Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 780

Sure enough, Owen glanced over the very next second.

However, he rarely bothered to stoop down and bicker with a bunch of college kids.

"So they threw this entire gala just to target you guys?"

Wyatt asked.

"You could say that."

Mira remained entirely unfazed.

"And that's not all. Very soon, he'll find a way to humiliate us publicly."

"Like hell he will!"

Jillian immediately stepped in front of Mira, acting as a human shield.

"Listen, Little Miss, they're going to fight with words and industry jargon. Brute force isn't going to solve anything here."

Cedric Miller teased.

"Even if it did come down to a brawl, she'd be useless. Mira could take down a dozen of her without breaking a sweat."

Zachary Boone added dryly.

"You say that like you guys would fare any better."

Jillian snapped, tilting her chin defiantly.

Boss Mercer was just praising me a minute ago!

She spun around to look at Elara. "Am I really useless at everything?"

"No way. Your ability to throw an absolute tantrum and bite people's heads off is top-tier. It's actually a very valuable asset for Mira."

Elara replied with total sincerity.

Jillian was speechless. What kind of compliment was that? It sounded incredibly backhanded.

But on second thought, that really was her specialty. As long as she was useful to Mira, she didn't care.

As they bantered, Jude and his entourage began marching in their direction.

One second Jude was swarmed by an adoring crowd, and the next, he was making a beeline straight for the beverage bar—exactly where Mira's group was stationed.

When the crowd saw the foreign heir halt right in front of Owen and Mira, almost every pair of eyes in the ballroom locked onto the standoff.

Moments earlier, thanks to the networking of several prominent CEOs, a good portion of the room had been brought up to speed on Jude's background.

He was the golden boy of a foreign financial empire, a trading virtuoso with a limitless future.

As for Owen, there wasn't a single soul in Aethelgard's high society who didn't know his name. He had forged an empire for the Lance family before walking away on his own terms due to internal conflicts.

Jude greeted them with impeccable politeness.

"Wait, you guys are friends? Mira, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Hank suddenly bellowed, feigning absolute delight.

The entire ballroom's attention snapped straight to Hank. Lawrence and his cronies looked completely baffled, genuinely assuming Jude had run into an old buddy.

For a brief moment, even Mira and Owen couldn't figure out what kind of game Hank was playing.

"How do you do, Oracle Vance? I hear you're an undefeated titan in the stock market. It's an absolute honor to finally see you in the flesh!"

Jude thought to himself, Who the hell are you? Trying to act like we're close?

"I've been looking to get into trading myself recently. I wonder if Oracle Vance might be willing to offer a few pointers?"

Did this guy have zero social awareness? I'm here to execute a corporate takedown, not tutor you on stocks.

But Jude had just established his polite, aristocratic persona. With the entire room watching, he couldn't exactly bite the man's head off...

"Ah, where are my manners? Look at my memory."

Hank said, slapping his own forehead.

"The name is Hank Whitlock. I'm Mira's older brother. Heh, I wonder if Oracle Vance would do me the honor?"