Compliments from someone as wealthy as William made Hunter feel very pleased, but he was indeed a bit overwhelmed and found it difficult to resist William's persistent overtures. However, William was the type who never gave up until he got what he wanted. After a brief thought, he continued, "Perhaps I could ask Chef Gordon Ramsay from the Gordon Restaurant in Chelsea, England, to be your assistant. This could reduce your workload while also giving you both an opportunity to exchange culinary ideas."
"I know Gordon Ramsay. His restaurant recently earned its third Michelin star," Hunter replied, intrigued by the proposal.
Opportunities for exchanges between Michelin three-star chefs were rare due to their busy schedules. The chance to interact with a newly awarded three-star chef was appealing to Hunter, as it offered a way to understand the tastes of the new generation. Moreover, the pay William offered was substantial—$1.5 million for three days, which was a significant sum even for someone as established as Hunter.
However, preparing for a banquet was no simple task. After some thought, Hunter asked, "Mr. Devonshire, do we need to provide the ingredients, banquet utensils, kitchen tools, and service staff ourselves?"
"Of course," William responded without hesitation. "The $1.5 million is for your team's salary. Any other expenses will be covered by me. But I want everything related to the banquet handled by your restaurant; I'll just pay the bills."
Hunter had mixed feelings about William's hands-off approach. On one hand, he was pleased that as long as the banquet was successful, William would be a generous payer. On the other hand, it meant that Hunter had even more responsibilities. Once he committed to the event, it wouldn't be just three days of work; he would need to start preparations immediately. When he thought about it, the $1.5 million was really buying over a month of his time.
"Can you tell me how many guests there will be at the banquet? And what is your budget? Are we fully responsible for all banquet-related matters? And also…"
"Stop," William interrupted Hunter once again. "I don't know the exact number of guests, but the initial budget is $5 million. If that's not enough and the expenses are reasonable, I'll increase the budget. And to reiterate, I'm only responsible for paying and having someone audit the expenses. Everything else is up to your restaurant to manage."
Hunter thought for a moment, realizing that with a budget of $5 to $10 million, his restaurant's other shareholders wouldn't object. After apologizing, he made a few quick phone calls to the shareholders. As expected, they were unable to resist the allure of such a large sum of money and readily agreed.
Hunter returned to William with a smile and nodded, saying, "Then we have a deal, Mr. Devonshire."
"Ha ha," William laughed heartily, feeling quite pleased with himself. Aside from childbirth and illness, there's no Michelin chef that money can't hire. If there is, it's just that the money offered wasn't enough. "It's a deal, Hunter. My personal lawyer will handle the next steps, and you can contact him with any needs."
"Understood, Mr. Devonshire," Hunter replied. "Time is of the essence, so if possible, I'd like to contact your personal lawyer now. There's a lot of work we need to discuss."
"Very good. I appreciate your professionalism," William said, pulling out his phone and saying, "Anthony." Almost immediately, the phone started dialing, which surprised everyone around him, except Ambrosio. They were amazed that William could just say a name, and the phone would automatically dial, and they were even more surprised by the large, buttonless, full-screen phone in his hand.
However, even though these people were surprised, they could only watch; William wasn't about to give away such a phone. The phones and glasses he had given to Bond had self-destructed after the mission was completed, following several reminders from Sunday. The equipment given to the Expendables had also self-destructed after their mission ended.
In London, Anthony, who had been sleeping, was woken up by the ringing of his phone. After a nudge from his annoyed wife, he picked up the phone, and all his frustration vanished when he saw the caller. He answered respectfully, "Good evening, Mr. Devonshire. What can I do for you?"
William explained the plan to hold a birthday banquet for his mother. After hearing William's instructions, Anthony internally groaned, complaining slightly, "Sir, I'm almost overwhelmed with work as it is. You can't assign everything to me; I'm your personal lawyer, not your butler."
"Ha ha," William chuckled. "What's your annual salary?"
"One million pounds," Anthony replied somewhat sheepishly, thinking William was reminding him who pays his salary.
But before Anthony could worry for long, William said, "Well, your salary is now doubled, and I'm authorizing you a budget of one million pounds a year to hire more staff. Any other issues?"
"No, Mr. Devonshire, no issues at all," Anthony replied, nearly jumping for joy.
In just over half a year, his salary had increased from £300,000 to £2 million, and now he had a £1 million budget to build a personal team. This was enough to hire an eight-person team of top young professionals. Along with the four assistants provided by the law firm, he would soon have over 12 people working under him, making him the lawyer with the largest team at the firm.
Motivated by money, Anthony quickly began discussing details with Hunter, who had taken William's phone.
With his business concluded, Ambrosio, who had been standing beside William, clung to his arm and complained, "Darling, if Chef Hunter is preparing your mom's birthday, what about my banquet?"
What else could be done? Obviously, Ambrosio's event wasn't as important as his mother's. But William wasn't foolish enough to say that out loud.
Smiling at Ambrosio, he said, "It's not like he's heading to England right away. Most of the preparations will be done in New York. Your event is at Eleven Madison Park, so Chef Hunter will still have a day to spare."
"Hmph, so I'm not as important as your mom in your heart," Ambrosio pouted.
"Are you kidding me? Of course, you're not," William retorted, annoyed by Ambrosio's unreasonable attitude. "Don't tell me that in your heart, I'm more important than your parents."
Ambrosio opened her mouth, wanting to say something but unsure how to respond. She wasn't as confident as William, who could straightforwardly say that his mother was more important. But she also worried that William might be testing her, making her anxious to the point of tears.
"Alright, alright," William said, hugging her with a playful smile. "It's normal for me to not be more important than your parents. If you told me I was more important than your parents, I wouldn't be happy and might even teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents. Except for children, it's normal for a boyfriend—or even a husband—not to be more important than parents. Darling, I don't like girls who aren't filial."
"You jerk, William! Who said I'm not filial? I just think you're as important as my parents," Ambrosio grumbled, hitting William's shoulder in frustration.
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