Chapter 595: You Brought This on Yourself

[Chapter 595: You Brought This on Yourself]

The two exchanged childish banter for a moment. Eric looked at Kate, who was clutching the armrest of the sofa as if she were ready to jump up and run at any moment. He couldn't help but chuckle and decided not to continue the playful bickering. He sipped his red wine, turning his thoughts to the upcoming tasks at hand.

Having secured Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy's backing, along with the support of other shareholders who had aligned with him, Firefly's acquisition of ABC was set to go smoothly.

However, this was merely the beginning. In comparison to Firefly's merger with Disney, acquiring ABC entailed much more complexity. Firefly and Disney were both film companies; while they had overlapping departments and resources, Firefly was relatively small, which meant the merger did not require significant adjustments.

This time was different. Although ABC and Firefly were both major players in the media industry, they belonged to different sectors altogether. A merger would necessitate at least several months of adjustment, if not years.

Moreover, these were considerations for after the merger. Before that, Firefly would need to issue around $8 billion in long-term bonds to cover the cash portion of the acquisition, in addition to the $2 billion they had on hand. Such a massive amount of debt financing would not be achieved overnight.

Even though Firefly's demonstrated substantial profitability proved its capacity to handle debt repayment, various issues could still arise during the financing process.

Lost in thought, Eric found himself wishing for another chance at an opportunity like the Gulf War, even though he knew it was unlikely.

...

Women's thoughts were always hard to decipher. Sitting across from Eric, Kate saw he had stopped paying attention to her and hesitated before moving closer.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" she asked, noticing Eric's brows knitted together. Her heart raced a bit at how intriguing she found the man's pensive demeanor.

Snapping back to the moment, Eric looked at Kate, who had scooted over beside him and said, "You wouldn't be interested."

"You wouldn't know if you don't tell me," Kate replied, pursing her lips somewhat displeased, before looking up and asking, "So, Eric, have you really become the richest man in America?"

"If no one richer than me steps forward," Eric shrugged and smiled, "then that person should be me."

Suddenly intrigued, Kate pressed on, "What does it feel like to be the richest man in America?"

Eric replied, with a faraway look in his eyes, "It's like a dream, and I hope I never wake up."

"Ha..." Kate jumped a bit at Eric's suddenly somber tone. They sat in silence for a moment before Kate curiously whispered, "Why did you treat Charlie that way?"

Eric winked at her. "Guess?"

Realizing she had unconsciously leaned into Eric, their faces were so close that she instinctively shrank back then put on a nonchalant expression, saying, "Well, you definitely have no good intentions."

Eric seized the moment, playing along as he teased her, inching even closer until they were barely ten centimeters apart. "So tell me, what do you think my intentions are?"

Kate felt her mind go blank, as if all her thoughts had vanished. She leaned back on the leather couch, eyes wide as Eric's handsome face hovered close. The fleeting moment jolted her back when she felt his lips brush against hers. Startled, she instinctively shifted away, glancing around to see that many guests had noticed the scene. Yet, when she met their gazes, they all pretended nothing had happened.

Eric laughed at her startled expression. "See? One of the perks of being the richest man in America is that people notice you, but they'll conveniently pretend they didn't."

After some confusion, irritation, and a bit of embarrassment, Kate felt that she couldn't just let that kiss slide. Thinking about Eric's smug face, driven by a mix of determination and defiance, she suddenly surprised all the onlookers by lunging at Eric, wrapping her hands around his head and kissing him fiercely.

After a somewhat clumsy kiss, she straightened up, a proud smile on her face as she lifted her chin, trying to play it cool.

However, when Kate attempted to move away, she found Eric's strong hands tightly gripping her waist.

"Now that you've kissed me, are you just going to leave?" Eric teased, looking amused, "That's not how it works."

She fidgeted a little, suddenly aware of murmurs from the surrounding guests. Realizing her loss of composure, she felt regret creeping in. Even though she was embarrassed, Kate stubbornly forced a defiant grin and asked, "What do you want?"

"There are too many people here. How about we find somewhere private to talk?"

"Fine," she said, trying to sound fearless, "but you need to let me go first."

"No need to make things complicated," Eric said, rising from the couch and effortlessly lifting Kate into his arms, ignoring the curious stares as he marched out.

With her face buried in his chest, Kate internally lamented, "Great, now how am I supposed to show my face in public again?"

...

After standing from the large jacuzzi, Kate dried off in front of the mirror, her mind racing with everything that had transpired in the last few hours. The surreal quality of the events hit her. While Eric could be domineering, she surprisingly didn't harbor any resentment; it all felt rather natural to her.

Penelope had dropped hints during casual chats that beneath Eric's soft demeanor lied a much more assertive personality.

Though he had never openly expressed much, and unlike Charlize, he had never let on too easily, she couldn't deny feeling a twinge of envy towards Penelope.

After a long while, she finally emerged from the bathroom to find Eric, freshly showered and in his pajamas, lounging on the bed absentmindedly leafing through a magazine.

No matter the woman's character, there was usually a moment of vulnerability in front of a man she had just shared intimacy with.

Kate tiptoed across the wooden floor to the bedside and leaned over, breaking into a mischievous grin as she said, "Now Charlie must be feeling even worse."

Eric's eyes remained glued to the magazine as he casually responded, "I can't believe you're thinking about your good friend at a time like this."

Kate realized her thoughts had taken on a curious twist. Smiling, she asked, "You still haven't told me why you deliberately ignored Charlie?"

Feigning thoughtfulness, Eric finally replied, "I don't know. I just felt like it. You know, being a big shot comes with its own mood swings."

Hitting him playfully, Kate said, "You're awful!"

Eric just chuckled and didn't dodge her playful jab. "You know, when women say stuff like that, I always interpret it the opposite way."

Kate found herself laughing along, but soon grew quiet, then asked, "Hey, would you buy me a house to take care of me like you did for Penelope?"

Eric set down the magazine and asked genuinely, "Would you want that?"

Without hiding her true thoughts, Kate replied, "If I could just have a house, that oceanfront villa of Penelope's is stunning!"

Eric pinched her chin gently, chuckling, "Wow, such greed. You don't want to give anything but only think about receiving."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Kate retracted her neck but didn't pursue the topic. Instead, she asked, "Hey, with so many women around you, do you have anyone you genuinely like?"

"Don't you think that's an inappropriate question?" he replied.

"Just curious, come on?"

"It doesn't matter whether I like someone or not; I just want ownership," Eric said, fixing his gaze on her. "So, starting today, you'll be my woman and don't think about escaping."

Kate, feeling dissatisfied, shrank back with a tremor in her voice, as if she were a trapped animal weakly protesting, "You can't do this."

Eric turned off the bedside lamp and pulled the covers up, saying, "Alright, time to sleep."

The sudden dimness of the room surprisingly calmed Kate's nerves. She figured Eric might just be teasing her, so she felt more at ease. After a bit, she tossed aside her bathrobe and snuggled close to Eric.

After an unknown amount of time, Kate asked in the darkness, "Hey, are you asleep?"

"Almost. Save your questions for tomorrow. I just realized how many you have."

Kate chuckled softly but persisted, "Last question."

"Go ahead."

"Well," despite the darkness, Kate still found it awkward, "when you and Penelope are together, what does it feel like?"

"..."

After a brief silence, the bedroom filled with the sound of soft shuffling, then Kate's voice rose in surprise, "Ah, you're... back again!"

"That's what you brought upon yourself!"

*****

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