I am a necromancer, and I absolutely love America.

Chapter 234 The Catholic Church's Bowing Down to Debbie

Director Victor closed the document, frowned, and said, "34 billion. Harker is only willing to pay this price for 8 flagship stores and 12 small and medium-sized stores."

Bauer feigned helplessness as he explained, "Actually, all Hax really wants are eight flagship stores. He'll definitely resell the smaller stores after acquiring them, but these stores are hard to sell and might become unsellable. So, for him, losing money on these stores is inevitable, and it's unlikely he'll raise his bid. In his view, we're essentially asking him to absorb a portion of the losses from those stores."

Margaret turned the last page, took off her reading glasses, and said coldly, "The expected value was over 150 billion, but the current offer is only 120 billion, and there are only two sellers. What should we do?"

The three directors looked grim; the situation was far worse than they had imagined.

The withdrawal of Decano and Ruitu affected a large number of buyers; apart from Catherine, no one was willing to buy L0TB.

And LOT C.

Raymond finally calmed down and said through gritted teeth, "Hacks bought too little. The problem now is that Catherine's total asking price is 120 billion. Can we sell it to her?"

'

"This is such a loss," Raymond thought, feeling incredibly pained.

Raymond regained his composure: "I know, but if you sell LOTA to Harker, what about the remaining LOTAB and LOTATC?"

Bauer added, "Without the flagship stores, would Catherine be willing to accept other assets? If they can't be sold, we not only won't be able to recover the funds from these assets, but we'll also have to bear their operating losses. Because the eight most profitable flagship stores have already been sold in L0TA. So our operating losses will be even greater, and how much will we lose in the future? Considering all this, bearing the difference of 35 billion now might not be so painful; at least it's a safe haven."

After his initial anger, Raymond gradually accepted the situation.

But Victor and Margaret still couldn't accept it and shook their heads.

Margaret made a desperate plea: "No, we can't accept a bid of 120 billion. That's like telling the market that Bellow is only worth that much. After the bidding, Bellow Group's stock price will drop even further, and we'll suffer even more losses!"

"Furthermore, Harker's offer for L0TA demonstrates one thing: someone is willing to pay a premium for a portion of the assets!"

She was trying to persuade the other directors while also trying to persuade herself.

Victor chimed in, "I agree with Margaret. 120 billion... that's too much of a loss for us. If all else fails, we'll just sell the L0T."

A, keep the rest.

Raymond refused: "I don't think it's appropriate. The future looks even worse."

Anton added, "Yes, keeping them will only cause them to rot. Raymond's suggestion is correct. Our current goal is strategic transformation, which requires funding and a lighter load. If we only sell LOTA, the remaining assets will continue to tie up our capital, human resources, and management resources. Moreover, losing the flagship store will further reduce the valuation of the remaining stores, ultimately leading to even greater losses than we have now."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Catherine's offer is too low; we can't accept it!"

The four major shareholders are in a very difficult position regarding the current situation.

Selling it to Catherine would be too costly, it would hurt my wallet, and I'd be unwilling to accept it.

If we don't sell, keeping it in our hands will only make things more dangerous in the future.

Nobody knows when ACER technology will actually be implemented.

If ACER technology is launched next month, it means that these assets that are stuck in our hands will continue to fall, and the losses may far exceed 30 billion.

Since the new company has declared that it will never sell any ACER technology products to the Bellow Group, the Bellow Group will only suffer a more tragic fate if it holds onto these stores.

"Let's do the math..." Anton, having basically grasped the three directors' thoughts, took out a pen: "If we sell them separately, assuming, in the best-case scenario, Catherine is still willing to offer for LOT B and LOT C, how much money could we get? First, we need to consider that, since the flagship store was taken by Harkers, LOT B and LOT C..."

The value of LOT B and LOT C would decrease significantly for Catherine, so she would inevitably continue to lower her offers for LOT B and LOT C.

