Chapter 474 Frederick's Intention to Dominate
Frederick finally found a moment to chat with Amelia, but he really didn't want Anna butting in.
He reluctantly put down his phone.
Suddenly, his other phone lit up with a message from Nancy.
Nancy: [Mr. Hastings, thanks for helping me out tonight.]
Before this, Nancy had sent a few other messages, including a link to a website. It was a quote sheet she wanted Frederick to check out to see if it met Kasfee's market standards.
To bait her, Frederick knowingly clicked on the sketchy link. The link was well-made and did have a quote sheet, but Frederick knew that clicking it would infect his phone with a Trojan virus. Now, his phone was under surveillance. Any messages he sent or calls he made were being monitored. This was why he hadn't reached out to Amelia lately.
Frederick typed a quick reply: [No problem.]
Nancy, keeping an eye on her phone, raised an eyebrow at Frederick's short response. She opened her laptop and started digging through Frederick's phone activity for the day. It was clear that most of his interactions were work-related, and he hadn't posted any social updates in a while, with the last one being a photo of a kid from a couple of weeks ago.
Because of Frederick's privacy settings, Nancy hadn't seen his updates before. Now, with full access, she scrolled through his history, but soon all the updates about the kid disappeared, leaving only financial info. Confused, Nancy stared at the screen, scrolling and re-entering, but found nothing else.
Layla walked in, looking curious. "So, how's the chat with Frederick going?"
Nancy, sipping her coffee, smiled casually. "It's not that easy. Frederick's pretty cold; he won't make a decision quickly."
Layla's face turned a bit worried. She whined, "After Amelia's drama tonight, I reached out to a few business partners, and they don't seem interested in working with us anymore. It's all Amelia's fault."
Nancy's face turned a bit icy. Thinking about how Amelia had splashed wine on her in front of everyone, her expression darkened. She snapped, "Isn't this on you? Who told you to invite her up?"
"I wanted her to see how well you and Frederick were getting along, hoping she'd back off. Who knew she'd cause such a scene?" Layla mumbled, rubbing her temples.
Thinking about how the business partners' attitudes had done a complete 180, avoiding them like the plague, Layla felt a pang of regret.
She continued, "Snatching some projects from Rachel won't be easy. This time we contacted them privately, and..."
Nancy cut her off. "Don't sweat those business partners. With this, we won't have to worry about them not wanting to work with us in the future. A bunch of short-sighted fools."
As she said, she pulled up a document containing the Hastings Group's plan for the West Suburb Project from the chat records of Frederick and Felix. Layla's eyes widened as she read through the plan, her excitement growing.
"Nancy, how did you get this plan?" she asked awe in her voice.
Nancy, knowing Layla's tendency to slip up, replied cautiously. "With my skills, getting a plan is no big deal. But keep this between us for my safety, okay?"
Layla nodded quickly. "You're my daughter; I'd never put you in danger. I won't say a word."
Satisfied, Nancy turned the laptop screen towards Layla, who examined the plan closely, her excitement palpable.
"We should increase our investment," Layla suggested eagerly. "If we invest more now, we could secure a stronger position in the project."
Thinking about securing their position in Kasfee and maintaining their business in Yaradia, Layla felt no threat from Charles or Rachel. Moreover, Marcus Seymour would have surely recognized her abilities and allowed her into the royal family in Yaradia.
Nancy, however, remained much calmer. "Increase by ten percent."
Layla was taken aback. "Just ten percent? We have eighty percent of our funds available. If we invest more, we could rank third in this project and have more leverage. Frederick plans to invest a large sum; what are you worried about?"
Nancy gave Layla a cold look and said sternly, "We can't put all our funds into one project. Mom, you should know better."
Layla's eyes darkened slightly. "Frederick's multiple rounds of funding are designed to dilute other shareholders' stakes. If we join late with less money, we'll be marginalized. Right now, we don't have a better project, do we?"
Nancy listened to Layla's words, stayed silent for a while, and realized Layla had a point. This project was sure to be profitable, and Frederick's multiple rounds of funding likely aimed to monopolize it. Realizing Frederick's intention to dominate, Nancy's resolve to invest only ten percent wavered.
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