50 Billion Reasons to Leave You Chapter 08

50 Billion Reasons to Leave You Chapter 08 No More Second Chances 

I spun around.

“What did you do to your grandfather?”

A strange smile spread across Cherine’s face.

“Nothing serious. I just gave him a little medicine so he’d stay quiet for a while.”

I sucked in a breath and stared at her in disbelief.

“He’s your grandfather. How could you do that to him?”

Something wild flickered in her eyes.

“If you agree to come back to me, I won’t do anything else.”

She took a step closer.

“But if you keep fighting me, I’ll destroy you before I let you leave.”

My parents exchanged uneasy looks.

Even they knew she had gone too far.

But one look at Cherine’s face was enough to keep them silent.

A chill ran through me.

Then I felt the tracker in my pocket and steadied myself.

I had expected a trap before I came.

My assistant and security team were already on their way.

Cherine had just ordered the guards to lock me up when the front door crashed open.

My assistant charged inside with more than a dozen security officers.

Cherine froze for a beat, then turned on me with a furious glare.

“You planned this?”

I laughed.

“With someone like you, I’d be stupid not to cover my ass.”

I turned to my assistant.

“Find Mr. Whitmore. Get him to a hospital right now.”

Cherine tried to stop them, but my security team blocked her.

I didn’t look at her again.

Surrounded by my guards, I walked outside, got into the car, and left.

Kian and my parents saw that the situation was over.

They slipped out of the estate with their heads down.

Doctors examined Lorenzo and confirmed that he was in no serious danger.

Cherine had given him sleeping pills.

As soon as he woke up, he disowned her and banned her from the family estate for good.

Cherine immediately went to my parents for help.

They refused to open the door.

They avoided her like she was contagious.

Even Stella, who had once sided with her against me, blocked Cherine’s number to protect herself from the fallout.

Cherine couldn’t find me anywhere.

All she could do was watch the news as one business victory after another made headlines, each with my name on it.

Before long, I had made back the original $50 billion and more than tripled my fortune.

Then I announced that I would attend a Whitmore Group board meeting in person.

The day of the meeting, I walked into the conference room.

Every director stared at me.

When I announced that Whitmore Group would merge with my new company, one board member jumped to his feet.

“What gives you the right? This company belongs to the Whitmore family.”

I answered calmly.

“I have the right because I’m the largest shareholder.”

I let that settle over the room.

“If you reject the merger, I’ll sell my shares at a deep discount. Once your ownership is diluted, your stock will be worth little more than the paper it’s printed on.”

The announcement rocked Maplewick’s business world.

Everyone heard that the once-powerful Whitmore dynasty had changed forever.

Its flagship company changed hands and took a new name.

Almost overnight, I became one of the most influential business leaders in the country.

Without me managing the Parker family’s affairs, my sister’s career started falling apart.

One serious mistake cost her the department chair position.

After that, she was transferred to a small community clinic.

As the Parker family declined, my parents grew desperate.

They tried to reach me again and again.

I sent my answer through my attorney.

I would send them a monthly allowance, but beyond that, I never wanted to see them again.

Beyond that, I would never see them again.

They fell into despair.

Then they turned all their anger on Kian.

“If we had never brought Kian into this family, Ryan never would’ve suffered like that.”

“If Kian hadn’t shamelessly gone after Cherine, Ryan never would’ve been hurt.”

They threw Kian out too and refused to see him again.

With nowhere else to go, Kian started hanging around nightclubs and chasing wealthy older women who might support him.

At the very same club, Cherine worked temporary shifts as a cleaner.

She kept her head down and scrubbed the floors while the people around her partied.

When I heard what had happened to them, I felt nothing.

I put everything I had into my company.

At the height of Evercrest Group’s success, people kept telling me I should marry a woman from another powerful family.

I chose something else. I adopted a boy from foster care.

He was smart, ambitious, and grateful for every opportunity he received.

I raised him to become my successor.

Years later, I stood at the top of our skyscraper with my ten-year-old son in my arms.

The whole city stretched out below us.

He looked up at me.

“Dad, will all of this be mine someday?”

I smiled and ran my hand through his hair.

“If that’s what you want, the whole world will bow at your feet.”

Once, I had dreamed of giving the whole world to the person I loved.

After everything I had survived, I finally understood that I had to love and protect myself first.

I would teach my son the same thing.

He would never let anyone hurt him the way they had hurt me.