Chapter 235: Groundwork

Chapter 235: Chapter 235: Groundwork

Morning light poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the master bedroom at The Zenith, casting a warm golden hue across the polished hardwood floors.

In the open kitchen, Catharine stood near the marble island in a fitted cream silk blouse and dark trousers, checking a series of real-time financial models on her tablet.

Jake walked up behind her, wrapping his arms securely around her waist and pulling her soft frame back against his chest. He rested his chin against her shoulder, breathing in the delicate scent of jasmine that lingered on her skin.

"You’re going to be late if you keep staring at those documents," Jake whispered, tracing a light line along her collarbone with his thumb before pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck.

Catharine leaned back against him with a small sigh of content, dropping her head back against his shoulder as a flush touched her cheeks. She turned her head slightly, her lips brushing his cheek before meeting his in a slow, sweet kiss.

"And you’re going to be late if you keep standing there," she teased softly, turning around in his embrace to loop her arms around his neck, her dark eyes sparkling with affection. "Doesn’t Aurelia Capitals have a high-stakes board meeting scheduled for nine-thirty?"

"Let them wait a few minutes," Jake murmured, smiling as he leaned down to capture her lips again, pulling her closer by the waist until she let out a quiet, breathless laugh against his mouth.

"Jake... my lipstick," she protested weakly, though her fingers gently tangled into the hair at the back of his neck. She stepped back after a moment, smoothing the lapels of his tailored jacket with gentle hands, her touch lingering over his chest. "Go play with your billions today. I’ll see you tonight."

Jake caught her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist before giving her a wink. "Deal."

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Forty minutes later, the heavy frosted-glass doors of Aurelia Capitals’ top-floor executive suite slid open.

Inside the conference room, the digital layout of the Mult International Airport expansion project hovered over the obsidian table. Marcus Sheele sat at the head reviewing site plans, while Adrian Vale sipped his black coffee in quiet contemplation and Leon Hart made notes on his tablet.

Jake walked in casually, unbuttoning his suit jacket and taking his seat at the far end of the table.

Noah Chen immediately threw his hands up in the air, glaring dramatically at the wall clock.

"Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence!" Noah declared with a loud groan. "Nine-forty-five! The legend himself. You know, Jake, for a guy running his own private investment firm on the side, your personal time management is absolute garbage."

Leon chuckled, leaning back in his leather chair. "Cut him some slack, Noah. The man’s running Golden Investments solo—he operates on his own clock."

"His own clock? The guy lives twenty minutes away at The Zenith!" Noah shot back, a grin breaking through his outrage. "I swear, if we ever take Aurelia Capitals public, Jake’s going to show up to the opening bell ten minutes after the exchange closes."

"I was busy," Jake replied smoothly, totally unfazed as he pulled up the site blueprints on his personal display. "And unlike you, Noah, I don’t need forty-five minutes of pre-meeting banter to get straight to work."

Marcus Sheele shook his head with a faint smile, tapping his master tablet to focus the room. "Alright, settle down. Now that our final board member is here, let’s get to it. The administrative board signed off on the final blueprints yesterday afternoon. We officially have the green light on Phase One of the terminal expansion and runway lengthening for Mult International Airport."

Noah slumped back in his chair, a wide grin returning. "Man, seeing the Ministry of Trade’s stamp on that paperwork feels good after they spent two weeks trying to block us. Who would’ve thought a quick dinner with President Spencer would make those bureaucrats move like their lives depended on it?"

"It wasn’t just Spencer," Adrian Vale said smoothly from Marcus’s right, adjusting his cuffs before taking a sip of coffee. "It was the fact that we have conglomerates behind us and control the raw materials and logistics pipeline. If they gave it to any of our competitors, the project would have been stalled for eighteen months on baseline logistics."

"Speaking of execution," Leon Hart chimed in, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, "my family’s supply divisions locked down the specialized chemicals and structural logistics contracts this morning. Prices are pegged at our internal group rate, which saves us about seven percent on the baseline budget."

Marcus nodded approvingly, pulling up a secondary spreadsheet. "Good. As the second-ranked construction entity in the country behind my family, obtaining this airport tender proves Aurelia Capitals can run major civil projects on its own. We don’t need to lean on the five major conglomerates anymore. But we need a clear timeline for the groundbreaking ceremony."

"Are we actually doing a full media circus for the groundbreaking?" Noah asked, rolling his eyes playfully. "You know how those ministry guys are. They’ll want three hours of speeches before anyone touches a shovel."

