After Gelly Murphy made her explosive revelation, she generously gave her guests the time to process the implications.
The Larkinsons in the meeting chamber were completely caught off-guard. They thought that they held the upper hand and that the Murphy Family had little choice but to join a new and unproven trade consortium if they wanted to retain their control over their own company.
The reality appeared to be quite different. Either the intelligence on Murphy & Sons was outdated or the shrewd Murphies had deliberately kept the Larkinsons in the dark up until this point.
No matter what, the previous plans formed by Shederin had to be thrown out of the window. The involvement of other competitors completely changed the negotiation landscape. The Larkinsons were so stumped that they had practically lost all of the initiative.
Ves threw a pointed glance at Calabast.
