Chapter 333: War Never Changes

She noticed the man next to her quietly rising at dawn.

She didn't wake up with him.

After an indefinite amount of time, the light peeking through the curtain cracks was still not as bright as a clear morning should be. Sleep fully evaded her, and she fumbled to put on her undergarments, barefooted, she walked over to the window and drew the curtains. A drizzly, gloomy view greeted her.

The sky, the lake, and the cityscape across the water were all enveloped in this gloom.

Yet, her mood didn't turn gloomy; instead, she found a strange enjoyment in this feeling.

A chill came over her.

She walked out of the bedroom facing the cool air, leaned on the balcony railing, and looked around, unconcerned about being seen.

This was a villa on Mercer Island in the middle of Lake Washington, located in Seattle. Spanning over two acres, the mansion was surrounded by greenery, with the downtown area across the large lake obscured by the rain.

She had majored in advertising and art in college and hadn't touched her tools in a long while, yet now felt an urge to paint the surrounding scenery.

It was never truly hers, though.

At 33, she didn't feel old, but she felt a sense of defeat.

How nice it would be to have a house like this to call her own.

Just like the fantasy when she first left college—starting her own advertising firm, owning a beautiful house, free from material constraints.

Then came the reality check.

In college, she was the cheerleading captain, the homecoming queen, the envy of the girls, the object of boys' affections.

Entering the real world, suddenly, she was none of those things.

She remembered the afternoon before, the little man's presumptuous invitation. She found his dominance objectionable, yet she couldn't muster much resistance.

There was an allure to it.

An allure to a world she had never touched before.

So, after work, she purposefully went home to change her clothes, waited for a car he had sent, and resigned herself to whatever the night might bring.

But the evening exceeded her imagination.

Dinner was on his Boeing 767—never before had she experienced anything like it, the feeling was almost fantastical.

The luxury of the plane was immense.

Yet, there wasn't much show-off from him.

Perhaps, the young man already surrounded by so many accolades genuinely needed no further display.

It felt natural.

Just as, well, his 'invitation' had felt so inevitable.

As if all of Hollywood belonged to him.

He was the king.

Entitled to everything.

She, an insignificant woman, lacked even the courage to resist a king's demands.

After dinner, the plane landed in the Seattle night.

The airport was by Lake Washington's southern shore in Renton. From there, they took a speedboat across the lake, arriving at this mansion.

It almost felt like coming home from work.

But not the kind where you drive two stressful hours through traffic, exhausted by the time you reach home.

It was smooth.

Though, yes, this was miles away from Los Angeles.

Lost in boundless thoughts, a thick cotton robe suddenly wrapped around her.

Turning, she saw his warm smile.

Letting herself be enveloped by the robe, held by his embrace around her waist, she hesitated, then leaning forward, gave him a peck on the lips, saying, "Good morning."

"Morning," Simon surveyed the rain-soaked woman before him, "I didn't want to interrupt your sightseeing, but trust me, catching a cold is no fun."

"It's beautiful here." She replied, perhaps as an explanation, and then, looking into his eyes, she asked, "So, what are our plans for today?"

"Breakfast first, then back to Los Angeles."

"Ah?"

Simon patiently explained, "Unfortunately, I'm quite busy and can't spend the weekend here with you."

She wanted to say she could stay the weekend here by herself.

But that seemed too forward.

She nodded in compliance.

Simon glanced at her damp hair and said, "You should take a shower first, don't really catch a cold. I'll wait downstairs for you."

She was led away from the balcony into the bathroom, and as the door closed, she finally mustered the courage to invite, "Would you like to join me?"

Simon smiled and shook his head, helping her close the bathroom door.

Half an hour later, Sheila Ward emerged from the bedroom, back in the black coat and belted sheath dress from yesterday that flattered her figure.

Women in black can be intimidating to men; she had worn black on purpose the day before.

It seemed to have no effect on him; he appeared to like it.

