The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 55
Half a month ago, William had not foreseen any of what was happening at this very moment. To be precise, he had never expected Michael, or anything connected to him, to enter the picture at all.
William was not omniscient, nor omnipotent. He was only an ordinary man, one whose calculations and considerations stretched a little farther than most, but he still could not stand at the beginning and see the end. That was not a man’s power, but a god’s.
The chain of events triggered by Michael had disrupted his original plan. His plan from the start had been to make one quick haul and leave. He had never intended to register any legitimate company. But in order to deal with Michael and his kind, he had been forced to register one anyway, so that at the very least he could make himself as airtight as possible.
Even so, although the plan had shifted again and again, a mistake could still lead to the right destination. There was never only one road to the end. Every road led to the bank. And as things stood now, his plan was not bad at all.
Mr. Fox hesitated for a moment, then asked in return, “Ten percent isn’t enough?”
He felt ten percent was not a small amount. But this little money really was not enough.
William shook his head. “If all you want is to exchange loose change, then ten percent is enough, because that business is only worth that much. But if you want to take money from me and use it to operate, then ten percent is not enough!”
As he spoke, he gave Mr. Fox no chance to object or even ask a question, and continued straight on. “This is absolutely not self-praise. Right now, in all of Sabine City, only I can raise a large amount of cash for you in a short time. I have a way to get legitimate money, and you happen to need money...”
Mr. Fox nodded without commitment. His head hurt a little. Ever since realizing William’s “wisdom,” he had begun to feel slightly stupid himself.
Many people called him a cunning fox, but only in front of William did he truly understand that cunning was not the same as wisdom. It was merely petty cleverness. He had no desire to circle around with William, because in the end the one left dizzy and disoriented would certainly be himself. So he asked bluntly how much William actually wanted.
“Ten percent of the principal, and five percent of all additional proceeds. And I do not bear any other costs whatsoever.”
Mr. Fox knew how every word in that sentence was written, what each one meant, even their common variations. But once they were put together, he found himself ... somewhat lost.
He thought for a while. The reason he thought for a while was only to keep William from seeing through him too clearly, though William had known from the start that he might not fully understand what was being said. After half a minute, Mr. Fox frowned slightly and asked, “What does that mean?”
The expression on William’s face immediately became more animated. When dealing with every client, or rather every financier, William had ample patience, and he was better than anyone at displaying his sincerity. His smile itself was one form of that sincerity.
“It’s simple, Mr. Fox. Let’s assume you lent Tom one thousand dollars ... this is only an assumption, an example ... and he pledged you something worth one thousand dollars as collateral. But then he defaulted, and in the end you recovered both principal and interest, one thousand dollars each.”
“In this transaction, your principal is one thousand dollars, and your proceeds are two thousand dollars...”
Mr. Fox raised a hand and cut him off. “Sorry, I didn’t follow that. Shouldn’t my proceeds be one thousand dollars?”
William showed not the slightest impatience. He explained with great patience, “That clause I had you put into the agreement, the one saying that after default the borrower automatically forfeits ownership of the collateral, while the loan and interest remain valid ... do you understand now? In practice, you receive one thousand dollars in interest, plus a piece of collateral worth one thousand dollars.”
Seeing Mr. Fox’s sudden look of understanding, William found the old man somewhat endearing. Then he continued, “Ten percent of one thousand dollars, and five percent of the proceeds, together comes to two hundred dollars.”
This was, in truth, a fairly primitive form of commercial contract, a guaranteed floor plus a share of profits. It was not especially common, but neither was it rare. Similar, or near-identical, clauses often appeared in certain side-bet agreements to protect one party’s maximum interest.
Mr. Fox pondered for quite a while before he fully grasped it. His expression became one of helpless amusement. “Honestly, if we just went into partnership, it wouldn’t be nearly this troublesome. I could give you twenty to thirty percent of the shares. That’s much simpler than all this complicated arithmetic.”
Perhaps what he said was one way to solve it, but it was not one William liked.
At bottom, even if Mr. Fox’s business now appeared, with William’s help, to contain nothing overtly illegal, that did not mean it was truly lawful.
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