「我认为总值有可能在60~70亿之间。那幺把L0T A卖给哈克斯回收40—45亿，再加上L0T B、L0T C凯萨琳拿出的70亿，最多也就是115亿，比凯萨琳给出的120亿还低。」

The crowd's expressions changed slightly, but they understood that Anton's analysis was reasonable and irrefutable.

The importance of flagship stores to the store system of any chain group is self-evident.

Anton helplessly shrugged: "So, the ideal situation is to sell all assets to Catherine, even if we lose an extra 30 billion."

This is already the least damaging approach. Since losses are inevitable, let's be rational...

'

Margaret also fell silent.

"Therefore, the actual return from the split is likely to be lower than the overall price."

"Yes, that's certainly the case. And that's the ideal scenario. If Catherine isn't willing to buy the L0T separately..."

What about B and LOT C? Our losses would be even greater.

"No! The new company will definitely enter the medical aesthetics chain industry. Catherine said she needs these assets! She won't give up packages B and C!"

"Who says she can't partner with Decano? Or he could simply acquire and integrate some small and medium-sized medical aesthetic companies."

o

"That would be a huge waste of time!"

"Whether or not she wastes time depends on when ACER technology can be launched. We don't know this crucial information, but she certainly does. If ACER technology may not be launched for another year, then she will have ample time to integrate the acquired small and medium-sized medical aesthetic companies, and the cost will be much less than it is now. In that case, she is unlikely to acquire Packages B and C separately."

Raymond suggested, "Perhaps we should set a target price, say 130 billion, and use that as our bottom line when negotiating with Catherine. We can then stop bidding, since there are only two buyers. If she's willing to raise the price to 130 billion, we'll accept."

"We'll sell the entire asset. If she doesn't meet our expectations, we'll abandon the deal and sell a portion of the assets to Harker."

"If that's the case, when I sell L0TA to Harkers, I'll have to use Catherine to inflate Harkers' price, and it'll have to sell for at least $50 billion to make up for our losses."

After a moment of silence, everyone basically accepted this proposal.

"The situation is clearer now," Bauer continued. "In other words, if Catherine is willing to accept our bottom line, then we'll use Harker as a tool to raise the price for Catherine."

"If Catherine isn't willing to accept our bottom line, then we'll use her as a tool to help Hax raise the price, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then it's settled. We should still have a second round of bidding, let them all make an offer, so we can take the initiative. If Catherine's price exceeds our bottom line, which is 13 billion, then we'll sell to Catherine."

"If she insists on 12 billion, or less, we will choose Alex. Of course, before that, we need to negotiate and put pressure on both sides."

After the plan was finally finalized, everyone felt very heavy-hearted.

No one can laugh when faced with losses of tens of billions of dollars in assets.

The three directors sighed, unaware that Bauer and Anton exchanged a mysterious glance.

After all three directors left.

Anton chuckled and said, "The situation is very good for us right now. All we have to do is close this deal with Catherine."

Bauer then spoke up, "Catherine might not be willing to accept such a high price. 130 billion is too much. What is Raymond thinking? Bello is not the Bello of a few years ago! Anton, please help me lower my target price a little further."

For Ball, his earnings are tied to the acquisition price.

Based on 150 billion, he could get a 1% kickback from Catherine for every 1 million less.

If he could lower the price by 10 billion, from 130 billion to 125 billion, he could earn an extra 500 million, which is 500 million US dollars.

Bauer, of course, had to actively cooperate in suppressing prices.

Anton nodded: "OK."

Alex was eating instant noodles while scrolling through his phone.

These past few days, due to the immigration bureau's investigation, he hasn't dared to go out to collect the body, nor has he dared to go live, resulting in his savings dwindling.

His white girlfriend was anything but quiet and spent money extravagantly.

His white girlfriend always had a knack for accurately assessing his income level and spending it all.

Fuck!

Alex cursed angrily.

He hesitated whether to post a video, then opened his X account to see how many old fans he still had.

But the numbers that popped up on the screen almost made him spit out his noodles: his number of followers had skyrocketed by 20!

"Holy crap! What happened?"

Alex was stunned.

I haven't done anything lately, so why has my follower count increased?

He refreshed the page, and the number had increased by several hundred.

