Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 698

"Luna insisted on going! What was I supposed to do?"

"So if she tells you to jump, you jump? Don't you have a brain? Letting a child dictate your actions!"

Richard yelled, gesturing wildly at her.

"Mom, if you're going to pull a stunt like that, at least run it by me first! You just marched over there to cause trouble without saying a word?

And if you're going to start a fight, at least win! But you went there and got your asses handed to you!

Do you have any idea what people are saying about you right now?"

Lawrence roared.

"They're saying you're vicious but pathetically weak. You tried to throw your weight around and got pummeled instead.

You've dragged the Lance family's reputation through the mud, the stocks have tanked, and you've made my job ten times harder!"

At that moment, Lawrence's phone rang. It was Jude Vance.

"Enough. The damage is done, let's leave it at that. Get over here and get to work."

Lawrence then turned to Richard. "Dad, have someone keep an eye on Mom and Luna. Don't let them cause any more trouble. I have work to do."

He couldn't let this disaster derail his plans with Jude.

"You... Lawrence, you don't trust me?"

Lady Lilian stared at her son in disbelief.

"Mom, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that you can't control yourself. You let Luna pull your strings way too easily."

After issuing his warnings at home, Lawrence headed straight to Jude's villa.

It was a property owned by the Lance family, provided by Lawrence when Jude arrived in the city.

When elites from prestigious backgrounds traveled out of town for business, they loathed staying in hotels unless they had complete control over the environment.

The privacy was atrocious; one misstep, and your every move was being watched by rivals.

That was why they preferred renting private estates over the convenience of hotels, clubs, or resorts.

"Everything handled at home?"

Jude asked as soon as Lawrence walked in.

"It's handled. Sorry you had to see that."

Lawrence said with a self-deprecating scoff.

"It's nothing. People are unpredictable. But with your mother acting like this, you'd better hire someone to keep an eye on her."

"Do you really think they'll bite?"

"They will. Throw enough money at someone, and they'll fold. As long as we offer a massive commission, they won't say no.

Especially Lucian 'The Ink' North. He's our prime target."

Jude said with absolute certainty.

"Lucian North?"

Lawrence's eyes widened in shock.

"Not him. You'll never poach him.

He's more stubborn than a mule and harder than stone.

You don't know this, but he used to be an employee of our company before they snatched him up.

And from what I know, the people at Solflare Entertainment rarely jump ship."

"If we can't get Lucian, fine. We don't need all of them anyway. If we can poach half—no, even a third of their core team, that's enough. What we need is their strategic framework.

Then we can acquire some other financial firm and just use them as consultants."