CHAPTER 93: MAKING THE DEAL

Adam looks at the two young men who seem to be lost in their own world, talking to each other, nervous and erratic. He can see their legs shaking from nervousness.

Clearly afraid to mess up this meeting. Afraid to mess this up. Afraid to lose another potential investor. Afraid to lose what they haven’t even started building.

Both young men look like they haven’t had a proper sleep in ages.

Adam approaches them with a smile on his face. People turn their heads to look at Adam before going back to talking to each other, wondering about who Adam is.

"Tyler Bust?" Adam calls. The scrawny, tall one turns his head and looks at Adam.

He looks confused, wondering why a handsome young man like Adam is asking for him.

"Yes? And you are?" Tyler asks. "We talked over the phone. I am Adam Grant," Adam says.

Hearing his name, Tyler immediately stands up, rubs his hands on his shirt, and extends them towards Adam.

"Mr. Adam Grand! Nice to meet you. Please sit down," Tyler says nervously.

His fat friend also stands up soon after looking at Adam wide-eyed.

Adam looks down at Tyler’s hand and sees it shaking a little.

Adam smiles at Tyler and shakes his hand. He then turns to the fat one. "And you must be Bobby Kin?" Adam asks, looking at the fat one.

"Ye..yes, nice to meet you as well, Mr. Adam..." Bobby stutters but manages to finish his words.

"Now that the introductions are out, let’s get down to business," Adam says and sits down. Seeing him, the two nerds take their seats as well.

They look at Adam with surprise, young, handsome, and rich. ’Some people just have everything,’ they think, looking at Adam.

"What can I get you, gentlemen?" A female waiter approaches them and asks for their order.

Before, she didn’t even bother asking Tyler and Bobby what they wanted, but now that Adam is here, she came on her own. While she did say gentlemen, she is only looking at Adam, mesmerized by his good looks.

"Just get me a double cheeseburger and cola. What about you guys?" Adam asks.

"Umm... we will have the same," Tyler says.

Adam smiles and gives the waitress a nod.

"I will get it right away." The waitress leaves smiling ear to ear, feeling happy for being smiled at by the handsome young man.

"So, Mr. Bust, Mr. Kin, let’s talk business. What are you looking for?" Adam asks.

"Mr. Adam, you know the nature of our app, right?" Tyler asks nervously.

"Yes, I do, Mr. Bust, and I have no problem with the nature of this app. From my point of view, it’s a great initiative. With this app, crimes committed against these women will drop by a large margin while also giving them a means to earn money," Adam says.

Hearing him, both Tyler and Bobby take a sigh of relief. Every time they tried to find an investor, they would be rejected the very moment they shared their idea.

Some of their investors would outright insult them for coming up with such an idea.

Thankfully, Adam seems much more accepting of their idea.

"I understand that both of you are having an immensely hard time finding investors, and it’s not surprising, knowing the nature of your work. But I think those people are foolish, not seeing the true potential of your work," Adam says, smiling.

Hearing his pleasantries makes Tyler and Bobby smile; at least someone agrees with their vision.

"So tell me, how much do you want and how much are you offering?" Adam asks, and his face becomes serious.

"Umm... We would like an investment of 50000 dollars for 5 percent of our company," Tyler says nervously.

"Here’s your order." Before Adam could speak, the waitress came back with their order. First, she hands Adam his orders with a smile on her face. Adam smiles back and lets her place it before him.

She then puts Tyler’s and Bobby’s plates down while keeping her eyes on Adam.

"Is there anything else I can get for you? You can ask anything," the waitress says.

Adam looks at her. He notices that the waitress has reapplied her makeup, fixed her hair, and unbuttoned her shirt’s top two buttons to expose her cleavage some more.

"That’s all for now," Adam says, smiling. The waitress is disappointed seeing her methods didn’t grab Adam’s attention. It’s not like she isn’t good-looking, but Adam is doing business right now, and he has no shortage of pretty women in his life.

