Outsiders might not have understood the meaning behind her words, but the expressions of everyone from the Lancaster and Sloan families instantly changed.
Old Mr. Lancaster’s eyes turned icy as he shot Ethan Sloan a vicious glare. ’They had agreed that only a select few would know about this. Ethan Sloan had even promised not to tell Old Mrs. Sloan, so how did she find out?!’
But Old Mr. Lancaster quickly composed himself. "I have no idea what you’re talking about! Old Mrs. Sloan, you should try to be more understanding. After all, my daughter died while a part of the Sloan family. What’s wrong with me wanting the child my daughter gave birth to to inherit the Sloan Group?"
"Now the Sloan Group is in the hands of an illegitimate son, Nathaniel Sloan. And the company shares were given to Estelle Lockwood instead of Theodore! Is that reasonable?! If word of this gets out, what will people think?"
Old Mrs. Sloan suddenly laughed.
The sarcasm in her smile was impossible to hide. "Oh, please. Anyone can spout such sanctimonious nonsense. You’re so old you have one foot in the grave, yet you’re still trying to twist the truth. You suddenly remember you want to avenge Miranda now? Then why was there not a single soul from the Lancaster Family in sight when she died?"
"Old Mr. Lancaster, it’s one thing to fool everyone else, but don’t start fooling yourself! Just think about it. Miranda had shares in the Sloan Group. She didn’t leave them to you, her own father. She didn’t leave them to Theodore Lancaster, her so-called ’son.’ Instead, she left them to Estelle, a complete stranger."
"I mean, as her relatives, why don’t you do some self-reflecting? Maybe it’s because you, her father, are acting so disgracefully in your old age!"
"You... you..." Old Mr. Lancaster had intended to take the moral high ground to force Nathaniel Sloan to compromise and compel Estelle Lockwood to surrender her inheritance rights.
’But with Old Mrs. Sloan’s interruption, had he suddenly become the one who wronged Miranda Lancaster?!’
’Such ungrateful wretches. Miranda Lancaster was an ungrateful wretch, and Nathaniel Sloan is one too. Cut from the same cloth...’
Laura Jennings’s face flushed red as she tried to argue, "It was Nathaniel Sloan who wronged Miranda Lancaster in the first place—"
"Oh, I didn’t see you there. I didn’t realize you were here too."
Old Mrs. Sloan looked utterly shocked. "Go on, tell me. How exactly did Nathaniel wrong Miranda? By being an illegitimate son? Tsk, tsk. You can’t be serious, Laura Jennings. You’re the mistress who drove Miranda to her death, and you don’t even feel you wronged her. How dare you try to put the blame on Nathaniel?"
"And I must say, Old Mr. Lancaster, you must be going senile. On one hand, you claim to feel for your daughter, but on the other, you’re playing happy family with the very culprit who caused her death. The Lancaster Family is so wealthy; how can they know you’ve got something wrong with your head and not get you to a doctor?"
A sharp, strangled sound erupted from Old Mr. Lancaster’s throat. He couldn’t catch his breath and fell straight backward!
"Dad!"
"Old Mr. Lancaster!"
Yvonne Lancaster and a crowd of people rushed forward, but Old Mrs. Sloan just scoffed. "So he gets exposed, can’t keep up the act, and resorts to faking a faint to escape. Fine, whatever makes you happy."
"Oh, by the way," Old Mrs. Sloan said after her tirade, elegantly smoothing her hair. "Instead of wasting time being aggressive here, you all should be thinking about how to patch up this enormous hole."
Her gaze swept over the Sloan Group’s shareholders. "I can’t meddle in the Lancaster Group’s affairs, but as for the Sloan Group... you’re not seriously expecting this useless son of mine to fill that hole, are you?"
The shareholders exchanged glances, their hopeful eyes ultimately landing on Nathaniel Sloan.
Ethan Sloan’s expression shifted repeatedly, but in the end, he didn’t dare utter a single word in front of his mother.
The celebration party that was supposed to be for Theodore Lancaster ended in such an absurd fashion.
Not only was there no celebration, but they also lost face and a great deal of money.
