Arrogant Billionaire Asks Waitress for Financial Advice to Mock Her — What She Says Stuns Him
Chapter 6
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Felicia began keeping notes: recording patterns, pulling public filings, and cross-referencing what she heard. Six months ago, she'd realized what Garrett was doing with Nexus Technologies. Three months ago, she'd found the evidence buried in SEC footnotes. One month ago, she'd made contact with a journalist named Sarah Wade from the New York Times.And today... today, Garrett Whitmore had handed her the opportunity she'd been waiting for. He'd asked her for financial advice, and she was finally going to give it to him.Felicia opened her eyes, pushed herself off the counter, and straightened her uniform. Her hands weren't trembling anymore. She walked back out onto the floor.Derek caught her arm as she passed the kitchen door. "Are you crazy?" he whispered. "That's Garrett Whitmore. He destroys people for fun. What are you doing?"Felicia gently removed his hand. "He asked for financial advice. I'm going to give it to him. Derek, cover my tables for 15 minutes, please."Derek stared at her like he was seeing a stranger, but he nodded.Felicia reached into her apron and pulled out a small notebook—worn, dog-eared, filled with two years of observations. Then she pulled out several folded papers: printouts of SEC filings she'd downloaded that morning. She'd been carrying them for weeks, waiting for exactly this moment.Felicia walked across the restaurant floor—not toward Garrett's table to serve, but toward Garrett's table to present.The conversations around her faded. Diners looked up from their eggs Benedict. Staff members froze mid-pour.Garrett saw her coming and smirked. "Oh, look. The financial adviser returns." He gestured grandly to his associates. "Everyone pay attention. We're about to get educated."Scattered laughter.Felicia stopped at the edge of the table. She didn't smile, didn't flinch. When she spoke, her voice had changed: no longer the soft, deferential tone of a server. This was the voice she'd used in Goldman Sachs conference rooms."Mr. Whitmore, you asked for my advice. Let me give you a proper analysis.""By all means." Garrett leaned back, arms crossed. "Enlighten us, sweetheart."Felicia ignored the condescension. She'd heard worse. Much worse."Nexus Technologies," she began. "Ticker symbol NXT. Current market cap $8.2 billion. You've been publicly bullish since Q2. You've made 17 television appearances recommending the stock. Each appearance correlates with a 3 to 5% price increase."The smirk on Garrett's face flickered. "Impressive memory," he said. "You can count TV appearances. So what?"Felicia unfolded one of her papers and placed it on the table."Page 43 of their most recent 10-Q filing. Footnote 12." She pointed to a highlighted section. "Quote: 'The company is cooperating with an informal SEC inquiry regarding revenue recognition practices.' End quote."Caroline Hayes leaned forward, frowning. "Wait, I didn't catch that in my analysis.""Most people don't read footnotes," Felicia said. "That's the point."Garrett's jaw tightened. "One footnote doesn't mean anything.""You're right," Felicia agreed. "So let's look at three more things."She raised one finger.