began to gradually understand the importance of the Bureau of Hazardous Materials.

Once Ponda became a senior special agent, someone would inevitably collect his information and then put it on the desks of those powerful people in the Bay Area.

People who didn’t know her might just treat her as Ponda’s wife, while those who knew her and had had in-depth exchanges with her…

At the thought of this, she felt a chill run down her spine.

But she couldn’t tell Ponda. She couldn’t just tell her husband—

“I used to be a high-class call girl, and the kind with heavy tastes.”

“Many powerful people in the Bay Area have traded with me. You have to be prepared to face them.”

She couldn’t do this, and she didn’t know what to do.

Ponda took a moment to glance at his wife, who seemed to be in low spirits and even a little gloomy. He decided to give up this topic, drive quietly, and not touch a sore spot.

After the cocktail party in the afternoon, the hotel manager personally handed a small card to Mr. Hoff, which recorded the information of the person who had opened the room.

Although he was just a key opinion leader in Golden Port, in Creek Valley City, he also had a great deal of influence.

The hotel should not have revealed this information to others, but this was Mr. Hoff. They could not refuse.

After saying thank you, he looked at the card. There were two names on it.

“Mr. Ponda Green.”

“Mrs. Lisa Green.”

The former Lisa was already very attractive to him. Now, Lisa in her wifely appearance and seemingly pregnant was even more attractive to him.

But he was not in a hurry. A good hunter never makes a move the first time he sees a gift. This was an interesting game of chess, and he would throw himself into it.

Lisa didn’t know that she had once again become Mr. Hoff’s prey.

This time, perhaps even her husband would become prey.

At this time, it was already after the Harvest Festival. There were not many days left until the day the Liji Agricultural Group was to deliver the grain to the Garden Trading Company.

They had already begun to fulfill the contract. A large amount of wheat was being transferred from other places to Golden Port.

The Liji Group also rented many warehouses at the docks. They had a lot of trade that needed to use the Golden Port docks, whether for purchase or for sale.

Agricultural products generally have a common characteristic, which is “large quantity.”

No one would buy a hold on a cargo ship for a ton of wheat and then transport it to other places. The shipping cost would exceed its own value.

The quantity of agricultural products traded at the docks must be very large.

This required many warehouses, long-term warehouses. They had been cooperating with the dock management company for many years, and everyone trusted each other very much.

Because of this, the Liji Group also did not have any strict management system for its own warehouses. Unlike some companies, which would even set up a special storage department to be responsible for entry and exit procedures and security patrols and supervision, to prevent people from entering the warehouse to steal.

For them, besides their trust in the security of the docks, they were actually not very afraid of people stealing from the warehouses.

The agricultural products were piled up like a mountain, and it was very inconvenient to move them. And the unit price was also very low.

A wooden barrel of wheat was only a few dollars, far less profitable than stealing some high-value things.

In addition, to save costs, the Liji Group did not use “wooden barrels” as containers.

All the wheat was piled up naturally. If someone really wanted to steal the wheat, they would need to prepare too many things. It was not so easy to steal.

After the wheat was dumped into the warehouse by trucks, and they had done some moisture-proof and insect-proof treatment, they didn’t manage it much more.

In a few days, when the goods were loaded onto the ship and transported away, it would have nothing to do with them.

They didn’t even have to do insect-proofing, because in a few days, those insects would not have time to reproduce on a large scale.

It was precisely because of their negligence that Lance’s men could easily enter here.

At night, after a few workers at the docks got off their evening shift, they did not leave directly. They wandered around outside for a while and then returned to the docks.

There were a large number of people coming and going at the docks every day, as well as goods. To ensure its cleanliness, you could see water pipes and faucets almost everywhere, including outside every warehouse.

After the lease of a warehouse expired, the things inside would be removed. The next lessee might have certain requirements for hygiene. At this time, they would re-clean the warehouse, so water pipes and faucets were everywhere.

A few people used the key someone had given them to open the side door of the Liji Group’s warehouse. Inside was a mountain of wheat, just dumped together.

It was a bit stuffy in the room. The few people only turned on a small light and then began to work.

They connected the water hoses they had brought to the faucets, then went up the high-level stairs of the warehouse and began to water the wheat from above.

