I Want You [HaruKyu FF]

Chapter 14

Haruto POV

"Mr. Watanabe, I hope you're joking with this foolish idea of yours." Claudia said, tapping her pen against the table. The objection on her face was reasonably strong.

I knew better not to judge someone based on their appearance. But clearly I made a mistake when I first judged her on the airplane. Apparently, she wasn't just a random rich teenager turned young adult who likes to waste her parents' wealth on fancy lifestyles. Claudia happened to be a rising businesswoman who fell under the radar because of her gender and her father's name.

"It's the other way around, Miss Chen." I pressed the next button on my presentation that was projected onto the wall where my secret board was hidden behind it.

I managed to craft the presentation file last night, after Brian had finished calculating the probability of subsidiary companies under Hillsboro going to give great profits within ten years ahead. It wasn't up to my target numbers, but still, it was something worth considering.

"As you can see from the graph, their subsidiaries had significant growth for the last two years, and the projections are clear on how their market value will increase three times of their current estimated value within ten years." I said, moving to the next slide to show different graphs.

"Mr. Watanabe, I don't see this any different than you suggesting us to buy a pig in a poke. There's no clear value of these companies since there are no disclosed financial reports." She argued. "And I should remind you, we are at loss from your suggestion in buying Hillsboro stocks even though all the information are laid on the table. So, how do you expect us to take this suggestion seriously?"

She made a point. Buying the remaining stocks of a company that was under a brink of bankruptcy to get the ownership of its subsidiaries is a gamble, even from my own perspective. But again, buying and selling stocks is a fancy form of gambling, and that's what we do in Haebi Corp.

I straightened my posture and stared directly at her, my arms folded on top of the table as I began explaining to her my reasoning, "Miss Chen, it's not a groundless offer..."

Claudia and I went back and forth at it. It became tough arguments in no time and I couldn't see myself winning against her. Even when my team chipped in their professional views, she doesn't seem willing to back down from making us bear her father's loss.

"Mr. Watanabe, this meeting is just a waste of our time, I'm afraid." The guy who came with her said, cutting off both of our sides' arguments. "We already stated the reason why we came here." He pointed at the printed lawsuit in front of me with his eyes. "And we won't settle for less."

"You asked us to repay you ten billion dollars! That does not make any sense at all!" I started to lose my cool. My voice went up and strangled in my throat.

"That's a humble amount to compensate for our financial loss, Mr. Watanabe. You're not a newbie in business. You do understand we could gain more if we spent the same amount of money we had spent on Hillsboro on different investments." He said, all while his boss was busy reading the printed out reports I gave her earlier.

Claudia didn't seem interested in what her legal guy said and for a moment, I prayed for a chance for her to reevaluate the decision her father had made. I saw a glimpse of hope when she tangled her brows in the middle as she turned the same page back and forth then scribbled the page with her pen, it was as though something had piqued her interest.

It wasn't just me who noticed her rather visible excitement gliding through her eyes. SeungJoo, who was sitting not far from me, peeked at me through side eyes, and I nodded quietly.

I waited in silence until Claudia dropped the paper from her hand. She leaned backwards as she tapped her pen on the table with a steady rhythm, as though she was considering hard about something. She took a quick glance at me a couple of times before she finally dropped her pen. She straightened her back and linked her fingers together above the paper.