Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 241

It wasn't until the family finished dinner that Adrian Mercer asked them what happened.

"What? Owen Lance didn't even see you?

"The nerve of that man."

Ethan Mercer scoffed inwardly. Who do they think they are? Royalty?

He shot his father a look. "Porter Entertainment sent their people yesterday, and they came back empty-handed too, didn't they?"

Sending an inexperienced girl like Mara to negotiate was a guaranteed failure.

"Dad, I saw Mira," Mara said. "She went to the EcoRide office and walked right in. She even had bodyguards with her."

Fiona Quinn chimed in, "Mira seems to have a rather unusual relationship with that company."

Maybe they could use her connections.

Adrian remembered seeing Mira with Owen at the police station, but he had no control over her anymore.

"Leave her out of this," he dismissed.

"Dad, do you think she's got a sugar daddy?"

That was what Mara had been dying to say all along.

"That is absolute garbage.

"What goes through your head all day? Do you think Mira is like you? Wandering around doing nothing?" Ethan snapped.

"Owen is her mentor's student. Did you know that? Why does everything out of your mouth have to be so filthy?"

Ethan couldn't hold back his temper. He refused to sit there and listen to Mara slander his youngest sister.

Mara was the entire reason Mira's relationship with the family was fractured in the first place.

Mara immediately threw herself into Lacey's arms, her face draining of color.

She hadn't expected her oldest brother to yell at her over a simple question. He had never treated her this way before. It was all Mira's fault.

"Ethan, have you lost your mind?" Damon demanded.

"Ethan, what on earth are you doing?

"Mara is just looking out for the family. So what if she misspoke?"

Lacey's eyes burned with fury as she gently rubbed Mara's back.

"She's like this because you spoil her rotten!

"You call that misspelling? She was maliciously framing Mira. It's venomous."

Following Owen's exponential growth model, their next step was total national coverage.

That meant that for every new region they entered, aggressive hiring and intensive training were mandatory.

Once a hub stabilized, that local branch would spearhead the launch of two adjacent territories.

Stabilize, then expand again.

Whichever manager launched a new territory would retain operational control and earn a commission from its revenue.

Tying expansion to direct financial incentives was the only way to motivate the regional heads. Otherwise, no one would put in the grueling hours required to build out a new market.

As the General Manager, Mr. Lance oversaw all the regional hubs.

Moving forward, there would be annual performance rankings among the regions, with massive bonuses for the top three.

But that was a plan for the future.

Some executives argued that the rapid growth was burning through too much capital, risking management bottlenecks and cash flow issues. They advised slowing down.

Owen, however, saw no need for caution.

Every expansion was executed with precision. The pace was blistering, but there hadn't been any major operational failures.

As for the finances, they were funding the war with the spoils of war. The deposits and revenue from their established markets were bankrolling the new ones, keeping their cash flow perfectly healthy.