The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 80

80. The Giant’s Counterattack (4)

When Sean Luke visited Chicago, he was greeted by a record-breaking cold wave.

The JP Morgan employee who was supposed to escort him from the airport was stuck in traffic due to the snow and couldn’t make it. He barely managed to get a taxi with tire chains at an inflated price and arrived at the hotel.

“Haa…”

A long sigh escaped his lips, forming a white cloud. He looked up and saw the hotel sign.

[Chicago Hilton Hotel]

The meeting place was the Chicago Hilton Hotel.

‘Hilton or not, it’s damn cold.’

Winter in New York was nothing compared to winter in Chicago. In the dead of winter in Chicago, a coat felt almost useless. Of course, despite that, the fashionable still chose coats over practical padded jackets.

‘You really need a goose down parka here.’

Sean Luke frowned and stepped into the hotel lobby.

“Checking in?”

The check-in counter employee asked, and Sean Luke shook off the snow and replied.

“I’m here to meet someone.”

“Shall I guide you to the lounge then?”

“No. He said he was in his room.”

The hotel employee raised her voice, looking troubled.

“Sir, I cannot provide information about guests staying at the hotel without their permission.”

“Robert Bernard should have mentioned it to the check-in counter in advance.”

The person he came to see was Robert, the COO [Chief Operating Officer] of Victoria Corporation.

The hotel employee, seemingly not having received prior notice, turned to her colleague.

“Jin, did any guest leave a message?”

“A message?”

“Did a guest named Robert Bernard ask to have his number given to a visitor?”

The employee named Jin checked the notepad with messages and replied.

“Ah, here it is. Room 1407, you can guide him to the suite.”

The employee’s expression softened at the mention of a suite.

“Sir, I will guide you personally. Please follow me.”

For a regular guest, she would have called a bellboy to handle the escort, but Sean Luke was a guest of a VIP staying in a suite. She thought she should treat him with respect and escorted him to the suite herself.

Three minutes later.

Sean Luke arrived at Robert’s suite, guided by the employee.

‘Not just the Hilton Hotel, but a suite?’

He realized that Victoria Corporation was quite large.

‘The first time we met, he stayed in a 3-star business hotel.’

In fact, Robert’s stay at the 5-star Hilton Hotel had nothing to do with Victoria Corporation’s growth. He had been a VIP customer of the Hilton Hotel for a long time and was simply taking advantage of various promotions from the Hilton Hotel Group to stay at a discounted price.

“Oh, you came through the snow.”

Robert opened the door wide and welcomed Sean Luke.

“The weather is harsh.”

“It often happens in Chicago.”

Sean Luke entered and asked.

“Is Chicago your hometown?”

“Louisiana.”

“Excuse me?”

Chicago and Louisiana were thousands of miles apart.

“Is that strange?”

“Isn’t Louisiana warm?”

Louisiana was a southern state famous for its warmth.

“My hometown is Louisiana, but I worked in Chicago for two years.”

Sean Luke nodded as if he understood.

“Ah, you have experience here.”

The 5-star hotel suite had a separate living room and bedroom, as well as a table and chairs for meetings. That’s why Robert often stayed in suites.

“So, Mr. Luke, what brings you to Chicago?”

Sean Luke took a short breath and replied.

“I came all the way to Chicago to make a proposal to you, Robert.”

“Our Victoria Corporation always welcomes proposals from JP Morgan.”

Sean Luke lowered his voice and said.

“This is a proposal to you personally, Mr. Bernard, not to Victoria Corporation.”

“A proposal to me?”

Robert could guess what JP Morgan’s proposal was to some extent.

‘It seems to be a scout offer from JP Morgan.’

He was quite satisfied with the treatment he received at Victoria Corporation.

‘If JP Morgan offers a huge salary, they will demand that much performance from me. I don’t want to sit with Wall Street people and listen to unpleasant stories.’

Robert was planning to politely decline JP Morgan’s scout offer.

