Bobo held the phone to her ear, the rhythmic ringing sound echoing in the silent boardroom like a countdown to her execution. She waited for what felt like an eternity, though it was likely only a few seconds. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, and her palms were slick with sweat. She was incredibly nervous and tense, her mind racing as she tried to formulate exactly what she could say to salvage this disaster. She needed to find the right words, the right leverage, anything to convince the other side to align with her.
She knew one thing for certain: whatever deal had been set up between Ramon and the Billion Bloodline Group, whatever had been agreed upon in the shadows, it hadn’t been fully finalized yet. If the ink was dry and the transaction complete, the shares would already be in Ramon’s hands, and he wouldn’t be sitting there with that smug, anticipatory grin. He would have simply taken the chair.
The fact that she still had a chance meant the shares were still in play. She had to do whatever she could to convince the Chairman to back her.
Finally, the line connected.
"I think you might know the reason I’m calling you," Bobo said, her voice tighter than she intended.
"I do," the deep voice on the other end replied calmly.
Bobo took a breath to steady herself. "Well, I’m in a tricky situation here, and I have a proposal for you. I need you to listen carefully. Will you let me buy back the shares that I sold you? Right now, I can offer you one hundred million. It matches exactly what you paid for the ten percent. And when I can liquidate some assets and get more money, I promise I will give you an additional fifty million on top of that."
As the words left her mouth, she was mentally kicking herself. The regret was a bitter pill to swallow. She could have offered so much more money upfront if she hadn’t just given a massive portion of her liquid cash to her mother. That act of kindness had left her vulnerable at the worst possible moment.
There was a pause on the line before Max replied, his tone dry and unimpressed.
"Shouldn’t you be offering more, Miss Stern?" Max replied. "I mean, you are offering us exactly what we paid for them initially. Based on the desperate situation you are currently in, shouldn’t you at least be putting up double? That seems like a minimum requirement for saving your company."
Although Max said these harsh words, playing the role of the ruthless businessman perfectly, he knew exactly the situation Bobo was in. He could imagine her biting her lip, her eyes darting around the room at the traitors surrounding her.
"And regarding this promise to pay back the rest later," Max continued, cutting off her attempt to interrupt. "A debt isn’t really going to gel with me right now. I don’t deal in IOUs. I’m sure you should know that the other side has made a significant offer as well."
Max wasn’t lying about this part. It was the precise reason why Ramon was smiling so broadly in the boardroom. Before even making this hostile move today, Ramon and his backers had proactively gotten in contact with the Billion Bloodline Group.
Despite the bad blood that existed between the two factions, for Ramon, the priority was clear. It was far more important to secure the research facility and all of its vast resources than to hold onto petty grudges. He was playing the long game.
The facility was a goldmine of potential. The other departments still had massive amounts of funding that were currently stuck within their specific budgets. If Ramon could successfully take over the company, he could reallocate everything. He could move all those frozen funds directly towards his own department. That amount of funding would be worth at least five hundred million, a staggering sum that would allow him to develop more advanced exoskeletons and push his research to terrifying new heights.
Furthermore, he knew he couldn’t simply ignore the Billion Bloodline Group. Those from the Invigoration and other Syndicates knew that groups possessing superhumans were dangerous. You couldn’t just strong-arm them.
This was why Ramon had put the Billion Bloodline Group on the back burner for a while, calculating his approach carefully. It was why he had decided to make them an extremely enticing offer to ensure their cooperation.
The Gilt Rats, acting under Ramon’s direction, had offered one hundred and fifty million—the exact total Bobo had just offered. It matched the amount they had paid for the shares in the first place plus the premium. They didn’t want to offer too much more because Ramon wanted to preserve the capital to invest even further into his items once he took control.
But money wasn’t the only currency on the table. There was something the Gilt Rats had offered that Bobo could never match.
They offered peace.
The deal was to forget about all of the bad blood between them. The Gilt Rats pledged to ignore everything that had taken place between their organization and the Black Hounds—every skirmish, every death, everything that had happened so far. They would enter a peaceful period with each other, a ceasefire that would benefit both sides.
And of course, Max had already told them he would accept.
The logic was sound. The Gilt Rats knew their power and influence, and they knew the rules of the underworld. It was never a good idea for two large organizations to go to all-out war against each other unless absolutely necessary.
There were several reasons for this, the primary one being scavengers. If two giants fought, they would bleed each other dry. Then, a third group or a smaller gang would inevitably swoop in to take advantage of the situation after one or both of them were weakened. Peace was profitable.
Agreeing to it, Max had made one specific stipulation. He demanded that the payment be sent to them first. He told them he would hold onto the shares for now because that was his collateral, his proof that they would actually uphold the ceasefire as asked.
All of this was why Ramon was so confident. He believed he had checkmated Bobo.
Of course, what the Gilt Rats did after they had gotten what they wanted was down to them, but for now, the deal stood.
Back on the phone, Bobo realized she was losing him. She needed to pivot.
"You’re right, that’s not fair on you to ask for credit," Bobo said, her voice trembling slightly. "Then I have another offer for you. Forget buying back the shares. I’ll send you one hundred million right now if you just give me your vote."
She gripped the phone tighter. "You will get the money just to support me with your shares. You can keep your fifteen percent equity. You keep the ownership, you keep the value, I just need you to vote to keep me as Chairman."
It was a desperate plea. She was essentially paying a bribe just to stay in power, giving away money for nothing in return but a raised hand.
Max paused on the other end, listening to the desperation.
There was a moment of silence, and then Max spoke.
Bobo’s face fell. There was a slow, painful nodding from her as she listened to his final rejection. She looked utterly defeated, her bottom lip curling as she fought back tears of frustration.
"I understand..." Bobo whispered.
She slowly lowered the phone and pressed the red button to hang up. The screen went black, and with it, the light in her eyes seemed to dim.
In response to her silence, Ramon threw his head back and let out a pit-filled roar of laughter. It was a harsh, grating sound that filled the room.
"Haha! I told you it was over!" Ramon crowed, standing up and buttoning his lab coat. "Tomorrow there will be another formal meeting. It will decide the new Chairman and CEO. All shareholders will be present in person or virtually to cast their votes. I look forward to this immensely."
Ramon turned on his heel and walked out of the room, his directors following him like obedient dogs, leaving Bobo alone in the large, empty boardroom.
Meanwhile, miles away in his office, Max placed his phone down on the table. He looked at his subordinates, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Things are going perfectly," Max said, tapping the table. "Even better than I expected."