Chapter 155 The Battle for the Family Assets
Jessica pulled her neck back, scared stiff, and kept her mouth shut.
She rolled her eyes, full of attitude. 'What's there to brag about? Down the line, they'll still need me and Roman to take care of them,' Jessica thought.
Grace turned to Stephen, who'd been quiet, and asked, "Stephen, what's your take?"
Stephen, snapped out of his thoughts, looked up and shook his head gently. "Mom, I'm cool with it. I heard about what went down yesterday. I'll make sure Roman and Jessica behave and won't bug you again."
Grace nodded, pleased with his response. But she added, "I'm not talking about that. What do you think about splitting the assets?"
Stephen wiped his face and asked, "Mom, do we really have to split the assets?"
Grace nodded. "It's gotta be done."
Stephen went quiet.
He wasn't exactly a business whiz. If it weren't for Gregory killing it at the company, he wouldn't have been living the high life.
He'd been living large for years and felt pretty satisfied.
Even if the family split, as long as he had his shares, he'd be fine.
Realizing this, he quickly answered, "Alright, let's split the assets. All these years, we've been riding on Gregory's coattails. As his brother, I haven't given him anything."
Elaine freaked out and yelled at Stephen, "Did you even ask me? I don't agree!"
Stephen frowned and said quietly, "Haven't you had enough? It's been years, stop dreaming."
Since they got hitched, Elaine had been on his case to fight for the family assets. But what did it get him?
He sucked at business and became a joke in high society.
Elaine wouldn't let it go. After having a son, she drilled it into Roman's head that he had to fight for the family assets from a young age.
When Roman actually went to the company and messed things up, causing big losses to the White Group, Elaine still didn't think it was Roman's fault. She thought it was all Gregory's doing.
Stephen was so done with this life!
Elaine sneered, "You really know how to play the saint. Everything I've done was for you and our son!"
"Some things just aren't meant to be. Let it go!" Stephen felt completely drained.
This twenty-plus-year marriage had worn him out.
Seeing his face, Elaine felt deeply hurt. "I see why you agreed to split the assets so fast. You must be thinking of that other woman! You take such good care of her daughter, she probably won't even thank you!"
"Enough!" Stephen slammed the table and jumped up from the sofa, glaring at Elaine with bloodshot eyes.
Elaine was startled by his sudden outburst and took a step back.
She quickly snapped out of it and looked up at Stephen with a defiant stance. "What? Did I hit a nerve?"
"Shut up! Go to your room!" Stephen grabbed Elaine's wrist and dragged her upstairs without looking back.
Abigail watched the scene, a bit stunned.
Even though Elaine didn't name names, it was clear she was talking about her and Michelle.
She looked at Grace, confused, and asked, "Grace, what's going on?"
Grace reached out and patted her head, saying vaguely, "It's nothing, just some old drama from the past. Don't worry about it."
After saying that, she shot a look at Gregory and said, "I'll have Andy sort out my assets. You keep the White Group shares and make up the difference with other stuff. If they don't like it, they get zilch."
Gregory nodded, "Got it."
Seeing Grace dodge the topic and change the subject, Abigail's frown deepened.
On the way back, Gregory noticed her sulking and squeezed her hand. "What's on your mind?"
Abigail looked at Gregory and asked, "Was Elaine talking about my mom earlier?"
Gregory was caught off guard and didn't answer right away. Instead, he said, "That's old drama from back in the day. Better if you don't know."
"But I wanna know." Abigail gently shook Gregory's arm, her voice turning sweet and playful.
Gregory had no choice but to spill. "Your mom was a real knockout and super talented when she was young."
Abigail grinned, "Well, duh, she was my mom!"
Gregory laughed and went on, "So, a lot of guys were after her, and Stephen was one of them."
"What?" Abigail gasped, "You mean Stephen had a thing for my mom?"
If that were true, a lot of stuff would start to make sense.
She'd always wondered why Elaine had it out for her.
When she was still engaged to Roman, Elaine treated her like dirt.
If Abigail ticked her off, Elaine would go off, even cursing Michelle.
She didn't get it back then, but now it was all clicking.
Seeing Abigail had been through a lot, Gregory patted her head and said, "You're probably wondering why a decent guy like Stephen ended up with Elaine, right?"
Abigail nodded.
She was definitely curious about that.
Elaine, in terms of background or personality, didn't seem like a match for Stephen.
Even though Stephen wasn't great at running the company, he was a big deal director back in the day.
He only made two films, but both were classics and won tons of awards.
After getting hitched, for Elaine's sake, he ditched his dreams and took a boring job at the company.
Gregory sighed, "I don't know all the details, but one thing's for sure—Stephen doesn't love Elaine."
Abigail was too stunned to speak, trying to wrap her head around it.
If he didn't love her, why did he marry her? And he even let her run wild in the White family for so long!
Gregory shook his head, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel, and said casually, "Who knows, maybe she's got something on him."
A few years back, he tried asking Stephen, but got nowhere. After that, he stopped poking around.
As long as Elaine didn't go too far, he could deal with it, but lately, she'd been stirring up trouble at home for Olivia and Roman.
Splitting the assets might be the best move.
When his patience finally snapped, it wouldn't just be about splitting assets.
Stephen probably got that too, which is why he agreed so quickly.
But he wasn't gonna tell Abigail any of this.
His Abigail should live carefree under his protection, with all the dark and nasty stuff kept away by him.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
