The words that Max had spoken, "God, please no", were a natural, involuntary reaction for him. Firstly, he absolutely did not like Karen Stern; he found her to be nearly as unbearable as Sheri’s mother, whereas Bobo, despite her business incompetence, was somewhat bearable. That was one part of his feelings. The second, and more pressing part, was that he already didn’t want to spend another penny, and now this expensive, unnecessary new venture was being foisted upon him.
Since the situation had turned utterly silent and awkward between them, Max wanted to sort it out quickly before it escalated into a diplomatic disaster. He could even see Karen’s face turning slightly red beneath her dark sunglasses.
"I sincerely apologize," Max declared, the modulation in his voice making the statement sound grave and formal. "I wasn’t directing that at your offer, not at all. I just went through a tremendous amount of stress starting up that clothing brand, so I know how much of a painful struggle it is. I was just momentarily imagining going through that immense pain again."
It was a surprisingly good excuse, Warma thought, giving a subtle nod. The "pain of a new venture" was something wealthy people could easily understand.
Karen then cleared her throat, accepting the apology, at least superficially, as she continued.
"You’re right, Mr. Black. I have gone through a large amount of those struggles myself. I have poured a lot of money into the brand, and I would say that there isn’t a person in Notting Hill that doesn’t know it."
Max was skeptical. He didn’t even know what her brand was, and he seriously doubted what Karen was saying was true. If her clothing brand was so well-known, why was she struggling so much financially? Was she truly deluded into thinking this? Max knew from experience that most people who lost large amounts of money were, as they always believed that success was just above the horizon, blinding them to reality.
"You see," Karen continued, leaning forward with the air of a shrewd dealmaker. "Since I have put so much into it, I also have a lot of operational facilities. I have my own dedicated manufacturing plant as well. My deal would propose that we could both use the same plants to lower your cost, acting as partners."
She then sweetened the pot. "I would also allow you space in our department stores that are highly sought after, and offer you that space at considerably cheap rent. Perhaps even for free, if you were to help market my own brand, using your own connections, your Billion Bloodline influence, to push my brand out there."
Max was inwardly shaking his head, making sure his masked head stayed perfectly still. Karen had gotten everything set up, factories, warehouses, stores, before even having a successful product to sell. The disaster that Karen had created was probably far bigger than she realized. Her factories and warehouses were likely just sitting there, filled with dead, useless stock, and with fashion trends changing quickly, new lines needed to be created constantly. The inventory she had was probably impossible to sell, making her facilities a massive liability.
However, what she was offering was quite good for his purposes. Just like how he got an "in" with Bobo by investing, he was wondering if there was a strategic way he could utilize an "in" with Karen as well, granting him access to more of the Stern family’s infrastructure.
So soon after investing in Bobo is not a good idea,
"The proposal is interesting, Ms. Stern, and I think there might be something that we can certainly work out," Max conceded. "I’ll put you in contact with Warma directly." He passed the liability to his subordinate. "You two can talk things out and try to structure a deal, but I must warn you, it might be a while until the Billion Bloodline group can actually finalize something together."
With that strategic deferral, Max was happy to finally end his trip with the two women. He stood up, gave a formal nod of his masked head, and he and his team quickly left the office.
While Bobo was happy that the main investment deal had been successfully made, when she turned to her mother, she could see that Karen clearly didn’t feel the same sense of accomplishment.
"Who was that guy, to sigh out loud like that, and it seemed like he wouldn’t even give me the full time of day to hear my proposal," Karen complained, her sunglasses not hiding her anger. "I could tell that he was mocking me with every single word he said."
"I think you might be overthinking it, Mom," Bobo said, trying to diffuse the situation, though Max’s behavior had been strange. "And you should be careful as well. Whoever this group is, or whoever that Chairman is, they seem to have quite a bit of money."
"So you think they are more powerful than our Stern Family?" Karen scoffed. "Both of us still have plenty of finances together to deal with someone like him, should it come to it."
Bobo truly hoped it didn’t come to that. She also didn’t want to spend any more money, especially on trying to teach her new business partner a lesson, but if her mother asked her, she knew she was unable to say no.
When Max finally got back to his safehouse, he took the helmet off, and he was pretty worn out with everything that had happened. He wanted to do some strenuous training to get his mind off things and feel a bit better about getting slightly weaker, until he looked at his phone and noticed he had a few new texts on there.
"Oh," Max muttered, a different kind of intensity replacing his weariness. "It looks like everyone has figured out their Vows. I guess it’s time for the next part of the process."