Inside a glass-walled conference room overlooking the city skyline, Olivia and Jason were already deep in discussion.
The door burst open.
Ethan rushed in, breathing heavily, his tie crooked. He slammed a thick document onto the table.
"I've thought of every possible way to deal with Golden Crown Commerce," he said urgently. "But with my limited resources, I can't actually hurt them."
Jason picked up the document, flipped through a few pages at random—then casually tossed it back onto the table, not bothering to read further.
Ethan froze.
His expression stiffened, irritation flashing across his face."You might be powerful, Jason, but you should at least listen to someone who's been fighting them for years."
Jason raised an eyebrow, calm as ever."Don't misunderstand. I'm not looking down on your experience."
He paused, then added flatly,"Your plans are just too gentle. Too slow. I don't have the patience for that."
Ethan was about to retort when Jason glanced at Olivia.
She immediately understood and spoke up.
"Mr. Ethan, let me briefly outline my young master's plan for you. Phase one consists of three steps."
"First—a price war.""Second—brand poaching.""Third—public opinion pressure."
She spoke evenly, as if reading from a presentation.
"For the price war, we'll launch a parallel-import luxury business. Same brands, same products—but priced 30% lower than those sold in Golden Crown's malls."
"Wait. Wait. WAIT."
Ethan raised both hands, stopping her mid-sentence. His scalp tingled.
"Thirty percent lower prices?" he said incredulously."And a two-billion-dollar subsidy?"
He exclaimed."NextEdge Retail's total market value is only four billion! And you're telling me this is just the first phase?"
Subsidizing half a company's valuation was pure madness.
Jason smiled faintly."That's NextEdge Retail's valuation," he said calmly. "Not my limit."
Ethan went numb.
So you spend four billion to buy the company… then casually throw in another two billion? And that's nothing to you?
Olivia added calmly,"It's a maximum allocation, not a guaranteed burn. Golden Crown may not even last long enough for us to use all of it."
She continued without pause.
"Second—brand poaching. We'll privately negotiate with luxury and high-end brands currently stationed in Golden Crown's malls."
"We'll offer them lower commission rates, direct digital marketing support, and traffic guarantees—encouraging partial or full withdrawal from Golden Crown locations."
"This is similar to how Tmall Global once attracted top-tier brands during its expansion phase."
"Third—public opinion."
"We'll coordinate with financial media to release analysis reports highlighting Golden Crown's debt pressure, outdated digital structure, and declining offline efficiency."
"The goal is to suppress their stock price and restrict their financing channels."
By the time Olivia finished, Ethan felt lightheaded.
Was the strategy clever?
Yes—very.
But the truly terrifying part wasn't the plan itself.
It was the fact that Jason could actually execute it.
Every step required obscene capital, top-tier connections, and absolute confidence.
No wonder Jason said Ethan's proposal was "too mild."Calling it rudimentary wouldn't have been wrong.
Ethan swallowed hard—then immediately switched gears.
"If that's the case," he said quickly, "then Golden Crown's weak points are actually here and here…"
Having fought Golden Crown for years, Ethan knew their structure inside out. Once he stopped thinking like a victim and started thinking like Jason, ideas poured out rapidly.
The meeting atmosphere shifted completely.
Meanwhile, at the Will family estate.
Daniel Will sat in his study, brows knitted tightly as he listened to a report.
"What's going on with Eric?" he asked slowly."Why did he suddenly cut ties with us—even at the cost of giving up profits?"
The manager shook his head."We tried asking him directly. He refused to explain."
Daniel leaned back slightly, unease stirring in his chest.
Strictly speaking, the Will family didn't have deep cooperation with Eric's group. Cutting ties shouldn't have caused much damage.
And yet—
For reasons he couldn't explain,Daniel Will felt that something was quietly shifting beneath the surface.
Like calm water hiding a rising tide.
What unsettled Daniel Will the most wasn't the loss of cooperation—it was the strangeness of the Victor family's reaction.
It felt as if the Victor family knew something he didn't.
