Well, I guess when John states that "he fucked someone over" in the past to the meeting coupled with his unwillingness to talk about his dad and what he and Ben did to him, to me that's not something that the dad then turns around and gives 10 million for. We also know from Charlotte, that the dad disinherited John, and threw him out, before giving the money. So there is bad blood between them. Disinheriting your only child? I doubt Paul kinda likes John at all.
Charlotte's goals are clear, she said it to Claire - she wants to use whatever leverage John has to hurt Paul, to get what she wants. And presumably what she wants, she and Claire already spent a lot of time and money together to try to achieve.
I would argue rutheless is exactly putting a goal above other concerns such as ethics, pity or compassion. Charlotte is ruthless. That doesn't make her evil, but it does mean she'll push people out the way if needed. As far as not meaning what she said, I disagree. She wasn't nurturing his fire, she was seeing if he was capable. If he'd been passive in that business deal, she would've walked, saying that she can't justify trusting such ambivalence or something.
And Charlotte's words when Lisa says she can imagine a future where she doesn't take over the business: "Or could it be that you're choosing the lesser of two evils to avoid if falling into the hands of another person? A certain family member?"
So the circle is the immediate family - there's only Charlotte and Lisa. We know Nicole is a cousin from Lisa's dad's side, but we don't know if Charlotte has any siblings, or how many cousins Lisa has. If Lisa is unwilling to take over Charlotte's business, Charlotte will find someone else she can trust with it. This isn't a family heir thing, it's about who runs the business. That might not be in the inheritance. We really don't know.
But we do know that when Lisa hers that phrase she says "Don't you dare mention that bitch in front of me." Given Lisa's close relationship with Nicole, I'm curious if Lily (who I will still assume is the 'bitch' is from the same side as Nicole or on Charlotte's side of the family. And we know Lily isn't some random, but from a rich background.
As always, the debate is just for throwing ideas around, we'll get hit with the truck of bricks in the next update, followed by the next lorry, then the train. Maybe a plane load? Bricks, like they're raining from the sky, all on John's head...
so thats logically leading to the good ending.
