Theo felt a surge of admiration for the broker's cold-blooded strategy. It perfectly mirrored his own ruthless approach. "Maximum leverage through calculated inaction," Theo murmured, appreciating the elegance.
"Precisely," Parker confirmed. "Now, Mr. Sterling, I think it would be prudent for us to meet briefly early next week to discuss the finer points of this strategy and prepare for his inevitable counter-proposal once the pressure cooker does its work. Are you available to stop by my office downtown Monday afternoon?"
"Monday afternoon works," Theo confirmed immediately. "Send me the details."
"Excellent. I look forward to it." Parker hung up.
Theo lowered the phone, a slow, predatory grin spreading across his face. Parker was worth every penny of his retainer. Withdraw. Wait. Let the owner sweat, let the business bleed out from the thousand cuts Theo had inflicted. Then, swoop in for the kill at a bargain price. It was perfect. Utterly ruthless, and perfectly aligned with his plan.
Week 26 – Sunday
Sunday night. Theo sat in his apartment, the newly delivered, high-quality block plane resting heavy and cool on the desk beside his laptop. His research into luthiery tools had confirmed the potential, but it would involve a lot of legwork getting in touch with relevant experts, to them establish trust and get them to test his tools. It would require significant effort and time, something that Theo didn't necessarily have at the moment. He parked the idea into his backlog, choosing instead to focus on the one piece of unfinished business that remained.
He pulled up the Google reviews for 'Something Fishy'. The trickle of one-star reviews from the previous week had become a flood.
⭐☆☆☆☆ "CLOSED?? Went by Friday night, sign just says 'Closed due to emergency'. What emergency? Place has been terrible lately anyway."
⭐☆☆☆☆ "AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Finally got food poisoning after eating their greasy fish last week. Health dept needs to investigate." (Likely fake, but damaging).
⭐☆☆☆☆ "Owner was yelling at staff when I went in Wednesday. Seemed totally stressed out. Food took forever and was barely warm."
⭐☆☆☆☆ "Reduced hours again? This place is obviously going under. Good riddance."
Theo read them with a feeling of icy finality. The sabotage campaign, the timed equipment failures, the rancid oil surprise, the general disruption, had achieved its objective even faster than he'd anticipated. The owner was clearly broken, the business crippled. The 'For Sale' sign felt imminent.
He opened the document he'd created last week: " Project Neptune - Something Fishy Acquisition & Optimization Plan." His fingers flew across the keyboard, adding details, refining the steps. Contact broker Monday morning, emphasize the closure, the likely health code issues from the (alleged) flood, the cratered reputation. Instruct broker to make an even lower offer than initially planned, sheer opportunism. Aim to acquire assets and lease for less than $25k, maybe even $20k if the owner was truly desperate to escape mounting debts.
He sketched out the turnaround plan again: Gut. Clean. Permanently enhance fryers, freezers, ventilation, POS. Simple, high-quality fish and chips menu, learn from Maria's focus. Rebrand completely, 'Something Fishy' was toxic. Hire fresh staff, maybe shift Olivia or Jenny over to help out initially? Launch with a targeted marketing campaign (he'd consult Sarah again, maybe formally hire her this time?).
He looked at the plan, then at his current bank balance projected for the end of this week. Even after payroll and expenses, the chicken shop's steady profit was rebuilding his capital nicely. Acquiring the fish shop, even with renovation costs, was now well within reach.
His thoughts turned briefly to Sarah again. Her skills were undeniable. Running two shops, planning for other ventures after that… he would need someone like her eventually. Someone sharp, reliable, tech-savvy, marketing-aware. Someone who, ideally, didn't ask too many questions about the source of his consistent 'luck' and 'optimization' successes. Cultivating that connection, finding the right high-potential project that genuinely aligned with her interests (beyond pro-bono help for chicken)… that was becoming a key strategic objective.
A cold, predatory smile touched Theo's lips. Everything was falling into place. One venture stabilized and delegated, generating reliable cash flow. His primary competitor neutralized and ripe for acquisition. A promising new high-margin venture identified for development, though on the backlog for now. The System remained a mystery, but his core +1 power, now wielded with line-of-sight precision and the strategic option of Un-Enhance, felt more potent than ever. The climb was accelerating.
Theodore Sterling - Financial Ledger (End of Week 26)
Starting Balance (Beginning Week 26): $61,876.00 (Carried over from End of Week 25)Income (Week 26):Maria's Charcoal Chicken (Avg Weekly Profit): +$9,072.00 (Using Avg Figure as per note)Additional staff hired will be balanced out by selling more, will keep $9072 profit margin for simplicityTotal Income:+$9,072.00Expenses (Week 26):Personal Rent Paid (Week 26): -$450.00Personal Living Expenses (Week 26): -$500.00Luthier Block Plane (Research): -$180.00 (Added)Shell Company Setup (LLC Filing Fee Est.): -$100.00 (Added)Business Broker Retainer/Consult (Est.): -$500.00 (Added)(Note: Shop expenses like Lease, Utilities, Wages, Supplies, Tax Provision are now factored into the Avg Weekly Profit figure)Total Personal/New Venture Expenses:-$1730.00Net Change (Week 26): +$9,072.00 (Income) - $1730.00 (Expenses) = +$7,342.00Ending Balance (End of Sunday, Week 26):$69,218.00($61,876.00 + $7,342.00 = $69,218.00)Assets:Maria's Charcoal Chicken (Business Purchase Price): $38,000.00
Status: Oversight Transition Successful, Acquisition Imminent. Theo successfully transitioned to an oversight role for Maria's, with Henry effectively managing daily operations. Team functioning well autonomously; hiring process delegated. Security cameras installed. Continued sabotage resulted in competitor 'Something Fishy' closing temporarily; acquisition process initiated via lawyer/broker using shell LLC. Theo actively researching next venture (artisan tools) and purchased first item for experimentation. Financial reserves growing steadily from shop profits (~$9k/wk avg), ending week at ~$69.2k cash + business asset. Focus now on executing 'Something Fishy' acquisition at lowest possible price while developing the next high-margin venture.
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Author: Hi All, thanks for reading and hope you are all enjoying the story.
I originally posted this here on webnovel on the fanfic section as a way to get to a broader audience, unfortunately due to some constraints on my end, I've not been able to update as regularly as I would like, and so the novel has not been able to attract as many readers as I had hoped.
So, I will be stopping the uploads from this chapter onwards. Thank you to those who have read so far, your support is much appreciated.
If you are still interested in the novel, you can find advanced chapters available on patreon - currently up to chapter 32. Thank you everyone and all the best!
www.patreon.com/coffeetimewriting