The next morning, the sky was just getting light.
Ethan was lying in bed half-asleep, his brows furrowed slightly, and when he opened his eyes, he suddenly remembered something important.
He quickly reached out and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
Opened his phone and pulled up a small business acquisition marketplace website.
The page loaded quickly, lines of listing information scrolling by.
Finally.
A familiar yet distant company name jumped into view: "ShareNow Social Media Inc."
"Knew it. I remembered right."
In his previous life, this small, overlooked startup based in New York was hanging alone in the listings right now, totally ignored, eventually fading into silent obscurity.
Its founder, Marcus, must be going through his darkest moment right about now.
This wasn't just any ordinary company—the product prototype they had was a critical piece of the future social media empire he envisioned, something to fight back against the toxic hellscape that Twitter would become.
Musical.ly was just an investment.
He knew the future battlefield wasn't only about technology—it was about controlling the narrative, owning the platform.
In his previous life, Twitter had devolved into an absolute cesspool—all kinds of insane takes, malicious manipulation, misinformation running wild.
Controlling his own social media platform that could guide healthier public discourse was the moat on the road to becoming a future tech giant! "Better safe than sorry"—especially when it came to core tech assets. Those "vulture capitalists" would swarm like sharks smelling blood in the water.
He quickly swiped to open the details page for "ShareNow."
Listing price: $500K. The description was written sincerely, with a hint of desperation.
Ethan didn't hesitate anymore. He suddenly bounced out of bed, bare feet hitting the floor, and while dialing Marcus's contact number from the listing, he grabbed clothes off the ground with one hand and threw them on.
Meanwhile, at that exact moment.
New York City.
In a small, cluttered office, the air felt frozen.
Marcus sat in front of his computer, ShareNow's backend analytics displayed on the screen showing devastatingly bleak numbers—the user growth curve was basically flatlining, engagement had fallen off a cliff.
His face was exhausted, eyes sunken, staring emptily at the gray sky outside the window.
The decision to list the company for sale felt like a dull knife repeatedly cutting through his heart.
This was the hard work of him and over a dozen teammates over several years—every line of code carried their dreams and passion.
He'd always firmly believed ShareNow's concept was more advanced than Twitter's, more focused on genuine user connection and value, but the brutal reality of the market had ruthlessly slapped him in the face.
Reality was cold as ice.
They couldn't make payroll for two consecutive months, and the office rent was also overdue.
His team had trusted him, followed him through countless all-nighters, but now they were facing the prospect of literally running out of money for food.
They weren't idealistic college kids anymore who could survive on ramen and dreams—they had families to feed, mortgages, car payments, real adult responsibilities.
What worried him now wasn't just losing the company—it was what would happen to his employees after it sold.
If the buyer didn't keep them on, his people would need to find new jobs, go through interviews, maybe even unpaid internships.
It would take months before they'd have stable income again.
"$500K..."
Marcus muttered bitterly to himself.
That figure, after paying back wages and settling debts accumulated over years of struggling to stay afloat, would leave basically nothing.
He couldn't even afford to give these loyal teammates decent severance packages.
A massive wave of powerlessness and guilt nearly drowned him.
He scratched his hair in frustration, his eyes falling on the transfer listing edit page.
His fingertips hovered over the keyboard for a long time. Finally, with almost tragic determination, he typed out an additional clause:
[IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL CONDITION: If the acquiring party subsequently decides to terminate any of the company's original employees (list attached), they must provide severance compensation of no less than 3 months' salary per employee.]
After adding this, he leaned heavily back in his chair, as if he'd exhausted every ounce of energy.
Since posting the listing two days ago, the few calls he'd gotten had been, without exception, lowball vultures coming in swinging.
$450K, $380K, one absolutely insane person had only offered $350K and demanded all personnel be immediately terminated.
Now that he'd added this protection clause, it would definitely make the company even harder to sell.
Right then.
A phone call shattered the silence.
The harsh ringtone suddenly broke the dead quiet.
Marcus startled, looked at the screen, and saw another unfamiliar number with an out-of-state area code.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the frustration and despair churning inside, tried to make his voice sound more professional, and answered the phone:
"Hello! ShareNow, this is Marcus speaking."
His voice had a hint of barely detectable hoarseness.
On the other end of the phone, a young but unusually calm voice came through—it sounded like he was on speakerphone, with background noise of rustling clothes:
"Mr. Marcus, hi, my name's Ethan Miller. Your company ShareNow is listed for a package sale at $500K, correct?"
Marcus responded:
"Yes, $500K is already an extremely low price. If we weren't absolutely desperate for cash, I definitely wouldn't be selling at this valuation."
He tried to explain the product's potential, the team's accumulated expertise, wanting to create some negotiating room.
However.
His words were calmly interrupted by the caller:
"The $500K price—no problem."
"Wait, what?!"
Marcus was stunned, genuinely wondering if he'd misheard.
No negotiation? Before he could process this shock, he heard the other party continue:
"But I do have one condition."
Almost simultaneously, Marcus also blurted out, with break-the-boat determination:
"Actually... in addition to the price, I also have one additional condition!"
Both of them paused.
Marcus quickly said:
"You go first!"
His heart was in his throat, terrified the other party's condition would be "fire everyone immediately."
Ethan's voice remained steady, totally unreadable:
"Mr. Marcus, let's hear your condition first."
"Okay."
Marcus was quiet for a moment, then said:
"Mr. Miller, my condition is this—if you decide to terminate any of our original employees after acquiring the company, you MUST pay them at least 3 months' salary as severance! I know this request might seem... but these are people who've been with me for years. They have families, mortgages, car payments, kids in school... If they suddenly lose their jobs, I just..."
"No problem!"
Ethan readily agreed.
"Wait—WHAT?!"
Marcus on the other end was completely thrown, the massive shock making his brain go blank.
"I said your condition is no problem."
Ethan continued:
"Actually, my condition was going to be exactly that—I want you to KEEP your original team intact."
Marcus was so excited he almost knocked his laptop off the desk.
Ethan asked:
"I'm flying to New York the day after tomorrow—you free? Let's meet and discuss details in person."
"Yes! Absolutely! See you day after tomorrow! Mr. Miller, have a safe... oh wait no, you're not going anywhere yet... uh, have a good day!"
Marcus held the phone until the dial tone sounded, still frozen in the same position, his face showing this incredible mix of joy and disbelief.
It took a few seconds before he suddenly slammed the phone down and punched the desk!
"YES!"
He roared, eyes burning.
He wanted to immediately rush out and tell every single team member this amazing news! But he held himself back. Years of startup experience had taught him that until a contract was signed and actual money changed hands, all verbal promises could fall through.
He couldn't give them false hope. He forced himself to sit back down, but his trembling hands and violently heaving chest revealed the emotional storm raging inside him.
....
Done.
$500K to acquire the team and prototype of "ShareNow"—and that additional condition wasn't a burden at all, it actually confirmed exactly what he valued about Marcus's character and the team's cohesion.
This deal was absolutely worth it! He saw this team as the seed of the future "WeConnect" platform he envisioned.
Ethan had originally planned to fly to New York today, but tomorrow he had to head back to his Grandparents house for that big family celebration dinner. The timing was tight.
So he scheduled the meeting for the day after tomorrow instead.
There are 70 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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