Chapter 16

Evely comes up with some perfectly plausible reasons for why her father��s notes are in the joh family secret recipe book. Her father had worked for the joh family restaurant prior to his death and had been so important that he probably would have had a stake in bright company had he not passed away. She convinces herself that it��s not so weird and instead it must be fate or something that she found her father��s lost notes via Jackson and La Mure.
She and Jackson chat a little more before they go to bed. Each has reasons to thank the other for opening up their worldview. Before they go to sleep (holding hands without much prompting cute!), Jackson re-emphasizes to Evely that she can come to him with any problems she has. He doesn��t want her going to Noah anymore.
Evely is so good at lying to herself. The circumstances of her father��s death seem pretty. Perhaps someone didn��t want to have too much of a stake in bright company and took him out before he could cause problems?
Grandma joh had a dream.... in her she saw her deceased son. She chats with her deceased son again, reporting that Jackson and Evely are dating and well-matched. She promises him that she��ll give everything they owe the Wat family to Evely watson
Sure enough, the next morning, Grandma calls a meeting and tells everyone that she��s giving Evely a ten percent stake in bright. Five percent for the stake she was going to give Evely that he refused, and five percent as a gift for a future member of the joh family. Everyone is shocked, including Evely. She starts to refuse, but Jackson surveys the room and tells her to just thank Grandma. Grandma joh tells them that they��re excused they��re the busiest of everyone there what with a wedding to prepare for. That��s news to them, but they quickly shuffle out. Probably for the better because everyone else in the room seems pissed.
Later, Evely sees Amelia sitting alone and looking sad. I don��t actually think she looks that sad, she just looks like she��s sitting by herself, but later Evely says she looked sad so I��ll take her word for it��) She thinks about talking to her, remembering a moment in the past when Amelia gifted her a bunch of skincare products and taught her how to use them, but then decides otherwise. She sits by herself in a room too, but Jackson soon finds her and tells her not to worry about what just happened. If anything, it��s just a sign that Grandma really likes her.
Amelia comes in, and Evely leaves to give them space. Later Evely apologizes, but Amelia says she should be the one to apologize. She was too stubborn and thought that time could change everything, but now realizes that time can also change nothing. She plans on leaving and asks him to thank her if he��s going to say anything. Jackson says thank you, then says that he��s thought about how things would have been different if their parents hadn��t been involved in their initial meeting. Maybe they would have been good friends if they had met more organically. Amelia has the maturity to say, ��Promise me you��ll treasure your time with Evely watson and then leaves.
I��m so glad they��ve gotten their closure! And I hope that this really is closure and mrs Rose won��t try to scheme up something new. Amelia as a character has always been classy, and I really enjoy seeing that instead of female love rivals who are vilified.
Amelia finds Evely outside. She feels guilty and struggles over whether to tell ��the truth�� or not. But what is the truth? The truth is that even though the engagement is fake, her relationship with Jackson is real. When Jackson shows up, Evely tries to run away, but he turns off the lights and envelops her in a hug to prevent her from leaving. She admits that she wants Jackson to go comfort Amelia but also doesn��t want him to. Jackson tells her that what she��s feeling is jealousy, and it��s time that he wasn��t the only one to feel jealous. Love is simple. he likes her, and she likes him. That��s the only truth that matters. He asks her if she really wants to give up her stake in bright company, and she says yes.
Meanwhile, mrs Elsa approaches Jackson, asking what they��re going to do. Now that Evely has a ten percent stake in bright that means that they no longer have a controlling stake in the company. Jayden frowns and tells his mother that he��ll take care of it and make sure they get control back. He��ll talk to smith and take care of it.
Uh oh�� has jayden gone to the dark side? He looks conflicted after he turns away from his mother, perhaps because he doesn��t like being the bad guy, but the fact that he has a direct line of communication with smith does not bode well for his innocence��
Jayden finds Amelia brooding by the pool. He asks if she��s going to give up, and she says she has to respect Grandma joh's choice. He tries to cheer her up by saying they should go for a swim and race. They joke around a bit, but in the middle he says seriously that he will support her.
