Chapter 169 Brothers
Micah was amused by Bella's words and felt much more relaxed.
He recalled what Liam had said earlier, then he put away his smile and seriously said to Bella, "Bella, I'm planning to give the company to Elijah. After I took over the Skyline Group, I used all the profits to pay the employees. Anyone who wants to leave with me, I'll take you with me."
"For those who don't, I'll give you a six-month performance bonus as my final compensation as your boss. They might have a hard time under Elijah, so this is my token of goodwill and compensation. But this money is only from my own account; I can't take any company funds. I'll use my own money to start a small company from scratch."
He paused, then continued, "Bella, would you like to come with me? Start over. It will be tough, but I don't believe that without the Hughes family, I'll be at a dead end."
Bella sighed and said, "I don't know much about your family matters, but it's good for you to start your own thing. At least you won't be under your dad's control or be manipulated by them."
Micah showed a bitter smile and said, "Yeah, they can be really shameless sometimes. You heard it earlier; he hates me so much because my mom cheated during their marriage. He couldn't get back at my mom because she committed suicide due to depression."
"So he put all his hatred on me, can't stand the sight of me. Ironically, I'm the best-looking one in the Hughes family, but he just can't stand me, probably because I look like my mom."
"So, isn't he quite unreasonable? It's not my fault, right?" Micah's voice grew softer and his eyes more hollow as he spoke.
Bella felt a pang of sadness, reminded of Mira. She truly hated such parents and could empathize with Micah's pain.
Bella smiled and comforted him, "Yeah, in terms of looks, you might not be as good as Sterling, but you're still pretty good. I think your dad is quite pathological, unable to get back at your mom, so he fixates on you. Hopefully, he won't regret it one day."
"You said you want to start your own company. I don't mind being your first employee. You know, money isn't important to me; happiness is."
Micah said, "Alright, when my company is set up, you'll be the first to know."
Bella nodded, "Okay, it's a deal. But it's strange they don't know you're friends with Sterling, right?"
Micah chuckled, glanced at the door, and then whispered to Bella, "Your department supervisor, Clara, was planted by the Hughes family. I knew it long ago and talked to Clara. She's working for me now. So I had her keep my friendship with Sterling a secret from the Hughes family, or they would have known by now."
"If they knew about my relationship with Sterling, they wouldn't be in such a hurry to hand the company over to Elijah. The Hughes family would just use my relationship with Sterling to get closer to him."
"But I don't want my friendship with Sterling to be so impure. We're friends because I genuinely consider him a friend, not because I want to use him to succeed. Otherwise, what kind of person would I be? There's not much of a business relationship between Sterling and me."
Bella could tell Micah was explaining himself to her. She smiled and said, "Of course, I know that. And I think Sterling wouldn't think that way either. If his influence and reputation could help you, he would definitely help without hesitation."
Bella was right. Although Sterling's qualities as a husband were questionable, he was a loyal friend.
The fact that he gave Micah and Colin each a villa in Whitewater Bay without batting an eye showed his loyalty.
Bella genuinely considered Micah a friend, which was why she defended him earlier.
When Bella came out of the office, her colleagues immediately surrounded her, asking what had happened.
Bella didn't want to discuss the Hughes family's private matters. She simply said, "It's nothing. Mr. Hughes wants us to work hard. The company might be taken over by his brother in the future. Mr. Hughes is planning to start his own company. If any of you want to follow Mr. Hughes, you should start planning now. But Mr. Hughes won't treat anyone unfairly."
Bella conveyed Micah's message to everyone, causing a stir in the company. Only Clara silently continued her work. She had long known about the internal conflicts within the Hughes family.
Clara also knew that Elijah was an uneducated playboy. If he took over the company, it would surely go downhill.
But for Clara, her career was more important. Starting from scratch with Micah would be too difficult, so she didn't care who she followed.
The most important thing was that the Hughes family could give her what she wanted, and staying in the Hughes family business was the safest and best choice for her.
Clara had previously helped Micah hide things only because she had to bow to him while working in the company. But she never shared her true thoughts with anyone.
As soon as Liam got home, he gathered everyone for an emergency family meeting.
Of course, this "everyone" did not include Micah, as Micah had clearly stated his intention to leave the Hughes family.
So, before Liam passed away, he wanted to gather those who were vying for power, including his eldest and second sons and their wives and daughters, but not his daughter.
Elijah was visibly unhappy because the call had interrupted his flirting with some girls.
"Dad, what's so urgent? I still have things to do," Elijah said impatiently.
Leaning on his cane, Liam said with a grim face, "None of you noticed that Micah has been in contact with Sterling? They seem to have a good relationship, and Sterling's wife is even working as a designer at the Skyline Group. None of you knew about this?"
Liam's tone was icy. He hadn't expected that the Hughes family, who had been trying so hard to get close to Sterling, had been easily outdone by Micah.
The Hughes family had tried everything and failed, so how could he stay calm?
Liam's words meant nothing to Elijah, as he wasn't interested in running the company.
But seeing Liam angry, Elijah quickly distanced himself, saying, "Dad, I didn't know about this. You didn't tell me beforehand. And now that Micah and I are at odds, I definitely wouldn't know about it."
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