Mrs. Clark had not initially considered Pearce's daughter. She had, of course,
looked into the rest of the family.
That little girl was ridiculously spoiled by Pearce and Patti. Rumor had it she slacked off in school and just coasted through life.
Wait, she got into a top-tier university?
Could it be that she just liked to have fun but was actually quite bright?
"Are you certain she would be willing to go on a blind date?"
"I heard that your brother-in-law's daughter is extremely pampered."
Mrs. Clark was tired of being rejected. It made it seem like her son was completely unwanted.
Even though, truthfully, he was.
But in her eyes, her son was worthy of a princess. How could she tolerate people turning their noses up at him?
"No matter how pampered she is, she is still a part of this family."
"Right now, the James family is facing difficulties. Everyone needs to contribute to the family's survival."
"I am confident Pearce and Patti feel the exact same way."
Octavia was entirely engaging in wishful thinking.
Forget Latham. Patti would absolutely never let her child be thrown into the lion's den.
But Mrs. Clark did not know this. She assumed the entire James family was united.
"I will go back and ask my son. You should discuss it with Pearce and Patti first," Mrs. Clark said, deliberately withholding an immediate agreement.
She did not want to give Octavia the impression that she was easily swayed.
After all, Octavia was the one who had backed out of the original plan.
If she agreed too quickly, it would make her look desperate.
The James family was the one begging her husband for a favor. She wasn't about to act like she was begging them to accept her son.
"Of course."
Octavia had not expected Mrs. Clark to agree on the spot anyway.
As soon as they parted ways, Octavia hurried to call Latham.
Latham answered the phone with a heavy sigh of impatience.
He only managed to muster a sliver of patience when Octavia mentioned it concerned Mrs. Clark.
"Since she needs time to think, we should speak with Pearce and Patti first."
"Pearce didn't explicitly refuse me yesterday. He said he needed to
discuss it with Patti, but onet
lẩm
worried she will say no." .net>
"Here is what we will do. Set everything up at home tonight. I will invite Pearce and
Patti over for dinner."
Latham was not pushing this to sell
Shirley out. He just desperately.
needed that bank loan to relieve the
company's financial strain content-
As long as the company avoided bankruptcy, he had a chance to weather the storm.
If they just survived this crisis, the project would practically print money.
Once that project turned a profit, the James family would rise to even greater heights.
All those people kicking them while they were down would eventually be crushed under the James family's heels.
"Alright." Octavia was certainly not going to oppose Latham at a time like this.
She couldn't agree fast enough.
Then she added, "Shirley has been so spoiled by Pearce and Patti. Ljust wonder if she will throw a massive tantrum and refuse."
Latham's eyes darkened. "This concerns the survival of the entire James family. She doesn't get to say no."
Octavia felt a surge of joy. If Latham was this resolute, it meant he had completely given up on using Cindy.
She needed to put on a spectacular performance tonight.
When Shirley found out Latham had invited her family to dinner, she immediately called Claire in a panic.
"Claire, what do I do? My family is walking into a total trap tonight."
"I have no idea what kind of Kool-Aid Latham and Octavia are planning to serve my parents."
"My mom is completely against it, but my dad is wavering. The company is in trouble, and he seems desperate to help Latham."
Over the years, Pearce had indeed enjoyed the shade of the large tree that was his older brother's company.
They had received so much. Her father felt his conscience would not let him sit back and do nothing in their time of need.