CHAPTER 424: AFTERMATH OF THE BLACK HOUNDS

Aftermath of the Black Hounds

In the days following the incident with the Black Hounds, things were far from peaceful. If anything, Max and his team were busier than ever. The aftermath of that night had spread into every corner of his life , business, reputation, even his own body felt the strain of it all.

Sheri had been sent back to the Curts family. For now, she was told to take a break from her internship, to rest and return only when she was ready. She didn’t argue; she knew she needed time to recover.

Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. She had pieced things together , how Max had shown up, how Anton had been involved, and how everything spiraled from there. It was clear to her now: Max had been called because of Anton. And what followed had destroyed the Stable family entirely.

Just as Max had promised, all of the Stable company’s shares were forcibly transferred to the Billion Bloodline Group. Anton had provided every piece of information he could to dismantle the company from the inside. It seemed that, true to his character, he cared more about saving himself than protecting his own family.

He’d done everything possible to avoid prison, even if it meant betraying his last remaining connections.

Within two weeks, the Stable family business had been completely taken over , and then, shut down.

Max had done exactly what he said he would. He liquidated everything. Every car was sold immediately at clearance prices, every piece of property and asset stripped and sold off. He wasn’t sentimental; this was business. And it wasn’t revenge for pleasure’s sake , it was about balancing the cost.

Everything the company had once owned was gone, erased from existence, and Max had recovered most of his losses.

The fees that Max had paid to acquire the company were distributed back to the Stable family. It wasn’t a fortune , not compared to what they once had , but it was enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. They would survive, but they would never rise again.

News of the sudden acquisition and liquidation spread quickly through the business world. It was public record that the Billion Bloodline Group had bought out the Stable company. When the news broke that the entire business had been dissolved just two weeks later, rumors caught fire.

Everyone had the same theory , someone had crossed the Billion Bloodline Group, and this was the result.

From the outside, most believed the Bloodline Group had taken a massive loss. Selling everything so quickly seemed reckless. But internally, those who actually saw the numbers knew better. Because Max had acquired the company at such a low cost, he’d still managed to turn a profit, at least on paper.

Of course, that profit didn’t account for one very expensive detail , the sixty million he had paid to the Enforcer of the Black Hounds.

"Damn it," Max muttered, dragging his hands down over his face as he stared at the numbers glowing on the screen in front of him.

He was sitting in the head office , Tim’s usual workspace , and Warma stood beside him, reviewing the latest reports.

[974,380,000]

The number burned into his mind.

This number... it’s even lower than when I made the Vow, Max thought bitterly. How did this happen so fast? I can feel it , my strength dropping, my energy fading. I’m weaker than before.

"Look," Warma said, leaning on the desk with a calm expression, "you explained what happened. You paid someone to prevent a bigger problem. In the long run, that’s a smart move."

Warma tapped at another file on the tablet. "And recently, you’ve been expanding the Billion Bloodline Gyms , that’s where part of your budget went. Plus, you’re still refurbishing the other branches, and the acquisition of the Fortis Group is costing more than it’s making. Even though your other ventures are profitable, the situation is what it is. If you keep spending at this pace, you’re going to keep bleeding money."

Max leaned back in his chair and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. On paper, he was still rich , incredibly rich. Over nine hundred million dollars sat across his accounts. For most people, that was a lifetime beyond imagination.

But for Max, because of the Vow, every drop in that number directly affected his physical strength.

The less money he had, the weaker he became.

And now, even with nearly a billion left, he could feel it , the fatigue, the sluggishness, the sharp drop in energy. His system punished him for every loss.

"I do have some other news," Warma continued. "About one member of the Stern family. That’s the main reason I came to talk to you today."

Max turned his head slightly, his focus sharpening. "Go on."

"It’s the Curts family," Warma said. "They’ve introduced Bobo Stern from the Stern family. They want you to set up a meeting , something about investment talks for her biotech company."

Max froze for a brief second, blinking slowly. Bobo Stern , his cousin.

It wasn’t surprising. In fact, he had been waiting for this to happen.

His family never did anything without an angle.

Now, one of them , without realizing it , was reaching out to him for support.

A small, humorless smile touched his lips. "Bobo Stern, huh?" Max said, his voice low and calm. "All right. Let’s hear the details."

He had a feeling this meeting would be more than just a business discussion.

It was an opportunity.

An opening that could change everything , for him, for the Billion Bloodline Group, and maybe even for the Stern family itself.

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