Chapter 233
At the Mercer estate, Ethan filled Adrian in. “Word is, Porter Entertainment’s people visited EcoRide today p>
“Did they make a deal p>
“Judging by how they looked walking out, I doubt it p>
Adrian sighed heavily. “Who would have thought a simple bicycle business could explode like this? I hear they’ve already expanded across half of Mavaria p>
At this rate, they would dominate the entire nation.
Adrian mulled it over. “Ethan, make some time to visit this Mr. Lance. Buy them out if you can. If not, secure an equity stake p>
Eating fruit nearby, Mara caught the name “Mr. Lance.” The image of the tall, strikingly handsome man immediately flashed in her mind.
“Dad, Ethan,” she chimed in smoothly, “I actually know Mr. Lance. Why don’t you let me go negotiate with him p>
Ethan was about to scoff and tell her she wouldn’t even make it past the front desk, but Adrian beat him to it.
“Oh? When did you meet him, Mara p>
Mara smiled sweetly. “I don’t remember the exact date, but we’re acquainted p>
She certainly wasn’t going to admit she had seen him at the police station.
“Our Mara is so well-connected,” Lacey praised. In her eyes, her precious daughter could do no wrong.
“But you have zero business experience,” Adrian noted, unconvinced.
Mara sidled up to her father, wrapping her arms around his and resting her head against his shoulder. “Dad, please let me try. I’ll learn as I go. Practice makes perfect!” Her voice was drenched in a sickeningly sweet tone.
Adrian hesitated, then finally nodded. “Alright. Consider this a training exercise p>
He paused before adding, “Take Fiona with you. Your godmother has plenty of experience p>
Ethan rolled his eyes at the display, shook his head, and headed upstairs.
Meanwhile, inside the CEO’s office at Porter Entertainment.
The building was empty save for Mr. Porter and his two assistants.
“What did you say? They turned down two hundred million? Who the hell do they think they are p>
“Exactly, sir. Incredibly arrogant. They flat-out refused our investment offer. Do they not realize having Porter Entertainment’s backing makes them untouchable p>
Mr. Porter’s expression darkened. “Dig deeper into this Owen Lance. Who is he?” “We already ran a background check, Boss.
He’s not a local. All we know is he’s closely tied to Mira Mercer and a martial arts instructor at Vigor Square. They treat each other as mentor and protégé. We couldn’t find anything else p>
“Allen,” Mr Porter murmured, “during that ambush attempt… wasn’t this Lance guy with Mira? You don’t suppose he had something to do with the disappearance of our fourteen men, do you p>
Mr. Porter’s eyes narrowed into predatory slits.
If that was the case, they were dealing with a serious threat.
“What’s our next move, Boss?” the other assistant asked.
“Schedule another meeting. Increase the offer if you have to p>
If they still refused, he wouldn’t hold back.
“Could we launch our own bike-sharing platform p>
“That’s a last resort,” Mr. Porter dismissed. “They have the first-mover advantage. They’ve established brand loyalty and secured the initial wave of profits.
Unless we offer something vastly
superior, we’ll bleed money trying to
compete p>
“I hear there are still several provincial capitals completely untapped p>
“They already have a well-oiled machine. They’re aggressively hiring and training.
By the time we finalize a business model, they’ll have monopolized the entire market p>
“What about smaller counties p>
“If there was money in rural counties, they would be there already. The infrastructure
and traffic management are too chaotic to sustain it p>
“Brilliant insight, Boss p>
After strategizing a bit longer, they prepared to leave.
Suddenly, Mr. Porter paused. “Allen, tell Norman to pull some strings and get Mara
Mercer a job at the Mercer Group p>
“A job? But she’s still in school p>
“She’s a pawn. What does her education matter?
If Mira can run a business while studying, why can’t she?
Tell her to weave her way into Adrian and Ethan’s good graces. She’ll be highly
useful to me later p>