"Have netizens gone mad?"

ALEX wasn't satisfied, so it refreshed the page again, and the price increased by several hundred more.

Alex could only accept reality, staring at the screen in disbelief, completely unaware of what had happened.

On X, he only left a short video introducing himself, and all other videos were hidden.

He quickly opened the comment section of the only video and found that it was completely out of control.

The top-rated comments are all attacks, and most of them, judging from their names, belong to US study abroad agencies: "You're an international student with an F-1 visa, making money by smearing America. Be careful you don't get deported!"

"Are you aware that ICE is tightening its policies?"

"You're just like those patriotic online celebrities in China, purely trying to get clicks. Your eating habits are even more disgusting than theirs!"

"You're eating American food while simultaneously criticizing America. Cursing America on American soil—isn't that a modern-day example of 'eating from the bowl and then cursing the mother'?"

"Do you have any evidence whatsoever from what you filmed? Kids begging for food on Thanksgiving? Have you taken too much performance-enhancing drugs?"

I

'

"Even the poorest people in New York live better than the average person at the University of Tokyo!"

"Have you ever seen truly poor people? Go to the rural areas near Tokyo University and take a look, then come back and talk about America's cutoff line."

Alex doesn't care about the insults; being insulted means he's hit a nerve.

But why are so many people suddenly criticizing themselves?

How exactly did it become popular?

He then checked his private messages, which contained hundreds or even thousands of abusive messages.

After scrolling for a while, I finally found a voice that wasn't insulting: "Hey, BR0, have you read the New York Times? Someone's writing about you, you're famous."

The New York Times?

Alex paused for a few seconds, then immediately opened the New York Times website and searched for his name.

The first article that popped up was "Why is Dongda University so concerned about the poor in America?" The author's name was Li Yuan, and it was written in Chinese pinyin, so she is probably of Chinese descent.

Alex only read two paragraphs before realizing that he was the protagonist of the article.

Li Yuan's article did not directly attack him, but it subtly implied that she was using a fabricated narrative to incite negative sentiments towards the United States at the University of Tokyo.

Alex put down his phone, bewildered. "Ma'am? I'm just a poor student. Why are you, a big shot at by the New York Times?"

No, this incident does indeed explain why he became so popular.

Alex simply put the matter out of his mind and didn't take it to heart.

The next day, as soon as he arrived at school, he was stopped by a middle-aged woman with a dull appearance, wearing a dark gray suit.

She wore a silver badge of the school's racial equality office on her chest, and spoke politely but scrutinizingly: "Alex, we've noticed that some of your comments on social media have drawn complaints from some students, and I need to speak with you about it."

"What remarks?" Alex's heart tightened.

The woman did not make any specific accusations, only saying that the specific situation was still being verified, but it was necessary to confirm whether his remarks involved racial or regional discrimination.

Alex had no choice but to follow them to the school's racial equality office.

Fortunately, he was eloquent, and the other party couldn't find any evidence to constitute a formal charge. In the end, they could only say, "If there is any further verification, we will contact him again."

'

As Alex stepped out of the corridor, he immediately realized that he was being watched by the mainstream media.

This time it's not the fragmented Chinese Americans in America, but a mainstream media outlet like The New York Times!

Big trouble!

Alex's expression turned serious, and he immediately hid the last video on his X account.

Over the next two days, his popularity did not decrease; on the contrary, it accelerated.

Alex would often search his own name online, and as a result, the number of search results increased, and the opinions became more and more extreme.

The New York Times article had such a huge impact that it was reprinted by many media outlets, and he even saw a report about himself on the BBC.

Finally, a small talk show directly invited Alex to talk about the issues of poor people in the United States and international students at the University of Tokyo.

Alex promptly refused.

He felt no excitement at becoming famous; instead, he felt waves of inexplicable fear.

Having one's actions and videos discussed in public is, in any case, not good news.

He has absolutely no faith in the moral standards of the U.S. government.

It seems I have no choice but to endure it; I need to lie low for a while longer.

