The Tycoon's Odyssey

Chapter 80: 80:A Deal Hard To Refuse

"Hello Sir, it's nice to meet you. I am a big fan of yours," Evan said gratefully, hiding his inner turmoil.

Inwardly, he screamed.

'Fucking hell! How did the stack become so big?'

Everything felt like a dream.

Steven Hook, the co-founder and current CEO of Pears Inc..

What was Pears Inc.

The company has a market cap of several trillion dollars.

A brand symbol for luxury phones that redefined the line for smartphones. Though Evan very much wanted to curse this guy as the latest series were sucking up bloody money without much innovation currently, still it was a humongous giant company.

"Hahaha! I like your humility Mr Evan but you don't need to burden yourself like that. I know my sudden appearance was too much of a surprise but I couldn't resist after seeing the things."Steven chuckled and patted Evan.

Forwardly, they took a seat while Steve Hook ordered wines but were startled to see Evan adhering to the drink policy.

"Truly a befitting gentleman but if I may suggest you should start drinking as many people get offended by this after all we are all in a narrow-minded society."

"I will take up that offer Sir Steve," Aria smiled gracefully and picked up the wine.

For a few moments, they chatted nonchalantly about nonsense which Evan felt odd.

After a brief, Aria noticed things becoming serious as someone who knew her previous boss, she stood up respectfully.

"Please, have a nice talk.Meanwhile, I will take a look around."

In between the break, Evan finally mustered the courage to ask, "Mr.Steve, are you perhaps talking about CodeZipper.."

Steve shook his head while taking a small sip "Nah! It's a revolution but we adhere much to hardware and software security so what I want to talk about is the Breach Protector."

"As you know, Pear IPhone focuses on security and privacy, so every day our developer's team works tirelessly to provide a seamless, transient, and breach-free service. Stopping invasion, hacking, and removing ambiguities have always been our top focus and that is where I saw the trial package of Wall Protector brought to me by an employee.."

"Huh!" Evan with a furrowed expression glanced at Aria from afar.

An unusual feeling crawled on Evan's chest for a moment.

'Did I say this? Though I gave her a trial package, why did this attract this bigshot.'

Still, he didn't showed the shock on his face.

"Are you willing to use our software in the next generations?"

"Yes and No."Steve cut him off sharply.

"Then?"

"I want to buy the entire thing as well as the rights? I am willing to give you 100 million dollars for the copyright and use of software."

The sudden offer stunned both Evan and Aria to the core.

The offer...It was tempting but wasn't it too sudden?

"100 million dollars..."

Steve stared at her and then at Evan"What? You don't like it? I can double it."

"No, I heard it but I want to know one thing. You want to buy the entire thing with rights which means from now it will belong to you and none other than you can use it, even me?"

"Right!"Steven nodded with a meaningful smile.

200 million dollars equaled to fucking 16 billion rupees.

It sounded like fucking scam but he couldn't doubt it after all for such a huge figure how much does 200 million dollars worth.

With this much money, he can do many marvels, and seeing the person's motive Evan felt that he could stretch it more but is this it?

Glancing at the enthusiasm Evan knows what this holds. A software that can be used everywhere and even by the army.

If he keeps on developing, this alone can generate a wealth of billions of dollars, not rupees.

"That is perhaps a bit difficult for me Mr.Steve.I hope you understand."

"Is this an outright refusal?"

Evan's face became grim, "I can't say outright as your offer is lucrative but not lucrative enough to give you my entire hard work as I can create a lifetime of wealth and its value exceeds what you foresee."

The atmosphere became tense for a bit.

The smile on Steven's face disappeared and he stared at Evan.

"How much do you want? State your offer?"

"5 billion dollars?"Evan came up with a figure that made Steven laugh.

"That's just too much. Did you just pull up some random number to deter me?"

"..."

He can't say yes, can he?

"Let's do this? I will give a percentage of the sales."

Evan shook his head and was about to say no when he noticed a strange glint in Steven's eyes that stirred his heart.

The glint disappeared as soon as it appeared but it was enough to make him cautious.

A warning bell started ringing in his mind, giving a bad foreboding that he would die if he kept stretching things.

Breach Protector was great but not something, he should fight to the death. There was no need to remain head-first and call forward trouble.

Who knows how much bloodshed this person had gone through?

He just needs to step back for now and just buy the entire Pear when he was capable later. And he believed that this was possible. Until then, he can use all this money to finally create an R&D department and begin bringing the hardware gadgets blueprint to life.

"Money, percentage of sales plus shares of Pear...That is the least I can lower my price for.."Evan spoke resolutely.

"Aren't you going to lower it?"Steven asked sternly.

"No!"

"I understand...Can you give me some time to decide?"

Evan needed and finally wrapped up the meeting.

.....

In the hotel reception, Evan stole a glance at Aria's worried expression. "It's okay. I will sell it," he assured her.

"Really?" Aria asked, her disbelief palpable.

"Of course. I couldn't resist such a huge offer, could I?"

Evan wanted to ask more, but amidst the bustling crowd, he decided to keep his doubts to himself for now.

They left and then arrived at the shooting location. As they waited outside the studio.

Inside, Suri exuded confidence, gracefully discarding pieces of her gown for the photoshoot. Evan couldn't help but marvel at her presence.

While Suri maintained her professional demeanour, Evan couldn't shake the feeling that she looked even more stunning and genuine without makeup. He hesitated to voice this directly.

Seated in the background, Evan sipped his drink and grumbled, glancing at his watch. "I don't understand why I have to sit here and waste time watching her shoot. I just need to oversee the final product for Brew Heaven. Why did she ask me to come here early?"

Aria appeared flustered, about to respond, when another voice interrupted from behind.

"That's because you're here to receive the second gift."

"Huh?" Evan turned around, nearly gasping as he saw Suri standing closer than expected.

Taking a step back, he couldn't help but inquire, his heart racing with unease. "Second gift... What second gift?"

Suri flashed a mischievous smile, tracing a finger over her lips as she spoke with a wink, "In this ad, you're going to act alongside me."

Silence hung heavy for a moment, broken only by Evan's sharp intake of breath.

"What did you say?" His voice carried a mix of shock and disbelief.