Chapter 629
“Honey, how are things looking?”
Octavia was a bundle of nerves waiting at home, wracked by anxiety with every passing minute.
Her husband and son had both been out all day, and as the hours dragged on, the news grew more alarming. Every update she read from news sites to the never- ending stream of chatter in her socialite group chats-only made her more frantic.
If the James family went under, so would her pampered, privileged life. That was an outcome Octavia simply couldn’t bear to imagine.
The James family’s rise had been anything but easy, yet one sign of weakness and old friends turned on you in the blink of an eye.
Not long ago, Octavia had been the queen bee of her social set. But by the time the rumors hit today, she found herself suddenly ostracized her so-called friends leaving her entirely out of their conversations.
That abrupt cold shoulder, after years of camaraderie, left Octavia simmering with outrage.
“It’s not looking good,” Latham replied, shaking his head heavily.
“Several of our partner companies are demanding repayment. The eviction problems couldn’t have come at a worse time-not only are we facing a flood of lawsuits, but we’re also staring down the barrel of mass protests.”
This was exactly what Latham and Odom feared most. When residents were dissatisfied with demolition and resettlement offers, it meant going back to the table -and spending even more.
The James and Byron families were already stretched to the breaking point just to secure the land.
If demolition ran over budget, their only option would be to approach the bank for yet another loan.
But given the current crisis, who knew if any bank would still lend them a dime? “So what now? Maybe I could invite Mrs. Clark out to lunch tomorrow-see if I can persuade her to help us get another loan?” Octavia suggested anxiously.
“I think we should up the compensation a little, at least to calm people down for now.”
“The first priority is to pacify the local residents. If we can get construction started smoothly, we’ll start making the money back.”
Octavia didn’t run the family business herself, but she wasn’t clueless. She understood their company’s cash flow well—and she knew that if they couldn’t access more funds, there was no way to deal with the mounting bank debt.
If the company went under, so did the James family-case closed.
How could Octavia possibly be calm?
“Easier said than done,” Latham muttered. He knew everything Octavia was saying was true, but getting a loan right now was next to impossible.
“Don’t wait for tomorrow. Call Mrs. Clark tonight and try to arrange a meeting.”
“Clark’s gotten greedier every year; if bribery doesn’t work anymore, we’ll have to figure out something else.”
Latham refused to put all their hopes in one place.
He turned his gaze to his son. “If only you and Mabel had worked out.”
“If her family was willing to invest now, it’d take the pressure off our backs.”
If Lance only got engaged to Mabel, her family would never just stand by and watch the James family collapse.
Until recently, Latham had seen an alliance with Mabel’s family as a nice bonus. Now, he bit back regret for not securing it sooner.
Lance was acutely aware of the family’s financial peril.
But he loved Claire-nothing would change that fact.
As for Mabel, she wasn’t foolish. Why would she ever agree to an engagement now? She knew perfectly well where his affections lay, and she had no intention of tying herself to him just to paradecaround in some fake marriage. If anything she’d only complimented him for being up-front and refusing to deceive her.
“Dad, Mabel’s family dotes on her. If they think we’re pursuing her out of self-
interest, there’s no way they’d invest a penny,” Lance replied, stubbornly.
He wished his father would drop it already. The idea of trying to please a woman he
had no feelings for just for money-was unbearable.
He desperately wanted his father to let the whole notion die.
“That’s exactly why you should try harder!” Octavia pressed. “If you could actually make Mabel happy. her parents would do anything for her-probably bankroll us
ve
themselves, if that’s what she wanted.”
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Octavia couldn’t hide her disappointment in her son. Claire? What did he see in her? She was nothing but an ungrateful, sharp-tongued brat who refused to listen to
anyone.
Even if she didown some valuable mansion, how could that possibly solve their cash-flow problem? A home couldn’t just turn into money overnight, and even if Claire agreed to sell, they’d still need a buyer who could pay up at once.
And that stubborn old woman in the James family’s ancestral village—she sounded
like trouble. She said she’d given the house to Claire, but for all Octavia knew, the deed wasn’t even in Claire’s name.