From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 432

Chapter 432: The Price of a Personal Touch

The operation to secure the investment in Bobo’s struggling facility was moving with ruthless efficiency. Warma, the lead strategist, had meticulously gone through every single detail that needed to be set up for the imminent meeting with Bobo. Every contingency was planned, every legal loophole reviewed.

Fortunately, the Fortis Group, which served as the operational front for the Billion Bloodline group, maintained an exceptionally high-end, in-house legal department. This crack team of corporate lawyers was immediately merged with the external lawyers Warma was already utilizing for the contract drafting. The resulting combined group was a formidable, top-tier legal team, capable of dissecting and constructing complex investment structures with unparalleled skill.

They weren’t just checking documents, either. This powerful internal legal team was also actively advising Warma on certain structural arrangements and contractual language that would allow Max to move forward with his overarching, secret plan without ever being exposed. Their expertise was crucial, ensuring the contract was ironclad yet palatable to Bobo.

The official proposal had already been sent ahead to Bobo, the owner of the facility, days ago. From the sound of the preliminary negotiations, which had been tense but productive, she was more than happy to accept the terms. This was a massive first step, one foot in the door to controlling the technology and the research.

However, even with the deal essentially agreed upon, there was one significant request that Bobo had made before she would sign the final documents. It was a request that Warma and Max had to seriously consider: she wanted to visit the Chairman of the Billion Bloodline group before closing the deal.

Bobo explained her reasoning: with an investment this critical and the financial turmoil her company was facing, she wanted to get a crucial sense of trust with the person she was handing over a substantial part of her company’s ownership and control to. Now that they had their first major investor, she knew that the Billion Bloodline group would be expecting aggressive results and a return on their capital. In some cases, she felt compelled to comply with the investors’ asks, even if they were unusual. It was a notoriously stricter relationship than any founder would want, which was exactly why many CEOs preferred to avoid seeking investment capital in the first place, fearing loss of control.

Initially, Warma had scrambled, looking for a suitable stand-in for Max. Someone who could convincingly portray the Chairman of the Billion Bloodline group. He even considered using Tim, the current CEO of the Fortis Group, who had the right corporate gravitas. But involving Tim would mean bringing him into the inner circle, cluing him in on the highly sensitive Billion Bloodline business, a secret Max was determined to keep tightly guarded.

In the end, it was Max himself who made the unexpected decision. He realized that this deal was too crucial to his future and his rise to power. He would go and meet Bobo himself.

His first move was to contact Aron, the head of his personal security and logistics, to get a particular set of clothes made. He ordered them from the same high-end tailor who had crafted his previous suits, outfits designed not just for fashion, but for the subtle projection of wealth and absolute authority.

While Max was waiting for the tailor’s perfect finished product to be delivered, he asked Aron to arrange an entirely different kind of meeting: a session with a very specific person who might be able to give him a necessary edge and quite a bit of valuable insight into his opponent. That person was Chad Stern.

"How about if you don’t tell me what you know, I cut your allowance entirely?" Max shot back instantly, his tone flat and without a hint of humor.

Chad paused, trying to articulate the complexity of his sister’s mind. "He would say that she thought too much about the risks. On paper, nearly every new business venture is determined to fail due to the odds. But that was the thing: Bobo was never one to take those necessary risks, always thinking things would inevitably fail if the odds were even slightly against her. The only reason she’s doing what she’s doing now, pouring money into a long-shot research venture, was because my grandfather constantly pushed her to be bolder, to stop over-analyzing the danger."

Max mentally cataloged the information. This was an incredibly good insight to have. He and Warma might be able to use this information to sort out exactly how to convince Bobo if it came down to a negotiation deadlock. They knew she hated risk, so they needed to make the investment appear as the safest, most logical option available.

"There is one more thing I would say to be careful of," Chad added, leaning in conspiratorially. "Bobo will listen to our mother quite a lot. She seems to follow what her mother says and does as she asks. For me, I was always a rebel, a lost cause, so Mother never even bothered with me."

He shrugged, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "But she was always strict with Bobo, as she was designated to be her rising star to take after her, the perfect daughter. So I will say one thing, Max: if you’re dealing with Bobo, you’re not just dealing with her. You’re dealing with two members of the Stern family."