"We’re doing it properly," Marcus said firmly. "The Ministry of Transport and the commercial aviation board are both attending. It’s our first major infrastructure contract as a team. We need all five of us on the main stage, no exceptions."

"I’m in," Leon said, tapping his tablet. "I’ll clear my schedule for Friday morning."

"Count me in too," Adrian added. "Just make sure the press team handles the everything properly. I don’t want to spend my morning dodging local reporters asking about my father’s board meetings."

"What about you, Jake?" Marcus asked, turning his gaze toward the far end of the table.

Jake sat quietly, spinning a silver fountain pen slowly across his knuckles as he evaluated the site blueprints.

"I’ll be there," Jake replied, setting his pen down. "We promised the administrative board that site clearing would start within forty-eight hours of the ceremony. Are the sub-contractors for heavy machinery already mobilized?"

"They’re sitting on standby at the northern staging yard right now," Marcus confirmed, sweeping his hand across the screen to transfer the site logistics file to Jake’s display. "The moment the ceremonial shovels hit the dirt, the excavators move in."

Noah snorted, leaning over toward Leon. "Look at him. The ink on his private Golden Investments stock transfer with Newman Enterprise hasn’t even dried yet, and he’s already worrying about Aurelia’s excavator deployment times."

Leon chuckled, shaking his head. "Honestly, Jake, between what you’re pulling off with Golden Investments and what we’re doing here at Aurelia, you’re going to end up holding equity in every major player in the country by the end of Q4. Leave some for the rest of us."

"I don’t see any of you making any big moves," Jake said with a faint, dry smirk. "Besides, I took those Newman shares to settle a personal debt with Richard and Sam. But this airport tender is what cements Aurelia’s position at the top of the market."

"Speaking of Sam Newman," Adrian remarked, resting his chin on his hand, "word on the street is Richard locked him in his penthouse under internal family arrest after that stunt he pulled. The kid hasn’t been seen near their corporate office since."

"Good," Leon said coldly. "He’s lucky Jake didn’t strip more than ten percent out of his father’s hide for going after his family. The idiot needs to learn that the real world isn’t his personal playground."

"Let Richard handle his own household," Jake said calmly, closing the site file on his screen. "My business with Newman Enterprise is set for now. Right now, Aurelia’s timeline takes priority."

Noah clapped his hands together, the loud sound snapping the serious atmosphere in the room instantly. "Alright! Business is done, blueprints are signed, and the groundwork is set. Which brings us to the most important item on today’s agenda."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Celebrating our first massive, standalone contract win," Leon answered for Noah, a sly grin spreading across his face. "We just secured a multi-billion-dollar airport expansion right under the noses of the old guard. We need to hit the club tonight."

Marcus sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It’s Wednesday, Leon. We have three site walkthroughs scheduled for tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh, come on, Marcus!" Noah groaned, throwing his hands up in mock agony. "It’s a Wednesday night, not a monastic retreat. We go out, drink a couple of bottles of high-end scotch at The Velvet Vault, kick back in a VIP lounge, and we’re back at our desks by nine tomorrow morning. You act like you’re sixty years old."

"I act like the CEO of a firm managing a massive infrastructure budget," Marcus retorted dryly, though the tightness around his eyes relaxed.

"Adrian, back us up here," Leon urged, turning to Vale.

Adrian shrugged casually, taking another slow sip of his coffee. "Don’t look at me. I’m completely fine with anything. Whether we go or not changes nothing for me. Either way, my evening is fine."

"You guys are terrible at enjoying victory," Noah muttered, looking over at Jake with pleading eyes. "Jake, tell Mr. Responsible over here that we deserve to unwind. You’ve been dealing with Richard Newman, Troy’s drama, and your family’s steel negotiations at Meridian all week. You need a drink more than any of us."

Jake looked around the table at his partners. The banter was familiar, grounded, and a welcome break from the sharp-edged political chess he had been playing over the last few days.

"Noah’s actually right for once," Jake said, a light chuckle escaping him. "We took a huge piece of territory this week with this tender. Let me tell Catharine I’ll be out late, and let’s hit the club, get a table, and relax for a few hours."

Noah let out a loud cheer, slamming his fist onto the table in victory. "Yes! The last one has spoken! Marcus, you’re officially outvoted three to one, with Adrian abstaining!"

Marcus shook his head, a genuine smile finally breaking through his disciplined facade as he closed his tablet. "Fine. But if any of you are late for tomorrow’s site review, I’m deducting it from your project equity."

"Deal!" Noah laughed, already pulling out his phone to text the manager of The Velvet Vault. "Tonight, we drink to Aurelia Capitals!"

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