Seeing that Adam isn’t interested in talking anymore, the waitress leaves disappointed.

"So back to the topic," Adam says, taking a sip of the cola.

"Five percent for fifty thousand. Are you sure it’s enough?" Adam asks.

"Yes... We have done the calculations, payment for programmers, and maintenance after the app launches. Since it’s a small team, that’s enough," Tyler says.

Adam doesn’t say anything; instead, he grabs his burger and takes a bite, letting them both marinate in their nervousness.

Adam takes his time chewing and savoring the burger. It tastes delicious.

"Mnnn~ So I don’t think it will be enough. From what I see, you need more than coders and maintainers; you need to convince these escorts to join your platform, make them sign a contract, advertise your app, and market it. And as much of a good coder you guys are, I don’t think you know how to run a company. You need to hire a CEO who knows what to do? Do you really think fifty thousand will be enough?" Adam asks.

Now that Adam has mentioned all of this, Tyler and Bobby realize that they have really not thought it through. Just like Adam pointed out, there is so much more to do than just make an app and upload it online.

Even in their previous lives, they didn’t know how to succeed; it was someone who came to their aid and took them to new heights.

But this time, it’s Adam who is going to step up before anyone does.

"Okay, I am going to be straight with you guys. I will give you guys five hundred thousand dollars," Adam says.

As soon as these words come out of Adam’s mouth, both Tyler and Bobby suck their breath in disbelief, before their eyes flash with excitement, and they start shaking.

"Now, now, calm down. I have not finished my offer yet. For five hundred thousand, I will own fifty-one percent of your company," Adam says.

And with these words, their excitement dies down. Giving fifty-one percent of their company to Adam means losing ownership of their company.

They begin to hesitate.

"I know it sounds scary, but think it through. I could have easily lowballed you guys, offered you half the price for your entire company, and seeing how both of you are struggling, I don’t think you would have refused my offer. Am I right or wrong?" As Adam asks this, they both get embarrassed because it’s true.

They were actually planning to sell their company for even less if things today didn’t work out.

"You need to understand, no one is willing to risk their money on such an extreme idea. I, on the other hand, am willing to take such a risk.

Instead of buying your whole company, I see your potential. I want you guys in it and make it prosper. So what do you say? You both will still be owners of the remaining 49 percent, and as the business grows, so will your own value," Adam says, painting a picture of their success.

Tyler and Bobby start dreaming about getting rich. They imagine themselves driving fast cars with beautiful women by their side. It’s what they have always wanted.

"Deal!" Both of them say it at the same time. They didn’t need to think much about it.

"That’s great! Let’s make this official," Adam says, taking a paper from the table. He then writes down that he will now own fifty-one percent of their company, and in return, he will give them five hundred thousand dollars. He signs it and then makes the other two sign it as well.

With this, it’s official.

"I will have my lawyer put this in an official document, and he will approach you tomorrow with legal contracts. This is just to make sure you don’t back out of our deal," Adam says and shakes their hands.

Tyler and Bobby don’t really care; they happily shake Adam’s hand. Little do they know, they just signed off ownership of a future multi-billion-dollar company to Adam’s name.

With him being the only one with over fifty percent of the company’s shares. He will be the richest of them all.

Adam then finishes his burger and cola, before bidding his farewell to the boys while they decide to stay back and party some more about successfully acquiring five hundred thousand dollars

Adam returns to his car with a smile. He is very happy with a successful deal.

’Now I need to get a lawyer involved,’ Adam thinks, and someone comes to mind.

A friend of his late mother, someone he can actually trust.

In his previous life, he was bitter and arrogant, so he never sought her out, thinking she too would reject him like everyone else, only to realise years later that she wouldn’t have. But it was too late. He had already sunk to the depths of darkness.

Adam remembers where she lived and drives towards her home. He wonders how she is doing. It’s been years since he saw her.

Now that he is back in time, she should still be in her 30s and still beautiful.