“Dad,” Thea said. “I’m fine.”“Who’s there, Benjamin?” A voice rang out, and Gladys appeared. When she saw Thea, her face darkened. Coldly, she said, “You cursed girl. Why are you here?”“Mom.”“Don’t call me mom. I have no such daughter.” She looked disdainfully at Thea, whose face was heavily bandaged.Gladys was kidnapped and treated horribly because of Thea.Luckily, Trent was dead. Otherwise, the Callahans were goners.After Lex returned, he flew into a rage. He issued an order, stripping Thea of her position and casting her out of the family. He even made a public announcement that Thea was no longer a Callahan.“Gladys, what are you doing?” Benjamin frowned. “Dad had cast her out of the family, but she’s still our daughter!”Gladys planted her hands on her hips. Coldly, she said, “Who’d dare go against the old man’s order? Don’t forget that you’re living off Eternality’s salary. If we make the old man angry again, you might lose your job. Without a job, how are you going
“Oh, what about grandfather? We could still talk to him!”Thea, who was still crying, came to a sudden realization. She tugged on James’ arm, saying, “Let’s talk to grandfather! He loved me the most when I was young. He would never cast me out. We can beg him to take me in!”She grabbed James, pulling him behind her.Looking at Thea’s tearful face, James’ heart twinged. He said, “Calm down. Let’s go to the villa now and speak to him.”“Yes. Let’s go now.”Thea had just escaped Trent’s clutches. Coupled with being cast out of the family, she was at risk of having a mental breakdown. Foolishly, she thought that she would be welcomed into the family again after talking to Lex at their villa.However, he was the one who cast her out in the first place.James had no choice. He had to calm Thea down and ensure her emotions were stable before deciding what to do next.He did not want to take her hope away, so he brought her to the villa.Soon, they reached the entrance of the villa
Trent’s death a few days ago caused an uproar. No one knew who the man in the ghost mask was, but Alex knew that it was James, the Black Dragon of the Southern Plains.James asked, “How’s the partnership going with Eternality?”“All good, Mister Caden.”“Terminate the partnership. Tell the Callahans that Celestial will only work with Thea. Now that Thea is no longer part of the family, the partnership is terminated. As for the rumors between you and Thea, sort it out yourself. I don’t want Thea to be in trouble due to those rumors.”“Of course. I’ll get it done right now.”Alex took a deep breath.After he hung up, he made the necessary arrangements at once. He told whoever was in charge of dealing with the Callahans to terminate their partnership.At the same time, the current executive chairman of Eternality, Howard Callahan, rushed into the Callahans’ villa. He shouted, “Dad, something’s happened!”Lex raised an eyebrow. “Howard, why are you still behaving like a child at th
Looking at how happy Thea was, James’ mood lifted as well.“Jamie, I’m going home. I’m going home!”Thea could not stop cheering, just like a little girl whose time-out session was over.James did not say much. He merely hugged her tightly.Once Howard learned where Thea was, he drove to Nine Dragons Street.Some of his family went along, including his children Tommy and Megan, as well as Tommy’s wife Yvonne Lewis.As Howard had always been the executive chairman of Eternality, he drove a pretty swanky car. It was a BMW 7 Series worth millions.In the car, Tommy complained, “What is grandfather doing? How could he allow Thea to come back? Dad, once Thea returns, you will no longer be the executive chairman. We can’t let Thea come home.”His wife Yvonne agreed. “Tommy’s right. If she’s the executive chairman, how will we benefit from the company? How did Thea even get to know the chairman of Celestial?”Megan interrupted, “Rumor has it that Thea is Alex’s lover.”Howard cut ev
James knew that Thea cared about her family’s opinion the most.Over the past ten years, she had been looked down upon. She desperately wished for her family’s acknowledgment and approval.“Thea, do you want to go back?”Thea nodded lightly. “Yes.”James looked at Howard and his family, still standing at the entrance. Mildly, he said, “Thea will return under one condition. Kneel and beg her to.”“James…” Tommy got angry at once, a vein pulsing on his face. “You have no authority in the family. Thea didn’t even say anything. Who are you to make these demands?”James said, “If you won’t kneel, have Lex come personally. Otherwise, she won’t be returning.”Thea pulled on James’ sleeve gently, telling him to stop talking. They were a family after all, and she did not want things to be awkward.“Thea, you’re too softhearted. Since they’re at your mercy, they’d grant all your requests.”“R-really?”“Of course! Think about it. With Celestial terminating the partnership, it’s their lo
At the Callahans’.Lex saw Howard and his family, but Thea was nowhere to be found.His wrinkly face darkened. Angrily, he shouted, “Where’s Thea? Why didn’t you bring her home?”Megan looped her arm through his immediately. “Grandfather, calm down. Please hear me out. Thea has crossed the line. She asked all of us to kneel, which we did, but she still refused to come home. She even requested that you transfer ten percent of the group’s shares to Benjamin. Also, she said that you’re just a biased old man since everyone else in the family owns some shares except for her family.”Lex turned green with anger.Hurriedly, she said, “Grandfather, they’re not my words. Thea said all of that.”“How dare she.”Lex was furious. Viciously, he said, “Just because she knows Alex Yates, she’s behaving as if she owns the world. She doesn’t even respect me anymore.”Tommy exaggerated the story as he recounted how they went to pick Thea up. He told Lex all about how they knelt before Thea, how
As ten percent was a substantial amount, she was worried that grandfather would not agree to it.The only thing she could do now was wait.Soon, Howard returned to Common Clinic.Alone this time, he had the transfer agreement for the shares with him.“Thea, dad has signed the agreement. Once Benjamin signs here, he will own ten percent of the family’s shares. Now that you have the transfer agreement, could you call Alex and tell him to resume the partnership with Eternality?”Thea studied the agreement carefully.Once she verified that it was authentic, she cheered in joy. “Jamie, grandfather has agreed! Yes! Finally, my dad will have some standing.”“Thea, please call Alex. The trucks are at Eternality taking the materials away. Once we get this out of the way, we can celebrate properly later,” Howard said.Thea looked at James.James nodded, saying, “Call him.”“S-should I?” Thea was nervous. Alex owed James a favor after all, not her.James said, “Of course. Go for it.”
Gladys was out the entire day, so she missed the news.She was unaware of the press conference the chairman of the Celestial Group had held, the fact that Celestial Group had canceled their partnership with Eternality, and how Thea had leveraged her return to the family against Lex by making him pass ten percent of the shares over to them.She froze at Thea's words. "Transfer letter for ten percent of the shares? What shares?"Gladys stared blankly at the document Thea held out."Mom, grandpa wrote this transfer contract," Thea said. "He signed it himself. If Dad signs it too, ten percent of the family's shares will be his."Gladys promptly snatched the file from Thea's hands and read through the contents carefully. She cheered in delight when she was done, hugging and kissing the contract. "Haha! It's real!" she squealed. "It's an actual transfer contract! We finally have ten percent of the shares! The old man finally came to his senses!""Let me see that, Mom," David said inc