Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 388: Chapter 182: Rupture

He would actually do it.

"You’re a madman."

Evelyn ground her teeth, forcing the words out.

"Perhaps."

Leo straightened his collar, regaining his composure.

"In a madman’s world, the rules are made by madmen."

"Now, the choice is yours."

Leo walked toward the door.

"Either you do as I demand, propose a new plan, patch that loophole, and turn the system into a genuine service platform where you can earn the commission you deserve."

"Or, we press that red button together."

"And we all go down."

Leo’s hand gripped the doorknob.

"Don’t tell me your team of top Wall Street financial experts can’t even handle something like this."

"Nine o’clock tomorrow morning."

With his back to Evelyn, Leo delivered his ultimatum.

"If I don’t see your solution."

"Then you can just wait for the press conference announcing Pittsburgh’s freeze order."

"Good night, Miss Saint Claude."

Leo’s figure disappeared through the doorway.

...

The atmosphere in the car on the way back was oppressive.

Leo sat in the back seat, his eyes closed, trying to calm his racing heart.

He had just made a huge gamble, pushing all his chips to the center of the table.

’Mr. President,’ Leo asked inwardly, his mental voice trembling.

’Will she compromise?’

’Capitalists are all greedy; they fear loss above all else. I acted so resolutely, so crazily just now. She must have been intimidated, right?’

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind.

This time, his voice lacked its usual certainty.

"Logically, yes."

"In conventional business logic, no one is willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars just to save face. When faced with a madman charging in with a pack of dynamite, the most rational choice is to give him the money and tell him to get lost."

"That’s how Morganfield compromised."

"But..."

Roosevelt’s voice grew hesitant.

"That woman... the way she looked at you wasn’t quite right."

’What wasn’t right about it?’

"She was too calm," Roosevelt analyzed. "When you threatened mutual destruction, there was no fear in her eyes."

"Leo, you need to be mentally prepared."

"Perhaps we’ve hit a brick wall this time."

Leo opened his eyes.

He watched the streetlights fly past the window, the interplay of light and shadow crossing his face.

’What if she doesn’t compromise?’

’If everything is the same at nine o’clock tomorrow morning, do I really have to announce a freeze on the note redemptions?’

Roosevelt was silent for a long time.

"This is the cruelest part of politics, Leo."

"If you make a threat but don’t dare to carry it out, you will lose all deterrent power. Everyone will know you’re a paper tiger, all bark and no bite."

"But if you do carry out the threat and it leads to disastrous consequences, you will have to bear all the responsibility."

"This is a one-way street."

"The moment you walked into that study, you left yourself no room for retreat."

Leo clenched his fists.

’Then let’s see this gamble through to the end.’

A suffocating silence fell over the car, with only the low hum of the engine and the sound of the tires on the pavement echoing in his ears.

Leo leaned back in his seat, his body swaying slightly with the car’s movements.

His heart was still pounding. He closed his eyes and forced himself to take deep breaths.

One, two, three.

The heated feeling of being on the verge of losing control slowly subsided, and reason reclaimed his mind.

He began to review the entire situation.

From the initial concept, to bringing in Saint Claude Capital, to today’s rupture.

Every link, every detail, replayed in his mind.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

’Mr. President.’

Leo suddenly spoke in his mind.

’I want to ask you a question.’

"Ask away," Roosevelt replied.

’When I first established this note platform and brought in Saint Claude Capital as the funding pool...’

Leo paused, then continued, ’Did you anticipate this scene today from the very beginning?’

’Did you know all along that Evelyn would use the system’s loophole to turn on me? Did you know all along that without controls, this so-called win-win alliance would sooner or later become her private colony?’

In the space of his consciousness, a brief silence fell.

"Leo, I am a politician, not a prophet."

Roosevelt finally spoke.

"I don’t have a crystal ball. I couldn’t see on what day and at what time Evelyn would make her move."

"But I do know something called political science."

"Just as water flows downward and apples fall to the ground, in the world of power, no vacuum can exist for long."

"You designed a massive financial system but left a regulatory vacuum. You gave capital immense liquidity but failed to put the bridle of power on it."

"In that case, capital will inevitably try to devour power."

"This doesn’t require prediction; it is an inevitability."

Roosevelt’s voice turned solemn.

"If it weren’t Evelyn today, it would have been Morganfield, or some other financial titan."

"It is the instinct of a beast."

"So, yes, I foresaw the betrayal. I foresaw the backlash."

Leo’s fists tightened. ’Then why didn’t you warn me sooner? Why didn’t you have me plug that loophole from the start? If I had my people intervene earlier, I wouldn’t have had to be in that study, gambling with my life by holding a gun to my own head!’

"Because you wouldn’t have learned otherwise."

Roosevelt cut him off coldly.

"If I had told you to be on your guard against her from the beginning, you would have only treated it as a tactical patch."