At the front desk of the Billion Bloodline Group’s headquarters, the morning rotation had just begun, and Sheri was once again the one sitting behind the counter.
She had chosen to return to work earlier than anyone expected. After everything that had happened , the kidnapping, the chaos, the truth about Anton , she realized it hadn’t been the company’s fault. It was all Anton. Every ounce of that nightmare traced back to him.
The Stable family was gone now, and Sheri doubted something like that would ever happen again. The company had made sure of it.
Security had been tightened to an almost military level. A new fortified wall surrounded the property, and visitors could no longer stroll in through the glass doors like before. To enter, they now had to be identified over the intercom, watched through cameras, and approved before the security locks would open.
Inside, the office still carried its polished calm , marble floors, glass walls, and quiet air-conditioning hums , but there was an undercurrent of tension. Everyone knew the Billion Bloodline Group was a fortress now, both in reputation and design.
Today, Sheri wasn’t alone at the desk.
Darno, her colleague in the current rotation, sat beside her on the spare chair, tossing grapes into the air and catching them with his mouth. Each catch made a small pop as the grape burst slightly between his teeth.
"You know," Darno said lazily, throwing another grape into the air, "if I were you, I’d have milked not coming back to work for a while. You’ve got the best excuse in the world , traumatic experience, doctor’s orders, the works."
Sheri gave him a tired look. "Paid?" she said. "Do you think interns get paid here? Even if I did, it wouldn’t be much. This is for experience. So I can put it on my résumé... though honestly," she added with a faint smile, "it’s more about getting out of my mom’s hair."
Darno chuckled but fell quiet after that.
Through their conversations, he’d realized something , Sheri and her family had no idea that Max was the Chairman
Even though Sheri had gone to the same school as Max and knew about his Stern family background, he must have kept that part of his identity hidden deliberately. And if Max wanted it that way, Darno wasn’t about to ruin it.
Besides, he wasn’t eager to lose his comfortable position here. Ever since the Fortis Group had been rebranded under the Billion Bloodline umbrella, his workload had dropped significantly. The big marketing campaigns had been cut down, the photo shoots reduced, and the constant meetings had disappeared.
He got paid well , to do, as he liked to say, "barely anything important."
Just as Darno popped another grape into his mouth, his phone buzzed with a notification. He glanced at the screen, and a small smile crept across his face.
"Sorry, Sheri," he said, sliding up from his chair and straightening his shirt. "Looks like this might be my last day working with you , at least for a while."
Sheri blinked. "Huh? Why?"
But Darno only shrugged, the grin still there. "Guess I’ve been called somewhere else. Important stuff, you know how it is."
He walked off before she could press further, leaving her to wonder what "important stuff" could mean in a place where everything already felt so important.
Meanwhile, inside the large executive office, Max sat at his desk, listening intently as Warma explained the details of a new proposal , one that made his temples throb the more he heard it.
"One hundred million?" Max repeated, his brow twitching. "What the hell does she need that much for?"
"It’s called a funding round," Warma said calmly, adjusting his glasses as he presented the files. "Usually, it’s not just one individual or company that contributes the full amount. They’re likely hoping you’ll agree to fund part of it , but it’ll be a lot easier for them if you decide to fund all of it yourself."
Max leaned back in his chair, exhaling through his nose. "Of course it would be."
"There are two potential advantages to doing this," Warma continued, flipping through several pages on his tablet. "From what I’ve gathered, this biotech company is completely self-funded by Bobo Stern herself. She’s already invested around four hundred million into it."
Max raised an eyebrow. That number sounded familiar. He remembered seeing the figures in the Stern family financial documents back at the manor. It was exactly the sort of project Bobo would pour her entire inheritance into.
"As of now," Warma continued, "there are no other shareholders. It’s a private company entirely under her name. If you fund the entire round, that gives you a perfect opportunity. There won’t be anyone to interfere if we decide to bring it down from the inside out."
Those last words made something spark in Max’s chest.
"Bring them down?" he said, his tone sharpening.
Warma gave a slight smirk. "That’s your goal, isn’t it? To bring down the other members of the Stern family , or at least, that’s what I’ve assumed."
Max didn’t respond immediately. His mind drifted for a moment, wondering when Warma had put all the pieces together. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Warma always figured things out before he spoke them aloud.
"Here’s the idea," Warma continued. "We ask for a higher equity percentage in exchange for the full funding. You’ll be the only other shareholder, and we can frame it as a long-term partnership , an open door for future support."
He leaned forward, tapping the screen with a faint, methodical rhythm. "Then, we take advantage of the situation. Slowly. We can structure the contracts and cash flow so that, over time, you end up owning a majority of the company. She won’t even realize it’s happening until it’s too late."
Max listened carefully, his eyes narrowing slightly. The strategy was brilliant , cold, efficient, and perfectly aligned with what he wanted.
Could he really remove one of the Stern heirs without ever needing to use force or the gang he’d built in the shadows?
And if things worked out, he wouldn’t just weaken a rival , he’d gain something valuable. Bobo’s biotech company wasn’t a vanity project; it had the potential to be worth billions in the future.
Still, the thought of losing one hundred million made his stomach tighten. It wasn’t just the number , it was what it meant . His Vow’s link to his finances was a constant curse. Every time money left his hands, his strength dropped with it.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, deep in thought.
Just then, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and picked it up.
"Sorry to bother you," came a voice from reception. "But there are visitors outside waiting for you. They say they need to speak to you about something important , and to tell you that they’re the Rangers."
Max paused, sitting up straighter in his chair. The faint exhaustion in his eyes faded, replaced by a familiar sharpness.
"The Rangers, huh?" he muttered, setting the phone down as a slow grin crept across his face. "I didn’t ask them to come here?"