Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 67

67. 21st. Know Yourself (2)

I studied the white man before me.

‘Is he a former soldier?’

He was dressed as a hotel manager, but his physique was as solid as Park Tae-jin’s. The scar on the side of his neck, which his clothes couldn’t quite conceal, suggested he was a bodyguard for the Royce family.

“Did the boss send you?”

“Yes. As you requested, preparations have been made in the hotel lobby and on the street.”

“Good. And the front desk?”

“Of course. We’ve booked a standard room under Johnny’s Korean name, and the penthouse staff have been given $50,000 in cash tips. Naturally, it’s money withdrawn from Johnny’s account.”

Claire had arranged it, but unplanned expenses were still irritating. With that money, I could buy thousands of shares of Qualcomm or Starbucks at the current stock price… I nodded, resolving to recoup more than I spent on this somehow, someday.

“It can’t be helped. Security is paramount.”

“The hotel will never leak secrets, not if they want to avoid making an enemy of the Royce family. Let’s go to the front desk.”

At the front desk, we made a show of talking, as if to be seen by those tailing me, received the hotel key, and entered the elevator. My mood was soured before the meeting even began; I needed to compose myself before we arrived…

***

As Lee Sung-min and Park Tae-jin entered the elevator with the white man, the curly-haired white man sitting at a lobby table stopped laughing. The man with the pomade hairstyle sitting across from him also ceased talking and stood up.

The curly-haired man approached the front desk and inquired,

“The two Asian men who just came to the desk, do you know what room they’re staying in?”

“What’s this regarding?”

“I’m here to make a business proposal. I’m here to offer a mining-related development deal…”

He produced a business card and extended it, but stopped when the front desk clerk raised a hand.

“I’m sorry, but those guests have refused all outside contact. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait in the lobby.”

The curly-haired man frowned despite the front desk clerk’s polite refusal. He nodded to the pomade-haired man beside him and extracted a wad of cash from his bag.

“$5,000. Just tell me where…”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, sir. Our hotel prioritizes the privacy of our guests.”

The front desk clerk cut off the curly-haired man. This was an order from a VVIP [Very Very Important Person] customer that had been passed down for generations since the hotel’s founding, and having received $50,000 in cash as a tip, he couldn’t be swayed by a mere $5,000.

After a lengthy argument, the two men sighed and exited the hotel.

“Damn it. That’s two months’ salary for them, and they refused it?”

“Something’s up. It looks like a big deal. We need to ask Mr. Gong for more upfront money.”

The curly-haired man grumbled, nodded at the pomade-haired man’s reply, and entered the car parked on the street.

A man watching them enter the car from behind turned around and held a microphone to his ear.

“Confirmation complete. Vehicle number 2P23D. Correct?”

[Roger. That’s the vehicle that’s been following Master and Mistress’s friend for the past hour.]

“Roger. Do not lose them under any circumstances.”

The man put down the microphone and smirked as he watched the taxi recede into the distance.

***

The elevator stopped with a ding, and we stepped out.

“Is this the penthouse?”

“Yes. This floor and the one above are all part of Lord Royce’s penthouse, haha.”

I felt strangely intimidated in front of the laughing bodyguard. I was surprised that there was a penthouse in this expensive building, but the fact that all three floors constituted a single penthouse…

Park Tae-jin placed his hand on my shoulder and said in Korean,

“Young Master is also the eldest grandson of Korea’s wealthiest family. Think of it as the Chairman is watching.”

Encouraged by Park Tae-jin, I walked down the hallway with my shoulders squared and chest out.

Seeing all sorts of sculptures, ceramics, stone tablets, armor, and old paintings from both the East and West, as well as modern paintings, displayed on both sides of the hallway, I understood why they had chosen this place as the meeting location instead of the room prepared at the Plaza Hotel.

After walking for a while, I stopped in front of Claire and gave her a brief hug.

“It’s been a while, Claire. Thanks for your help.”

“No need to thank me. Friends help each other out. You had a rough trip.”

“This is amazing, Claire. I never knew a place like this existed…”

I couldn’t bring myself to recount the embarrassing story in English, so I confided my thoughts in Korean so the white man wouldn’t understand. Claire nodded at me.

“Think of it as a family museum passed down through generations. Good work.”

“Yes, Miss.”

As the white man stepped aside, a bright smile illuminated Claire’s face.

“Shall we go in, then?”

“Let’s do that, haha. Hyung [Older brother/term of respect for an older male], please rest for a while.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

I dismissed Park Tae-jin to another room, smoothed out the Yves Saint Laurent suit I had tailored, and walked into the room with Claire.