He can't work in social media, and he certainly can't do corpse collection either. Now, Alex can only bury his head in the sand like an ostrich, hoping to muddle through.

Bellow Group sent its second round of bids to all bidders in the form of formal letters.

Hacks received it too.

His face darkened the moment he opened the email.

All assets remain divided into three large resource packages, unchanged!

The eight flagship stores he wanted most were crammed into the L0TA bag along with 12 small and medium-sized stores and several long-term lease agreements!

Those stores don't make any money at all, FXXK!

Hacks cursed angrily.

Once these assets are in his hands, he has to sell them off, and nine times out of ten he will lose money. This will increase his capital consumption and reduce his rate of return, which makes Hax very dissatisfied.

Moreover, with so many assets, L0TA's total value will definitely be much higher than he expected.

If we take over the whole thing, we'll need to take out even more loans.

By paying high prices to buy assets they don't need, they are essentially helping the Bellow Group dispose of its junk assets.

FXXK!

Hacks cursed again.

He then carefully reviewed the list of buyers who participated in the second round of bidding.

Besides Hax, there are also newly established companies, and the rest are all small buyers with limited funds and no competitiveness whatsoever.

Harker immediately realized that the second round of bidding was essentially just him and Catherine.

There was a conflict between her and Catherine; Catherine wanted all the assets, while she only wanted a small portion.

After pondering for a moment, Hax thought that he might be able to negotiate with Catherine, so he picked up his phone, found Catherine's number, and dialed it.

After the call connected, he skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point: "Ms. Dixon, this is Harks. You've received the second round of bids from the Bellow Group, haven't you? I'd like to discuss a bid with you."

Catherine calmly replied, "OK, go ahead, I'm listening."

She not only saw the plan, but also communicated with Bauer privately and knew what the senior management of Bello thought.

The only competitor now is Hax; they are each other's tools, and it all depends on who offers the higher price.

Harkers cut to the chase: "Ms. Catherine, I only want a portion of L0T A, and you want it all. If we keep bidding against each other in the second round, the only winner will be the Bellow Group. So, I have a solution to avoid that."

Catherine's voice remained unchanged: "What plan?"

Harker confidently stated, "I'm withdrawing from the bidding for LOT A. You acquire all the assets with a relatively low overall offer. Afterward, you can resell the eight flagship stores to me separately at the price we both agree on. We just need to sign a framework agreement before the bidding process, locking in the transfer price and closing conditions. This way, you won't have to pay a premium for the flagship stores, and I can avoid being bogged down by those worthless assets. It's beneficial for both of us."

Harker thought Catherine wouldn't be able to refuse the proposal, but Catherine refused: "Mr. Harker, I understand your proposal, but I cannot accept it. I need those flagship stores; I need the complete network system. If the flagship stores aren't in my hands, the value of the entire chain store system will be greatly reduced, making it a pointless investment."

Hax's face darkened, and he was about to speak when Catherine continued, "But we can change the way we cooperate. I can transfer some of the flagship store properties to you in this deal—not eight, but three. I've noticed that I have multiple flagship stores in New York and Los Angeles, and I only need to retain one in each city. I can take three flagship stores from those two cities and resell them to you. This way, my overall offer can be reduced by more than $1 billion, and you'll get some core real estate. It's a very cost-effective solution; you get the real estate you want, and I reduce my overall costs. If you're willing to accept this offer, we can meet to discuss it in detail."

Catherine didn't want to fight Hax either; in her view, avoiding conflict as much as possible was the best way to maximize her interests.

Harker's voice quickly rang out, bluffing, "No! I need all eight. Not three, all eight stores! Catherine, do you know how much money I've prepared for this deal? I've prepared $6 billion! If I use that money to bid for LOT A, you simply can't beat me. You'll only get LOT B and LOT C, and you'll lose even more!"

"In that case..." Catherine ignored Hax's threat and calmly said, "Then let's see who has the best skills. You can compete with all your might for L0T A, and I can push my overall offer with all my might. After the second round of bidding, there will naturally be a result."

She hung up the phone without hesitation.

