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Chapter 22: Meeting With President Odetta

"Hello, President Odetta. This is Silas speaking. I have an offer to make to you and I was wondering if we could meet to discuss it in full details."

"..... Mr Silas, please may I know what type of offer this is?," She asked, as her voice became more serious and professional.

"President Odetta, I would like to make a substantial donation to Stanford University."

"Ok, but that\'s not all, right? And what do you want from the institution in return?"

"In return for the donation, I want you to give me admission into the university."

".... Mr Silas, you do know that Stanford University is a privately owned institution, right?," She asked after a second of silence.

She was quite surprised that someone would be asking such a thing from her. Not that it hasn\'t happened before, but she just feels skeptical due to how young Silas\' voice sounded.

"Yes, I know that it\'s a privately owned institution and that funding has never been an issue for it, if that\'s what you\'re trying to say. But just like I said before, I have an offer to make. We can meet to discuss more on it and you can make your decision after the meeting."

Silas understood that he would only have an actual chance if President Odetta agreed to meet up with him, and that\'s why he\'s doing his best to make sure she agrees.

"Ok, I\'m free today but don\'t take too much of my time, I\'m a very busy person."

"Ok. I will make the arrangements and send you the details."

"Ok," She said and hung up.

Silas let out a sigh of relief after the call ended. He felt happy as he was able to successfully set up a meeting with her.

Now, all he has to do is to make the arrangements, and he immediately got to work as he started searching for places that are perfect business meeting points.

Few minutes later, he found one, made the arrangements and sent the details to President Odetta, who replied, indicating that she has seen the message.

After that was done, Silas went downstairs to eat before leaving for his meeting with President Odetta.

.....

Western Bayside Hotel, one of the biggest establishments in Oakland. One that is primarily used by the rich, both those based in the city, and those visiting for business or casual events.

The establishment is said to be among the top 50 best hotels in the state of California, and this is the place that Silas chose as their meeting point.

The reason why he chose the hotel is because it\'s the best he could find around, and also because it\'s more convenient for President Odetta.

Silas took these things into consideration because he wants to increase his chances.

Yes, he\'s feeling nervous. He couldn\'t help it as this is the first time he\'s going to be making a deal with someone, and an important one at that.

Few hours later, Silas sat in the hotel\'s dining section as he waited for President Odetta to arrive.

He felt his turbulent emotions surge and he decided to do a simple breathing exercise to calm himself.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. After doing it repeatedly, he was finally able to calm down.

With his emotions adjusted, Silas also adjusted his clothes to make himself look perfect as he waits for President Odetta\'s arrival.

He didn\'t have to wait long as he saw her walking in through the door of the hotel\'s dining section, and walk towards his seat.

With a smile, he stood up and stretched his hand for a shake.

"President Odetta, thank you for meeting with me," He said, as he shook her hand.

"You\'re Mr Silas?," President Odetta asked in surprise.

As someone who has experienced a lot of things, she quickly glossed over it as she accepted his hand.

"Ok, Mr Silas, let\'s get into the details," She added and took her seat, and Silas did the same.

"President Odetta, just like I said over the phone, I want to make a donation to the institution and in return, I want admission into the university," Silas said.

"That, you have already told me over the phone. What I want to know is how much you want to donate for you to be making such request?," President Odetta asked, as she adopted her professional demeanor, and the aura around her changed.

Silas gulped when he saw this. The aura around President Odetta was passively suppressing him, even without her knowledge.

It couldn\'t be helped; President Odetta is someone who has been in her position for years, her accumulated experience over the years as she met with different people, both those at the same level of authority as her and those in higher authority.

This isn\'t something Silas can stand against with his two years work experience at the casino house. Compared to her decades of experience, Silas is still considered a newborn.

Although that is the case, Silas also has something that can help him even the playing field. With his skill, [Mental Balance], he can expect himself to be able to hold his own against President Odetta\'s suppressive aura.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, he smiled and looked at President Odetta, before speaking, "President Odetta, I want to make a donation of $10 million."

"Mr Silas, although the amount is substantial, it\'s still not enough for what you\'re asking for," She said and continued, "You know that what you\'re asking for goes against the ethicalities of education and educational institutions. If you really want to make me take you seriously, you will have to do better than this but if there\'s nothing more, I will be taking my leave.

Silas heard this and gave a wry smile internally. He, of course, expected her to say something like this and there were no falsehoods in what she said, but just as the saying goes: "Money makes the world go round!"

"President Odetta, what if the donation is on a monthly basis until my graduation from the institution, and in addition to that, there will be an additional $1 million monthly donation for research funding," Silas said, finally laying all his cards bare.

This was the decision he came to make after a lot of thinking. He felt that his initial proposal of a one-time donation of $10 million wouldn\'t be much of an attraction to President Odetta, and that\'s why he decided to take things up a notch.

Another reason why Silas decided to make such a huge donation is because of the rebate rewards. Although he doesn\'t know how much he would be given in cash, he felt that it would be three to five times the amount he spent.

Silas would have donated all the money in his account but because of a vague feeling he has, he decided not to overdo it.

Back to the present.

Silas looked at President Odetta\'s smiling face and he knew that he had finally gotten her attention.