However, JP Morgan’s proposal was not a simple scout.

“Mr. Bernard, please create a new Victoria Corporation.”

Robert’s thick eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

“A new Victoria Corporation?”

Instead of accepting Jung Hyun-woo’s proposal, JP Morgan decided to take the personnel from the Victoria Corporation he had established and create a new company.

If this was possible, they could get their hands on everything JP Service had.

“I believe you can do it, Mr. Bernard. You have experience founding Activision, haven’t you?”

As Sean Luke said, Robert had left Atari with his colleagues and founded Activision.

“Are you telling me to betray Charlie and Sarah now?”

“Is creating a company that can replace Victoria Corporation a betrayal?”

Asking to create a company that could replace Victoria Corporation also meant terminating the contract with Victoria Corporation.

‘Of course, it’s a betrayal.’

The moment Robert frowned, Sean Luke raised his voice.

“Mr. Bernard, we will support you with $1 billion.”

$1 billion.

As mentioned several times earlier, $1 billion was an unrealistic amount even for people like Robert.

With just $100 million, you could get your hands on a major league team or gain control of a decent IT company. With ten times that amount, $1 billion, you could acquire not just one, but two or more super-popular teams like the LA Dodgers, New York Yankees, or Boston Red Sox.

‘If I agree to this deal, I can become the kind of rich man who gets featured in the newspaper.’

Before the Atari shock [the video game industry crash of 1983], he wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation of $1 billion. But after experiencing the Atari shock, his perspective on life had changed.

‘I don’t want to betray anyone or make them a sacrifice for my success.’

After failing in negotiations with Activision, he could have gone back to Atari. But he didn’t. He wanted Activision, which he had founded with his colleagues in the past, to accept his proposal.

“Mr. Luke, are you trying to buy my conscience with money?”

Sean Luke was confident.

“Mr. Bernard, isn’t $1 billion enough for the value of your conscience?”

He thought.

‘$1 billion, not $100 million. Even if I spend half of it to copy Victoria Corporation, I’ll still have $500 million left. With $500 million, I can live like a king in Manhattan.’

Sean Luke thought that $1 billion was an amount he could never give up. But Robert didn’t think so.

He put his hands together and said.

“Mr. Luke, money isn’t everything in the world.”

Sean Luke still thought Robert’s words were modesty or humility.

“But money can solve 99% of the problems.”

“Really?”

“You can do a lot with $1 billion.”

Robert nodded.

“I suppose so. You can buy a penthouse in New York and a mansion with an ocean view in LA.”

“Not only that. You can have a private yacht and a private jet. Beautiful lovers and a high reputation will follow. If you want, you can acquire a major league team or an NBA team.”

In short, $1 billion was a temptation he could never give up.

Robert said with a firm face.

“I refuse.”

Sean Luke’s face turned pale in an instant.

“You refuse? $1 billion?”

He couldn’t believe it.

Not a child like Jung Hyun-woo, but a man who had experienced life was rejecting $1 billion.

‘Is he crazy?’

In his opinion, this offer was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Robert raised his voice.

“Why is that strange?”

Sean Luke asked back with an incredulous look.

“What’s the reason? Is it that difficult to replicate Victoria Corporation’s technology? Or is there something in JP Service that we don’t know about?”

Robert didn’t loosen his firm face and stood up.

“Mr. Luke, don’t you already know the reason?”

“Know it?”

Robert turned and answered his question.

“A gentleman doesn’t betray women and children.”

Not a knight, but a gentleman?

It was an incomprehensible statement.

‘Does this guy even know what he’s talking about?’

Sean Luke strained his voice and said.

“Robert, be rational! It’s $1 billion!”

It wasn’t an amount you could refuse to protect Jung Hyun-woo or Sarah.

But Robert was cold.

“I’m making this decision because I’m rational.”

He was speaking with his back turned to Sean Luke.

“Robert, what are you…”

“Mr. Luke, you and the people on Wall Street underestimate the world too much.”

