If Jihoon rejected Mara's proposal, he couldn't be certain of the outcome.
Would her family interfere?
Would they retaliate with a hostile takeover?
Or worse, would they brand him an "uncontrolled variable" that needed to be neutralized?
The more he thought about it, the more a bead of sweat crept down his neck.
He knew he was exaggerating the scenario, but still, the probability wasn't zero.
If anything, it hovered around fifty-fifty.
Jihoon had learned the hard way in his past life that it was always safer to assume people would act in bad faith rather than trust too easily and end up stabbed in the back.
But that was if he rejected Mara.
If he accepted, and if things were truly as Mara claimed.
That the JH shares would be placed under her name alone, then the situation shifted dramatically.
Suddenly, it wasn't just about selling shares.
It was about securing an invisible shield around both himself and his company.
After all, it was normal for a rising company like JH to attract attention from the "big sharks."
Every cash cow startup, once it showed potential, inevitably found itself circled by predators.
The smart ones got themselves an anchor investor, the type that have a powerful name that deterred hostile moves until the company could stand on its own.
Jihoon knew that better than anyone.
It was the very reason that, during his procurement of Netflix, he had deliberately invited a renowned Wall Street investment firm to join the deal.
They weren't there to help him make money, cause he could handle that himself.
They were there to carry the weight of the storm when other sharks caught the scent of profit in the water.
Now, with Mara.
The Murdoch heiress offering to join the Netflix venture, the stakes were even higher.
Her involvement wouldn't just be protection; it would be bigger protection than anything he'd secured before.
But protection always came with a price.
And Jihoon knew that in deals like this, the hidden cost was often the heaviest burden.
Some might dismiss the question of why would Wall Street and the Murdochs family care so much about Netflix, a company still thought of as a DVD rental service? Or even at JH a film production company?
The answer was simple.
It was no other than profit.
Secrets rarely stayed hidden in this industry.
While the public hadn't caught on, the whispers had already spread in private circles that JH was quietly buying Netflix.
Even not much people could understand such action, but when people start looking at JH's track record, the numbers spoke for themselves.
Jihoon's films weren't just profitable—they were explosive.
His very first film in Korea had delivered a 250% return.
And now, analysts predicted that his latest release, 'SAW', could generate an astronomical 11,000% return on investment.
Those numbers were unheard of, the kind of figures you only saw in stock bubbles or bull markets.
Even more staggering was how little capital it took to achieve those returns.
Barely one percent of the eventual profit had been enough to finance his productions.
Any half-competent analyst in the industry could run the math—subtracting production costs and theater rentals—and see the truth: Jihoon's projects were machines printing money.
The film industry, Jihoon knew, was much like trading volatile stocks.
High risk, high return.
But the key difference was that, in film, the director—or the intellectual property itself—was the commodity.
Investing in a project was like gambling in Las Vegas: a fifty-fifty shot between success and failure.
But if you had insider knowledge—if you knew the dealer, so to speak—your odds could rise to eighty percent or higher.
That's what investors were really buying: not just a film, but the director's vision, their reputation, and their ability to deliver.
Big studio-backed projects didn't need that kind of gamble; they already had sharks funding them.
But independent voices—directors like James Cameron in his early days, Christopher Nolan before he was a household name, or even Jihoon himself—were the ones investors liked to bet on.
They balanced independence with credibility, offering both risk and reward in just the right ratio.
So it wasn't surprising that when Jihoon pitched the idea of reinventing online streaming by acquiring Netflix, the Wall Street firm had agreed almost instantly.
To them, Jihoon wasn't just another director.
He was the closest thing the film industry had to a 'sure bet.'
Now, with Mara's offer on the table, Jihoon found himself caught between temptation and caution.
Accepting her would mean another powerful shield—perhaps the strongest one yet.
But behind every shield was a hand that expected something in return.
And Jihoon couldn't shake the thought: was he inviting a partner… or a new master?
Silence stretched between them.
Jihoon stayed quiet, lost in his own thoughts, while Mara casually fiddled with her phone.
She didn't seem the least bit impatient.
In fact, she looked completely at ease, as if she already knew Jihoon had a habit of drifting off into deep thought and was content to wait him out.
Jihoon finally lifted his gaze to study her.
When he had first hired Mara, he assumed she was nothing more than an energetic, slightly naive assistant.
But the girl sitting across from him was turning out to be far more complicated.
Was her bubbly innocence just a mask?
Was she hiding a sharper agenda behind that wide-eyed enthusiasm?
It unsettled him that he couldn't tell.
Everything about this had happened so suddenly, and Jihoon hated how easily he could misjudge people—especially sharks disguised as harmless fish.
After all, ever since his company had started making money like a printing press, those sharks had been circling nonstop. But luckly for jihoon, the Fox like eating fishes like this, so he gotten himself a good gate keeper.
But one thing he did know: he wouldn't give her an immediate answer.
In negotiations, patience was a weapon. Even if he wasn't an expert negotiator, he understood that much.
Psychological restraint—stalling, creating space—could tilt the table.
That was why, instead of locking horns himself, Jihoon decided it was best to leave this to his procurement team—the same group that had been handling his Netflix acquisitions.
They were professionals. They knew the game.
Having reached his conclusion, Jihoon finally broke the silence.
"Mara, let me think it over. I'll have the Netflix team reevaluate your proposal and handle the negotiations from here."
Mara's attention snapped away from her phone. Her eyes widened, and her brows furrowed like a child who had just been denied dessert after dinner.
"Why? But I want it!" she blurted, her tone more petulant than persuasive.
Jihoon studied her carefully, suspicion tightening in his chest.
Was this really her?
Was she truly that naive?
Or was this another layer to the act—an heiress from the Murdoch family pretending to be simple and impulsive?
He wasn't sure, and that uncertainty made him tread even more carefully.
Still, he had no intention of arguing with her.
If she wanted to play innocent, then he would simply play along.
"Mara, think about it this way," he said gently, though his voice carried weight.
"We're both bosses now, aren't we?"
Mara nodded than Jihoon continued.
"So bosses don't handle this kind of thing directly."
"We don't need the headache. You can get yourself a lawyer, and I'll let my negotiation team handle it for me."
"That way, it's fair and professional. Don't you think it's better that way?"
Mara tilted her head, considered it, then slowly nodded. A smile spread across her lips as if the logic had finally clicked.
"You're right. We are bosses now, making money every second. It really isn't worth our time."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, then brightened. "Alright then! I'll have my butler find a lawyer to handle the negotiations with your team."
Jihoon forced a smile in return.
It was the only thing he could do.
Deep down, however, he was already re-evaluating her—every word, every expression. Call him paranoid, but this was the kind of protection he had learned from another lifetime of experience.
Just as he was about to add something else, a knock came at the office door.
One of his staff members stepped in, bowing slightly before speaking.
"Boss… Stan Lee is here to see you."