As I entered, two men sitting on a sofa by the window, where sunlight streamed in, stood up.

“Nice to meet you, Johnny. I’m Tom Carlyle Ford, Creative Director of Gucci.”

“I’m Domenico De Sole, CEO of Gucci.”

Seeing the thick stubble covering his chin and jaw, short hair, and rugged face in person, I finally understood why they called him Tom Ford, Tom Ford. Even as a man, wasn’t he a Real Bad-Ass?

“Nice to meet you, John Davidson Lee. You can call me Johnny, haha.”

Hiding my admiration, I gave a brief introduction and extended my hand. Tom Ford’s eyes sparkled as he looked at my hand.

“Bulgari, I see. It’s a difficult piece for men to pull off.”

He said, looking at the bangle bracelet on my right wrist. I smiled and touched the bracelet with my left hand.

“It’s a matching gift with my lover. It’s a shackle of love that I wear myself for stealing her heart.”

“Your wit is extraordinary. A shackle of love, you say…”

Tom Ford nodded, trailing off, and smiled.

“There’s no shackle of love as alluring as a Bulgari bangle. I don’t know who she is, but if she arrested a man like Johnny, she must be an amazing woman.”

“You can think of it as I’m able to shake hands with you in this place thanks to her. I tried to get caught by her, and that’s how I got here.”

I smiled gently and shook hands with Tom Ford. I was worried that he might be displeased by my answer implying that I had a lover, but I felt a pleasant strength in the hand I was shaking, so it seemed like a good start.

I then shook hands with Domenico De Sole and sat on the sofa, drinking the black tea that the staff brought. The subtle cognac flavor in the black tea completely washed away the lingering bad mood.

“Seeing Johnny, I understand why that sketch came out. Miss Lawrence was right to make such an order, haha.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ford. For some reason, I wanted to send that sketch to you. It was intuitive.”

I was ignorant about art, so I just mumbled vaguely, but Tom Ford seemed to like me even more. I could tell by the way his eyelids briefly lifted and lowered.

“It’s even more surprising that you made such a decision based on intuition. Then I hope you’ll listen to our proposal and guess the hidden purpose behind it, haha.”

“Quizzes are fun games. Shall we hear the question, then?”

Domenico De Sole started to speak as he looked at me smiling at Tom Ford’s quiz proposal.

“Our Gucci would like to propose an $800 million rights offering to Standard Capital. We’d like to issue an additional 50 percent of the existing shares. What do you think?”

As soon as I heard that they would accept me as a 33.3 percent shareholder through the rights offering, I knew their purpose. I nodded slowly, took a sip of tea, and opened my mouth.

“You want to expand Gucci’s world.”

“It seems our decision wasn’t wrong. We thought we could communicate with you after seeing the sketches you and Miss Lawrence sent, and I don’t think there’s ever been a meeting as enjoyable as this one.”

Tom Ford laughed heartily, took a sip of black tea, and said,

“As you said, we want to expand Gucci’s world, Johnny. We want to make the Yves Saint Laurent you’re wearing and the Bulgari on your arm part of that world.”

It was as expected. Tom Ford had led several mergers and acquisitions of other brands even after Gucci was acquired by France’s PPR [Pinault Printemps Redoute, a French luxury group], but in this life, it seemed that the timeline would be accelerated and the scale would be larger due to me.

I nodded absentmindedly, then my eyes widened for a moment. To recognize Yves Saint Laurent without seeing the label?

“Your ambition and insight are amazing. It’s an excellent proposal, Mr. Ford.”

I praised Tom Ford and emptied the black tea, which had cooled to a pleasant temperature.

“Let’s have a brief intermission. Let’s have the main negotiations in 30 minutes.”

***

30 minutes later.

Tom Ford couldn’t close his mouth after receiving the investment proposal that Claire and I had presented.

“What is your purpose, Johnny?”

“I didn’t expect you to offer as much as $1.6 billion.”

Domenico De Sole also clicked his tongue. He probably didn’t expect that we would put in more money and ask for the same amount of shares as the existing issued shares. I smiled and looked at them.

“I’m trying to protect the world of art from the wolf in cashmere.”

“Bernard Ar…”

Tom Ford muttered quietly with a dark expression at my calm answer.

‘Well, that man is like the Voldemort of the luxury goods industry, so he must hate seeing him so much.’

Tom Ford, who had almost said the name of the man who had created the world’s largest luxury goods empire in his previous life. Whether it was hostility or disgust, his voice was filled with negative emotions as he continued the conversation.