Sean Luke’s pale face gradually darkened.

“Mr. Bernard, are you going to scold us?”

Robert approached the window and said.

“I don’t intend to. I’m just telling you the reality. For some people, money may not be the most important thing in this world.”

Sean Luke knew that there were such people. But he couldn’t understand those words coming from Robert’s mouth.

‘Didn’t you start the company to make money?’

He shouted in a scathing tone.

“Mr. Bernard! Think again! It’s $1 billion!”

Robert shook his head from side to side.

“There’s nothing to think about again. My decision won’t change. Even if the amount increases several times.”

Sean Luke clenched his fist tightly.

“How about $2 billion? Even if you spend $1 billion to copy Victoria Corporation, you’ll still have $1 billion left.”

$2 billion.

It was a huge sum equivalent to the inheritance of Aria Walton, the heiress of Walmart.

If a company other than JP Morgan had made this offer, he would have dismissed it as a bluff.

But Robert was cold even though he mentioned $2 billion.

“Didn’t I tell you? Even if the amount increases several times, I refuse.”

Sean Luke shouted with his fist clenched.

“You’re crazy! How can you refuse this much money? Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust JP Morgan. It’s just that I don’t think money is everything.”

“Money isn’t everything?”

Robert politely suggested to him, raising his eyebrows.

“Mr. Luke, please go back.”

It meant there was nothing more to say.

Sean Luke stood up and roared.

“Bernard! Get a grip! You’re refusing $2 billion? Just because of your measly conscience? This is crazy!”

Robert turned to him and said.

“Mr. Luke, I don’t know what happened between Charlie and you, but you should give up on the idea of a second Victoria Corporation.”

He thought that a second Victoria Corporation was difficult even from a technical point of view.

‘You can easily create an executable program to install on a computer through reverse engineering. But what’s important in JP Service is the network system. To perfectly copy this, you need a programmer at Charlie’s level.’

Recruiting a genius programmer like Jung Hyun-woo was not something that could be done with money. If you could recruit a programmer like him, the company could jump to a higher level.

‘Like Apple with Wozniak [Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple].’

Sean Luke kept raising his voice.

“Mr. Bernard, you will definitely regret today’s decision!”

Robert shrugged lightly.

“Maybe.”

Sean Luke roared once again, unable to contain his anger.

“You fool!”

Robert knew that he held a significant position at JP Morgan. So, instead of getting angry with him, he spoke in a soft voice to soothe him.

“Mr. Luke, there must be trust in transactions between companies.”

Sean Luke’s voice was still loud.

“It was Victoria Corporation that broke that trust first!”

Broke the trust first.

This was a twist that Robert had not expected at all. He paused and asked.

“You’re saying they broke the trust first?”

“Mr. Jung shook hands with Bank of America and stabbed us in the back.”

Robert frowned at his answer.

“If that’s true…”

Sean Luke’s high-pitched voice lowered.

“If that’s true, will you join hands with us?”

Robert shook his head and replied.

“I can’t do that. However, I can correct a wrong decision.”

Sean Luke’s anger subsided to some extent at his words to correct a wrong decision, and he stood up and straightened his clothes.

“Mr. Bernard, I will return to New York and wait for your call.”

Robert nodded slightly.

“Do that.”

As soon as Sean Luke left the room, he looked for the phone.

‘Did Charlie cause an accident? Bank of America, I don’t know what that means.’

Robert had only heard stories about Activision from Sarah.

Click, click, click.

After dialing a few times, he heard a dial tone.

After a while, Sarah answered the phone.

“Hello.”

“It’s me, Robert.”

“Ah, Robert.”

“Sarah, what happened in LA?”

Sarah paused at Robert’s question.

“What do you mean? What happened in LA?”

Robert hardened his voice and replied.

“Sean Luke came by.”

“Mr. Luke?”

“He proposed to create a second Victoria Corporation.”

