Ste paused at Joshua''sment. To be honest, she''d never paid much attention


    to what Wilbur looked like. It was like she knew him, but she couldn''t form a concrete image of his face in her mind.


    Prompted by Joshua, Ste gave it some thought. Wilbur was indeed decent- looking.


    She recalled that when Abby was hiring a bodyguard, she had mentioned wanting to find someone handsome. Due to her profession, Abby had a soft spot for attractive people. Ste hadn''t thought much of it at the time.


    Hearing Joshua bring it up so suddenly, Ste took a few seconds to respond. "...I guess so."


    Joshua''s gaze darkened as he looked at her from under hisshes. "You guess so?"


    Ste didn''t understand why Joshua was so focused on Wilbur''s appearance. She asked, "You don''t think so?"


    Joshua fell silent.


    After a few seconds, he changed the subject. "How have you been these past six months?"


    Ste''s grip on her ss tightened slightly. "I''ve been fine. Everything on my end... has been going smoothly."


    She swirled the ss in her hand unconsciously, wanting to thank him but finding the words stuck in her throat. Being around Joshua now didn''t feel awkward, but... inexplicably tense. She didn''t know where the tension wasing from. It felt like being a student waiting for a teacher to grade their homework.


    "I''ve mostly handled things with the Gardner family," Joshua said. "I can stay in Solmaris for a while and finalize the partnership with The Williams Group."


    Ste looked at him. "Are you really going to partner with The Williams Group?"


    As if reading her mind, Joshua exined, "The Gardner Group has been stagnant for years, too focused on a single industry. It''s time to seek external growth. The rumors about the Gardner family aren''t aren''t great right now, which has scared off many potential partners. To expand, we first need to entice coborators with sufficient benefits. Offering a sweetheart deal is the best option at the moment."


    He said it casually, but Ste knew that a massive, favorable deal like this wasn''t something you offered lightly. Even if the Williams family knew Joshua''s rtionship with them was strained even if they suspected it was a trap, they couldn''t possibly refuse. It was simply too tempting.


    "However..." Joshua''s tone shifted, his deep gazending on her face. "Once this


    deal is done, you''ll be Jonathan''s biggest threat. Star, are you ready for that?"


    Currently, Ste had about forty


    percent of the support within The Williams Group. With Skyler''s backing, Jonathan had sixty percent. Not long ago, Ste had secured a partnership with the Quinn family. Now, with this major deal from Joshua, her support within The Williams Group would be enough to rival Jonathan''s.


    When it came to profits, everyone was on the same page. The shareholders were pragmatic; they would support whoever could make them money.


    In just over a year, Ste had achieved so much that her supporters were raking in profits and grinning from ear to ear. They would even take jabs at Skyler''s supporters from time to time.


    This was quietly changing how a lot of shareholders who weren''t hardcore Skyler loyalists thought about things. They were starting to think that Ste had more potential than Jonathan.


    As for how Ste got her deals..... whether she snatched them, they were gifts from her admirers, or just in luck...