Chapter 290 A new enemy or an old one – 2
Leonardo and Jake were hesitant about dealing with Patrick Cox since Jennifer was a wonderful soul and Liliana’s close friend.
Besides, Jake felt the kid was misguided rather than evil. So, there was hope.
They left it for the latter and focused on the others.
Jonas and his father were just pawns. Jonas followed along because Leena had threatened him with his father’s life. But as soon as the children were involved, he got cold feet and fessed up.
They had rescued his father but continued holding Jonas in for the show.
Meanwhile, Leena was tricky. She was born in the criminal underground and left to fend for herself as an unclaimed child. Then she was groomed by some gangsters for her grit and fearlessness. She was born in the mud and never knew life outside of hatred and greed.
She did not understand the concept of rich and kind people. In her world, they did not exist. She knew greed, poverty, fighting for her life and money, and doing things for money.
Leonardo pitied her, but he could see she was irredeemable.© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
All the people under her were the same. They were the nameless villains in the dark, but ironically, they were also pitiful.
They had never had a meal they did not earn without working hard for it – using manual labor, fighting, or whoring. And recently, spying.
They never received education or kindness. They never knew there was a different way of life.
Leonardo knew taking out Leena or her subordinates would not solve the problem. It was like cutting off the leaves of a tree that grew in the poison field. It was bound to bear poisoned fruit and leaves.
Besides, they had received the mission from someone else. They were not the mastermind.
At the same time, albeit their influence, Leonardo and Liliana were just powerful merchants. They did not have the authority or permission to mess with the underground.
As such, Leonardo had thought long and hard to devise a plan to deal with them before asking his grand-uncle to fact-check and correct him.
His plan was simple. He had planned an utterly strict military-protected farmland in the wilderness outside of P city.
It was his voluntary donation to the P city military and police force.
The harvest from the farms would feed the people in the Military force. They could send the excess to several orphanages and non-profit organizations.
L&L Enterprise would cover all the costs until it was up and running until the first harvest.
After that, the Military would manage it. And Leonardo or L&L Enterprise would stay out of Military business. That was his way of drawing a line.
Leonardo planned to send all the underground ragged people to that field. They all would need to serve some punishment – working to grow something would show them a different way. Working tirelessly in the harsh areas for five years non-stop would be enough to change their mind.
When they were released, they would get a new lease on life – a new identity, PFs, a bank account with the wage they had earned in the five years, a job, and a place to live.
If they toed the line, then well and good. Otherwise, there were always empty prisons waiting for new inmates.
However, he needed precise locations before the police and army would form a plan to capture everyone in one shot to eradicate the underground force.
Liam was the expert in that field and poised to plan and take on the entire project.
Jake had friends he could contact and get more information.
Together they formed an outline of a plan, and Liam went to work. Then it was Liam’s job as he had the authority, knowledge, expertise, and resources to handle something like that.
Liam estimated it would take him around three months to gather information and execute a plan. He would need to spend those three months away – in the barrack or undercover.
Before leaving, he asked James and Jacob to look after Mariana, Kyle, and his grandmother. He asked his grandmother to move with Mariana and Kyle to teach Mariana and Kyle more about the Preston family.
James and Jacob moved in with them as well.
Having handed over the task to Liam, Leonardo and Jake focused on the mastermind.