Sarah’s heart sank at his answer.

“JP Morgan told Robert to create a second Victoria Corporation?”

A second Victoria Corporation was the worst-case scenario that she and Jung Hyun-woo had assumed.

“He also mentioned Bank of America.”

Sarah could read JP Morgan’s mind.

‘The fact that they wanted to take Robert and create a second Victoria Corporation means that they will refuse to cooperate with Bank of America under any circumstances.’

If it was a matter of money, they would have offered her a higher amount instead of scouting Robert.

‘This is a very bad development.’

She frowned and asked.

“So, did you accept?”

Robert raised his voice as if he was frustrated.

“Sarah! If I had accepted their offer, would I have called you like this?”

If he had accepted their offer, he would have been secretly planning to create a second Victoria Corporation by taking key personnel from Victoria Corporation without them knowing.

“Th, that’s right.”

Sarah’s mind was so complicated that her answer was not clear.

Robert didn’t like her lukewarm response.

“Sarah, JP Morgan is now trying to wage war with Victoria Corporation. If you tell me what happened, I can stop them, can’t I?”

Sarah nodded at his request.

“Okay. I’ll tell you everything that happened in the last two days.”

She told him everything about Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Victoria Corporation without missing a single detail.

Robert sighed briefly after listening to Sarah’s story to the end.

“Haa… Charlie was too greedy this time.”

Sarah spoke as if to defend Jung Hyun-woo.

“I was the one who accepted the meeting with Bank of America.”

“Let’s correct that. Charlie and Sarah, both of you were too greedy.”

Robert knew very well what Wall Street financiers were like.

‘They are ruthless and cold-blooded.’

They would never allow themselves to be cornered. They always pushed their opponents and tried to take everything they had.

“JP Morgan failed to persuade us, so they will look for someone else.”

Sarah frowned at his words.

“Someone else?”

“The cold-blooded people on Wall Street don’t give up easily. They may already be in contact with someone else.”

“It’s a difficult situation.”

Robert nodded and said.

“That’s right. It’s a difficult situation. Sarah, you need to fix the situation right now.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to Charlie.”

“Sarah, hurry.”

“I’ll call you as soon as our story is over.”

Sarah left the room as soon as she hung up the phone.

‘I can’t believe things are going to turn out this bad. We were too careless.’

She walked as if running and arrived at Jung Hyun-woo’s room.

“Charlie!”

“Sarah?”

“It’s a disaster!”

Sarah went straight into his room and rattled off the story she had heard from Robert.

Jung Hyun-woo frowned as he listened to her story.

“I underestimated JP Morgan.”

“Me too.”

Sarah had warned him that JP Morgan would use any means necessary. But when Jung Hyun-woo presented a compromise, she thought JP Morgan would accept it.

However, instead of accepting Jung Hyun-woo’s compromise, JP Morgan wanted to create a second Victoria Corporation.

“JP Morgan’s next target is probably John.”

“John River?”

“He’s our Achilles’ heel [a weakness or vulnerable point].”

As soon as Sarah heard his answer, she felt a chill as if her heart was freezing.

‘John is capable of doing that.’

If he took all the personnel from the New York branch, JP Service’s eastern service would be paralyzed at once.

‘Not only that. JP Morgan may deliberately shut down the service.’

Sarah frowned and raised her voice.

“Charlie, we can’t stay in LA!”

She thought they should return to Boston as soon as possible.

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands on her shoulders and said.

“Sarah, don’t worry too much. I have a plan.”

“Charlie?”

“It’s true that John River is the core of the New York branch, but since Robert rejected their offer, their movements will be limited.”

Sarah realized what Jung Hyun-woo meant.

“Ah! Since Robert knows their plan, they can’t push it through right away.”

“They will try to execute Plan B.”

Jung Hyun-woo thought he had some time until Plan B was executed.

‘Anyway… JP Morgan is not an easy opponent after all.’

The giant of Wall Street was not just big.