Chapter 514 The Abandoned Stadium!
The next day, at Maple Group's headquarters, in the chairman's office, there was a knock at the door.
Ryder said, "Come in!"
The office door opened, and a beautiful woman wearing a white shirt and a black professional skirt walked in!
Her straight legs were covered in nude stockings, exuding a very capable and mature aura!
Despite being only in her mid-twenties, she carried herself like a seasoned pro.
This was Ashley Cook, the chairman's assistant.
The day after Ryder took over, Ashley had been reassigned by the HR manager to work directly under him.
There might've been some favoritism at play, but Ryder didn't call it out. As long as she could handle the job, he wasn't about to make a fuss. He trusted himself to keep things professional.
"Mr. Clark, here are the documents you asked me to retrieve!" Ashley respectfully placed the documents on Ryder's desk with both hands!
"Thank you, you may leave now!" Ashley nodded and left the office without hesitation!
Not far from the office door, there was a separate workstation specifically for Ashley.
As an assistant, she needed to be close to Ryder to ensure she could be available at any time!
At some slightly farther workstations, a few female employees saw this scene and couldn't help but gossip privately:
"Ashley is so lucky! Mr. Clark had just arrived, and she was transferred to be his assistant. I'm so jealous!"
"There's nothing we can do about it. Ashley has the figure and the looks!"
"Mr. Clark is young and quite handsome. I wonder if he's married? If not, I really hope to have a romantic story with him!"
"Come on, let's just do our jobs. For us low-level employees, it's good enough to stay in the company. Mr. Clark just took office, and he's definitely going to make some big personnel changes. Even Milton got dealt with. Let's just hope we don't get laid off!"
At this moment, Ryder in the office picked up the stack of documents Ashley had just delivered and began to read.
The papers detailed a major opportunity Maple Group was eyeing—an auction in Rigal District for a piece of land that included an old, abandoned stadium. Rigal District was smack in the heart of New York City, and scoring commercial land from the government these days was no easy feat.
It was obvious this old stadium was a goldmine. Whether it was turned into housing, a shopping complex, or even an amusement park, the potential was huge.
Naturally, construction and real estate companies were lining up to bid on it—and Maple Group was right in the mix.
Maple Group had only recently moved its headquarters to New York City, and while they'd set up plenty of business lines, they hadn't gained much traction yet. In terms of overall revenue in the city, they were barely keeping up with companies worth around $600 million.
At this rate, even with their resources, Maple Group risked being pushed to the sidelines in New York's competitive business scene.
That's why snagging the bid for the old stadium was a make-or-break moment for them.
But here's the twist—lately, there's been some weird buzz going around.
Since last week, rumors started swirling that the old stadium was haunted.
The stories were pretty convincing, with supposed eyewitnesses and even local news coverage. Reporters dug into it but couldn't confirm if ghosts were actually involved.
What they did uncover, though, was a tragic incident from three years ago.
Back then, the stadium was still in use. One night, during a celebrity concert, disaster struck.
At 9:30 PM, a fire broke out, causing chaos. The blaze killed 18 people, and injured 69, and a stampede added another 11 deaths to the toll.
The fallout was huge—the singer retired, and several New York City officials lost their jobs.
After that, the stadium was abandoned. It couldn't just sit there rotting, so the city decided to auction it off as commercial land.
But now, with these ghost rumors resurfacing, a lot of bidders are getting cold feet.
Ryder finished reading the documents and squinted slightly.
A haunted old stadium, interesting.
That evening, Ryder and Rex showed up at the old stadium to scope it out.
They stood at the entrance, taking in the scene. The place was overrun with weeds, and a few abandoned dorm buildings sat nearby. The entire area up for auction covered about a million square feet.
Given the current commercial land prices in Rigal District—around 30,000 per square foot—this plot was easily worth at least 300 million. And with its prime location and rarity, the real value was probably way higher!
Right as Ryder and Rex were about to step into the stadium, a voice barked from the guardhouse: "Hey, hold it! What do you two think you're doing?"
Out shuffled a slightly stooped security guard, eyeing them suspiciously.
When the security guard raised his face to look at Ryder, Ryder couldn't help but squint!
Half the guy's face was covered in gnarly burn scars, making the sudden glance downright creepy!
Ryder smiled and replied to the security guard: "Sir, we just want to take a look around!"
The guard's expression hardened, and he barked, "Get out! No one gets in! Go home!"
Ryder didn't budge. "This place is a dump. No ticket, no nothing. What's the big deal?"
The guard's voice turned rough. "No means no. Stop asking questions and scram!"
Ryder still didn't move!
The security guard became anxious. "You got a death wish or what? You haven't heard this place is haunted? It's getting dark, man. Get outta here before you regret it!"
Ryder's eyes lit up.
He motioned to Rex, who pulled out a pack of smokes and handed it to the guard. Ryder flashed a grin. "Chill, man. You said this place is haunted—for real?"
The security guard took the cigarettes and skillfully put them in his pocket!
His expression softened a bit, and he nodded: "It's true. Why would I lie to you about this? Many people have seen it recently!"
"You've seen it too?"
The security guard sighed, gesturing to his scarred face. "More times than I'd like. I'm one of the lucky ones who made it out of the fire three years ago. Those ghosts? They're the ones who didn't."
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