Chapter 189
Ronald let out a wry chuckle. He knew Emery all too well. Like father, like son, he thought. Who could know my son’s nature better than me?
“She demanded all the shares of the Wilson Group,” Ronald said.
Emery blurted out, “Aubree, she…” As the words left his mouth, he caught his father’s meaning, his gaze fixed on him, making him pause mid-sentence.
Ronald said, “Didn’t you always want Aubree to come back to the family? Then why don’t you hand over your shares first!”
Emery fell into silence.
He could bring himself to sell Apex Squad to Aubree, but when it came to handing over his shares of the Wilson Group, that was out of the question. It was because he knew he could always rebuild the club, but without his shares, he’d lose his leverage.
A wry smile tugged at the corner of Emery’s lips. Turns out I’m not as selfless as I thought. When it comes to what matters, I still put myself first, he thought.
Emery’s silence spoke volumes to Ronald.
Ronald sighed and said, “Emery, Aubree is your sister, and she’s my daughter too. You’re not the only one who wants her to come home. I’m trying to work it out as well. Sure, we’ve made mistakes before, but as long as we’re willing to try, there’s always a way.”
At the same time, Ronald thought to himself, As long as it works, who cares if it’s right or wrong?
“Stop thinking about leaving,” Ronald said. “You’ve been doing well at Wilson Group lately. Even the shareholders praised you for having Bryan’s potential. Since you’re no longer interested in running the club, why not focus on your work here! Also, Bryan could use a right-hand man by his side.”
Faced with this mix of threats and incentives, Emery wavered. After all, he had studied financial management just like Bryan, precisely because he’d always harbored ambitions for the Wilson Group.
“RosepolyGroup, our subsidiary, has run into some trouble. You’ll handle it,” Ronald pulled out a file and placed it squarely in front of Emery.
Emery hesitated, torn by inner conflict, but in the end, he reached out and took the file.
Ronald smiled in satisfaction.
The assistant at the door couldn’t hear the conversation inside, but he could guess more or less. Something about this doesn’t sit right with me! he thought. Is Mr. Ronald Wilson making the right call by handing this directly to Emery?
Meanwhile, Playzy had mostly stabilized.
The live-streaming industry once experienced a boom, leading to a market shakeout where many platforms folded while only a few managed to survive.
Playzy currently faced competition from only four to five rivals, the majority of which had replicated its operational framework.
Aubree hadn’t paid much attention to these, but a rising competitor called MindDrift truly caught her eye.
MindDrift pioneered a never-before-seen streaming method: PK battles.
The platform enabled streamers to connect live for PK battles, setting up fun punishments, competing in talent shows or other challenges, and getting viewers to vote for them. With impressive results, it quickly became a rising star in the industry.
Aubree had a unique perspective on this.
This streaming strategy was something Aubree had seen in her past life, a tactic that later became widely adopted. Naturally, it proved highly profitable for both streamers and the platform.
Leveraging this strategy, MindDrift had poached numerous high-profile streamers from rival platforms. Even Aubree’s Playzy had recently seen some defections.
Playzy hadn’t rolled out the PK feature yet, not because Aubree didn’t want to, but because she knew the timing wasn’t right.
Aubree thought to herself, The lengths people will go to for money are unfathomable. In the early days, a platform can still keep things under control, but once it scales up, can it micromanage every single detail?
Once PK battles start, things could quickly go out of control. Unscrupulous individuals might emerge, exploiting loopholes. If the platform fails to rein them in, it could lead to catastrophic consequences.
She had planned to wait until Playzy’s operations stabilized and the development team had built a robust monitoring system before gradually rolling out the PK feature. She never expected a trailblazer to emerge so soon.
If MindDrift takes off, I’ll follow their playbook. If they crash and burn, I’ll learn from their mistakes and do it even better, Aubree thought.