Chapter 251: Chapter 251: A £300 Million Gift
Seeing William's slightly bewildered expression, Lena couldn't help but lightly pat his arm, smiling as she greeted the chefs. William quickly regained his composure and joined in, saying, "Good morning, gentlemen. Welcome to Devonshire Castle. I'm William Devonshire."
The lead chef smiled and said, "Good morning, Mr. Devonshire. I'm Gordon Ramsay, the head chef for today. I run a Michelin three-star restaurant in Chelsea, London. If you have the time, you should visit my establishment."
"Chelsea?" William smiled and glanced at his mother. "No problem, Mr. Ramsay. If today's dishes and flavors satisfy my mother, I'm sure she'll become a regular at your restaurant."
"Ah, thank you," Gordon Ramsay replied, somewhat puzzled by William's words, unsure of what he meant.
"Haha, sorry, Mr. Ramsay. You'll understand soon enough. My mother will certainly be spending a lot of time in Fulham, which isn't far from your restaurant."
This statement only deepened the confusion among the chefs. However, one of the older chefs, in his fifties, suddenly exclaimed, "My God, this can't be true, Mr. Devonshire. Are you really *that* person?"
William chuckled and nodded. "If we're thinking of the same thing, and you don't mind me taking charge, then yes, that's me."
"Oh my God, of course, I don't mind. Only an idiot would oppose you, a native Chelsea boy. This is the best news I've heard all year. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul."
By now, the rest of the team was beginning to catch on. Although Stamford Bridge is located in Fulham, most people in Chelsea are fans of Chelsea Football Club. So, they were all quite interested in the rumors that someone had been secretly acquiring the club. Learning that William was behind the acquisition delighted the Chelsea-supporting chefs.
William had grown up in Chelsea and was definitely considered one of their own. Now, as a super-rich individual, if he bought the club, Chelsea would no longer have to sell its star players due to financial issues. With money and the fact that he was one of their own, William was seen as the ideal owner by Chelsea fans.
"Haha, although most of the shares have been acquired, a few shareholders are still hesitant. So, while it's essentially a done deal, please keep it confidential for now. I plan to expand Stamford Bridge and invest at least £100 million annually in new players. But I need time to sort out Chelsea's debt situation. I don't want to take over the club while it's still in debt because this is my birthday gift to my mother."
"Oh my God," the chefs thought their hearts might explode. A few hundred million pounds just as a birthday gift? William's extravagance left the 11 chefs stunned. For him, money seemed like it was nothing. A birthday gift worth hundreds of millions of pounds could be the most expensive birthday gift in the world. If the media got wind of this, mothers everywhere would be insanely jealous.
William didn't care about revealing his plans today, not because he was foolish or liked to brag, but because he wanted to spread the word that he intended to pay off Chelsea's debts, expand the stadium, and invest £100 million annually.
Eighty-five percent of Chelsea's shares had already been purchased from old Mr. Smith of Caesars Palace. William's private lawyer had already prepared the legal documents, and as soon as William signed them, the shares would be transferred to his name. However, a few investment funds were still optimistic about the English Premier League teams and stubbornly refused to sell their shares to Mr. Smith. William wanted to make it known that he was buying Chelsea and that his only reason for doing so was to give it as a birthday gift to his mother.
In the future, not only would he personally oversee Chelsea, but he also planned to place the club's shares into the newly established Devonshire Family Charity Foundation. The foundation would be controlled by his mother, with Lena, William, and his children as the beneficiaries.
As for a wife, William hadn't yet decided whether or not to get married. But even if he did, there would be a prenuptial agreement. It would specify an annual allowance, a reward for having children, and alimony in case of divorce. But dividing his assets? That was out of the question.
The 23rd of this month was Lena's birthday. Besides using the news as leverage to pressure those funds still holding onto Chelsea shares, William also wanted to give his mother some psychological preparation. That way, while she would be happy, she wouldn't be too overwhelmed and risk harming her health.
As expected, when Lena heard the news, she was incredibly excited, but because Chelsea wasn't officially theirs yet, she managed to keep her excitement under control. She was thrilled, hugging William and kissing him on the forehead several times, laughing joyfully.
With his goal achieved, William instructed the servants to take the chefs to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
At noon, Gareth arrived at the castle on time. William stood at the castle entrance and hugged Gareth as he got out of the car. After exchanging pleasantries, William smiled and said, "Welcome to the castle, Gareth. There's no need for formalities between us. Let's take a tour of the castle, and in half an hour, we can have lunch."
As they walked into the castle, William continued, "I wasn't sure what you liked to eat, so I had my private client manager at the Swiss National Bank book a Michelin three-star restaurant. To my surprise, they sent an 11-member Michelin three-star chef team to serve us. Whatever cuisine you want, they can make it. The head chef is named Gordon Ramsay. I don't know if his cooking is truly worthy of three Michelin stars."
Gareth suddenly stopped and looked at William with a mix of annoyance and disbelief. "Are you showing off, or do you really not know who Gordon Ramsay is?"
"Hmm?" Seeing Gareth's familiar gloomy look, William realized, "It seems Gordon Ramsay is indeed famous in the culinary world. Otherwise, you, the head of MI6, wouldn't bother keeping tabs on him. But, Gareth, do you think I need to know who he is? No matter how famous he is, for $100,000 per meal, he still came rushing to the castle from London in less than an hour and a half to serve us."
"$100,000 for one meal?" Gareth looked at William in amazement. "God, William, you make me want to rob you. It's infuriating. I earn just £10,000 a month. I've never heard of any chef team earning $100,000 for a single meal. No wonder that foul-mouthed Gordon Ramsay would come personally to be the head chef. Thanks, William. I didn't expect you to go all out like this for me. The only problem is that when you come to my house, I won't know how to reciprocate."
"Haha, don't worry about it. Whether it's expensive or not doesn't matter, as long as it's special. The only reason I'm going all out this time is because it's your first time visiting my home and you're the first official guest at the castle. So, of course, I had to make it special. After a few visits, it won't be so formal anymore."
"That's a relief. If you went this all-out every time, I'd feel too embarrassed to visit you again. Even dukes don't spend this lavishly. Only you would be willing to spend $100,000 on one meal. That could hire a Michelin three-star chef team of three for a whole month."
"Haha, enough talk about money. If money can solve the problem, then it's not really a problem. After lunch, should we get down to business while hunting?"
"Yes, we should," Gareth responded with a smile, looking at William.
"Great, it seems we're on the same page on certain matters. I think today will be a very productive day."
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