Daniel immediately took out his phone and called the head of the Victor family. At first, the response he received was one of genuine confusion. Eric's father sounded just as puzzled and even said she would try to persuade her son.
But after less than half an hour, the call came back.
This time, his attitude had completely changed.
He calmly told Daniel that her son had his own considerations, that he was already an adult, and that the family respected his decision.
That answer made Daniel's heart sink.
Something was very wrong.
If the Victor family was truly ignorant, they wouldn't change their stance so abruptly. This wasn't hesitation—it was withdrawal.
Daniel couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong, no matter how much he replayed recent events in his head. The unease in his chest kept growing.
Without delay, he called his son Evan and then convened an emergency family meeting.
At Riverside University, Evan hadn't left campus yet.
When he spotted Clara heading toward her next class, he followed again.
Evan had been with countless women, but ironically, his "skills" were almost nonexistent. Or rather—he had never needed any.
Growing up, his approach had always been simple: money.
Why bother with finesse when you could just throw resources at the problem?
If some actors relied on talent, Evan relied entirely on capital.
At this moment, he had no idea how badly his strategy had already failed. All Clara felt toward him was pure disgust.
Even if his approach had been flawless, it wouldn't have mattered.
Clara was aloof by nature and difficult to approach. And once she developed feelings for someone, it was almost impossible for another man to replace that position.
Her affection for Jason Carter had already exceeded eighty back when they were in Bay City.
Seeing Evan approaching again, Clara frowned and instinctively quickened her pace, pulling Lily along. But they still couldn't avoid him.
Just as Evan stepped forward to stop her—
Two tall, broad-shouldered men suddenly appeared, moving like shadows. They stood in front of Evan, blocking his path completely, their presence oppressive like an iron wall.
Evan froze for a split second before snapping,"Who the hell are you? Do you know who I am?"
The two men ignored him entirely.
Instead, they turned to Clara and spoke in a steady, respectful tone.
"Clara, we are Mr. Carter's bodyguards. We've been assigned to ensure your safety."
They had indeed been sent by Jason.
First, because Evan had targeted Clara specifically to retaliate against him—she was dragged into this because of Jason.
Second, Clara had signed a contract with him. Two-thirds of her future piano income belonged to Jason. From a purely business standpoint, she was a protected asset.
Jason wouldn't allow anyone to damage his assets in advance.
Hearing that they were Jason's people, Clara's guard immediately lowered. A trace of warmth flickered across her usually distant expression.
Clara: Favorability +2 (80 → 82)
She looked at Evan calmly and said,"Mr Will, there's no need to bother anymore. To be honest—I'm already Jason's woman."
With that, she turned and left, escorted by the bodyguards.
She said this deliberately—to completely cut off Evan's thoughts.
She didn't dislike being called Jason's woman at all. Even if it caused misunderstandings, she didn't reject the idea.
Before, she hadn't said it because she didn't want to use Jason as a shield. It would have been too presumptuous to make Jason and Evan enemies because of her words alone.
But now, it was different.
Jason had already stepped in. He was already Evan's enemy.
That concern no longer existed.
It feels really good… being protected by him.
Clara: Favorability +1 (82 → 83)
Evan stood there, stunned.
Then, in fury, he crushed the cigarette in his hand against the ground.
Love and innocence had long vanished from his world. But after meeting Clara—this cold, untouchable girl—he had felt something close to possessiveness.
What he never expected… was that even she had been taken by Jason.
For the first time, Evan felt jealousy.
Though he had countless women around him, none of them compared to the quality of those surrounding Jason. Even when his women were beautiful, they all carried a worldly sharpness—nothing like Clara's clean, untouched aura.
"So Jason sent bodyguards…" Evan sneered darkly."That means he already knows everything."
"Very well. There's no need to hide it anymore."
"My score with him… has only just begun."
Just then, his phone rang.
Evan answered it—and within seconds, his expression changed dramatically.
Without another glance toward the dormitory, he turned and left in a hurry.
An emergency family meeting was never called without reason.
Something big… was about to happen.
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