Chapter 45: A closed deal

Three days had passed since Damian’s meeting with the vice chancellor.

Three days of waiting.

Three days of pretending he wasn’t waiting.

Damian sat at the small conference table inside Westbridge’s office, staring at his laptop.

He clicked refresh.

Nothing.

He waited five seconds.

Then clicked refresh again.

Across the table, Sarah looked up from her own laptop.

"You know refreshing it doesn’t make the email arrive faster, right?"

Damian looked at her.

"It’s been slow here this is our first intense deal."

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Patience is a virtue ."

Damian glanced back at the screen.

Daniel, sitting at the other end of the table, chuckled.

"That was the fourth time."

Damian looked at him.

"You were counting?"

"I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes. There’s only so much else to do."

Sarah smiled.

"I’m starting to think I’m not the anxious one anymore."

Damian leaned back.

"I’m not anxious."

"Right."

"I’ve handled worse."

Sarah closed her laptop.

"Like what?"

Damian thought about it.

"Getting chased by a landlord."

Daniel laughed.

Sarah stared at him.

"That doesn’t count."

"It absolutely counts."

The mood in the room loosened slightly.

But the tension was still there.

They had done everything they could.

The expanded pilot was ready.

The support team had been put together.

The onboarding process had been simplified.

The feedback system was in place.

The university had everything it needed to make a decision.

Now there was nothing left to do except wait.

Daniel’s phone vibrated.

He glanced at it.

Then stopped.

Damian noticed.

"What?"

Daniel didn’t answer.

Sarah looked over.

"Daniel?"

He turned the phone slightly.

"Email."

Damian sat up.

"From the university?"

Daniel nodded.

The room went quiet.

He opened it.

His eyes moved across the screen.

Once.

Then again.

Sarah stood.

"Well?"

Daniel slowly lowered the phone.

"We got it."

Nobody spoke for a second.

Damian blinked.

"Got what?"

Daniel looked at him.

"The deal."

Sarah’s mouth fell open.

"You’re serious?"

Daniel smiled.

"They approved the pilot."

Sarah let out a laugh and dropped back into her chair.

"Oh my God."

Damian stared at Daniel.

"Westbridge?"

"Yes."

"The university chose us?"

Daniel nodded.

"They chose us."

Damian leaned back.

For some reason, the reaction he’d imagined never came.

He’d expected excitement.

Maybe shouting.

Maybe a stupid grin he couldn’t control.

Instead, there was just a strange sense of relief.

Then it hit him.

They’d actually done it.

All the meetings.

The research.

The strategy.

The implementation costs.

The risk.

Nexora’s revised proposal.

The VC meeting.

It had all led here.

Daniel looked at him.

"You know what the funniest part is?"

Damian smiled.

"What?"

"This started because you walked into my office with twenty thousand dollars."

Damian laughed.

"Good investment."

Daniel pointed at him.

"You had absolutely no idea what you were doing."

"I knew enough."

"Regardless your analysis and strategy has been of great help."

Sarah laughed.

"I’m with Daniel on this one."

Damian shook his head.

"Thanks ."

Daniel leaned back, still smiling.

"You’re welcome ."

He looked toward the window.

"Yeah."

He had.

That might have been the most important part.

He hadn’t walked into Westbridge knowing how business worked.

He’d learned by watching.

By making mistakes.

By asking questions.

By taking risks.

By nearly getting things wrong.

And now, for the first time, something he’d helped shape had actually worked.

His phone vibrated.

Damian glanced down.

The familiar golden screen appeared above the table.

Only he could see it.

[UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP CONFIRMED.]

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Another notification appeared.

[STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE COMPLETED.]

Then:

[USER CONTRIBUTION TO QUALIFYING IMPLEMENTATION VERIFIED.]

Damian’s attention sharpened.

He’d already received cashback from the implementation expenditure.

But this was different.

The System wasn’t treating the university’s decision as just another purchase.

It had recognized the completion of the strategic objective.

[SPECIAL COMPLETION REWARD GENERATED.]

Damian stared.

[REWARD: $2,500,000.]

His eyebrows rose.

Another line appeared.

[REWARD CREDITED.]

Damian quickly checked his balance.

$5,099,924.32

He stared at the number.

Five million dollars.

Liquid.

Available.

His first instinct was to smile.

His second was to check it again.

He did.

Still there.

For a moment, Damian simply sat there.

A few months ago, he’d struggled over forty-five dollars for a laptop.

Now he had more than five million dollars sitting in his account.

And somehow, the first thing he thought wasn’t What can I buy?

It was:

What can I build with this?

The System disappeared.

Damian closed his phone.

Daniel was still talking.

"We’ll need to finalize the implementation schedule. They want the first phase started quickly."

Damian looked up.

"Yeah."

Daniel paused.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Totally "

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

Damian smiled.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

Damian glanced toward the window.

"The future ."

He wasn’t ready to explain.

The celebration lasted about fifteen minutes.

