Free Web NovelChapter 215: The Billion-Dollar Delusion
"It’s my pleasure to meet you," Von said with a slight smile on his face as they shook hands.
"Likewise," Stan replied.
With the introductions complete, Von resumed his seat while Stan stepped over to Vivian’s desk.
As Vivian sat down as well, Stan’s attention shifted to the documents spread across the desktop.
The top folder contained the finalized talent agreements from the previous evening’s show, the contracts signed overnight by the talents and celebrities who had agreed to join Star Entertainment’s roster.
He began flipping through them with great efficiency.
Seeing something, he couldn’t help but frown.
A moment later, he turned back to the beginning and reviewed them again, this time more slowly.
"Vivian."
"Yes, Sir Stan?"
"Where’s Xenia’s contract?"
A flicker of discomfort crossed her face. It was not guilt but professional unease.
"Madam Chen is reviewing it personally," Vivian explained. "She wanted several additional clauses added before finalization, exclusivity protections, brand integration rights, and a few other provisions she believed were important for someone of Xenia’s profile. The document is currently with her office. I’ve been informed it should be returned this afternoon."
Stan considered that.
On the surface, the explanation was perfectly reasonable.
A senior shareholder taking a personal interest in securing stronger contractual protections for a major acquisition wasn’t unusual.
And the provisions Vivian listed were precisely the sort of clauses that would matter for a streamer with Xenia’s reach and influence.
Even so, something about it felt slightly off.
After the event, during the quiet reception afterward, he had given Vivian a very specific instruction.
Move on Xenia first, move on her fast. Xenia should be Vivian’s priority over the others. Her stuff should’ve been signed by morning, not two days after.
The fact that the contract had been diverted into a more deliberate review process, even by someone as senior as Chen, meant that his instruction had not been followed exactly as given.
He filed the observation away for now. After all, there wasn’t a problem if Mrs. Chen handled this; heck, Xenia might gain additional benefits meant to hook her to Star Entertainment.
There was no point pressing the issue here.
He would raise it directly with Chen during the shareholders’ meeting. As his attention returned to the remaining documents, some of the tension visibly left Vivian’s shoulders.
Apparently, she had been worried he would pursue the matter further.
From the corner of the office, Von apparently decided that Stan’s arrival did not warrant even a temporary interruption to whatever conversation he had been having with his sister.
He simply picked up where he had left off. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Speaking past Stan as though Stan weren’t there at all.
There was a remarkable confidence to it, the kind possessed by a man who had spent so long being treated as important that he could no longer imagine a room in which he wasn’t the most important person present.
"As I was saying before, little sister," Von continued comfortably, "now that I’ve inherited the majority of the Reeves family estate, I can officially claim the title of the richest young tycoon in both Inksea and Velaris City."
He leaned back in his chair. freewebnσvel.cøm
"My net worth is approaching one billion dollars. At that level, I’m fairly certain I could buy out both Star Entertainment and Netflix without breaking a sweat. Honestly, I don’t know why people make such a fuss about these companies."
Stan remained expressionless.
Internally, however, he had to suppress an incredulous laugh.
One billion dollars to buy out Star Entertainment and Netflix.
The mathematical illiteracy required to arrive at that conclusion was almost admirable.
Netflix alone carried a valuation north of three hundred and seventy billion dollars.
Star Entertainment’s valuation hovered around five hundred billion.
The man currently lounging in Vivian’s office was speaking with complete confidence about acquiring either company while possessing less than one percent of the capital required to do so.
And that wasn’t even the most entertaining part.
The claim about being the richest young tycoon in Inksea and Velaris was somehow worse.
Stan’s liquid cash reserves alone had already exceeded one and a half billion dollars.
That was before accounting for his thirty-percent stake in Star Entertainment, valued at roughly one hundred and fifty billion dollars.
Or his forty-percent ownership in Wanhai, worth a comparable amount.
By any objective measurement, Stan Harrison was sitting quietly at the table while Von Reeves enthusiastically explained how he might someday be wealthy enough to enter the building.
Unfortunately for Von, he didn’t know any of that. Very few people did.
Nobody in this office knew the full extent of Stan’s assets except Stan himself. Vivian might have some idea of his influence within Star Entertainment, but even she almost certainly had no concept of the actual numbers involved.
Stan kept his face neutral. There was no value in correcting him.
Correcting a man like Von, someone who had already decided what reality looked like, was generally a waste of breath.
Meanwhile, Von mistook Stan’s silence for attentive interest.
Encouraged, he continued.
"I genuinely don’t understand why you and Sis Lily insist on climbing this corporate ladder nonsense, little sister."
He spread his hands dramatically.
"Imagine having a platter of money placed directly in your lap and then choosing to spend your life buried under paperwork, answering to bosses, attending meetings, and working ridiculous hours."
He shook his head with theatrical bewilderment.
"Such a stressful way to live. I keep telling both of you, there’s a better way."
Vivian’s jaw tightened slightly.
The movement was so small most people would have missed it, but Stan didn’t.
This was clearly not the first time she had heard this speech.
Judging by the expression she was fighting to maintain, it might not even have been the tenth.
She sat perfectly straight behind her desk, maintaining her professional composure through what was obviously a considerable act of self-discipline.
Stan glanced at her, and she glanced back with an apologetic gaze, as she knew her brother speaking like that when Stan was present was very rude.
For a brief moment, an entire conversation passed between them without a word being spoken.
Apology, embarrassment, and resignation.
The look of someone who had been ambushed by family in a professional setting and was painfully aware of how it appeared. What she didn’t know was that Stan took no offense; he found it amusing, even.
Stan gave no indication that he minded.
Then he returned his attention to the documents spread across the desk, without responding, without acknowledging the speech, and without offering a single opinion.
He had always believed that people revealed themselves most accurately when allowed to speak freely.
Von was currently doing an exceptional job of it.
And Stan had no intention of interrupting the performance.
At least not yet.
