At this point, the entire group were left speechless. The narration so far detailing the betrayal of Darius' mother and sister that led to the suicide of his father and ruination of his early years was enough to shed light on why the young man might despise the opposite gender.

But this final addition was the icing on the cake.

It would have been a perfect ending, if it had just ended with young Darius restoring his father's and family's name at such a young age, allowing him to overcome any possible hatred for females thanks to his girlfriend.

Alas, the third most important/closest female to him also ended up betraying him when he had likely least expected it. Whatever faith he might have held for the opposite gender at that time likely disappearing, perhaps never to return.

At this point, the various elites here were wondering what Darius must have done in his past life for such things to occur.

No matter how you strung it, it seemed too good to be true!

Jason paused here, deciding that he had already explained enough. As for how Darius got out of this final predicament, he didn't think it necessary to elaborate.

These elites could understand the key details of the subject matter from what he had told them and with this much information, they could always find out the truth of the matter on their own.

While everyone silently digested what they heard, a low snort sounded out. Astounded, they all turned their heads at once to look at an unimpressed Anne Lister.

"While I do give my condolences to the late Mr. Dalvin Stone and Mr. Darius Stone for the ordeals he has endured, it has very little to do with the current situation." Anne pointed out coldly.

"Those women were those who were close to you, be that family or in a relationship. You can't tell me that every woman you have ever encountered in your life has tried to backstab you, can you? So why project the hate to all of them?"

"Besides, do you think I've come here to spread my legs for you and then accuse you of rape? The only reason I'm here is to acquire shares from a promising company, I could care less about who heads it as long as I get my profits!"

Anne folded her arms and stared Darius down.

Germaine, Tion, and Jeremy leaned back into their seats with interest on their faces. They mostly agreed with Anne's observation from a logical standpoint, but could hate and emotions be moved by logic?

Darius chuckled. "That is where you are wrong, Ms. Lister. I never said I hate all women."

Anne frowned. "Going back on your position when you are cornered? Ha, as expected."

Darius smoothed his hair out. "Stop being in a rush to claim a meaningless victory in an argument you have no real understanding of. Let me ask you this. What were my exact words when you called me a woman-hater?"

Anne remained silent, but Germaine answered in a low baritone. "That you disliked women being near you without your explicit consent."

Darius gestured towards Germaine with a smile. "Older and wiser, also much more preceptive. These are the kind of people who I like to deal with, not those who reach their position through external help."

He then continued. "As I said, I do not like women near me. This can be physical, but is mostly emotional."

"As you aptly pointed out, many of the women I've met over the course of my life haven't done anything to wrong me. In fact, many have sympathized and supported me due to my past."

"I cannot rightly hate them given the nature of what I've gone through. Nevertheless, I cannot and will not allow a woman to come close to me and give her the chance to betray me or harm me ever again."

Darius snapped his fingers lightly. "And so, I do not allow women near me, without my explicit consent."

Germaine and Tion nodded, and Kevin smiled bitterly. Jeremy had a thoughtful expression while Jason lowered his head once more. Anne was simply silent, displeased with how she was spoken to, but wise enough to stop arguing about a moot point.

"Whatever the case, do you accept our company's proposal or not? If yes, then please sign the documents and if not, we can be on our merry way." Anne stated dispassionately.

It was clear she had mostly lost interest in investing and was just being perfunctory. Germaine shook his head while Tion and Jeremy smiled mockingly.

Jason sighed and reconsidered whether this hiring was a good choice, while Kevin simply stared at the ceiling, hoping to see a miracle land.

Darius simply finished his drink and smiled. "What do you think?"

Anne nodded and rose, beckoning Kevin and Jason to follow her out as she went to their cabin to rest before leaving the next day.

Darius placed his drink down and became significantly less insufferable. "Well esteemed gentlemen, now that there is a more civil mood, please let us discuss the terms of co-operation, if any."

Germaine and Tion shared a look. The older man waved to Tion, and the latter bowed his head in thanks. Since he had given Microsoft the opportunity to make their proposal first, it meant that the Rothschild family were certain that Darius would not decline their offer.

Either they had something Darius simply couldn't refuse… or Darius simply couldn't refuse. This made the eyes of Darius himself glint in wariness, but he remained smiling as he faced the men from Microsoft.

Jeremy, the man with the light stubble, opened his briefcase and took out some documents that were far thicker than what Kevin had held. He then slid them over to Darius without bothering to read it out.

"The funding amount and equity acquisition terms are on page 32. The rest are fundamental legal conditions for inter-corp investment. Read at your leisure." Tion explained calmly, seemingly confident that Darius would accept.

Darius flipped to page 1 and began reading slowly, which made Jeremy snort and Tion frown, but they remained silent and allowed him to peruse the entire document.