From Bullets To Billions

Chapter 578: Big Money (Part 1)

It had been a tiring day for Bobo. Every part of her body felt heavy, and all she really wanted to do was lie down and sleep the night away. Her eyes burned from staring at screens and paperwork for hours, and even her shoulders ached from the tension she had been holding in all day. Still, she forced herself to remain seated at her desk. There was one more thing she needed to do before she allowed herself to rest.

She decided it would be best to do another round of checks on each department and gather personal progress reports. If she was going to move forward with clarity, she needed to see everything with her own eyes.

’I remember that the Billion Bloodline department was also interested in the biotech for autoimmune problems,’ Bobo thought as she scrolled through the latest summaries. ’So I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to send more money to that department. The head researcher stated they were extremely close to finally getting a product as well.’

That thought brought a small spark of hope. If even one of her research teams succeeded, it could shift everything.

Before that, though, there was something else that felt almost equally important.

She opened the company’s balance sheet.

Numbers filled the screen, investments, projected timelines, expense forecasts. She studied them carefully, her tired mind forcing itself to stay sharp.

’I managed to strike two deals and got a large level of investment. I gave away more of the company than I was hoping for, but it was necessary,’ she reminded herself. ’With this level of investment, it should last us quite a number of years, and by then everything will be fine.’

That was what she kept telling herself.

After reviewing the company’s finances, she hesitated before opening another file. This one was far more personal.

Her own balance.

She had promised herself that as long as she secured those two deals, she would send the money over to her mother. It had been a silent agreement in her mind, something she had held onto during long nights and difficult negotiations.

Now that the moment had arrived, her resolve didn’t feel as strong.

Bobo knew that every individual in the Stern family, whether directly under her grandfather as his sons and daughters, or his grandchildren, had received the same amount of inheritance. It had been fair, at least on paper.

So what had her mother done with hers?

If she had managed to lose that much money before, then there was a good chance that whatever Bobo gave her would disappear as well. It wasn’t an accusation. It was simply reality.

If she gave it to her mother, she had to accept that she might never see it again.

’It will be fine, right?’ Bobo told herself with a nervous smile. ’My business will be fine, and my mother will be okay as well. She won’t ask for more.’

She leaned back slightly in her chair, staring at the ceiling as doubt crept in.

’It’s not like it would be hard for me to live off the remainder of the money,’ she continued thinking. ’But there is one thing I doubt now. I won’t make enough to become the heir.’

That realization settled in slowly.

When she had first built the facility, her goal had been clear. She had wanted to best the others and rise to the top of the Stern family. She had believed that if she chose a field she excelled in, one she had been praised for, then eventually she would surpass her cousins and secure her position.

But it hadn’t happened.

No matter how hard she worked, no matter how carefully she planned, the gap between ambition and reality had remained.

’I guess it means I should just give up on becoming heir,’ Bobo admitted to herself. ’That whole thing was tiring in the first place. If I manage to at least do something with this money and create my own business, I’ll be happy.’

It was a quiet surrender, but not one filled with bitterness.

’And at least I didn’t finish last,’ she thought, almost amused. ’Chad, Cici, who doesn’t even care about any of this, and Max. All of them have done worse than me.’

Even if she stepped away from the race, she hadn’t failed completely.

For some reason, that thought brought her comfort.

As she sat there, she realized something else.

Relief.

A genuine, almost unfamiliar sense of relief washed over her.

No longer having to compete with the others. No longer waking up every morning wondering how to outmaneuver her cousins. No longer obsessing over quarterly growth just to prove her worth to someone who might never acknowledge it.

She could simply focus on what she wanted.

On what she enjoyed.

”Maybe I should have done this a lot sooner,” Bobo said quietly to herself. ”I feel like I can finally start enjoying life and spending a bit of money on me.”

Her eyes drifted toward her phone.

”Mom... I kind of wish you would have discovered this,” she murmured. ”Are you still chasing the goal of heir, or is it something else?”

What Bobo didn’t realize was that Karen had come to a similar realization of her own.

In fact, Karen had reached it earlier, though perhaps not as fully. When her father had rejected her outright, something inside her had shifted. The truth had been painful but clear.

She wasn’t cut out to run the Stern family empire.

And maybe she didn’t want to.

What she wanted more than anything was her business back.

That was why she had jumped at the opportunity to buy back the department store from the Billion Bloodline Group, even though it had seemed reckless considering all the circumstances. Even though logic had told her it was foolish.

It hadn’t been about pride alone.

It had been about reclaiming something that felt like hers.

Back in her office, Bobo stared at the screen for a long moment. Then, with steady fingers, she transferred the money.

The confirmation notification appeared.

It was done.

Elsewhere, Karen’s phone lit up.

Her face brightened instantly as she stood from her seat. The exhaustion she had been carrying seemed to disappear in seconds.

Without hesitation, she reached for one of her fur coats and slipped it on, energy rushing through her veins.

”Come on, Victoria!” Karen called out. ”We’re heading to the Billion Bloodline Group. We’re going to buy our department store back, and we’re going to do it in person, to make sure we never lose it again.”

There was determination in her voice, stronger than it had been in a long time.

For both mother and daughter, something had shifted.

And neither of them fully realized just how much.

****

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