Then Daniel brought everyone back to reality.

"Alright. Enough celebrating."

Sarah groaned.

"You’re horrible."

"Thank me later."

He opened the implementation document.

"We have the contract, but now we have to deliver."

Damian nodded.

That was the part he liked.

The university hadn’t chosen Westbridge because they were perfect.

They’d chosen them because Westbridge had shown it could solve a specific problem.

Now they had to prove that decision wasn’t a mistake.

Sarah pulled up the revised schedule.

"First phase starts with the smaller student group. Then we expand based on the results."

"Good," Damian said.

Daniel looked at him.

"You’re okay with that?"

"Yeah."

"Even though we could push faster?"

Damian shook his head.

"No point rushing just because we won."

Daniel smiled.

"That’s probably the first thing you’ve said that sounds like an actual investor."

Damian laughed.

"What can o say sir I’m getting used to it."

Sarah looked between them.

"So what happens to Nexora?"

Daniel shrugged.

"They’ll be fine after all they’ve got bigger fish ."

Damian nodded.

He had no reason to celebrate their loss.

Nexora had been better positioned.

They had more resources.

More experience.

A larger customer base.

Westbridge had simply managed to convince the university that it could deliver what they needed.

Daniel’s phone buzzed.

He checked it.

"Nexora."

Damian looked over.

"What did they say?"

"They’ve acknowledged the university’s decision."

"Anything else?"

Daniel nodded.

"They want to remain in contact with the university."

Damian smiled slightly.

"Of course they do."

Sarah looked at him.

"You expected that?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because if I were them, I’d do the same."

Daniel nodded.

"Incase of a misstep they’ll be there as backup."

Damian leaned back.

The rivalry wasn’t over.

It had barely started.

That evening, Damian left the office alone.

The sun was beginning to disappear behind the buildings.

He walked slowly, hands in his pockets.

Five million dollars.

He pulled out his phone again.

$5,099,924.32

He stared at it.

It was strange.

Five million sounded enormous.

But his mind immediately started breaking it down.

Cash.

Westbridge equity.

Profit share.

Potential future investments.

The acquisition opportunity sitting in his inbox.

He had crossed another invisible line.

But instead of feeling like he’d reached the top, he felt like he’d finally reached the starting point.

His phone buzzed again.

He opened the Westbridge agreement.

Equity: 7%.

He had originally asked for ten.

Daniel had negotiated him down.

He remembered the conversation.

Fifty percent profit.

Ten percent equity.

He’d asked for both.

They’d settled at forty-five percent of the additional profit generated by the university deal and seven percent equity.

At the time, seven percent had felt like a compromise.

Now Damian looked at the company’s projected valuation.

$12.4 million.

Seven percent.

$868,000.

He stared at the figure.

Almost another million dollars.

Not cash.

But an asset.

Something he owned.

Something that could become worth more.

That distinction mattered.

Damian locked his phone.

He finally understood what he’d been missing.

The System could give him money.

But money itself wasn’t the end goal anymore.

He wanted:

Businesses.

Equity.

Property.

Assets.

Ownership.

He wanted to build something that continued growing even when he wasn’t standing over it.

Five million wasn’t the destination.

It was capital.

Damian’s phone buzzed again.

This time, it was Emily.

Emily:How’d your day go love?

Damian smiled.

He typed a reply.

Damian:Pretty good.

He paused.

Then added:

Damian:Westbridge got the university deal.

Her response came quickly.

Emily:Wait, seriously??

Damian smiled.

Damian:Seriously.

Emily:That’s amazing!

Damian:Yeah. Feels good.

Emily: I’m happy for you love.

Damian: want to meet up later?

Emily: umm I’m still pretty much occupied, maybe tomorrow or next.

Damian: okay love take care.

Emily: u too babe.

He put the phone away.

The smile remained.

He’d earned the right to enjoy this one.

Later that night, Damian opened the confidential acquisition email again.

The struggling technology company.

The software.

The users.

The recurring revenue.

The low asking price.

A few months ago, he wouldn’t have understood why someone would sell a company that still had potential.

Now he knew enough to ask the right question.

Why are they selling?

He opened a blank document.

At the top, he typed:

ACQUISITION — DUE DILIGENCE

Then:

Revenue.

Debt.

Users.

Employees.

Technology.

Ownership.

Legal issues.

Reason for sale.

He stared at the list.

Then smiled.

Westbridge had taught him how to invest in someone else’s vision.

Now he wanted to find out whether he could recognize an opportunity before everyone else did.

He closed the email.

There was no rush.

Damian had enough money that he didn’t need to chase every opportunity that crossed his path.

He could afford to wait.

And that might have been the most valuable thing he’d gained.

Not the five million.

Not the equity.

Not even the System.

Time.

Damian leaned back in his chair.

The university deal was closed.

Westbridge had its chance.

And he had something else now.

A new goal.

A bigger one.

He smiled to himself.

"Let’s see what else is out there."

The screen went dark.