Chapter 66: Chapter 66: The 70 Million US Dollar Sucker

Lynn Jennings could guess that Brianna Hudson wanted the Shiyuan restaurant for two reasons. For one, to expand her own business holdings, and for another, it was probably for Lynn’s older brother.

After all, there was a Shiyuan restaurant right near the Jennings family’s office building.

If she could get ownership of that location, it would only be to her advantage should she marry into the family one day.

Jessie Sterling knew this as well.

She hadn’t given it much thought before, but now that Brianna Hudson had brought it up and clearly wanted her Shiyuan, Jessie certainly wasn’t going to hold back.

“I want all of your Sanctum shares,” Jessie said.

The moment the words left her mouth, the hand Lynn Jennings had resting on the small of her back slipped away.

“Are you crazy?!” Brianna Hudson’s expression changed in an instant.

Jessie still looked unfazed. “The market valuation for Shiyuan might be a little less than your Sanctum shares, but not by much. Since you’re the one who wants something of mine, don’t expect me to agree if the stakes you offer aren’t tempting enough.”

Jessie simply looked at Brianna Hudson’s face, waiting for her decision.

In any case, she had nothing to lose even if Brianna Hudson refused.

“Oh, come on, Jessie. You know the only valuable thing she has are those Sanctum shares. If she wagers them and loses, won’t poor Brianna have to run home crying?” Lynn Jennings chimed in with a beaming smile.

Brianna Hudson’s expression darkened.

She knew Lynn Jennings was just trying to provoke her, but to her own shame, it worked.

“Fine!” Brianna Hudson said through gritted teeth. “I accept. But my Sanctum shares won’t be so easy for you to take.”

She certainly didn’t think she was going to lose.

Jessie: “Talk is cheap. Why don’t we put it in writing?”

Brianna Hudson’s gaze was contemptuous. “Jessie, is that to say you don’t trust me?”

Jessie smiled. “I was just thinking that if one of us loses and wants to back out, a written agreement will save us from having an ugly scene.”

Although Brianna Hudson was displeased, she had to admit that Jessie had a point.

’The agreement would be binding on both of us, not just me.’

There were stables in Southaven, but most of Jessie Sterling’s horses were kept in Port Caldoria, so the group prepared to head there first.

On the way to Port Caldoria, Jessie had Lynn Jennings get into her white Lamborghini.

“You’re really playing for keeps this time,” Lynn Jennings said the moment she got in the car.

It wasn’t that she thought Shiyuan’s market value was so high that Jessie would be devastated if she lost it; rather, she knew Shiyuan held a special significance for her friend.

Although Jessie rarely visited Shiyuan, she had completely overhauled the interior design after taking over the restaurant.

Few would question the aesthetic sense of an heiress who had studied art, and as it turned out, the revamped Shiyuan became even more popular.

The décor was one major change. Another was that Jessie had set up a private room in every Shiyuan location, not open to the public, that only Seth Sterling and Quincy Sterling could use.

Jessie steered the car out of the parking space with one hand. “Fortune favors the bold,” she said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Since Brianna Hudson was the one to suggest it, I might as well take the opportunity to see if I can snatch up her Sanctum shares.”

Sanctum was a high-end hotel chain, one of the Hudson family’s businesses aside from their jewelry empire, and its annual profits were substantial.

However, Sanctum had originally been Mrs. Hudson’s dowry. Mrs. Hudson was a capable woman; in just ten years, she had built Sanctum into one of the top hotel brands in the country.

If Brianna Hudson hadn’t been Mrs. Hudson’s daughter, those shares might never have ended up in her hands.

“Well, since you have a plan, I won’t say any more. If you really manage to take Brianna Hudson’s Sanctum shares, I bet she’s going to get an earful when she gets home.” Lynn Jennings couldn’t help but laugh.

If Brianna really did end up with her older brother, the thought of Brianna’s assets ending up in Jessie’s hands made her positively giddy.

Jessie stepped on the accelerator, overtook the car ahead, and sped down the road. “Not worried I’m going to lose to her anymore?”

Lynn Jennings: “What’s there to worry about? And what good would it do now anyway?”

Jessie chuckled slyly, then said, “Brianna Hudson recently paid a fortune for an American Thoroughbred. It just arrived in Port Caldoria last month. The horse had an excellent track record, so I’m guessing that’s the one she plans to race against me today.”

“And you still look so calm?” Lynn asked.

Jessie let out another couple of sly chuckles, looking a little smug. “There’s something wrong with that horse,” she said in a low voice.

Even though it was just the two of them in the car, she spoke as if sharing a secret, afraid someone might overhear.

Lynn was genuinely surprised. “Weren’t you super busy last month? How do you even know that?”

“I only just remembered,” Jessie said. When she was with Victor Morgan, he would always find topics to discuss that he knew would interest her. Knowing she had a stable in Port Caldoria and enjoyed horse racing, Victor had chatted with her about it.

Jessie had been a little surprised, because Victor Morgan seemed like the type to be completely absorbed in his career, someone who wouldn’t have any interest in frivolous pastimes like horse racing.

But Victor knew a lot about it.

He also knew many excellent jockeys and was an honored guest at several clubs.

“Victor said that buying horses is a shady business,” Jessie explained. “Last month in Varden, someone paid seventy million US dollars for last year’s champion mare. But the horse was pregnant, and the buyer didn’t know. Seventy million was way too high a price. They were clearly taken for a fool and got completely ripped off.”

She hadn’t actually known Brianna was that fool until a moment ago. After all, it was Brianna who, on their way out of the restaurant, had made a point to “kindly remind” her to choose her horse carefully for the race, otherwise, it would be very difficult to win.

Even though Lynn Jennings was a big spender herself, she was stunned to hear that Brianna Hudson had spent seventy million US dollars on a pregnant mare.

“And she didn’t suspect a thing?”

Jessie: “Victor said it was a setup. When there’s a bidding war, it creates the illusion that the item is a hot commodity. The bids were driven up really high, and they even had people from the club in on the scheme. Brianna just fell right into the trap.”

For a moment, Lynn Jennings was at a loss for words.

From the sound of it, Brianna had been more than a little unlucky.

“Still, you can’t let your guard down,” Lynn said, reaching out to fiddle with the perfume bottle in Jessie’s car—an Acqua di Parma with a woody scent that she had gifted her. “The horse was last year’s champion, after all.”

Jessie hummed in agreement.

Soon, the group arrived at the racetrack.

The horse Jessie planned to ride today was one she had bought two years ago. It was also a Thoroughbred, looked after by a dedicated staff. Whenever she had free time in Port Caldoria, she would take it out for a couple of laps.

Its performance in recent races had been quite good.

’Who knew how it would fare against Brianna’s horse today.’

Jessie went to change into her riding gear first.

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