“That old wolf is indiscriminately tearing at the flock. Even if you have to make money, it’s going too far. Excessive subcontracting, destruction of brand identity… there will be no end to it.”

Tom Ford would know what I meant. It meant that you shouldn’t damage the brand value beyond a certain point in order to inject your own personality.

“Hmm…”

Tom Ford’s face hardened, but he only made a humming sound.

Not only the investment amount, but also the list of brands that they had acquired or failed to acquire in their previous lives, such as Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Fendi, Azarro, Montana, Krug, Tag Heuer, Bulgari, etc., were kindly laid out, weren’t they? In the proposal we gave them.

Domenico De Sole was the same. Even though he had drunk black tea with brandy, his face was excessively flushed, and his Adam’s apple was moving frequently.

As the person in charge of Gucci’s finances, he couldn’t ignore the huge sum of $1.6 billion.

Claire smiled sweetly as if to erase the worries that the two men had.

“You don’t have to worry about the funds. Even if you invest $1.6 billion in Gucci, you’ll still have more than $3 billion in cash. The stocks you’ve invested in the stock market are also continuing to rise.”

Unlike me, who was calmly nodding next to her, the two men were looking at Claire with wide eyes. I exchanged glances with Claire next to me and asked the two men.

“How about it? Will you invite our Standard into Gucci’s world?”

Domenico De Sole wiped his face with a handkerchief and said,

“It’s difficult to answer right away. We need to discuss the commission rate setting rights and store opening rights for the Korean market, as well as the IPO [Initial Public Offering] in December 1999, with the existing investor, Investcorp.”

“I’m not asking you to answer right away in this place. You need to discuss it with the existing investors and make a decision. And…”

I paused for a moment, gauging the two men’s reactions, and said,

“If the investment agreement is concluded, we will entrust the management to the two of you, except for our requirements. However, I hope that both of you will also work hard to nurture successors to share your burdens. Our Standard will also help find such talents.”

After Tom Ford left, the Gucci Group was changed to a four-person system to fill his void. There were many things to say, but the Gucci’s performance had plummeted until Alessandro Michele appeared, perhaps because the four people couldn’t keep up with Tom Ford’s outstanding abilities.

Anyway.

A system in which one person does everything is bound to collapse easily.

People as outstanding as the Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole duo had to be in each brand to preserve the identity of each brand so that they could last a long time, so it was something that had to be ordered.

Tom Ford nodded, made eye contact with Domenico De Sole, and stood up.

“I can’t support such a huge world alone, so I’ll take your proposal to heart. I’ll send you an invitation soon.”

“I’m looking forward to the invitation.”

Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole shook hands with both of us and were seen off in front of the elevator before going downstairs.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Claire sighed as if the tension had been released and leaned against the wall.

“$1.6 billion, are you really going to invest it? Even if you’re trying to be filial to the Chairman, aren’t you overdoing it?”

Claire, who had been smiling brightly until the elevator doors closed, looked at me with a worried expression. Unlike her, who was anxious, I said with a calm expression.

“I was going to invest to get Gucci to open a store in Hae Dong Department Store, but after meeting the two of them, I changed my mind. With the two of them, I can draw the picture I want more beautifully. I have money, and they have inspiration.”

At my answer, Claire took a light breath and opened her mouth.

“Johnny’s senses have never been wrong, so I have no choice but to trust and bet. Are you scrapping the luxury fund you showed me last time?”

I nodded to Claire, who was asking as she recalled what had happened after the department store charter shopping.

“Of course. The brands in the proposal are all the brands I was going to put in the luxury fund. I’ve passed the ball to the two of them, so I’m sure they’ll do well, haha.”

Claire smiled at me with a smile.

“Johnny, you’re so cruel. You’re telling the two of them to run the luxury fund?”

“What can I do? I was so motivated that I created it, but I don’t have enough bodies to take care of it all. The two of them are doing something they enjoy, so I think that’s enough.”

Wouldn’t it be more human to be on a rural national highway with flowers and trees than on a desolate highway? Rather than decorating it with only money and revenge, I wanted to create things that I would be glad I did when I looked back on them later.

Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole grabbed their dreams and honor, and I made money while becoming their friend, so what could be a better win-win than this?

I smiled and looked at Claire and ordered just one thing.

“Just buy Hermes stock in our account. Once the stake purchase is complete, contact the Dumas family and ask them to exchange voting rights and Korean business rights.”

I don’t need other markets. Even if I hold and shake Korea in my hands, it’s like laying a foundation for the future.

One important thing has been handled well, so I just need to handle the rest. I wonder how much progress has been made?