Chapter 328

Aurora narrowed her eyes. “So that’s it? You’re ready to betray me?”

“Eh?” John let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Why call it betrayal? I’m simply adjusting the costs accordingly. You’re well aware of LC’s reputation in the international market. Doing business with your company was already a gamble on our part.”

Aurora sat there quietly, watching him talk. “And?”

“So, I’ve just raised the project cost within what I believe to be a reasonable range.”

“Hah. John, don’t you think that sounds absolutely ridiculous?” Aurora shot back without holding back.

She was genuinely stunned by how shameless he was. She chose LC because she saw potential in the company. Yet in the end, all he cared about was profit, and worse, he dared to hike up the price halfway through negotiations. She’d definitely miscalculated.

Her fingers curled slowly into a fist, fury simmering beneath her cool gaze.

John, watching the way her composure began to crack, actually looked pleased. Wasn’t this woman supposed to be unshakable? Why was she suddenly so riled up? How fascinating.

He grinned broadly. “Ridiculous? Miss Walton, this isn’t your first time doing business, is it? You should’ve seen this coming.”

Aurora drew in a slow, deep breath. He was right. She should have. “Is there really no room to negotiate?”

John, seeing how subdued she suddenly looked, found it oddly amusing. He teased deliberately, “Miss Walton, I thought you didn’t care about these things. Didn’t expect to see some expression from you; looks like you’re panicking too, aren’t you?”

Aurora was so infuriated by his words that she actually let out a laugh. She once thought John would make a solid business partner. She clearly had been dead wrong. Even now, he still had the nerve to mock her.

If Walton Corporation hadn’t been tight on cash, if their budget weren’t so constrained, there was no way she would be sitting here playing nice with John.

“So, there’s really no room to negotiate?” she asked one last time.

John gave a smug little hum. “Miss Walton, I’m still very much looking forward to working with you. I hope you’ll find a way to meet the price.”

Aurora held his gaze for a long second, then said nothing. She stood up and walked straight out of the studio. She had misjudged this one.

John watched her retreating figure and, in an annoyingly good mood, whistled under his breath.

Aurora’s grip tightened around her handbag. Her fury surged behind her calm expression.

John’s assistant, noticing her anger, turned to him with some concern. “Mr. York, are you sure it’s wise to treat Miss Walton like that?”

John shot him a sideways glance. “What do you know? Fortune favors the bold.”

The assistant thought it over and had to admit that it made a certain kind of sense.

John said nothing more. He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Truthfully, he hadn’t planned to raise the price on Aurora. But someone had tipped him off—this project would bring in serious profit, and Aurora was no fool when it came to business. If he didn’t squeeze something out of her now, it’d be hard to make any real money later. At first, he had hesitated. But once he saw just how lucrative the project actually was, the temptation was too much to resist. Mercy wouldn’t get him anywhere.