Filed to story: The CEO’s Wife Is a Secret Boss Novel (Allison & Jeremy) Free Online
“Julien, your dad and brother might turn a blind eye to your life abroad, and I have no say in your decision after marrying into the Taylor family.” Frowning, Mandy hissed in a low and stern voice, “But Jonah is the pillar of the Taylor family. Your Uncle Winston has high hopes for his eldest. You cannot lay a finger on Jonah!”
Feeling a stabbing pain in his heart, Julien stumbled backward in shock.
“I watched you grow up. When you were younger, I was the one who made you study and play with you because your dad was too busy. I know you better than anyone else in the Lovelace family.” She slumped on the couch, simmering in anger.
Mandy continued, “I can read your mind from your actions. To be honest, I could tell you were interested in Jonah from the start, but I quietly observed because I wasn’t 100 percent sure.
“I finally confirmed my guess after getting my hands on the photos and watching your interaction with him today. My fear finally came true.
“Julien, Jonah is different from the guys you had a fling with. You cannot put a claim on Jonah. The Taylor family will be done for if you do anything to Jonah, and Uncle Winston will die of anger if he learns about it!”
“Why does he have to learn about this? You can keep the truth from him!” Julien lost control of his temper and growled furiously.
Stunned, Mandy gasped, “W-What did you just say?”
“Jonah. Jonah likes me, and I feel the same about him.” Julien tightened his fist. Tearing up, he suddenly broke into a smile. “No. In fact, I love him. Aunt Mandy, I love Jonah so much. I will not leave him no matter what happens!”
Mandy nearly fainted from the shock. She was concerned about the Taylor family’s well-being. To protect her family, she would kill off any budding threat, including the forbidden love between Jonah and Julien.
The Taylors were a force in business and one of the most reputable families in Belbanks. The price they had to pay for such fame and wealth was constant threats to their status.
As the KS Group president, Jonah was the anchor of the family. It would be disastrous if people took advantage of his sexual preference and made a fuss out of it, which would negatively impact the Taylor family and even the KS Group.
After some serious thinking, she broke the silence and bit the bullet. “Sure, you might be in love with him, but does he really love you?”
“Of course! He’s just bad at expressing his love!”
“Is that so? From what I know, he’s not a reserved man who is no-nonsense. He’s just tolerating you because you’re a distant relative. It’s hard for him to turn you down.” She leaned backward with a chilling smirk.
Mandy added, “Even if he has momentarily fallen for you, that doesn’t mean anything at all. You can give up your career for him, but he cannot do the same for you and put KS Group in a PR crisis.
“Besides, Jonah is a devout Christian. He would become a priest if he weren’t a company president. Are you trying to drive him away from God and send him to hell by seducing him? If you truly love him, do not ruin his life.”
Julien felt cold from head to toe. Pain crashed through his body. His heart bled.
“You and Jonah are impossible. You’re an adult, and this is not your first relationship. You should face the reality.” Looking cold, Mandy dealt a final blow to Julien. “Do your dad and brother know you’re living at Heightsnew Villa and making all these sacrifices for the Taylor family?
“I will tell them the truth if you refuse to listen to me. You know that the Lovelaces hate having anything to do with the Taylors. You know what will happen if they learn about this.”
Julien emerged from Mandy’s room, looking spent and soulless. Breathing heavily, he leaned limply against the wall to regain some energy. Then, he began inching forward slowly.
Behind Julien, Jonah stood at the turn of the staircase and hid in the shadows. He watched Julien’s slender and vulnerable figure moving away.
Eyes half-closed, Jonah suppressed his feelings and clenched his fist.
Josh had created a massive scandal from his forced demolition of the Tsulu village for the holiday resort project.
Deep in worries, he had no time to deal with the public fallout. Victor had to suppress the news reports for him.
Victor flipped in front of Josh and Jameson at the chairman’s office. “What’s wrong with you, you moron? It’s illegal to demolish buildings by force in Cyrris. How dare you do it abroad?
“You do know their police and authorities will come after you, right?” Victor gritted his teeth and poked a finger at Josh’s temple, forcing the latter to stumble backward.
Victor snapped, “You goon! Dumb as a doorknob! Do you want the Schmidt Group to meet an early demise?”
Jameson pursed his lips silently as he adjusted his glasses. Meanwhile, Josh blushed in shame, his ego bruised by his dad.
Feeling indignant, he hissed, “Dad, Jonah Taylor tricked us! He transferred a problematic parcel of land to me. He set up a trap for me.”
Victor’s frown deepened.
“Josh, this is not your first day of doing business. Did you not send a delegation for an on-site inspection before you sign the deal?” Jameson shook his head hopelessly. “How could you trust Jonah Taylor blindly? Do you hold him in such high regard?”
Josh glowered at Jameson in hatred. He badly wanted Victor’s approval to outshine Jameson, which prompted him to make such a rookie mistake and fall for Jonah’s trap.
