No Free Lunch

I had intentionally raised the price, thinking that since he had come with a purpose, I couldn't let him leave empty-handed. After expressing my thoughts, I focused intently on observing Buck Gorman's reaction.

He seemed to ponder for a moment but then casually assured me, "That's not a problem, Ms. Miller, you can rest assured. You know about Eternal Properties. We are well-known in G city for our commitment to quality and we have a good reputation for payments."

Hearing Buck Gorman's words gave me some confidence, and I added nonchalantly, "Another point is that I have only recently taken back control of Elevate. As everyone knows, due to my divorce from George and the subsequent restructuring, Elevate is at a stage where it needs to rebuild. This is well known."

My words sounded sufficiently candid.