After all, pleading for mercy required two hands, but he could only use one now.
Holding that thought, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh anymore.
As for Emma, she warmly put her arm around my shoulder, just like old times. “Don’t listen to his b*llshit. We were betting whether you would still take Anthony’s side this time. I put my chips on you while he did the opposite. The loser will be second-in-command at home forever.”
Second-in-command? Doesn’t that mean he no longer has any status in the family? On second thought, John never did possess any authority at home to begin with.
“I have lost miserably this time.” John began to put on a pitiful look. Although he was just pretending, it did lighten up the atmosphere significantly.
Shrugging, I quickly apologized. “I’ll let you be the top dog in my house in the future, just as how it was when Anthony lost his memory. You were in charge of everything then.”
With his spirit suddenly reinvigorated, John pointed to the air and said, “Remember what you said.”
I looked down at his well-defined fingers and pushed them aside with a smile, just as how I would coax a child of Audrey’s age. “Of course, and I won’t go back on my word. You’d better remember it.”
John chuckled like a child. “You don’t even have to remind me. This is something I will definitely remember. By the time Anthony returns, I’ll make sure I claim it from him.”
“Yes! Do it!” As I bantered with him, I sensed that something was amiss and wondered if he had just chosen to trust Anthony.
Having read my mind, Emma explained, “It was my decision. I thought it was worth betting on Anthony’s character, so I convinced John to stop stressing you out. Unexpectedly, you came back with this pleasant news. Now that we are certain Anthony is on our side, we are free to plan our next move.”
“Really?” I looked at her in surprise, and at once, all my worries disappeared.
Emma nodded to reassure me.
“Emma.” I was so moved that I was lost for words. I simply extended my hands and hugged her to show my appreciation.
Emma patted me on my shoulders and quickly let go of me. “There, there, it’s not the time to be sentimental. The Lyons family needs me now, so I’ll have to head over with John.”
I nodded in understanding but stopped her again after a second. “Would going to the office affect John’s injury?”
Emma replied with a smile, “It’s no big deal. He’s just going to meet some of the shareholders. Even though John and I have been married for a few years, he has not shown himself to everyone associated with the Lyons family. Now that my family is in trouble, and the elders refuse to listen to my explanation, I have no choice but to bring John to see them. After all, he is the only one they trust to rescue them.”
Suddenly, a sense of bitterness crept into me when I imagined how tough it had been for Emma over the years. She was a capable wife who had built a business empire worth billions together with John.
And yet, she barely had any authority within her own family.
It was fortunate that I didn’t insist on John keeping himself warded. Or else, I would have added to Emma’s pile of problems.
I nodded in agreement and said in concern, “Since you’re heading to see the Lyonses, it wouldn’t be convenient for me to show up now. I suppose Nathaniel is attacking the Lyons family in an attempt to test whether I can truly forsake everything for Anthony’s sake.”
To win this psychological war, I needed to refrain from showing myself. In terms of the finances of the two families, we had to ensure that they were not tied together. After all, data was the best form of evidence. In the event Nathaniel discovered it, we would lose the best opportunity to gain his trust.
However, due to the fact that Anthony and I weren’t powerful enough, we still needed John and Emma to lend us a hand. Thus, I added, “Although I can’t prove that I am the Sienna of old, my fingerprints and signature are still legally binding. I’ll sign a document and send it to Emma’s home. When the time comes, take the document to Featherstone Corporation and ask for help. By pretending to sabotage Anthony, we can trick Nathaniel into thinking that there are some disagreements and lower his guard. That way, we will have more room to maneuver.”
“That makes sense. It always pays to be careful.” Emma let out a long sigh. Suddenly, as if something had hit her, she asked, “Why don’t we make it even more convincing by having a fallout in public?”
John laughed heartily. “There’s no need to overdo the drama. The lesser we do, the lesser the chance of making mistakes. Or else, we might simply attract too much attention.”
John’s words alleviated the tension in the atmosphere. In truth, I had always admired John for his ability to laugh regardless of the circumstances he faced.
After escorting them to the elevator, I did not go any further with them. John would be staying with the Lyons family going forward to create the impression that he had failed to stop me despite his injury. By doing so, we could create the illusion that we had fallen out with each other.
On my way home, I received a call from Joseph’s nurse.
“Ms. Stanhope, Mr. Campbell has disappeared!”
My heart sank at the news. I recollected myself and asked, “Calm down, and tell me what happened.”