FXXK! Hacks was so angry he almost smashed his phone.

Debbie's practice room used to be a south-facing guest room, but now the entire room has been converted into her practice room.

The walls and floors were covered with light gray soft mats and non-slip floor mats, one wall was entirely mirrored, and a portable speaker was placed in the corner.

A training pole was nailed to the wall with expansion bolts.

Debbie sat on the ground with her legs spread wide apart, a hard rubber pad pressing against her buttocks.

She gripped the exercise bar tightly with both hands, her face flushed, and beads of sweat dripped down her forehead.

Richard sat opposite her, placing his feet on the inside of her knees and applying slight pressure towards the wall, making her split almost 270 degrees.

Debbie held it in for a while, but couldn't take it anymore and screamed, "Gently, gently, it hurts so much!"

She braced herself on the ground with both hands, then nervously grabbed the exercise bar, trying to back away.

But Richard's foot remained firmly planted against her knee, pushing her steadily towards the wall.

Debbie gritted her teeth and struggled, screaming in agony.

But Richard acted as if he hadn't heard, and just stared at Debbie's body.

Through continuous practice with her and modifications to Debbie's body, he was always able to accurately grasp the limits of Debbie's physical endurance, achieving the greatest training effect.

At the same time, this was also his exploration of human body modification, preparing for his own body modification.

"Be gentle!" Debbie screamed as she lay on the ground, her legs almost unable to move, in too much pain.

Richard remained silent.

Just then, Catherine's voice came from the living room. She took the phone and pushed open the door to the practice room.

She was wearing a dark gray suit dress and paid no attention to Debbie's miserable state. She simply said to Richard, "Manderson called just now and relayed Hax's message. He wants me to consider Hax's interests when acquiring Bello."

"Harx's interests?" Richard turned his head.

Debbie was still panting down there, trying to relax a little while Richard was talking.

But Richard kicked the wall half an inch further, and Debbie screamed again.

"Now we only have Hax as our main competitor. Dicano and Ruttoro have withdrawn, and the other small and medium-sized buyers are simply not competitive." Catherine quickly explained the current situation: "Hax only wants a portion of the assets in LOTAA, namely the real estate of those eight flagship stores. I have clearly rejected his proposal to sell them off piecemeal, and he has probably convinced Manterson to put pressure on me. Next, he will likely raise his bid to buy LOTAA, or continue to use other methods to suppress us."

Richard glanced at his watch and finally loosened his grip, leaving Debbie sprawled on the floor.

A fine layer of sweat covered her forehead, her whole body went limp, and her legs were still trembling, like noodles that couldn't be pulled back. She looked like a toad that had been flattened and was slowly regaining its shape.

"That's too cruel, Richard! You're taking revenge for personal reasons!" Debbie said, throwing in a Chinese idiom.

Richard stood up, looked down at Debbie's horrific state, and after confirming she was unharmed, turned to Catherine: "Where did Harkers get his funding? Since this is a takeover battle, we only need to focus on the most important part. Where will the money come from? As a real estate developer, he shouldn't have much cash on hand, right?"

Catherine paused for a moment: "During the preliminary research, Mellon Bank's investment department analyzed all three main competitors. Harkers' cash flow is insufficient to support this acquisition, so he mortgaged some real estate and shares to obtain a quick, special loan from Mellon Bank. The specific details are unclear, but Mellon Bank's approval process may not even be complete yet."

Richard calmly replied, "That's simple. Just have Mellon Bank reject his loan application at the last minute, and he won't have enough funds to compete with us."

"How could I have influenced Mellon Bank?" Catherine was a little confused. "I'm not very familiar with them. I just took a $200 million long-term low-interest loan from them a while ago."

The person Catherine was most familiar with was a low-level business manager, the one who gave her a 200 million loan.

Since she was promoted to president of the new company, the business manager who was originally high and mighty and in charge of lending suddenly became very friendly and attentive to her.

However, the other party's level was too low; they were simply not qualified to participate in such a large investment project.

Richard saw that Debbie had almost recovered and helped her up.

