Joshua sounded vaguely amused. "Well, what a coincidence."
Ste fell silent, her eyes darkening as she sank into thought.
Just then, Joshua spoke up again. "If Foreman really is this mysterious Mr. J, and he''s in trouble now, it doesn''t make sense for us to just stand by and do nothing."
Ste turned to look at him. "Do you really think Foreman is Mr. J?"
He shrugged. "I don''t know for sure. But you asked him directly and he didn''t deny it, did he? That''s as good as admitting it, if you ask me. Otherwise, why not just say so? Besides, both his secretaries basically spelled it out. If Foreman wasn''t Mr. J, would they havee to you demanding answers? It''s not like you spent any of Foreman''s money."
Even so, Ste still felt uneasy. Five billion wasn''t pocket change-no one could just “identally” get something like that wrong.
Sensing her hesitation, Joshua added, "Whether or not Mr. J is Foreman, you can''t deny Foreman has gone out of his way to help you. And if you don''t settle this debt soon, his assistants and staff will keep holding it over your head. Better to pay it back now, before it turns into a moral weapon against you."
He leaned back, his tone matter-of-fact. "You''re about to join The Williams Group. There''ll be plenty to deal with there. If something really happens to The Richards Group, you won''t have the energy to worry about anyone else."
Joshua made a good point.
Whether or not Foreman was Mr. J, it was because of her that Foreman had caught Leonard''s attention. She couldn''t just stand by and do nothing.
"I''d already nned to sell one percent of my original shares to raise cash," Ste said quietly, “but the Williams family sabotaged it. They can dy me for a few days, but they can''t stop me forever. I''ll sell the shares first and patch up the hole in his funding."
The Williams Group''s original shares weren''t something people would just ignore because the Williams family said so. The truth was, the right price and the right leverage could move anyone. Those shares were practically a feast everyone wanted" a piece of a prize worth fighting over. s
Before, Ste had hoped to buy the shares back herself, so she''d approached the Williams Group''s
existing shareholders first. Bu<fn6b2c> Discover more novels at FιndNovel</fn6b2c>
the
family''s meddling had kept those insiders from buying. Outsiders, though, wouldn''t care about the
internal politics. As long as Ste
wanted to sell, there was no
shortage of buyers.
to s
Joshua, however, shook his head. "Right now, The Richards Group is a bottomless pit. Even if you threw five billion into it, I doubt it would fix anything. Better to find a real solution and help him through this crisis."
Ste''s expression grew serious. "With someone like Leonard targeting us, getting out of this won''t be easy. He didn''t end up at the top of his family by luck. He has real power-and a powerful n behind him. I''m not sure we can really go up against him."
Joshua''s fingers, pale and long, rested casually on the steering wheel. His gaze was thoughtful. "If the straightforward approach won''t work, we can always try something less conventional. Didn''t Ray say Israel''s involved this time? Maybe he''s the weak link."
He turned to her, the corners of his lips just barely curving. "You just pulled off the Pearce Group acquisition-everyone''s still talking about it. When you walk into The Williams Group with those original shares, you''ll have plenty of
supporters. Enough to getoe-to-toe with the Williams family. The more power you have the more of a threat you are to them. They''ll do whatever it takes to trip you up-force you into
mistakes, chip away at your reputation, make people lose faith in you." s
He paused, his voice dropping lower. "You''re the neer. Leonard and Israel will see you as harmless-no threat at all. Why not use that to our advantage and hit them where it hurts? The more arrogant they are, the easier it is for us to seed. Who knows..."
Joshua''s smile was sly. "We might even be able to swoop in and pick up the pieces when they least expect it."