Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Her Spirit is Terrifyingly Strong
"President Grant is in the hospital? What happened to him?"
"President Grant hasn’t been well recently. He’s been drinking and staying up late every night. Then with what happened today, he got an earful from leaders at every level. He collapsed right after the press conference. The doctor said he has low blood pressure, erosive gastritis, a duodenal ulcer... All in all, he’s in very bad shape right now."
Zeke Walton rushed to the hospital.
Seeing Shane Grant lying unconscious on the hospital bed, his face pale, Zeke’s heart shattered into a million pieces.
They hadn’t seen each other in two months. How had he gotten so thin!
Zeke Walton waited by the bed for over an hour, but Shane Grant didn’t wake up.
Seeing that he had no intention of leaving anytime soon, the assistant spoke up hesitantly.
"Mr. Walton, since you’re here to stay with him, would you mind if I stepped out to handle something else?"
"The doctor said President Grant needs to be hospitalized for a while to rest. I was thinking of going back to his place to get him a change of clothes."
Having just cared for him in the hospital recently, Zeke Walton was all too familiar with the routine.
’This is a good chance to atone for my sins and ease my guilt,’ he thought, standing up.
"You’ve had a tough time recently, too. You sit here and rest. I’ll go."
Soon, Zeke Walton drove to the Grant family home.
Inside the Grant home, Cecelia Archer, oblivious to the goings-on of the world, was building blocks with her two innocent children.
When she saw him come in, pale and dejected, Cecelia Archer immediately knew something was wrong.
"Zeke, what are you doing here? What’s the matter? Are you not feeling well?"
"No."
Zeke Walton glanced at the two children and spoke softly to Cecelia Archer.
"It’s Shane. He’s sick. The doctor said he needs to be hospitalized for a few days to rest. I came to get him a change of clothes."
’He’s sick? What’s wrong with him?’
’No wonder he’s barely called since he left on his business trip. So he was sick!’
Zeke Walton didn’t want to tell Cecelia Archer the truth, but on second thought, with the Grant Group in such dire straits, her plans to take the children abroad would probably have to be postponed. She would have to find out sooner or later.
The two of them went upstairs.
After listening to Zeke Walton’s explanation, the color drained from Cecelia Archer’s face.
"So that’s it? Is there any way to salvage this?"
Zeke Walton shook his head. "No. I heard from the assistant that the Grant Group’s funds are extremely tight right now. Five billion was sunk into that worthless plot of land. The pressure from the daily bank loan payments alone is immense, not to mention the Vaughn Group is already in the process of acquiring those 500 acres. Even if the Grant Group had the money to fight for it, we couldn’t win."
Cecelia Archer looked at his face intently. After he finished speaking, she pressed him.
"Why couldn’t we win? To your knowledge, did the Vaughn Group offer them some kind of uniquely exclusive terms?"
Zeke Walton was surprised that Cecelia Archer could even ask such a question after hearing his pessimistic description.
He didn’t know whether to call her naive or bold.
"Why are you asking that?"
Cecelia Archer said, "I just want to understand the situation clearly. Can you explain it to me in detail? Why couldn’t we beat the Vaughn Group even if we had the funds? They haven’t signed the final contract yet, have they? If we offered a higher price or more generous terms in other areas, how can you be so sure we definitely couldn’t win?"
Zeke Walton actually couldn’t be sure. He just hadn’t dared to hope.
’This is the Vaughn Group we’re talking about.’
He had never imagined anyone could win a fight against Damien Vaughn.
"Cecelia, you can’t be thinking of competing with the Vaughn Group for that land, can you? Don’t be ridiculous. Not only do you not have that kind of money, but even if you did, you’ve never handled a project this big..."
"I haven’t, but Shane has. He just has gastritis; he’ll be out of the hospital soon. As long as he doesn’t give up, and as long as the Vaughn Group’s contract isn’t signed, we still have a chance to turn things around, don’t we?"
At that moment, Zeke Walton finally understood why Damien Vaughn and Shane Grant, two exceptionally brilliant men, were both fighting over this woman.
He used to think it was because of her beauty.
Now he saw that her spirit was terrifyingly strong.
Zeke Walton forgot all about getting the clothes and hurriedly pulled Cecelia Archer down to sit.
"Sit down. Let’s talk this through properly."
"You’re right. The Vaughn Group’s contract isn’t signed yet, so we do still have a chance to turn this around, but only if we have money. And the Grant Group can’t spare a single cent right now."
This idea was just something Cecelia Archer had dreamed up. She didn’t know if it was actually feasible, but she told Zeke Walton anyway.
"A while ago, when I was resting at home, I overheard someone reporting to Shane. Some smaller real estate companies were in difficult situations and wanted to be acquired by the Grant Group, but his attention was on me at the time, so he shelved the proposal."
"Could we do this: unite all the real estate companies in Veridia—except for Vaughn Properties—and have them all contribute funds to register a new company, then use that company’s name to compete with the Vaughn Group for the land?"
’What a wild idea.’
’Unite all the real estate companies in Veridia and form a new company to compete with the Vaughn Group?’
’Is she thinking there’s strength in numbers?’
’It’s too audacious.’
"Cecelia, I can’t say your idea is a complete pipe dream with zero chance of success, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to implement?"
"There are so many real estate companies in Veridia. Are you going to lobby them one by one? Is there even enough time? Besides, they’ve always been competitors with the Grant Group. Why would they listen to you?"
After he finished, Cecelia Archer replied with a serious expression.
"As long as the returns we can offer are substantial enough, they’ll see it as an investment. I believe no businessperson could resist that. It’s better to try than to just sit here and wait to die."
Seeing this seemingly fragile woman speak such words with such a resolute gaze and a firm tone, Zeke Walton was suddenly moved.
’Yeah, what’s the difference between giving up without even trying and being a good-for-nothing coward just waiting for the end?’
’But...’
"Shane is in bad shape right now, time is tight, and neither of us has any experience..."
Cecelia Archer said, "I remember Grandpa Vaughn mentioning a similar case before. I’ll go look up the details now and try to draft the terms of return for joining the new company as quickly as possible. Shane saved my life and Candy’s. I can’t just reap the benefits without giving anything back. Maybe now is the perfect time for me to repay him."
’She’s going to be the one to do this?’ Zeke Walton was startled.
"No, no, no, you absolutely cannot get involved. Damien’s cold-bloodedness is beyond anything you or I can imagine. The moment he finds out you’re not dead, he won’t let you go."
Cecelia Archer had already "died" once. Now, she was afraid of nothing.
"Then let him come. I have nothing to be afraid of."
"If he’s convinced I did that thing and refuses to let me go, my death is only a matter of time. Rather than wait for him to drive Shane to his death and then die passively myself, I’d rather go out with a bang."
"If that day truly comes, I won’t let him off easy either. Before I die, I’ll expose his true colors to the world and make sure the Vaughn Group suffers a massive blow, too."
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