Gently touching the stair railing, she descended, curiously looking around.

Downstairs, she saw a young woman in a light blue business suit arranging the living room. Noticing Sheila, the girl greeted her with polite detachment, "Good morning, Ms. Ward."

She casually withdrew her hand, nodding in response, "Morning, B."

This was one of the flight attendants from his private plane, blonde, tall, young. He called her 'B', and another one 'A'—last night he had casually mentioned their names were Becky and Allison. He seemed to prefer these succinct nicknames.

She wondered if there were 'C' and 'D' too.

Probably.

Herself.

Hmm, likely 'S'.

But he hadn't referred to her that way, hardly ever used her name, and certainly no terms of endearment like 'Honey'. When he spoke, she just knew he was addressing her.

The girl's attitude toward her was clearly cold and hostile, mixed with poorly concealed envy.

She knew why.

They were younger and more beautiful, yet he was more interested in her.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of pride; calling the girl 'B' was intentional.

Enjoying a sense of superiority she hadn't felt since leaving college, she lifted her chin slightly and asked the girl, "Where's Simon?"

Becky, noticing her demeanor, became even colder but maintained professionalism, "In the dining room, Ms. Ward, please follow me."

Simon was reading the newspaper by the breakfast table.

He greeted her and signaled Becky to bring breakfast.

Sheila Ward sat down across from Simon, propping her chin up naturally, asking, "Any interesting news today?"

Simon glanced at The New York Times and shared, "Saddam Hussein called for Middle Eastern countries to unite at the Arab Cooperation Council meeting yesterday, using their unparalleled energy advantages to form a bloc that could counterbalance Europe and North America."

Sheila blinked a few times, her expression slightly reproachful, "Do men become so dismissive after they get what they want?"

Simon nodded solemnly, "Yes, it's a harsh reality."

Sheila reached for something to throw at him, scanned the pristine table, and gave up, resigning herself to ask, "Is there something special about that news?"

Simon casually remarked, "War is coming."

Sheila puzzled, "Why, just because Middle Eastern countries want to form an energy alliance? The Soviet Union and us have been at odds for years without coming to blows."

"It's different," Simon shook his head, explaining, "The federal military might not beat the Soviet Union, but

 they can easily handle Middle Eastern countries, especially with the oil factor."

Sheila frowned slightly, then asked after a moment, "Simon, do you want there to be a war?"

"I don't. I am a staunch anti-war advocate."

"In that case, Simon, you could try using your influence to prevent it from happening."

"I believe self-destruction is the inevitable end for humanity, so I won't try to stop it because it's unavoidable," Simon shook his head, his gaze returning to the newspaper, he murmured, "War, war never changes."

Sheila was momentarily stunned; the young man's soft-spoken words conveyed a sense of profound despair and desolation.

There must be a long story behind that phrase.

Yet, she had never heard it before.

Allison and Becky served breakfast, Simon closed the newspaper, his face brightening as if forgetting the previous topic, "You seem to like it here. How about this: you can stay over the weekend, and I'll have someone pick you up tomorrow afternoon."

She had considered this, but hearing him suggest it, she instinctively shook her head, "No need, I'd be lost here by myself."

"There are many places you could visit—Space Needle, University of Washington, Olympic National Park. Oh, and I heard there's a gum wall at Pike Market, you could go see it, maybe even stick a piece on."

Sheila picked up the cutlery handed by Allison, smiling and shaking her head, "Just the thought of it is disgusting. Plus, it's raining outside. I might as well go back to Los Angeles with you."

After breakfast, the group took a speedboat from the heart of Mercer Island to Renton City Airport and flew back to Los Angeles.

From the persistent drizzle of Seattle to the sunny skies of Los Angeles in less than two hours.

Sheila Ward disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport, realizing Simon had no intention of leaving the airport with her, indicating he had other plans.

Taking the car Simon had called to send her off, Sheila watched another plane ascend, suddenly feeling like all the pumpkin carriages and glass slippers had vanished.

