Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 303: Mergers in the Pool

It was just like it had been back then. Except this time, Lily wasn’t around. Alison too.

Tamara had been a friend that Olivia shared more with, even more than her trio group of Lily and Alison. However, Tamara had always been better with the boys.

One time, Olivia had revealed to her that she had a crush on a certain guy, but Tamara also had a crush on him.

The fight for the school jock almost ruined their friendship because in the end, Tamara won and Olivia had to watch as the boy she liked snuggled and kissed with her friend.

Olivia liked to believe that was high school. That she was stronger and smarter now, that she knew how to stand for herself and get what she wants.

Even though now, it wasn’t looking like the case.

She was merely stuck in the corner, watching Tamara and Darren talk like they were the best of friends. She even began to wonder if Darren was a closer business partner to Tamara than to her.

I mean... we went to seminars and meetings with Archibald Mooney together. What have they done together?

Maybe Darren and Tamara’s business relationship didn’t involve casual pairings and meetings together, but it was still a more compact, serious business relationship.

With him being the CEO of Steele Investments, and she, the CEO of Horizon Strategies, two of the biggest companies in the state, that was an inevitable truth.

Which is why as they spoke, the water around them seemed to shimmer with a different kind of heat: the charge of high-stakes negotiation layered over primal attraction.

Tamara floated effortlessly beside him, her body angled towards his in the water, like a shark circling its prey.

"The equity split is the least of it, to be honest," Tamara said, a confidential purr in her voice that was entirely for his ears.

Darren smiled softly when he noticed it.

"The real gem in Emerson Tech crown is their proprietary battery cooling system. It’s years ahead of the market. If we spin it off into a separate subsidiary before the merger..."

She outlined a complex, brilliant strategy, her eyes alight with the thrill of the deal.

Her words were all business, but her tone was intimate, her fingers occasionally tracing invisible patterns on the surface of the water near his arm.

Darren listened, his mind effortlessly tracking the financial and strategic threads she wove.

He knew a fair bit about Emerson Tech. They were actually workers for HP and Dell before they moved on to help create Nexus, which was then sold off, and now... Emerson.

The only reason Emerson wasn’t a popular brand in Darren’s former timeline was because the brands they had helped build, overshadowed them, sending them to oblivion after claiming their ideas.

If he could capture Emerson now at its early stages, Darren could still bring it to its peak. Help it compete with HP, Samsung, Dell and the rest.

"A pre-merger spin-off is risky. It could spook the other shareholders," he said after a thought.

"Only if they see it coming," Tamara countered, a sly smile on her lips. "We’d have to be very... discreet. A skill I know you possess." The double entendre hung in the humid air between them.

Darren gave a knowing look. "You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?"

Tamara shrugged innocently and seamlessly pivoted. "Speaking of discreet opportunities... have you been following the Monarch Motors debacle?"

Darren’s eyebrow lifted. "The Mathis family feud? Vaguely. A messy inheritance dispute."

It had been happening since last year, early last year in fact.

Darren remembered using the Insight Protocol on the company and being revealed to all its secrets, including the fight for ownership of the dealership.

Darren couldn’t believe that they were still going on at it now.

A memory sparked in his mind, vivid and clear. Last year’s version of himself, not yet a billionaire, standing beside that beautiful car dealer... What was her name again?

Whatever.

He remembered the smell of leather and polish. The sleek, silver lines of the Aston Martin One-77. His first true symbol of having arrived.

"I bought my Aston Martin there," he said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice.

"Ohhh... so it’s sentimental to you then," Tamara grinned, seeing she had an in. "You think it’s messy, but it’s also lucrative. You’ll see "

Her knee accidentally-on-purpose brushed against his under the water. "The dealership itself is a crown jewel, but its real value is the land it sits on. Prime commercial real estate. The valuation is around four hundred million, but it’s stagnating because the siblings are tearing each other apart in court."

"Four hundred and sixty million to be exact," Darren stated.

Tamara paused, then tilted her head at him with surprise. "How am I sure you haven’t been thinking about this too?"

Darren smirked.

Tamara licked her lips before continuing. "Alexander Mathis is a brute, fuck him. He’ll run the company into the ground for quick cash."

Darren looked at her with a brow raised. "How am I sure you’re not just saying that because of your brother?"

Tamara pursed her lips, feeling guilty. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Admit it," Darren scoffed. "You just don’t like him because he reminds you of your brother. It’s a really familiar scenario, I get it."

Tamara shook her head. "No, no. It’s not just... that. Trust me, Juliet... she’s sharp. She has vision. She just lacks the capital to buy her brother out and the leverage to force him to the table."

She fixed him with an intense gaze. "You backed me against my brother. You saw the potential others missed. I’m asking you to see it in Juliet. Help her. A quiet investment. A nudge in the right direction."

It was a full-circle moment. She was asking him to replay their own history, to be the white knight for another woman in a similar fight. The flattery was expertly deployed.

Darren, however, was a master at controlling the tempo. He gave her a slow, smoldering smile that made her breath catch.

"Tamara, your mind is a truly beautiful thing. But all this talk of mergers and acquisitions..." He reached out and gently pushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek, his fingers lingering for a fraction too long. "...it can wait. We’re here to rest. To enjoy more... liquid assets."

He gestured around the pool, at the sun, the water, the beautiful women. The rejection of her proposal was gentle, but firm. The weekend was for consolidation, not new conquests.

Tamara’s smile tightened slightly, but she played along, leaning into his touch. "Of course. How thoughtless of me. I just get... excited around you."

Darren smiled at the compliment. "We will talk about this later."

From her position across the pool, Olivia continued to watch the entire exchange.

At this point, she could barely contain it anymore. She saw their heads close together, Tamara’s intimate body language, Darren’s familiar, captivating smile directed at another woman.

Why does Tamara always have to get the guy?

Why?!

The green-eyed monster, already stirred, now roared to life. The business talk she could handle. This easy, flirtatious camaraderie was a direct threat.

A wicked idea sparked in her mind. With a siren’s grace, she submerged completely into the water, disappearing beneath the turquoise surface.

Darren was leaning in, saying something else to a laughing Tamara, when he suddenly jolted violently. His body stiffened, and the glass of watermelon juice in his hand flew from his grasp, shattering against the pool edge, its pink contents bleeding into the water.

A choked gasp escaped his lips.

He looked down into the water, then his head snapped up, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and involuntary arousal.

There, treading water with an expression of pure, innocent mischief, was Olivia. She had reached under the water and grabbed his bulge.

"Olivia," he breathed, his voice a strangled mix of reprimand and amusement.

Olivia emerged out of the water, her green hair wet, water dripping down her ravishing features. She smirked, a triumphant, dangerous glint in her eye.

"Already excited, Darren?"

Darren stared at her, his heart racing with excitement. He never expected such brazenness from these women. Especially not Olivia.

Olivia gave Tamara a look.

My move, the look said.

But before Darren or Tamara could form a response, another sound cut through the moment. It wasn’t a playful splash, but a frantic, choking sputter. Then a panicked, high-pitched yell.

"HELP!"

Every head turned. The laughter and chatter died instantly.

Darren’s gaze, sharpened by the system, zeroed in on the source of the commotion.

In the deep end, away from the others, Ileana was flailing. It wasn’t the playful splashing of someone pretending to drown. This was the real, terrifying thing.

Her head bobbed under the surface, came up gasping and choking, her eyes wide with pure, unadulterated panic, before she disappeared under again. Her arms slapped uselessly at the water.

She was actually drowning!!!