50 Billion Reasons to Leave You Chapter 05

50 Billion Reasons to Leave You Chapter 05 The Empire Begins To Fall

Cherine froze. Her face went ghost white.

“What are you talking about? Why would they pull out? They can’t just remove me.”

Her assistant looked ready to cry.

“We called your grandfather. He said he approved it…”

For a second, Cherine just stood there.

The entire room started buzzing.

Guests crowded around her and fired questions at her from every direction.

“Ms. Whitmore, what’s going on?”

“Wait, was your ex telling the truth?”

Cherine snapped out of it and stormed away.

Kian hurried after her.

She reached the Whitmore estate and kicked open the front door.

“Grandpa! Are you trying to destroy this family?”

Her grandfather, Lorenzo Whitmore, quietly set down his cup.

He rose, walked straight up to her, and slapped her hard across the face.

Kian rushed between them.

“Mr. Whitmore, how could you treat your own granddaughter like that? You’re the one being unfair. You let an outsider come after Cherine, and now she isn’t even allowed to ask why?”

Lorenzo gave him one cold look.

The butler immediately got the message.

He motioned to the guards.

They grabbed Kian by both arms and slapped him again and again.

More than 20 times.

His cheeks swelled almost instantly. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

Cherine looked frantic, but she couldn’t get near him.

She glared at Lorenzo.

“What do you want from me, exactly?”

His voice was flat and cold.

“You stupid girl. If I’d known what you would do to this family after I put the company in your hands, I never would’ve let you anywhere near it.”

He threw the prenup at her.

“Read it. Years ago, I swallowed my pride and begged Ryan to marry you. Without him, you never would’ve gotten where you are.”

His eyes sharpened.

“And after everything he did for you, you destroyed him for some random man no one knew anything about.

“Our family failed Ryan. Letting him take the money and the shares was the least we owed him.”

Cherine stared at the pages in her hands. Her disbelief turned into rage.

“Grandpa, you seriously agreed to that? This is our family’s entire legacy. You’re really just gonna hand it all over to Ryan?”

Lorenzo didn’t soften.

“Whether you agree or not, it’s done. You cried in front of me and swore you would love him for the rest of your life. That’s why I trusted you.

“You brought this on yourself. Don’t blame anyone else.

“I’m old. I don’t want any part of this mess. If you want the company back, fight for it yourself. But unless you win Ryan back, you can forget about getting your position back.”

Cherine and Kian were thrown out of the estate.

When they returned to the Parker mansion, my parents were already waiting.

“Cherine, what happened?” my mother asked.

Kian jumped in before Cherine could say a word.

“Ryan betrayed all of us. He secretly signed an agreement with Cherine’s grandfather, stole her family’s money, and ran away.

“Cherine trusted him, and he used her. Now her own grandfather has thrown her out too.

“Since Ryan broke the marriage arrangement, I can take his place. Cherine and I can keep the two families together.”

He got more excited the longer he talked.

“Once things calm down, I’ll help her take back everything Ryan stole. He needs to learn that you can’t steal from a family like ours and just walk away.”

He lifted his chin, certain my parents would agree.

Instead, they exchanged an awkward look.

My father cleared his throat. “Kian, the marriage arrangement was always supposed to be between Ryan and Cherine.”

My mother wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Kian… You’re not our biological son.”

All the color drained from Kian’s face, and he stumbled back two steps.

This time, no one reached out to catch him.

Cherine stood in silence for a long time. Finally, she raised her head.

“I’ll find Ryan. I’ll apologize to him.

“This time, I’ll treat him right. I won’t hurt him again.”

She turned and walked away.

Kian reached for her hand, but she was already gone.

My parents sighed and went upstairs.

The household staff started whispering behind Kian’s back.

“Figures. He’s not real family anyway…”

“Ryan’s gone. Without him, Kian’s nobody.”

“He really thought he was about to take over everything. That’s embarrassing.”

Stella snapped at the staff to shut up and started toward Kian.

But his face had already turned bright red.

He stomped out of the house before she could comfort him.