Cinderella might still wait for her prince.

To him, she would probably just be a passerby.

Damned man!

From Seattle to Los Angeles, and from Los Angeles to New York, over six hours of flight time, Simon didn't waste a minute, continuously reviewing various documents prepared by Cersei Capital.

After recent negotiations, Cersei Capital had reached an agreement with Blackstone Group to purchase a 50% stake in Blackstone Financial Management for $75 million, with the management of $3 billion and Laurence Fink's team moving entirely under Cersei Capital.

Moreover, Janet had restructured Cersei Capital's subsidiaries, confirming the establishment of three companies: Cersei Fund Management, Apollo Management, and Black Rock Asset Management. Cersei Fund Management would naturally be Cersei Capital's core entity, while the other two were named based on Simon's knowledge from his original timeline.

Black Rock obviously didn't need mentioning; Apollo Management also existed in the original timeline.

The equity structure allowed Cersei Capital to share ownership with the operating teams of the three subsidiaries, each focusing on different aspects of business.

Cersei Fund Management mainly dealt with financial hedging, Apollo Management handled leveraged buyouts and vulture investing, and Black Rock Asset Management focused on mainstream investments like securities, stocks, and fixed incomes.

After the subsidiaries were established, funds #6 to #10 were entirely controlled by Cersei Capital, allocating capital to the subsidiaries as needed.

This arrangement's greatest advantage was that the capital raised by Cersei Capital was nominally held by funds #6 to #10, with subsidiary teams only managing it.

If a subsidiary team encountered losses or other issues, Cersei Capital could flexibly retract the funds to prevent further deterioration.

Moreover, it could dissolve subsidiary teams and unregister the companies if necessary while keeping the capital intact from any subsidiary turmoil.

This restructuring was also inspired by the acquisition of Blackstone Financial Management.

The capital at Blackstone Financial Management was separately raised, making it difficult for Blackstone Group to pull the rug out from under Laurence Fink's team, who wanted to collectively switch companies, forcing them to compromise and sell the company shares.

Wall Street closely followed Cersei Capital's recent moves, with investors showing keen interest in participating. Clearly, many expected Cersei Capital to continue generating the financial miracles Simon had produced in recent years.

Facing the circle's expectations, Simon felt little pressure.

Because he knew very well that Cersei Capital didn't need to continuously create miracles; the company just needed to perform slightly better than most of its Wall Street peers to grow sustainably in the future.

With the advantage of over two decades of foresight and a talented team, Simon was very confident about achieving this goal.

Beyond the teams of Cersei Fund Management and Black Rock Asset Management, Janet had also pulled the merger and acquisition team from Deutche Securities, which had filed for bankruptcy in early January, to form the core of Apollo Management. The team's leader, Leon Black, quickly gave up his plans to go solo after receiving an invitation from Cersei Capital and a promise of a 30% equity stake, bringing his team over to Cersei.

Everyone was smart; going solo with a recent bankruptcy at Deutsche Securities would have made it very difficult for Black's team to raise significant capital from investors.

In contrast, Cersei Capital directly promised Leon Black $1 billion in initial operational capital and had already prepared the next phase of their project: vulture investing in the still-tumultuous American junk bond market.

The total size of the U.S. junk bond market was $200 billion, a significant portion of which was still very secure.

However, due to the overall deterioration in the bond market, many bonds with repayment capabilities had plummeted in price. By identifying these bonds and purchasing them well below their book values, investors could reap substantial returns once the economic situation improved and the companies regained their strength.

Picking valuable assets from seemingly doomed financial ruins was the essence of vulture investing.

Janet had conducted extensive research on the U.S. junk bond market last year, accumulating a wealth of data, which is why she specifically brought up vulture investing at the cocktail party at the Reubelde household with Laurence Fink.

However, if anyone understood the U.S. junk bond market, it was certainly the team from Deutsche Securities.