Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 342: The Cleanup

"First, they require a forty percent equity stake and will embed their own team to oversee core decisions."

Jane’s demand was a direct move to strip Nancy of control. She didn't stop there.

"Second, the investors want a right of first refusal on all future financing. If the project fails, they also have the right to acquire the intellectual property and all data at cost."

The laboratory went silent. It wasn't an investment; it was a liquidation plan. They were offering a high-interest bridge loan to seize everything Nancy had built.

Before Nancy could respond, her team stepped in.

"That’s an insult," one researcher said.

"If we’re short on cash, we have our own networks," another added. "Don't sign this. We’ll find another way."

"You’re not helping, Jane. You’re trying to gut the project."

Nancy watched them stand their ground. These were the partners she actually needed.

Jane tried to pivot. "If the terms are too aggressive, we can go back to the table…"

"Don't bother." Nancy cut her off. "I’m not interested."

She looked Jane in the eye. "Since you’re so sure this project is dead, you should leave now. You mentioned you had other offers. I checked. Two of those labs are hiring immediately."

Nancy glanced at the two researchers standing behind Jane. "Take your friends with you. I don't keep people with divided loyalties in my lab."

Jane’s face went pale. "What did you say?"

The two behind her looked stunned. They hadn't expected to be purged for a few comments. Finding a lab with Nancy’s pay scale and culture elsewhere was nearly impossible.

"You’re actually firing me?" Jane’s voice turned into a shrill shriek. "Fine! Good luck. I want to see how long you last. Don’t come crawling to me when you realize you need that ten million."

Nancy didn't respond. She pushed the termination agreements across the table. Jane grabbed a pen and scrawled her name so hard the paper nearly tore. Her two followers signed with shaking hands and followed her out.

"You’ll regret this, Nancy!"

The moment they cleared the door, Nancy’s phone buzzed. It was the notification for the first payment from Summers Corp.

The deposit was the signal she needed. Nancy immediately authorized the purchase orders for the high-end equipment she had been tracking and placed bulk orders for the reagents.

The lab shifted into high gear. They were entering the most expensive phase of vaccine development, the deep-tech push that burned through capital the fastest.

She had Summers Corp and Neo Summers Corp to thank for the funding. She had swept the market for the algae at roughly four hundred a pound, including costs. Selling it back to Ginnie at sixteen hundred meant a net profit of twelve hundred per pound.

On fifty thousand pounds, her gross profit was sixty million dollars.

In a single month, Nancy had cornered the market and pocketed sixty million in pure profit.

The supposed funding crisis had served its purpose. It allowed her to flush out the opportunists before the core research was too far along. Now, her team was lean and her budget was massive. The development of Peacemaker was finally clear for takeoff.