10x Cashback: Your Wealth Is Mine

47  This Is War

The next morning, I prepared for war, putting on my best suit.

It was time to put my money where my mouth is.

I walked through the doors of Abstract Capital, Oliver's venture capital firm, like a man with a plan. And I had one.

I needed to bleed Oliver of as much cash as I could. I might not be able to get Sunset Inn a valuation of five hundred million but I definitely won't go less than three hundred and fifty.

Back to Abstract Capital, they had me wait in the lobby for a few minutes before someone came to escort me upstairs. I had half expected Oliver to keep me waiting for longer just to play mind games but that was not the case. Maybe he just wanted to get this battle over with.

When I reached his office, Oliver greeted me with the kind of polite nod that had everything but friendliness. He'd had time to calm down and think through our little arrangement. He's trying to find ways to get out of this and he definitely wasn't going to make things easy for me.

And this was exactly what I had been expecting. A war, not a massacre.

"Mr. Voss." We shook hands.

"Mr. Adams." I grinned at him.

I could tell that he had already dismissed any line of thought of me being related to the Voss family. After all, a Voss won't be scrambling around for 'chicken change' like I was.

"Have a seat." He said, gesturing to the chair opposite his desk before sitting down behind the desk on a chair that somehow managed to look like a throne.

I nodded, taking my seat. I kept my posture as relaxed as possible. This was where the real work began.

In Monaco, I'd gotten him to agree verbally. But this was where the real war will begin.

"Good to see you, Mr. Voss." He said with a straight face. "I'm glad we could meet again and move forward with your idea. Shall we go over the specifics?"

I nodded, flashing him a confident smile. "Absolutely. Let's get down to it."

He pressed a button on his desk and an assistant appeared almost instantly as if she'd been waiting outside. She set down a thick folder on Oliver's desk before excusing herself.

Oliver opened the folder, flipping through a few pages and then turned it around for me to see, one finger tapping on a particular clause. He was wasting no time.

"This agreement is contingent on several points of interest. For a venture of this nature and with the level of risk involved, I believe the stake I'm asking for is fair." He paused. "Forty percent for the one hundred million I'm bringing in."

I raised an eyebrow, chuckling as if he'd made a ridiculous error. "Thirty percent?" I asked, turning the chuckle into a laugh. I shook my head. "Oliver, come on. You and I both know that's a hard no."

He kept his expression neutral but his eyes flashed with annoyance. I could tell that the fact that I had called him by name had gotten to him.

"It's not unreasonable, Nico." He used my first name too. "This is a fair offer, considering that I'll be shouldering a significant portion of the financial risk."

I leaned back in my chair like it was actually my office and not his.

"Risk?" I scoffed. "You won't even be shouldering half of the financial responsibility for Sunset Inn."

Calling it a risk was a clever move on his part but we were both still dancing around the main battlefield. It wasn't time. Not yet.

"I'm not here to cut off pieces of my company until there's nothing left, Oliver. But since I like you, I'll give you fifteen percent for a hundred and twenty million."

It was his turn to scoff. "Let's not waste each other's time here, Nico. We both know that you need my money to get Sunset Inn off the ground. Without it, you'll be spending the next two years chasing down investors, and that's if you're lucky."

"And?" I raised a brow like an amused father schooling his son.

"What do you want, Nico?"

I grinned, leaning forward. "Twenty percent, Oliver. That's as high as I'll go."

This time, he laughed in my face. "Twenty percent? Ha! You're putting such a high price on a tower of glass. Just one throw of a stone and it'll shatter." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

I raised a brow, grinning. "Are you sure about that? I've heard that all those judges at the forum were full of shit."

He sat there silently, staring at me as he debated his next move. After a few seconds, he made a decision.

"You know," he leaned forward, "I still stand by my statement in Monaco."

He watched me carefully but I left my expression blank, not giving anything away. We had finally gotten to the main battlefield. He'd been throwing his offers to prepare for this moment. The place where he'd try to ditch me and my company. I wasn't about to allow that to happen.

"You have an untested brand that cannot compete with the industry giants. You have nothing to offer and you will definitely fail." He paused. "Sunset Inn. Appropriately named. Because this venture will not see the light of day."

Silence filled the office as we both stared at each other, both blank faced. Then, he leaned forward, lowering his voice.

"This was doomed to fail from the beginning, Nico. That is why I will be withdrawing my investment." He smiled like he had just discovered the secret to the mysteries of the universe.

"You can blackmail me all you want but let me lay out your options for you. If what you saw gets out, I have no reason to give you what you want. And if that happens, I'll hound you to the ends of the earth, making sure any business you get involved in going forward doesn't see the light of day."

"And for a… less painful option, you can keep quiet and leave. I keep my money and you forget what you saw. You get to seek out other investors in peace. Isn't that better?"

"So, which is it, Nico? Which path do you choose? The easy way or the hard way?"

I spent a few seconds watching and letting him enjoy his 'victory' before bursting his bubble.

"Is that it?"

"What?" He asked, surprised. He hadn't expected this response.

I sighed like a disappointed father. "Let me lay down what your actual options are, Oliver. You see, I don't need to take all this to the press. Only one man needs to know about it." I paused before whispering theatrically. "Your father."

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face at the terror that suddenly appeared in his eyes.

I'm going to enjoy this.