She had no intention of letting Ethan Seymour see that her ultimate goal was to have James inherit Seymour Corporation; besides, Ethan was even more anxious than she was.
"Sit down? Why should I sit?" Ethan had been so anxious and worked up these past few days that even the corners of his mouth had broken out in blisters. "I don’t know what the old man is thinking, actually wanting to hand the company over to Julian Campbell? Someone like Julian, twisting his hips and singing on TV—how can a person like that inherit the company?"
"Put the company in his hands and it’s only a matter of time before it’s ruined." Ethan was practically mad with rage.
"That’s the old man’s decision. We’re the juniors; we still have to listen." Charlotte Reed said gently and dutifully. "Don’t be angry. We’re all one family. It’s the same no matter who it’s given to, isn’t it?"
"The same, my ass!" Ethan snapped as soon as he heard that, jabbing a finger in the air in her direction. "You, you—never fight for anything, never compete for anything. With a temperament like yours, you’re just waiting around to be bullied."
"Who would bully me? Don’t I have you to protect me?" Charlotte said with a smile. The trust and admiration in her eyes gave Ethan’s male pride immense satisfaction, and the irritation he’d been feeling for days eased a little.
Still, what he ought to fight for, he was certainly going to fight for.
"No, if I don’t get control of Seymour Corporation, then there’ll be nothing for James in the future." Ethan couldn’t be as careless as Charlotte. "If James doesn’t have any company shares, he won’t get any dividends at all. Even if I hand my shares over to him later, he’ll still be pushed out in the company."
"Julian Campbell is clearly on Charles Seymour’s side. He’s definitely going to help that little bastard go after our son!" Ethan said, then mulled it over. "The old man’s going back to the company tomorrow; I have to find a way to put a stop to this."
"Be careful. Don’t go head‑to‑head with the old man. He’s not young anymore; you really can’t get him worked up." Charlotte advised him considerately.
Looking at Charlotte being so virtuous and gentle, Ethan couldn’t help letting out a heavy sigh. "You... the old man’s already this biased, and you still..."
"No matter what, he’s your father and my father‑in‑law. Of course I have to care about him." What Charlotte said left Ethan with mixed feelings. With such a good daughter‑in‑law, how could his father not see her worth?
He really must have had his brain clogged with lard!
"All right, I’ll go get you a glass of milk. You haven’t been sleeping well these past two days." Charlotte stood up with a smile and walked out, the very picture of a virtuous wife.
She had barely stepped out when she saw Hayley Cole standing in the hallway like a lurking ghost, giving Charlotte quite a scare. "Hayley, what are you doing just standing here?"
Hayley shot her a dark, gloomy look, then, without a word, dragged her heavy body back to her room.
Hearing the noise, Ethan opened the door with a frown, just in time to see Hayley going into her own room. He said displeasedly, "With a temperament like that... We really shouldn’t have let James marry her back then."
"There’s nothing we can do now. Our James can’t just abandon her. Her own family’s already thrown her out. If James doesn’t want her either, what’s she supposed to do?" Charlotte’s words made Ethan sigh in emotion. "You two—mother and daughter—your hearts are just too soft, always thinking of other people, and yet..."
"All right, I’ll go get your milk." Charlotte cut him off with a smile and reassured him, "Stop worrying about the two of us. We have you; that’s better than anything."