“It’s really not my fault. Mr. Campbell complained that the food in the hospital was bad and instructed me to get him something from outside. By the time I returned, he was already gone. Ms. Stanhope, please don’t deduct my pay. I am really stretched with many mouths to feed at home.”
“Forget it. No one can stop him from leaving. This isn’t your fault, and I will pay you for the month as we have agreed. You can go home now.”
After ending the call, I knitted my eyebrows and wondered what Joseph was up to.
Being warded in the hospital was a wonderful opportunity for him to recuperate and wean himself off the drug addiction before it got too serious. By avoiding me like a plague, he made it look as though I was the villain.
Anyway, I figured that they probably had plans of their own. What happened to the Lyons family had served as a lesson to me. Nathaniel would never react in the way an ordinary person would. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that Anthony had to change his behavior in an effort to challenge him.
Since I was unable to guess what his plan was, I had no choice but to trust him.
Over the next three days, the attack on the Lyons family by an anonymous financier had been widely broadcasted across many financial news channels, causing an uproar within the community. Finally, John, as the representative of Stanhope Corporation, had announced that they would invest in the company of the Lyons family. His decision had stabilized the company’s stock price and arrested the losses of the Lyons family in time.
Just when everyone thought that the matter had come to a close, the financier, who had been beaten back the day before, had resurfaced to attack the Lyons family’s newly listed company. Consequently, his actions had caused them significant losses again.
Meanwhile, I had been monitoring the situation closely. Looking at how the matter had escalated, I was worried that Nathaniel was mounting an all-attack to wipe out the Lyons family. Hence, I quickly gave
John a call.
To my surprise, John didn’t sound anxious when he answered, “What’s wrong, Letty?”
“Are you guys doing okay?” I was baffled. “I saw this expert on the news commenting that the Lyons family is being dragged through the mud by their powerful enemy.”
“You should take what those ‘experts’ say on TV with a pinch of salt. Other than doing research, all they know is discuss matters from a theoretical perspective.” John poured scorn on them before lowering his voice as he added, “Don’t worry, the matter has been resolved. The unscrupulous attacks on the Lyons family stocks are nothing but schoolboy tactics. With the combined financial strength of Stanhope Corporation and the power of attorney you have assigned to me over Featherstone Corporation, the attacker is doomed to fail unless there is some form of political intervention or if it’s an attempt to destabilize the nation.”
It was just as Anthony had described. Featherstone Corporation was highly integrated into the nation’s economy and wasn’t easily shaken. By buying a stake in the Lyons family company, John had directly taken it under his wing.
I sighed in relief, but I still couldn’t fully understand the situation. “Isn’t the stock market regulated all this while? By conducting such an attack, won’t they attract the regulator’s attention? Since you claimed that the Lyons family’s company is safe, why is the attacker doing something that’s detrimental to themselves?”
John broke into laughter. “What do you mean by detrimental? Hasn’t Nathaniel already achieved his goal?”
Puzzled, I furrowed my brows until the answer dawned upon me. “Are you saying that this is the same as before? That Nathaniel is just trying to test me?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” John replied with certainty. “Remember, you have to remain calm. After so many years, haven’t you learned not to panic?”
Having been exposed so straightforwardly, I felt so awkward that I didn’t know what to say.
Luckily, John didn’t notice my embarrassment as he continued, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter because I was planning to call you. I have invited Anthony for negotiations at The Jade tonight. Are you coming?”
“Negotiations? What for?” I asked.
“Of course it’s about the stockholdings. Looks like you have forgotten that you own almost as many shares as Anthony does. After I took over, I’ve blocked many of his decisions. I figured Nathaniel must have ordered him to do something about it; that’s why he has approached me to buy my shares.”
I pursed my lips. “Creating conflict isn’t a bad idea but will going against Anthony at every turn be detrimental to his plan?”
“Not necessarily. We have no idea what Nathaniel is thinking, or how far he is willing to go with this game. Coming from another perspective, he still wants to see how much you are willing to sacrifice for Anthony. Or else, we wouldn’t be testing your threshold repeatedly.”
According to John, Nathaniel still refused to believe that I was willing to give up everything for Anthony. As a consequence, he wanted me to feel that the Lyons family was still in danger despite being under John’s protection.
Fortunately, my first reaction was to call John to understand what had happened instead of rushing off to question Anthony or Nathaniel. If I had done that, everything we did would have been for naught, as I would have exposed my own weakness.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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