People who treat con artists like treasure-now that''s a rare sight.


    "Ste, if you end up losing everything to this scammer, don''t say your big brother didn''t warn you!"


    Ste frowned, her patience wearing thin.


    She suspected Jake might be a fraud too, but calling someone out without proof, especially right to their face, was just in rude.


    She quickly turned to Jake and apologized. "Mr. Jake, please don''t mind him. My brother isn''t exactly firing on all cylinders today."


    Israel''s face flushed with anger.


    "Ste, did you just call your own brother brainless? With that attitude, who besides a scammer would ever invest in you? Hah! If you can''t manage basic respect, what makes you think you can run a business?"


    Ste''s eyes grew cold.


    "Oh? You sound so sure, Israel. If you''re going to use Jake of being a con artist, do you actually have any evidence? If you do, show us. If not, you''re just ndering him, making things up for your own amusement."


    She leveled her gaze at him. "Before you question my character, maybe get your own head checked first."


    Israel opened his mouth but couldn''t get a word out.


    Jake nced at him, a strange, almost pitying look in his eyes-the kind you''d


    give someone who just escaped from a mental institution.


    Without lingering, Jake turned to Ste. "Ms. Cameron, I''ll take my leave."


    Ste nodded politely and saw him out.


    As soon as Jake was gone, Ste didn''t even spare Israel a nce. She headed for the stairs.


    But Israel stepped in front of her, blocking her path.


    "Ste, don''t you walk away from me!"


    Her expression was icy. "Move."


    He sneered. "Still putting on airs, even now? You''re in way over your head, Ste. Taking on a job you''re not cut out for-what did you expect? It''s easy to boast and bluff, but when the chips are down, you''ll be running around begging for help.”


    He crossed his arms, voice dripping with condescension. "You had the nerve to announce you''re buying twenty percent of the Pearce Group. The Pearce Group isn''t as big as our family''s business, sure, but it''s still a major yer in this city. To buy over twenty percent? You''ll need over thirty billion dors."  s


    He paused, lifting his chin in smug satisfaction.


    "Even if you pooled the resources of all your admirers, you couldn''t scrape together that kind of cash overnight."


    He continued, "Businessmen love leverage-investing as little as possible for the biggest return. As long as there''s money on the books, most will reinvest everything except what''s absolutely necessary, just to maximize profits."


    al.n<fn7f42> Read full story at fι?dnοvel</fn7f42>


    "The Williams Group only happens to have that much liquidity now because a project just wrapped and the funds came in. We''re consolidating, haven''t started our next round of investments yet. Otherwise, even our family couldn''t cough up that kind of money all at once. And being able toe up with that sum at all is one thing-actually getting your hands on it in three days is something else entirely."  s


    "Shawn''s father only agreed to Ste''s proposal so readily-and scheduled the signing for three days from now because he wants to see if she''s got the chops. If she cart pull it off, the Pearce family just won''t sell. But if she manages to raise that much, that quickly, it means she''s got real skill. You''d be a fool not to work with her."  s


    He shook his head. “As for Haynes and Neville''spanies, they''re nowhere near our scale. If they want to grow, they can''t just sit on a billion in spare cash. Evening up with a few hundred million for Ste is a huge risk-they''d have to be crazy to hand over everything they have."