Chapter 58
+25 BONUS
A few years ago, Marcus had convinced my aunt to retire from her job at the company, and she followed his advice. But since then, too many of his relatives had wormed their way into positions within the company, like pests. The business had begun to spiral downward.
This forced Sarah back into the workforce. After much effort, she finally regained control of the company’s finances, ensuring that the Zack family could no longer exploit it for financial gain.
Her actions quickly turned her into their enemy. They started badmouthing her to Marcus, driving a wedge between them and causing cracks to form in their relationship.
My aunt must have taken some money out of the company’s account to help me. Marcus discovered this and seized on it as a decisive blow against her.
Even though nothing came of it and the money was returned without a dime spent, it was enough for them to make an issue of it.
If they were to get a divorce, I feared that my mother’s terrible fate would befall my aunt too. I was certain Marcus would stop at nothing to bankrupt her or saddle her with the debt.
“Shush. You don’t need to shout. Raising your voice won’t fix anything,” I replied. “Let’s calm down, okay? I’ll call your mom.”
I needed to hear the story from my aunt herself. I suspected there was more to Wayne’s visit than he was letting
DIL
“Aunt Sarah? Wayne’s with me and told me what happened. Is it true you had a fight with Uncle Marcus, and a divorce might be coming?”
“Wayne’s with you?” Her voice sounded hoarse.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t listen to him! I can handle it, dear. I’m alright,” she insisted.
I understood why she said that. She didn’t want me to feel guilty.
However, I couldn’t just leave her to handle this on her own “No, Aunt Sarah. Marcus‘ family and relatives are all siding with him. You don’t have nearly as many allies as he does!
“If you don’t get help from me, who else is going to fight with you? Who else will fight for your rights?”
My aunt began to cry. I knew I had struck a nerve.
“Marcus, that bastard! He’s made all the wrong moves for the company for years! He got all of his relatives to suck it dry from the inside!
“And now that he’s made a terrible mistake, he blames it on me! He’s trying to tie his massive mess to that one time I lent money to you when we were both desperate!” she vented.
As I listened, the full picture began to take shape.
Marcus had led the company into financial ruin. He had accumulated debt from several sources, and the banks had been pressuring him for repayment.
“How much does the company need to survive this?” I asked.
“I don’t know the exact amount yet because that bastard made some bad investments behind my back too. But I
Chapter 58
think… it should be at least 4,000,000-5,500,000 dollars.
“Understood. I’ll talk to Wayne.”
Even as we were hanging up, my aunt kept telling me not to intervene. She said she was prepared for the worst.
How could I possibly leave her alone, though? Since my mother’s passing, my aunt had treated me like her own daughter. She was also all my grandmother had left.
When my mother was being bullied by someone like my sperm donor, I was just a child. I couldn’t do anything But now, things had changed. I was an adult with resources and power of my own.
I had to fight for my aunt. Not standing up for my mother had always been my greatest regret–I wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
I stared at Wayne and asked bluntly, “How much do you want?”
Wayne was clearly taken aback. “Well, well! You know, you should show some gratitude! Mom’s investment in you wasn’t wasted.”
I sneered. Please. I had always known how to show gratitude. I was kind to those who were kind to me.
I only bit back against those who hurt me–like the Jones family or Edward.
I quickly calculated what I could offer and said, “How about 1,500,000 dollars?”
Wayne scoffed loudly. “Who do you think I am? Some cheap date at a club? We need at least 7,000,000 dollars to cover the debt and bank loans. Otherwise, we’ll get sued.”