It did not make sense for the Taylor family to breezily transfer a parcel of land acquired with effort in exchange for freeing a mere secretary. There was no free lunch in the world indeed.
“Jimmy is right. Can’t you use your brain? Now I know why you’ve never won Jonah Taylor after years of serving as the president.” Victor’s resentment toward Josh deepened after Jameson fanned the flames.
“Josh, it’s fine if there are issues with the land that the Taylors transferred to you. You could always discuss it with Dad and me. I looked into that parcel of land before this.
“Building a holiday resort is not the best option. We should instead develop a golf course to serve the top politicians and businessmen of Tsulu. That will help the Schmidt Group to build our network in the country for future expansion into the market.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Jameson sighed helplessly. “Too bad you never place any trust in me. You always think that I’m out to get you. We’re family even though we’re half-siblings. Why would I hurt you?”
Josh stared intently at Jameson’s innocent expression as rage pulsed through his veins. He thought, “Jameson, you vicious snake! You’ve taken out Daisy and David. How dare you play a good sibling here?”
“Everything I did was for our family and the Schmidt Group. Josh, I hope you don’t come to rash decisions. You should hold discussions with us so we won’t be at a disadvantage.”
“Why didn’t you tell me if you had inspected the land in private?” Humiliated, Josh barked at Jameson, “Do you think I have no idea what you’re playing at? You wanted me to make a joke out of myself! You wanted to get the Schmidt Group into trouble!
“Jameson Schmidt, you’re fucking vile! You’re the only one who doesn’t have the company’s best interest at heart!”
Hearing that, Victor glared at his eldest and slapped him across the face. He growled, “You idiot! How dare you talk back and twist the facts? How could you shift the blame onto Jimmy?”
Josh pressed a hand on his swollen cheek with astonishment and fury in his eyes. “Dad, what has gotten into you? Can’t you tell who’s genuinely nice to you and cares about the company?”
“All I care about is the result. I acknowledge Jimmy’s help in getting the company out of trouble ever since he came home from Kontina.” Victor pointed a finger at Josh.
Victor continued, “But look at you. Not only did you fail to save David, but you also made the wrong judgment that put the company into more trouble. You’re a good-for-nothing, and you’ve failed as a son!”
In the face of Victor’s accusations, Josh belatedly realized that he had shot himself in the foot.
In the past, he had used a carrot-and-stick approach to mold David into a tool at his disposal, but never had he thought that Jameson would one day use it against him.
Josh now unjustly carried the blame for David’s death, and Victor treated him as the punching bag to deal with the grief and helplessness surrounding David’s death.
“Dad, let’s cool down and discuss. Your health will only suffer if you’re emotional.” Jameson hurried over and assisted Victor to take a seat on the couch.
Then, he calmly explained to Josh, “Josh, you misunderstood me. I looked into the parcel of land but hesitated to inform you because I didn’t want you to think that I was stepping over your toes or trying to mess up your project.
“You never had any trust in me, and I didn’t want to deepen your mistrust. Dad only has you and me left. I do not want our relationship to be strained.”
Josh scoffed and thought, “Wouldn’t you listen to him? How noble!”
In a few words, Jameson had portrayed himself as a kind, pitiful, yet thoughtful younger brother. In contrast, Josh appeared like a petty dunce.
“My good son, I understand and appreciate your effort,” said Victor as he patted Jameson on the shoulder.
He turned around to shoot daggers at Josh and warned, “Josh, I will give you one last chance. I helped you to keep a lid on the news in the country. I’ll leave it to you to suppress the news reports abroad. If the scandal affects the company’s operations, you’ll have to resign from your role.”
Jameson stroked Victor on the back while concealing a smug grin.
Josh knew this was his final hope, so he bit the bullet and replied, “I tried buying the villagers’ silence. Besides, there are no deaths from the demolition. I promise that the situation will not worsen from now on.”
Suddenly, they were interrupted by an urgent knock on the door. Victor answered, “Come in!”
Victor’s secretary hurried in and exclaimed, “Mr. Victor, please turn into ‘3 o’Clock News’! Things are getting really bad.”
The Schmidts’ expression fell. They scrambled to switch to the news channel.
At that moment, 3 o’Clock News was reporting on the scandal of the Schmidt Group’s forced demolition of a Tsulu cultural village to make way for a holiday resort project, which resulted in grave injuries.
The news not only covered the scandal but provided relevant photos as evidence, which came as a huge shock for the Schmidts.
“W-What’s going on?” Victor pointed at the TV screen and jumped in anger.
Josh paled. Although he was experienced in dealing with challenges, his mind went blank upon seeing the news coverage.
The four phones chimed from the influx of notifications. The Schmidt Group, which had finally gotten over its previous scandal, was once again under public scrutiny online.
The comments read, “The Schmidt Group should have been wiped off the earth! They’re all scumbags doing illegal deals!”
“That’s unfair. Jameson Schmidt seems like a decent chap…”
“He’s the only good egg in that family. I really hope he successfully takes power!”