They had been doing this for two days. The temperature in the warehouse today was obviously a bit hotter than outside.

The group of people watered the wheat silently. They were all adults and knew very well the consequences of doing so.

One of them was not watering the wheat like the others. He was holding a shovel and randomly turning over the wheat grains at the bottom.

Some of the wheat grains a little further in had already begun to sprout, and the roots had also begun to grow out.

With the watering these few days, more wheat would sprout.

This sprouted wheat was clearly not the wheat the Garden Trading Company wanted. And the contract stipulated very strictly that there was a time limit for loading the ship. They couldn’t temporarily transfer so much wheat over. They would have to pay a penalty for breach of contract.

Half an hour later, they went to the second warehouse and began to water it.

There were a total of four warehouses. By the time all the warehouses had been watered, the few people were exhausted.

After the few of them had finished doing this, they left. No one knew what they had done, except for themselves and Lance.

It was already the evening of the 27th when Lance returned from Golden Port. After sending the Lawrence family back, he was planning to leave.

But William kept him, saying that there was something he wanted to talk to him about, for everyone to talk about together.

After Emily had prepared some food, when the family was sitting at the dinner table, William seemed a little awkward, so awkward that he didn’t even know where to put his hands.

“I’ll declare first, it wasn’t me who wanted to ask!” he said with some emphasis, first removing himself from the matter.

Lance looked at his expression and roughly knew what he wanted to ask. “Go on, I’ll answer.”

“They all want to know when you plan to get married. Of course, if it’s too early to talk about marriage now, we can get engaged first,” he stared at Lance. Emily and Patricia also stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

In the Federation, you can get married at sixteen. Lance was also twenty, and would be twenty-one in not long. This age was not considered early to get married in the Federation, it could only be said to be just right.

Most people got married around this age. After they graduated from high school and worked for two or three years, after they had settled down, they would start to consider marriage.

Lance and Patricia had also known each other for a year. With a year of precipitation, their relationship should have also stabilized.

To propose this idea at this time was not too early.

But they were a little worried about whether Lance would set a wedding date.

At the farm, these “elders” had talked about Lance and Patricia’s marriage when they were chatting privately.

For the rapidly developing William and Lance now, whether they were gangsters or not was not the reason why people could not accept him.

On the contrary, the family members hoped even more that they could settle the marriage as soon as possible. Only in this way would their cooperation become more stable.

William needed Lance’s help, and some other members of the Lawrence family might also need Lance’s help.

At the same time, Lance could also use their connections to continuously deepen his influence on this city.

This was a correct political marriage, not to mention that Lance and Patricia also liked each other.

The couple had discussed it for several days and finally asked tonight.

Patricia looked at Lance nervously. Lance pondered for a moment. “It’s probably too late this year. Let’s do it in the spring.”

The family all let out a sigh of relief. A smile quickly spread across Patricia’s cheeks. She took the initiative to reach out and hold Lance’s hand, holding it tightly.

The Lawrence couple also became full of smiles. Emily said with surprise, “This is news worth celebrating.”

William nodded repeatedly. “We need a grand ceremony. All of this has to be prepared in advance.”

“If we put it in March or April of next year, we’ll have to start preparing after the New Year.”

The atmosphere at the dinner table immediately became very harmonious. Their connection with Lance seemed to have become a little closer.

After dinner, Lance was about to say goodbye. Patricia saw him out. “If you’re worried it’s too soon, we can actually drag it out a little longer.”

She was afraid this would put pressure on Lance. Not everyone wanted to get engaged and married early.

For the new generation of young people, they felt that they had not had enough fun, and that they themselves were still children.

As the degree of social development became higher and higher, people’s choice of marriage age would also become later and later.

Lance shook his head. He kissed Patricia. “Everyone, at least the vast majority of people, have to take this step. A little earlier, a little later, it won’t make any difference.”

“I’m not afraid of marriage, and you are my best choice. Why should I refuse?”

Patricia wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling an incomparable sense of security at this moment.

After a moment of tenderness, Lance left by car. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Patricia standing outside the house for a long while, until he could no longer see her.

(End of chapter)