Susan''s gig was finally starting to pay off, and she was on the brink of a sweet promotion. But now, thepany was hitting some rough patches, and she caught wind of rumors about it going belly up, which only cranked up her anxiety. Over the past few days, she''d been shooting her resume out to a bunch of ces, but none of them were hitting the mark. Either the pay sucked, or the job just wasn''t her vibe.


    She even thought about bailing and heading back to her hometown, but the thought of everyoneughing at her for her measly savings held her back.


    After all, she''d been bragging to them about being some big-shot exec with a million-dor sry.


    The fact that Susan was spilling all this meant she was seriously hammered.


    Quinn seized the moment and asked, "So, what''s the name of thepany you''re at now?"


    "The Vitex Group," Susan slurred.


    Quinn was a bit taken aback but not totally shocked; she had kinda guessed it already.


    "Yeah, I know thatpany," she said.


    Susan nodded, not too fazed. It was a big-namepany, after all.


    "Mind if I ask what your role is there?" Quinn probed.


    "I think it''s Vice President of Sales?" Susan replied, a bit unsure.


    Quinn mused, "Oh, do you get much face time with the boss?"


    "Yeah, I see him a lot. Why do you ask?" Susan wondered.


    Quinn grinned. "Oh, nothing. Just heard he''s from the Lynch family. If a subsidiary''s in trouble, the parentpany should step in, right? It shouldn''t go under."


    Susan sighed, "If they were gonna help, they would''ve done it by now. The subsidiary runs on its own. How could the parentpany cover its debts? And I heard the Lynch family''s businesses are all managed separately, adjusting shares based on eachpany''s financials every year."


    "Of course, that''s just the word on the street. No one really knows the deal," Susan added.


    Quinn said, "That can''t be right. If that''s true, they''d be sabotaging each other for profit, and the whole thing would copse."


    Susan shrugged. "Who knows? Like I said, it''s just what I heard. I don''t know for sure."


    "Alright." Quinn didn''t push further. She asked, "Got any ns now?"


    Susan shook her head. "Nope, just gonna y it by ear. If thepany tanks and I can''t find a new gig, I might think about heading back."


    Quinn smiled, cleaned up the table, and headed to the kitchen.


    She kept mulling over how to steer Vitex Group''s mess towards Aron. Maybe Susan was the key.


    After tidying up, Quinn took Sprout back to her room and pulled out her phone to call Kyle. When he picked up, Quinn got straight to the point, "Kyle, did you dig up anything on Aron?" "Yeah, but it''s mostly surface stuff from the inte. What''s up?"


    Quinn said, "Can you check whatpanies he owns right now?"


    "Got it. I''ll shoot the info to your email in a bit," Kyle replied.


    "Cool, send it over," Quinn said.


    Within two minutes of hanging up, Kyle sent the info.


    Quinn scanned through it. Aron had his hands in a bunch of pies-cars, real estate, jewelry.


    But onepany caught her eye, sparking an idea.Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    She put down herptop, grabbed her phone, and thought about calling Walter. She hesitated, unsure if he''d do her this favor. Taking a deep breath, she finally dialed the number.