As for Mr. Burton, he''d already stepped down; he no longer had the authority to move such arge sum from The Burton Group.


    The Watson family, who were on good terms with Ste, had just sunk a fortune into a massive new project. Theirpany''s ounts werepletely drained- there was no way they could offer Ste much help now.


    From Israel''s perspective, if Ste managed to scrape together a billion dors, that would already be a miracle.


    After mulling it over, Jonathan and his two brothers all came to the same conclusion: in the end, Ste would have no choice but to turn to the Williams family for help.


    With that in mind, Israel''s arrogance only grew.


    He looked down at Ste from his seat, his tone condescending. "Ste, you''d better apologize to me now. Next time youe looking for my help, I won''t be so easy to deal with."


    Ste turned to Aicken. "Aicken, why don''t you rmend a few neurologists to the second son here? Maybe he can get his head checked, stop embarrassing himself in public."


    Aicken, ever the dutiful assistant, nodded. "Of course. I''ll see to it right away." He really did head off to the corner, instructing the assistants to start looking for top neurologists.


    Israel red coldly at Ste. "Keep acting tough, Ste. I''ll be waiting for the day youe crawling to me for help."


    Ste just smiled. "Don''t worry, Israel. By the time you go to bed tonight, your wish might juste true. After all, in your dreams, anything''s possible."


    With that, she ignored him and walked away, her entourage following behind.


    Once Ste and her group had left, Aurora, who''d remained silent until then, finally spoke up.


    "She seemed so confident. Do you think... she really has a way to raise the money?"


    Israel scoffed, thoroughly unimpressed. "There are only a


    handful of people who could


    of


    possibly help her, and even if they all chipped in, she''d still be short by atmost two billion. That''s two billion dors-not something you can conjure up with a few phone calls, especially not under this kind of time. pressure. Even dumping stocks wouldn''t be quick enough."  s


    Dumping stocks recklessly would only send the market into chaos. No one would be foolish enough to try something like that.


    Coleman nodded in agreement. "She''s got three days; of course she''s going to fight to the bitter end. Ste''s the type who won''t admit defeat until she''s staring failure in the face. We''ll just wait and see how things y out."


    Israel''s gaze lingered on the spot where Ste had disappeared. His voice was venomous. “She loves putting on a brave front now, but when shees begging us for money, I''ll make her get on her knees and plead. Let''s see how arrogant she is then."


    reason with him.


    Aurora tried to rea


    “Come on, Israel. You know what she''s like don''t make things harder


    than they need to be. What if she turns around and sells her original shares to someone else, or just abandons the Pearce Group acquisition altogether? What then?”


    s<fn4c83> The rightful source is F?ndNovel</fn4c83>


    Israel replied matter-of-factly, "If she backs out, the Williams family will just step in and buy them. After all, acquiring part of the Pearce Group was always one of our goals."


    When Jonathan had returned from the hospital, he''d brought up the Pearce family''s offer to transfer Ste''s shares. His n was simple: buy one percent of Ste''s original shares with any extra counted


    show of support for her as a


    as an


    member of the Williams family. If


    Ste couldn''t pull off the


    acquisition, the Williams family


    would step in and take over. Either way, they couldn''t lose.


    belongs to s


    What none of them stopped to consider, though, was whether the Pearce family would even agree to sell to the Williams family just because they were willing to sell to Ste.


    It was at that moment that Israel''s tone shifted.


    "But Aurora''s got a point. Even if Ste can''t raise all the money herself, what if she brings in outside investors, or sells her shares to someone else and actually manages to get the funds together? We need to make sure that door stays firmly shut."


    Aurora and Coleman exchanged a look.


    Coleman cautioned, "Israel, don''t do anything reckless. Every time you''ve tried to go head-to-head with Ste recently, you''vee away empty-handed."