The next morning, Jackson takes Evely to a breakfast place he used to frequent with his father and He gets sentimental imagining what it would be like if they were still alive and got to meet Evely. Afterward, they go for a walk in a park that is inexplicably full of heart balloons and Jackson shares more of his family history.
But it��s a short-lived moment of bliss, because Jackson and mrs Elsa have taken action. Jayden finds out that his mother has been embezzling money from bright company But Jackson is the one who gave his stamp of approval on all the documents as CEO. Jayden suspects that Jackson is already suspicious, and decides that he needs to strike first. He will find a way to kick Jackson out of company. If Jackson isn��t CEO anymore, then he can��t look into it, and he also won��t be liable for it.
Evely goes to La Mure to find it in crisis. There is a news report and Department of Health complaint about tainted oil being used at La Mure and officials arrive to conduct an investigation. Evely quickly tries to do damage control, instructing Brian that they need to get ahead of the news and notify their customers first. She tries to call Jackson but can��t reach him.
That��s because Jackson is in the middle of a series of board meetings regarding the company financials. He suspects that his mother is behind it, and gets someone to do some investigation, but he can��t find any concrete proof. Mrs Elsa makes a motion to scapegoat someone at the company before the media gets hold of the story and their stock price plummets. Jayden agrees.
Jackson gets the hint and says that he will take full responsibility and resign. The decision is up to Grandma joh to make. Mrs Rose implores her to save Jackson, but Jackson mouths ��hurry up.�� Grandma joh declares that Jackson will be removed as CEO, effective immediately. As for La Mure, mrs Elsa already has a new manager in mind, but jayden speaks up and says he should take over as a member of the joh family.
Jackson stares at jayden, confused, then gives a small shake of his head. Is it because of the betrayal? Or is there something else going on? I still want to believe that jayden has a good bone in his body. He��s always been against his mother��s scheming and it��s so out of character for him to suddenly do a 180. His asserting himself as La Mure��s manager instead of zoe, and his aside earlier about Jackson not being responsible if he��s no longer CEO, give me hope that perhaps he has a grander plan that��s not as cruel as it currently appears.
At the joh family condo, Jackson gives up his seal as well as additional accounts to make up for the missing company money. It basically means he��s getting kicked out of the joh family. Jayden stands up and asks Jackson to cut all ties with bright company. The new La Mure will no longer be making his curry lobster. Jauden says he should take his recipe, leave the joh family, and open his own restaurant elsewhere. Jackson agrees that this seems pretty reasonable and leaves. Mrs Elsa suggests that now that the son has left, perhaps his mother should�� but Grandma joh snaps, ��Enough!�� and even jayden thinks his mother has gone too far.
Jayden's words were a loaded statement! In some ways, it��s exactly what Jackson would want, to no longer be tethered to bright company and free to make his own way.
Mrs Rose can��t reach Jackson so she ends up calling Evely instead, and tells her about Jackson getting kicked out of the joh family. Evely tries to reassure her that she��ll find Jackson. Grandma joh finds mrs Rose crying over a photo of Jackson. They cry together, but Grandma tries to find the bright side of things. at least this way, Jackson is free from the burden and expectations of the joh family, and now mrs Rose can be free too.
Evely also struggles to reach Jackson but ends up finding him at the campsite near their respective family members�� graves. She listens while he laments how lost he feels. It��s not just losing bright and La Mure it��s also the feeling of losing a brother, someone who, for money and power, could become a complete stranger to him. Jackson doesn��t want to be a chef anymore, but he doesn��t know who he is if he isn��t. He bitterly smiles that everyone leaves him one day, maybe she will too. But Evely promises that she will never leave Jackson. He leans in��
this situation just created so many problems, But I this was bound to happen, I just hope that Jackson and Evely can stay strong through the next few obstacles. They are at such a healthy point in their relationship. it would be a shame for one of them to act irrationally now.