Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
Elspeth gave her a gentle smile.
“Yeah, I’m moving back to my home for now. It’s not appropriate for me to live with him anymore now that we’ve divorced.”
Isabel pressed her suitcase down with a determined look.
“Elspeth, please take me with you. I can take care of Miss Joneson and do the housework. Just don’t leave me alone in that house.”
In reality, the house was a villa with a garden attached, and its entire layout was designed to her liking. Still, she felt uncomfortable thinking that Gilbert had done this for her. She was so reluctant to return to the house that she would rather live with Elspeth and Helia instead.
Normally, Elspeth would always dance to her tune, but she suddenly became especially distant at this moment. She shook her head, saying,
“I’m afraid I can’t, Isabel. My mom has gotten kind of ill again, so I have to treat her for that. I may not be able to take care of you for a while, you know.”
Arthur had a strong idea in his mind that he wanted to prove. The moment he pushed the door open, he was greeted by colors that shouldn’t have belonged to Blake’s room.
Margot explained next to him with some embarrassment,
“This room belonged to Blake at first, but Elspeth moved in here afterward, no? That’s why she stayed in this room for a while.”
As expected, it’s the same as I thought, thought Arthur. He entered the room directly, walking around before his gaze fell upon a framed illustration lying on the desk. The illustration looked adorable, and it seemed to be a casual sketch by Elspeth. He gently stroked it as a hint of tenderness flitted across his face.
An uneasy thought crossed Margot’s mind when she saw him like this. Don’t tell me Arthur has feelings for Elspeth. At the thought of this, she immediately shook her head in an attempt to dispel the idea, but she couldn’t seem to get it out of her mind. In the end, she couldn’t help but ask,
“Arthur, you just said you have something to discuss with Callum. What’s the matter, actually?”
“It’s about the acquisition of the Winthrop Group.”
Margot jumped at the word ‘acquisition.’
“Acquisition? What happened to the Winthrop Group? Why does it have to be acquired?”
Arthur purposely pretended to look very sorry.
“There’s no way around it. The Winthrop Group appears to be going strong under Callum’s management, but in fact, it’s already rotten to the core. I can’t just sit back and watch it go bankrupt, right? It’s Dad’s life work, after all.”
He tried to make himself seem benevolent and great-hearted with these highsounding words, but how could Margot not figure out the intrigues and plots behind them? She wasn’t a fool, after all.
“Arthur, you can’t do such a heartless thing. Callum is your brother.”
She tried to sound as gentle as she could.
“Callum has done everything he could to look after you over so many years, you know.
Do you think it’s right for you to turn your back on him at such a time?”
“Me turning my back on him? Are you kidding me?”
Arthur burst out laughing unashamedly.
“Mrs. Winthrop, I call you ‘Mom’ out of respect, but could you have forgotten the favoritism you’ve shown over the years?”
He would never forget how Margot and Theodore had Callum join the Winthrop Group as an intern and named the man the future heir to the company while forbidding him to join the company just because he wasn’t related to them by blood. They even told me falsely that they had done all of this for my own good, that I couldn’t survive at the company with my temperament, that Callum was more qualified to be the heir to the company with his steady character and would help us as much as possible.
How ironic, he thought.
“Since you can’t treat us equally, I’ll do whatever I can to steal it.”
“Arthur!”
Margot placed her hands on his arm. She wanted to talk him out of this, only for him to shake her off mercilessly. He said,
“Don’t touch me! I’m telling you, I’m gonna acquire the Winthrop Group today no matter what!”
Margot looked like a sorry sight upon being thrown to the floor.
“Arthur, what are you doing?”
questioned an angry voice from behind.
Arthur looked back indifferently and saw Callum and Elspeth at a glance. They were both coming this way, and neither of them looked very pleased. He shrugged and sat down on the couch nonchalantly, saying,
“What am I doing? I’m not doing anything.”
Elspeth stepped aside and helped Margot up; only after whispering to Margot and making sure that she was all right did she feel relieved.
“Arthur, she’s your mother and has raised you for over 20 years! Not even a pet dog deserves such treatment, no?”
she questioned in a confrontational tone, losing control of her emotions.
“Stay out of this, Elspeth. You know nothing about the story behind this,”
Arthur replied nonchalantly before turning to fix his gaze upon Callum.
“Callum, surely you know my purpose in being here today?”
Callum uttered,
“Yes, I do, of course.”
“I’ve thought about it. I accept your terms, but there’s a condition.”
Arthur raised his eyebrows.
“You have to promise me that you’ll stay out of the business circle from today onward.”
Callum had studied finance and business management at university, not to mention he had always been trained to be heir to the Winthrop Group since he was little. Therefore, forbidding him to do business and be part of the business circle right now would simply be equivalent to chopping his hands off. Arthur deliberately proposed such a tough condition just to bring Callum to heel-or rather to embarrass him.
Just as he had expected, Callum’s face darkened visibly at once.
“Arthur, don’t you go too far!”
“Callum, I’ve accepted your many conditions, no? You asked for 15 billion, so I’ve brought the money here to you. That’s not a small amount, you know.”
Elspeth let out a chuckle. We’ve been waiting for you to say this, she thought. Callum’s expression softened a little, though he continued to resist.
“Still, that’s an exacting condition to me.”
Arthur retorted,
“Exacting, huh? Callum, don’t forget that I was totally banned from joining the Winthrop Group back then. Dad has put his heart and soul into preparing you for the job, but it’s such a shame that you’re so useless that you can’t even keep the company.”
He looked up proudly, feeling incredibly pleased with the sight of Callum looking like a wretched prisoner. Still, he had a bit of regret. If only Dad were here. That way, he’d witness with his own eyes how
Callum has sunk so low as to be forced to give the Winthrop Group up to someone else. On the contrary, his third son, whom he had never thought highly of at first, founded the Bluestone Corp and ends up inheriting his legacy. Every dog has its day, eh?
“Arthur, have you prepared the money?”
Arthur frowned at the sight of the man’s worthless appearance.
“I seriously wonder how you managed the Winthrop Group. I’ve never seen you being so hungry for money before. Tsk, tsk. Perhaps I was wrong about you. I thought you were such an unfathomable rival…”
Well, he’s just a profit-seeking businessman, after all.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you every cent of the money. But you have to sign the paper first.”
He pushed the contract before him toward Callum with a triumphant smile.
Callum picked up the contract and leafed through it with a smirk curving his lips.
“What a good brother you are. These unfair clauses are written so well.”