Old Mrs. Sloan couldn’t care less what the people from the Sloan Group thought. She walked elegantly to the entrance of the conference hall and looked back. "Nathaniel, Estelle, let’s go. This whole place is a toxic mess. It’s vexing just to look at."
Nathaniel Sloan gave a slight nod. Estelle Lockwood raised an eyebrow; she was truly surprised by Old Mrs. Sloan’s personality.
Left behind in the conference hall were the fainted Old Mr. Lancaster and a group of fuming Sloan Group shareholders.
"Chairman Sloan, what are you going to do about this?!"
"We thought you brought back some peerless genius, but it turns out he’s just a dud! He just returned to the Sloan Group and has already lost tens of billions! Heh. Anyone who didn’t know better would think Young Mr. Lancaster was some kind of god of wealth, here to scatter his fortunes."
Laura Jennings pulled Theodore Lancaster protectively behind her, placed her hands on her hips, and started yelling, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just talk about Theodore like that—"
Before she could finish, she was interrupted by Theodore Lancaster’s calm and refined voice.
"I am truly sorry. I will speak with the authorities and do my best to minimize the losses."
Theodore Lancaster slowly closed his eyes. ’I’ll remember this!’
...
Old Mrs. Sloan exited and beckoned for Nathaniel Sloan and Estelle Lockwood to get into the car. The vehicle headed toward a manor outside the city.
Upon arriving at the manor, Nathaniel Sloan recognized it as one of the properties belonging to the Sloan Family. Old Mrs. Sloan had been recuperating here for many years.
Estelle Lockwood, however, thought that Old Mrs. Sloan didn’t look like someone suffering from a serious illness at all.
Nathaniel Sloan helped Old Mrs. Sloan into the house. "Are you feeling better?"
Old Mrs. Sloan suddenly glanced at Nathaniel Sloan and then let out a heavy sigh. A complex mix of emotions—regret, tenderness, and finally, resignation—flashed in her eyes.
’She had lived in this manor for so many years, turning a blind eye to the outside world. Because of that, this child, Nathaniel, had suffered so much for no reason. In the early years, her health was truly failing, and she was in and out of consciousness. But even after she had woken up for the past two years, she couldn’t accept what had happened back then and had unfairly blamed Nathaniel for it.’
’But Nathaniel... he was the one Miranda had fought so hard to leave behind. For him, Miranda was even willing to give her own life.’
Old Mrs. Sloan contemplated many things before suppressing her emotions. "I’m much better. I plan to live here from now on."
Nathaniel Sloan nodded in understanding. This was his first time visiting this manor. Old Mrs. Sloan had always refused his visits in the past. She never gave a reason, and he never asked for one.
’Now that he saw it, the manor was actually quite nice.’
Estelle Lockwood thought so, too.
’According to the rumors, Old Mrs. Sloan had been gravely ill, and it was Laura Jennings who had found this mountain villa for her to recuperate in.’
So Estelle Lockwood voiced her confusion, "Laura Jennings was surprisingly generous back then."
"Hah," Old Mrs. Sloan sneered unexpectedly. "Laura Jennings? This manor was left to me by Miranda. It’s my inheritance from her. How did the credit for this end up with Laura Jennings? Those two are truly shameless!"
’Miss Lancaster?’
Estelle Lockwood suddenly realized that Old Mrs. Sloan and Miss Lancaster must have been very close. Calling them mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was less accurate than calling them mother and daughter. The old woman’s affection and concern for Miranda Lancaster were impossible to hide.
’In that case, would Old Mrs. Sloan know about the shares?’
Acting on the thought, Estelle Lockwood asked, "Old Mrs. Sloan..."
"Call me Grandma, just like Nathaniel does."
Old Mrs. Sloan waved her hand. "I know what you want to ask. I don’t know the details about the shares. Miranda always had her reasons for doing things, but I never expected she would leave them to you."
"I just remember she once said she didn’t want anything from the Sloan family. Those shares represent a huge amount of money. Given how Ethan Sloan thinks, leaving them to a stranger could have easily brought them a great deal of trouble."
"So, in the end, she decided to gift the shares to a friend who had helped her."