John and his companions stood not far behind Eric and Sylvia, each holding their wine glasses with unease gnawing at them. Without the presence of Matthew's group tonight, the risk of any aggressive move from the Pentra family loomed large.

And indeed, the Pentras were contemplating just that.

After a while, Mark and Bryce huddled together.

"Dad, those guys who were supposed to make a move tonight didn't show up. I suspect they've gone to the distributors' families!" Mark said.

Bryce smirked