Chapter 225 I Won't Let You Go Either
Nathaniel had been itching to mess with Damon, so when James gave the nod, he jumped right in.
Things went south real quick. Damon, John, and the rest were on the ground, getting their butts handed to them.
Larry? He didn't even bother to fight back; just sat there, staring at the sky like he was in some deep thought.
His rage and thirst to take out James were buried under a mountain of despair. A fighter's done for when their Energy Core's toast.
James? He couldn't care less about the chaos. Hopped in his car and took off.
4 PM, Hundred Flowers Bank HQ, conference room.
After two hours of pitching and explaining, Sophie took a breather when the bank execs bounced to another meeting. She downed several cups of water.
She double-checked her stuff for any screw-ups while waiting for Patrick to wrap up the contract.
To nail this $700 million deal, Sophie had prepped like crazy, even turned off her phone to keep distractions at bay.
But she ended up cooling her heels for an hour and a half. Patrick didn't roll in until 5:30.
Sophie was fuming, almost ready to blow her top at Patrick.
She was usually the one making others wait; when had she ever been kept waiting like this?
Compared to Keith, who had his dad's protection, who was Patrick to make her wait?
But for the $700 million and her six-month plan, she forced a smile, greeted him with her lawyer and assistant, and said, "Hey, Mr. Sanders. I'm Sophie. Can we sign the contract now?"
She'd been in talks with Hundred Flowers Bank for a while, and her pitch had gotten mad props from the bank's VP. Her earlier presentation had wowed the risk control team, and all that was left was Patrick's nod.
Patrick didn't even shake her hand; just stared and gave a faint smile.
"Miss Garcia, I'm sorry, but this financing isn't approved. We won't be throwing $700 million at your project, and we're also cutting off our previous collaborations. Oh, and you've been blacklisted by Hundred Flowers Bank. You won't get a dime from us in the future."
Patrick's words were simple but final.
"Not approved? Terminate collaboration? Blacklisted?" Sophie was floored, her face showing pure shock. "Why? You all dug my plan, and our past deals were solid. I've never crossed you."
For this project, Sophie had promised Keith and thrown in all her chips.
She was hell-bent on making it work.
The big screw-up at Morris Antiques made this financing a do-or-die.
But now, Patrick had not only shot her down but also ended their collaboration and blacklisted her, wrecking her.
The Morris Family's name might shield them from being blacklisted by other banks, but for Sophie, this meant she was toast in Keith's eyes.
Talented and beautiful, she hadn't even had the chance to fully show her stuff before it was all over. How could Sophie not be shocked and pissed?
She glared at the indifferent Patrick and screamed, "I want an explanation!"
"An explanation?" Patrick didn't hold back. "Yeah, you pissed off someone you shouldn't have."
Sophie's voice dropped. "Who?"
"Me!"
At that moment, another voice came from the doorway. James strolled in with Samuel.
"You? James?" Sophie was taken aback, then furious. "James, who do you think you are?"
James' appearance was sudden, but she didn't buy that Patrick had ended the deal because of him.
James was just a small-time doc, sneaky but without any real clout. He was a son-in-law living with his wife's family, hardly worth mentioning.
In the past few days, James had been so scared of Sophie that he hid away. Mary got beat up so bad by her that James didn't dare show his face.
Why would Patrick back him up?
"James is a shareholder and board member of BH Pharmaceuticals, my wife's brother, and my good buddy," Patrick said with a mocking grin. "So, what do you think he is?"
The Bashful Flower formula had shown Patrick a goldmine, so he swapped ten percent of his shares with James early on, tying them together tight.
Now, James held eighty percent of BH Pharmaceuticals' shares and ten percent of Hundred Flowers Bank's shares, enough to squash Sophie's financing proposal.
"James is a shareholder of Hundred Flowers Bank? And your good buddy?" Sophie was floored. "How is that even possible?"
She couldn't wrap her head around how a big shot from Rosewood City and a street doc could be so tight.
"Believe it or not, your proposal's toast."
James picked up the agreement on the table, ripped it in half, and tossed it aside.
"Don't get all worked up; this is just the first step of my payback."
He smiled warmly. "You've done so much to The Smith Family; it'd be rude of me not to return the favor."
'The Smith Family? Payback?' she thought.
Sophie let out a sharp laugh, pointing at James in anger and shame. "James, don't act tough in front of me. I don't know what kind of game you and Patrick are playing, but let me tell you, crossing me means crossing our circle and Mr. Morris. Patrick's got his family's shield, but what do you, a doc, have to back you up? You think with one call, I can't have Mr. Bell make you vanish?"
With today's financing flop, her days were gonna be rough, so she didn't mind taking it out on James.
"Mr. Bell? Damon?" James smiled coolly. "I forgot to mention, Damon and John have already been sent back to Stardust City with busted hands and feet. Oh, and Larry, the president of Los Angeles, who's been crippled, has also been booted out of Rosewood City. If you don't believe me, call and check."
He gestured for her to use her phone.
"That's impossible! No way!"
Sophie couldn't believe what James was saying. How could James have taken down Damon and even crippled Larry?
But after dialing a few numbers, sweat started dripping from her forehead, and her face showed pure shock.
Damon and the others had indeed lost, and Larry was indeed crippled.
The rich kids she had invited from afar had all taken hits and slunk back to Stardust City.
The most unbelievable thing had turned into a bloody reality, forcing her to believe it.
"James!" After hanging up the phone, Sophie glared at James, gritting her teeth. "I won't let you get away with this, no way."
James had wrecked her carefully planned proposal and pushed her into a corner. She vowed to wash away today's humiliation.
"That's what I wanted to say too," James said with a smirk. "I won't let you get away with it either."
"We'll meet again." Sophie threw a parting shot at James before storming into the elevator to the parking lot.
She needed to quickly figure out what had happened and report to Keith.
Sophie left her assistant and others behind, jumped into her Maserati, and sped off.
The $300,000 car turned heads, and with Sophie's slick driving skills, it roared and zipped past cars.
A minute later, the Maserati hit an intersection. She tried to brake, but nothing happened.
The brakes had failed.
Cold sweat broke out on Sophie as she instinctively reached for the electronic handbrake.
The handbrake also failed.
Sophie only had time to let out a scream before she crashed straight into a dirt truck.
With a loud bang, the car's roof instantly caved in.
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