The Tyrant Billionaire

All of these residents lived in George Town, the largest city on Grand Cayman, and they occupied a significant amount of land. The question was, how would this be accounted for, given that the Cayman Islands were not particularly large?

Hardy didn't concern himself too much with these negotiations.

That day, Hardy and Taylor were invited by Princess Margaret to the royal ranch estate outside London, which spanned more than 4,000 hectares. The event planned for the day was horseback riding and hunting.

Taylor and Hardy both dressed appropriately for the outdoor event. In the equipment room, there were various pistols and hunting rifles. Hardy, out of habit, strapped on a cowboy belt with a revolver tucked into it for close protection. For hunting, he carried a James Purdey & Sons rifle, a luxury item favored by the British royal family.

The three of them rode along a forest path on horseback.

Margaret, wanting to show off her riding skills, took the lead. Hardy could have easily caught up with her, but he stayed back to match Taylor's pace.

Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed through the forest.

Hardy was startled and immediately called to Taylor, "Wait here!" He urged his horse forward, racing toward the direction of Margaret's scream.

They weren't far, only about 200 meters away. As Hardy rounded a bend, he saw Margaret sitting on the ground. Her horse had bolted, and a dark figure was running away down the dirt road.

It was a black bear.

Hardy rushed over to Margaret, jumping down from his horse. Margaret, annoyed, was holding her ankle. "I wasn't paying attention. There was a black bear lying by the roadside, and it suddenly stood up. My horse got scared and threw me off."

"I panicked and fired a shot at it, and the bear ran off," she explained.

Hardy found the situation amusing. It was just bad luck. Normally, the horses they were riding were well trained and wouldn't be scared of bears. But no one expected the bear to be lying so close to the road.

The horse, startled at the sudden sight of the bear, had thrown Margaret off.

"Where are you hurt?" Hardy asked, kneeling beside her.

"My ankle's twisted."

Well, that put an end to the hunting trip before it even began.

Hardy scooped up Princess Margaret and placed her on his horse. He then climbed up, holding the princess in one arm and guiding the reins with the other as they slowly made their way back.

As for Margaret's horse, it had bolted in fright, and they'd have to let the staff from the hunting grounds deal with it later.

Being held in Hardy's arms stirred a strange emotion in Margaret. It felt a lot like the sensation of falling in love. The feeling of leaning into his chest was so comfortable.

They soon reached Taylor, who saw Hardy riding back with Margaret in his arms. Concerned, she asked, "What happened to Margaret?"

"We encountered a bear. Her horse was startled and threw her off. She twisted her ankle, so we're heading back now," Hardy explained.

Taylor glanced at Margaret, who was nestled snugly in Hardy's arms, and felt a slight pang of jealousy. "Margaret, why don't you ride with me instead?"

"No need. Riding with Hardy is quite comfortable," Margaret said with a mischievous glance at Taylor.

Taylor huffed, rolling her eyes in response.

They rode back slowly to avoid jostling Margaret's injured ankle. It was still unclear how severe the injury was, so Hardy was being cautious.

"Hardy, I heard from my sister that you're planning to buy an island, and that the Prime Minister wants you to join British citizenship, get a noble title, and become a governor. Is that true? Are you going to become British?" Margaret asked.

"Dual citizenship," Hardy replied.
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"Maybe I should have you knighted as my personal knight," Margaret joked.

"Your knight? I think I'd rather be riding you," Hardy thought, but kept that to himself.

"To be granted a territory, the title would have to be baron or higher. So I'll likely be made a baron by your father," Hardy explained.

Back at the estate, the doctor examined Margaret's ankle. It was just a sprain, nothing too serious, but she would need to rest for about two weeks and avoid strenuous activity.

That was enough to keep the rambunctious princess grounded for a while.

Two days later, the negotiations reached a preliminary conclusion. Hardy would become a British citizen, receive a baron title, and the Cayman Islands would be granted to him as his territory. He would be made the permanent Governor of the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands would remain part of the Commonwealth but would be granted full autonomy.

Legally, all the land on the island would belong to Hardy. He had the right to reclaim any privately held land, provided he paid an appropriate price.

In other words, Hardy had the legal authority to demolish and repossess land at any time, with the power to determine what the "appropriate" price would be, as Governor.

The cost for all of this? $10 million for the land.

Additionally, Hardy would purchase $60 million in British bonds and extend a $50 million loan to the Bank of Scotland, both for five years at normal interest rates.

For Britain, this small Caribbean island—just 260 square kilometers—brought in $120 million in capital, which they considered quite a deal.

And Hardy thought he had gotten a bargain as well.

In fact, British noble titles weren't worth much. In the future, thousands of people would receive noble titles each year. As long as you had money, you could become a noble, whether you were born into it or not.

Hardy, who had been a businessman in his previous life, had traveled to the U.S., the U.K., and Europe, and people's judgment was never based on whether he held a noble title or not.

The trend had already been set by the U.S. for the future: capital would become the ultimate and only acknowledged power. As for noble titles, they had little real significance anymore.

What he truly cared about was the autonomy of the Cayman Islands.

With autonomy, he could now pursue ventures that had previously been off limits. Hardy felt a surge of excitement. It seemed that the "The Tyrant in the book name" was beckoning to him.