The office was quiet, the only sound being the soft, steady hum of the air conditioning. Jake sat behind the heavy oak desk, his eyes moving slowly across the data displayed on three separate tablets. These reports had nothing to do with Julian Sterling or the current chaos in the markets. Instead, they were the internal deep-dives from the five CEOs he had met earlier—the raw mechanics of the diverse industries he now controlled.
One tablet showed the occupancy rates and seasonal booking projections for the Hotel chain. Another listed the inventory and craft grain supply costs for the Brewery, followed by a status report on the upcoming exhibition schedule for the Gallery.
The third tablet was split between the performance metrics of the restaurant and the development roadmap for the tech subsidiary. It was practical, grounded work—the actual business of running companies, far removed from the predatory games of the stock market.