She clutched her inner thigh and limped over, saying, "It hurts so much, rub it for me."

Richard glanced at it: "Come on, stop pretending. It doesn't hurt that much. You train your flexibility every day."

Debbie pouted, then regained her composure: "This is so boring."

Richard then said to Catherine, "It's simply a matter of profit. How much money can they make lending to Harker? As long as you cover their losses, Mellon Bank will make the right choice. You're a new big client!"

"Um..

"..." Catherine's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea. Now there's only one problem left: how do we find the higher-ups?"

Although she was the president of the newly established company, it was relatively easy for her to meet with Mellon Bank's management.

However, without an introduction, the other party may not trust you.

She no longer had time to gradually build a relationship with him.

Richard glanced at Debbie: "Aren't the Catholic Church in New York quite close to the bank's executives? Weren't they trying to ease tensions with Debbie? This is the price they have to pay."

Catherine immediately understood and turned to Debbie: "So, Debbie, can you help Mommy?"

Debbie shrugged. "OK, of course, no problem. I think it's about time. I've left Sawyer hanging for a while now, it's about time he paid the price."

Sawyer parked his car in front of No. 1300, Wandi Villa. It was still early, 15 minutes before the agreed time of 3 p.m.

He came early on purpose, just to show his goodwill as much as possible.

He watched the bodyguards walk out the door; Debbie didn't even come out to greet him, which made Sawyer smile wryly.

How did the power dynamic between the two sides reverse so quickly?

When did this happen?

Sawyer was a little confused.

"Archbishop, Saint-Debbie and Mrs. Dixon are waiting for you." The bodyguard, having been notified, opened the door and invited Sawyer in.

Sawyer walked across the front yard.

He noticed that the wall between him and his neighbor had been demolished, and the yards had become one.

Some construction workers are building a new walkway.

Sawyer had no interest in stopping to look and went straight to the living room.

"Hi!" Catherine stood up to greet her in a perfunctory manner.

Richard sat on the sofa by the window.

Debbie was scrolling through her phone on his shoulder when she glanced at Sawyer and rolled her eyes.

She was wearing a loose gray sweatshirt, and her hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head, showing no trace of saintly demeanor.

She was lying on Richard like that, appearing very intimate.

Sawyer was a little helpless and could only pretend he hadn't seen it.

Catherine poured him a cup of coffee herself, as a gesture of respect for Sawyer: "Your Excellency the Archbishop, it is a pleasure to have you here."

Sawyer took the coffee but didn't drink it: "You said Her Highness Saint-Debbie was willing to meet with me, so I came right away."

Catherine shrugged. "I believe you understand Debbie's current predicament."

Sawyer sat up straight and looked at Catherine.

"She's not throwing a tantrum; she's reconsidering her future," Catherine said, feigning seriousness. "Debbie is considering whether she should continue as a saint. You know, for her, that role only has limitations, no benefits..."

'

Sawyer's lips twitched slightly.

When the two sides first started working together, Debbie and Catherine were just middle class, and he had an absolute advantage.

Now that Catherine is the president of a multi-billion dollar company, the relationship between the two has reversed.

"The influence of Catholicism is still very significant in the United States..." Sawyer carefully chose his words.

Catherine didn't give him a chance to argue: "Let's get straight to the point. If you want her to retain her sainthood, the Church needs to do one thing for Debbie."

Sawyer knew Catherine was about to start making demands, and said seriously, "What is it? As long as it's not too unreasonable, it's fine."

"I need my Catholic connections to get in touch with Mellon Bank. New Life is bidding against Hax for an asset of the Bello Group. Hax's loan came from Mellon Bank, and I want them to cancel it or delay the disbursement."

"Are you kidding me?" Sawyer's expression was very strange as he tried to explain, "The Church doesn't get involved in business competition or financial transactions. The Church wouldn't use its connections to interfere with a private company's financing and business decisions. Besides... this could be a deal involving hundreds of billions of dollars; Catholic connections aren't that valuable..."

