Chapter 28 Being a baby daddy to three babies
Nora held the phone away from her ear, the stream of curses and warnings from Charles sounding distant. Listening to her own father's vitriol, she felt nothing but a chill in her heart.
How biased does a person have to be to treat his own daughter like this—issuing commands as if she was nothing more than a subordinate?
Nora closed her eyes briefly, pushing down the pain in her heart, her voice calm and even.
"Dad, where's my money?"
Charles was taken aback, and asked with a touch of annoyance, “What money?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I told you to pay me every last cent of the dividends I’m owed after all these years. Where's my money?” Nora inquired with unrushed calm.
“Dividends? What dividends? The company needs capital to operate. Not every investment we make pays off; we're even in debt. If you, as a shareholder, want dividends, you’d better help sort out the company's troubles first,” Charles retorted, his frustration clear. It was all just an excuse to wriggle out of his obligation.
Nora clutched her phone tighter. “Dad, I’m asking you one more time—are you going to pay me or not?”
She wasn’t greedy for money, but this was what her mother had paid for with her freedom.
Why should Martha and her daughter benefit from that injustice?
“The company’s broke, Nora. How am I supposed to pay you?” Charles’s patience was wearing thin. He paused briefly before circling back to an earlier argument. “I told you to divorce Lucas. Did you even take that to heart?”
Nora's tone turned icy, “What if I don’t want to divorce him?”
“Why won't you? You’re my daughter, Nora. I don’t want a family feud, so don’t push me to the edge!”
A mocking glint flashed in Nora’s eyes, “Dad, to you, Martha and her kids are family. I'm just a stranger now, aren't I?”
If he really considered her his daughter, how could he let Martha and her daughter walk all over her?
“Cut the crap! Nora, come home tomorrow and get those divorce papers. If not, I swear I’ll drag you down to the court myself!”
His blatant threat extinguished the last vestige of warmth in Nora’s heart.
"Dad, you're going to regret this."
If he treated her like a stranger, why should she bother saving face for him?
After hanging up, she went upstairs to find Alex.
“Alex, mommy needs your help.”
At the Smith residence, Charles was still ruminating over Nora's parting shot.
She said he’d regret this? That defiant woman dared to talk back to him.
“Darling, cool off a bit, have some water,” Martha said as she handed Charles a glass and began to massage his shoulders, her face a picture of gentle attentiveness.
Charles settled on the sofa, eyes closed, enjoying Martha’s ministrations.
Soon, his phone rang.
It was his assistant.
“What’s up?”
"Mr. Smith, I don’t know what happened, but our entire company system just crashed.”
What!
Charles sat bolt upright, an expression of concern knitting his brows.
"What's going on? Is the IT department just sitting on their hands?"
"I've already pushed tech support to fix it urgently, but they're saying the system was hit by an unknown hacker attack. It’s going to take a long time to recover, apparently."
Charles's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"A bunch of deadbeats, hurry it up! If this isn't fixed by tonight, tell them to hit the road."
"Yes, sir."
After hanging up, Charles's face remained clouded with frustration.
Martha asked, "Charles, what's wrong at the company now?"
"The company's systems were suddenly attacked by hackers," he replied, his face etched with irritation.
Martha was taken aback, "Why would hackers target our network systems? Could it be the work of some business rival with a grudge against us?"
Hearing this, Charles squinted thoughtfully, as a possibility dawned on him.
Could it be that Nora, that little brat, hired a hacker to infiltrate their company's systems?
How else could it be such a coincidence that right after she warned him he'd regret it, the company was hit by this disaster?
With that thought, Charles dialed Nora's number.
The phone rang for an eternity before it finally connected as it was about to go to voicemail.
"Hello?"
That brat, she was definitely doing this on purpose.
Charles, face red with anger, demanded, "You little traitor! Tell me, did you orchestrate this hacker attack on the company's systems?”
"Yep, I hired a top-notch hacker to do it," Nora didn't bother denying it.
"You little brat, what are you trying to pull? Don't you realize how much loss our company is facing with the systems down?" Charles's hand smacked against the sofa armrest as he shouted.
"So what? It's not me who own the company."
"You!"
"Dad, where's the money that's rightfully mine? You’d better think carefully—do you want to pay up, or should I just keep the company's systems inoperable?"
Nora shot back.
Charles's face twisted with rage.
He had no desire to pay a cent, but the calls kept coming in, one after another.
Even Martha was starting to receive calls about the company.
Charles, eyes blazing with indignation barked, "How dare you Nora, I already told you there’s no money in the accounts. How much do you want?"
"There's no money in the accounts, but you have money. It's not much I'm asking for, just ten million!" Nora stated her demand.
"Ten million is not much? You're asking for the moon, Nora!" Charles spat out the words.
"Fifteen million. I’ll count to three. One—"
"Nora!"
"Two—"
"Fine, you'll get your fifteen million!" Charles, fearing another increase, resignedly agreed after taking a deep breath.
"Thanks, Dad." Nora's lips curled into a faint smile. "Oh, and as a thank you, once I get the money, I'll send you a big gift. You'll definitely be grateful."
After hanging up the phone, Nora tenderly ran her fingers through Alex's shiny, soft black hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"Good job, Alex."
Beaming with pride from Mommy's kiss, Alex perked up, his little frame straightening as a bashful blush swept over his ears.
"Mommy, what else can I do?"
"Just wait a minute."
Nora was awaiting the transfer from Charles.
Soon enough, her account was credited with a hefty sum of fifteen million dollars.
With a triumphant arch of her brow, Nora patted Alex on the shoulder. "Okay, Alex, let’s do another good deed for Grandpa."
Over at the Smith residence...
Charles had just received a call from his assistant confirming that the company's system was back to normal, which allowed him to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
When did that cunning Nora get acquainted with such a formidable hacker?
She had strong-armed him out of fifteen million dollars!
"Charles, did you really transfer fifteen million to Nora?" Martha asked, visibly shocked and pained upon overhearing Charles' conversation with the finance director.
"What choice did I have? The company's system would've been in limbo, the losses far exceeding that amount," said Charles, his face clouded with gloom.
"Seems like that girl, Nora, has changed a lot in four years."
A glint sparked in Martha's eyes. "Charles, I worry she's back to avenge her mother, and this is just the beginning."
At Martha's words, a shadow flickered across Charles' face.
The Nora of the past was mild-mannered and easy-going, giving off the impression she could be easily handled. He had never taken her seriously.
But now, he wasn't so sure anymore.
This girl, she was different from before!
Could she truly be seeking justice for her mother?
His train of thought was interrupted by the ringtone of his phone. Charles looked down. It was another call from his assistant.
With a furrowed brow, he answered the call.
"What now? Don’t tell me the company's system is down again?"
"No, the system is fine, but..." The assistant hesitated. "Mr. Charles, I think you better check the company website."
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