"I can find a way to lift the restrictions the Environmental Protection Act places on the Brown family,"
said Patrick. "But Leo, you shouldn't be too greedy. A small stomach can't handle too much—it'll burst."
Leo shook his head and said,
"Mayor, you forget—when I was little, cakes always went missing from your house. That was me.
I've never known what it means to be full."
"No need to cancel the act—I actually have a proposal. I don't know if you'd care to hear it."
"What is it?"
Patrick frowned at Leo's firm refusal.
Leo walked over to the Virginia state map on the wall and pointed at Lynchburg.
"The lumber business is destined to decline eventually. So why don't we take Ben's idea and make it our own?
Lynchburg is ideally located—it's connected by rail and road, a must-pass route from the South to New York and Washington, D.C.
It's nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountains, with stunning scenery.
The Brown lumber yard occupies the most beautiful mid-section of the range, and there are three hot springs just behind the mountain.
If we build a resort hotel here, it would be perfect—economically and politically.
Let's develop it together. The potential is huge."
Clap clap clap!
Patrick applauded and smiled.
"Quite the move—laying eggs with someone else's chicken. But when you say we, who's 'we'?"
"The Aldo family—your family, the Browns, and me."
Patrick laughed even louder.
"I bring the policies, the Browns bring the land—what do you bring, Leo?"
But Leo wasn't offended by the sarcasm.
He calmly and clearly replied,
"I bring intelligence and time, sir.
As you've seen, I'm good at turning the impossible into reality.
And let's be honest—you probably won't find another young man in Lynchburg who knows the rules and can still play the game.
More importantly…"
Leo tapped Lynchburg on the map and said:
"Without me, there will be no hotel. I'm confident in that."
"Distribution?"
Patrick practically spat the word through clenched teeth.
As the head of Lynchburg's oldest founding family, Patrick had never had to compromise with anyone.
But he understood Michael—a simple and loyal man.
Now that Leo had saved him, Michael would likely listen to Leo just as he once did to Patrick.
To build the hotel, Leo was indispensable.
Patrick had considered building a hotel himself,
but Lynchburg was too small to support two competing resorts—especially if the rival had the better location.
And in America, everything and everyone has a price.
No one runs a business to lose money.
With Patrick's backing, the Lynchburg Resort Hotel Company was established that very afternoon.
That's the advantage of American business—speed.
The mayor personally pushed the paperwork through—even faster than Tucson had handled it.
Still, perhaps irritated by Leo's attitude, Patrick declared he was going hunting and said they'd talk about the Meyer family tomorrow.
Leo then asked Joseph, who always followed Jonathan around, to go fetch Kevin—this was a job for the designer.
Watching Joseph run off, Jonathan muttered bitterly,
"He's never listened to me like that…"
Leo didn't know how to respond, so he stayed quiet.
It was just Jonathan venting, after all.
—
They entered the police station, where Michael was casually chatting with another man.
Clearly, he was getting very comfortable living there.
Seeing Leo, Michael beamed.
"Come here, Leo—let me introduce you.
This is Stephen Woods, investment manager of Lynchburg Bank's loan department."
Stephen was here for one reason: to discuss the police station loan project with Leo.
"Oh my God, bless us!
Leo, your career is taking off,"
Michael said, clearly seeing Leo as a future son-in-law.
But Leo knew better—this was all part of a transaction.
By accepting this, he'd have to cooperate with Patrick in relentlessly going after the Meyer family.
Only after Patrick got his fill—then Leo would truly be "awarded the contract."
The real challenge was: how to attack Meyer without overreaching?
Patrick conveniently went hunting—probably to observe how Leo handled things from the sidelines.
Leo had no doubt—if he messed up even slightly, he'd never see this Stephen guy again.
This was just an initial meeting—Patrick's promissory note, cashed with conditions.
Getting the police station project was a bonus—one Leo hadn't even anticipated.
After wrapping up with Stephen, Kevin also got the specs from Jonathan.
Then the two rushed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, where Father Lesterwyn and Desmond were already waiting.
Inside was a suited man—the church's in-house lawyer.
That's right—today was payday.
Leo signed his name on the contract and officially received the development rights to the church-owned land,
along with a VITO agreement to develop twenty houses—this was the real angel investment for Lynchburg Real Estate.
—
Walking out of the church, Kevin was practically bouncing.
"With this contract, under the Housing and Infrastructure Development Act, we can get loans for up to 50% of the appraised value.
If a basic custom home costs $12,000,
that means we can leverage $1.2 million for the project!"
But Leo shook his head.
"Kevin, I don't plan to develop the whole site at once."
"Why not? Houses are selling like hotcakes!"
Leo pointed across the way—Jones Real Estate was already developing another nearby plot.
"Look at their scale—at least 20 homes.
They're an established firm. People will naturally choose them first.
They set the pricing floor.
Our profits will never match theirs.
And if we take on a large loan, the interest alone could make our finances extremely fragile.
One hiccup, and we're dead in the water.
Most importantly—do you think our ragtag team is ready to develop twenty homes?"
Kevin deflated a little.
"Yeah, the kids still need time to grow. So what's the plan?"
Leo replied,
"We build five homes at a time.
That way, we only need a $300,000 loan. It also gives Daniel and the others a chance to grow at a steady pace."
"Even $300,000 isn't a small number," Kevin noted.
Leo thought of the million-dollar payout that was soon coming their way.
"At least I can handle the risk."
"But that still doesn't solve the key issue—only five homes means even less market leverage.
We won't make much money,"
Kevin sighed.
Leo pulled a bundle of hand-drawn sketches from his bag.
"Take a look at this."
Kevin's eyes lit up—after all, he still remembered how impressive Leo's grocery store renderings had been.