Catherine, however, remained unperturbed, her tone unchanged: "The Church doesn't need to pressure Mellon Bank directly; you need to build a bridge for me. I need to meet with Mellon Bank's top management, the big shots who can make decisions on this matter!"

"This..." Sawyer was still hesitant, unsure of the impact his bridge would have.

Catherine reiterated, "If you help Debbie achieve this, she's willing to return to the public eye as a saint. If you refuse, she also has the right to define her own life."

"Your Excellency, you should be well aware of what this means. Debbie's identity has never been a personal matter. In the past month or two, she has brought tremendous attention to Catholicism, an increase in the number of young believers, and a massive number of believers returning to the church—these are all quantifiable indicators! Can't you recognize her value? Now there's an opportunity for her to reappear as a Catholic saint; what's wrong with that? And all the Catholic Church needs to do is offer a small amount of assistance to my daughter and me. I'm not asking the Church to intervene in commercial competition; I simply hope the Church can make an introduction!"

Merchants are so despicable.

Sawyer silently considered the implications of the matter.

First of all, he absolutely could not accept the loss of Debbie.

The saint's influence is related to the image of Catholicism in the public eye.

If a saint whom the Catholic Church is currently promoting suddenly announces that she no longer wants to be a saint, that would be a disaster!

Sawyer immediately realized a huge problem: even if he satisfied Debbie this time, if he could not satisfy Debbie's demands in the future, Debbie could use her status as a saintess as a threat at any time!

His expression was very serious, but after thinking for a long time, he really couldn't come up with any good solutions. He was completely helpless!

His cardinalship, coupled with the significant increase in the number of young Catholics, has pushed the Catholic Church to the point where it cannot accept losing Debbie.

In the end, Sawyer could only bow his head to Debbie: "Your Highness Saint Debbie, do you approve of this?"

Catherine turned to look at Debbie: "Debbie, would you like to continue serving as a saint? If not, we can end this conversation now."

"How dare you talk like that?!" Sawyer's face darkened.

Debbie put down her phone, glanced at Sawyer, and said in a blunt tone that she didn't bother to hide: "You were unwilling to help Richard before, and if you won't even help Catherine this time, then there's really no point in us continuing."

In short, if you help Catherine, I'll continue being a saint. If you don't, then I'm fed up and don't want to be one anymore. What's the point of being a saint if I can't even help the people I help? So it's you who need me, not the other way around!

Sawyer sighed.

Since deciding to elevate Debbie to sainthood, he has lost a full 5 pounds.

This is such a hassle!

"I need to make a phone call to the Vatican."

"OK!" Catherine smiled confidently; Sawyer simply couldn't refuse such a offer.

Sawyer agreed and acted swiftly, scheduling Catherine's meeting with Mellon Bank executives for the following morning.

The top-floor conference room of Mellon Bank's Manhattan headquarters building.

Catherine arrived five minutes early and sat on one side of the long table, without any documents in her hand.

Sterling, the senior vice president and third-in-command of Mellon Bank, pushed open the door and walked in. He was wearing a dark gray suit, his tie was tied tightly, and Mellon's silver badge was pinned to his chest.

He entered the room, his gaze lingering on Catherine for a moment.

The woman was younger than he had expected, wearing a well-tailored dark coat, and had a proper posture. She wasn't looking at her phone or flipping through any documents.

Businesswomen of this age often lack confidence when facing powerful figures like bank vice presidents alone, and usually bring at least one financial advisor with them.

But Catherine did not.

Sterling made a mental note: "Either she's very well prepared, or she hasn't realized how complicated this is."

o

A woman who is fearless because of her ignorance.

After shaking hands, the two took their seats.

Sterling placed a thin document on the table, opened it, but didn't look at it: "Ms. Catherine, I know why you're here today. Mr. Harkers is a long-time client of our bank. He applied for a four billion dollar loan using three flagship hotels as collateral. It's currently going through the internal approval process and hasn't been officially disbursed yet."

He paused, closed the file, and wore his most perfect smile: "This is all the information I can reveal; it's all publicly available. As for your business issues... you'll have to resolve them yourselves. Mellon will not interfere in your business competition."