Inside a hilltop luxury villa overlooking the bay, Victor stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, phone pressed to his ear. The atmosphere in the study was heavy.
Present in the room were several core members of there family, including his second son and his eldest son Daniel. They were all treating tonight's birthday banquet with utmost seriousness.
Although Shenna's family company, Venture Capital, was valued at only around four billion dollars, far below there family's financial empire, it was still a well-established investment firm with strong industry roots. A marriage alliance with the Shen family would consolidate there family's financial influence.
More importantly, Shenna herself was outstanding. Beautiful. Refined. Financially educated. Strategically minded. A rare combination of talent and temperament.
Brown sat on a leather sofa nearby, legs crossed, sipping premium tea. He looked relaxed. Not the slightest bit worried.
In his mind, since Adrian had personally gone to represent there family, even Jason would have to give face. After all, there family wasn't just any wealthy household. They are the Four Major Financial Families of California's coastal elite.
But even among those four, there family ranked higher in heritage and influence. Their ancestors had been merchant bankers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, engaged in private lending, trade financing, and cross-Pacific commerce. Through generations of accumulation, they had built deep financial foundations.
After modern financial deregulation, they moved into private banking, venture funds, and institutional finance. Now their influence stretched across multiple states. There family's reach was provincial, even national.
His thoughts drifted back to the Starlight Bay bidding gala months ago. He had attended uninvited and had been publicly dismissed by Jason and even Victoria. The humiliation still lingered. He had long disliked Jason.
Perhaps his personal face wasn't enough, but surely there family's face was. With the entire family applying pressure, Jason would have to step back.
He was already fantasizing—Adrian bringing Shenna back, both families joining forces, him gradually winning her heart. He had been with many women, but never someone as beautiful, elegant, and intellectually valuable as Shenna. If he married her, with support from the her family network, he might even surpass Daniel and seize heir position.
Thinking of this, he glanced sideways at his elder brother. Daniel sat calmly, expression indifferent, eyes half-closed. No reaction. No anticipation. No concern.
It made him frown. Daniel was only three or four years older, yet his composure felt like that of an elder patriarch. Impossible to read. That unknowable calmness always made him uncomfortable.
Just then, Victor's low voice broke the silence. "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
He paused mid-sip and turned. He saw his father's face—solemn, tense, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Adrian's voice continued through the phone, explaining everything he had witnessed aboard the Blue Sea Pearl. The guests. The scale. The billionaires. The influence.
Victor's eyelid twitched. After a long silence, he suppressed the storm in his eyes and spoke slowly. "Give them a heads-up. Then come back. We're dropping this matter."
He froze. He shot to his feet. "Dad—what did you say?! You're not bringing Shenna back?"
Victor ignored him. He turned to the butler. "Notify all invited guests. The birthday banquet is canceled."
The butler nodded and moved to execute the order.
He that? Just because of Jason?" His voice rose. "Are we afraid of him?"
Victor finally turned. His gaze was cold, heavy, pressuring. For the first time that night, he felt suffocated just meeting his father's eyes.
And though Victor hadn't spoken yet, the atmosphere made one thing clear. Tonight's situation had far exceeded his understanding of power.
To his surprise, his elder brother Daniel spoke up as well.
"Dad," Daniel said calmly, "this birthday banquet was booked long in advance. The entire upper circle of Los Angeles knows about it. If we cancel it now, won't that damage to there family's reputation?"
He paused. "Shenna's family is also a valuable business partner. Are we just handing them over like this?" Then he looked toward Victor. "What exactly did Adrian see at Jason's banquet?"
He quickly seized the momentum. "That's right! If we cancel now, where does there family's face go?" His tone grew sharper. "Who does Jason think he is? Does he even deserve the girl I've got my eye on—"
"Shut up!" Victor's voice exploded through the study like thunder. "Is saving face more important than this family?!"
He froze.
Victor exhaled slowly, then answered Daniel's question in a grave tone. "Jason held Shenna's birthday banquet aboard the Blue Sea Pearl. That alone confirms he truly acquired Star Tourism Cruises." He paused. "The entire event cost at least eighty million dollars."
Both him and Daniel were taken aback. Even for them, that level of spending for a birthday party was shocking. There family's own banquet budget, around eight million, was already considered extravagant.
He wanted to argue. "So what if it cost more? It's just eighty million. Our family can afford that too—"
But Daniel remained silent, listening carefully. He knew his father wouldn't react like this over money alone.
And as expected, Victor continued.
"The guest list," Victor said slowly, "includes nearly half of Los Angeles's top financial elite. And more than a hundred billionaires from across the country."
With each name, Daniel's expression darkened. By the end of the list, his face had turned ashen.
Every single person named was at least on par with us. Some even surpassed them. Individually they were formidable. Together? Terrifying.
And that didn't even count the other hundred-plus ultra-wealthy magnates present.
If that entire gathering formed a united front, they could crush our family financially in months.
In other words, if our attended that banquet, they wouldn't be protagonists. They'd be just another guest among many, and one that needed to behave carefully.
As for going there to take Shenna away? That would be beyond arrogance. It would be suicidal stupidity.
Adrian's decision to hold back and report first had saved our family from a catastrophic misstep.
And that still wasn't the scariest part.
Victor's voice lowered further. "None of this even accounts for Jason himself. He's the real axis everything revolves around. His assets, his background, are unfathomable." He looked at his sons coldly. "He's the kind of person who could cut the Will family's valuation in half with one move. With him leading that circle, if they so much as shift their footing together, they could shake the entire West Coast economy."
Daniel nodded slowly. "It's fortunate Adrian went personally. He's capable and cautious. If someone else had acted impulsively, the consequences might've been severe."
He, however, still failed to grasp the full gravity. In fact, he suspected Daniel's earlier support had been insincere, a façade. He believed his brother feared the marriage alliance would strengthen His position as heir. The thought made resentment burn in his chest. He refused to accept losing Shenna, especially to Jason.
"So what if he invited a lot of people?" He argued. "They're just attending a party. That doesn't mean anything." He lifted his chin. "Is our family afraid of anyone?"
Victor slammed his palm on the table. "Enough! When will you learn maturity?!" He pointed toward the window. "Those executives are people who measure time in millions per hour. They put aside work, crossed states, flew thousands of miles to attend a birthday party unrelated to them. And you think that means nothing?!"
His voice turned ice-cold. "If I handed the family to you, it wouldn't last three months."
His face flushed red, but he couldn't refute a single word.
Victor's final decision fell like a gavel. "From this moment forward, abandon all thoughts of a marriage alliance with the Shen family. That girl is no longer someone we can afford to touch."
His fists clenched.
But Victor wasn't finished. "Not only will you give up the idea, you will personally attend Jason's banquet. To congratulate Shenna. And to formally express there family's stance to Jason."
The room fell silent. The direction of power had shifted. And there family had just chosen to bow.
Daniel stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Brother, sometimes knowing when to retreat is the mark of wisdom, not weakness."
He realization was settling in. He had misjudged Jason Carter. Badly.
Victor walked to the window, hands clasped behind his back. Outside, the city lights sparkled across the bay. Somewhere out there, aboard the Blue Sea Pearl, Jason Carter was hosting a banquet that would reshape the power structure of the entire region.
And there family, despite all their wealth and heritage, had just acknowledged they were no longer at the top of the pyramid.
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