Chapter 249
When Braiden and Marisa were released from police custody, they retired straight to the Sawyer estate
Marshall and Luciano had been waiting at home for their retum. As soon as their parents stepped through the door, both brothers rushed up to greet them.
“Dal, Mom—you’re hnally home?”
Braiden nodded and gave them an approving look. Cloud work, both of you. I didn’t expect you to pull strings so quickly. I thought we’d be stuck inside for at least a week, but we were out in just three days”
surprisingly, that comment left Marshall and Luciano exchanging confuseid glances.
at their father and said, “Wait.. what do you mean we pulled strings?”
They looked at t
Braider’s brow furrowed. “Wasn’t it you two who got the charges dropped and arranged our early release!”
Braiden immediately picked up on their hesitation.
His expression twitched for a second, then he brushed it off, offering a new interpretation to save Lace for his sons. “Well, whatever the case, looks like the evidence wasn’t strong enough to hold us. That bastard Nicolas must’ve thought he could send me to prison with just that. What a joke.”
At the mention of Nicolas, both Marshall and Luciano quickly chimed in.
“Exactly, Dad. He really thought he could bring you down that easily. But the authorities still fear the power of the Sawyer family”
Braiden nodded in satisfaction
“You two must be exhausted. Come, let’s sit in the living room and rest for a bit, Marshall offered, guiding his parents toward the couch.
Seeing that the house was in order and nothing appeared out of place, Braiden finally allowed himself to relax. But soon enough, he asked, “Alright, what about the company? Everything okay while 1 was gone?”
That question immediately caused the brothers to tense.
“Something happened?” Braiden narrowed his eyes. “Out with it
“Just… a small hiccup, Marshall muttered.
Luciano followed up, “Yeah, nothing major. It’s just.. Bryan, Nicolas’s assistant, secretly recorded your arrest and posted it online. Since then, the company’s stock has been limit–down every day. A bunch of companies started buying up shares at bargain prices, so a decent chunk of our holdings got diluted ”
“Whatt Braiden’s face wem pale. He shot to his feet
“How much of our shares were bought uja?”
Marshall hesitated before finally replying in a low voice, “Over half in just three days.”
“OVER HALF Braiden’s roar shook the entire house. He was livid.
ཡ
Hed only been gone for three days. Three. And in that time, more than 50% of the Sawyer Group’s shares had slipped through their lingers. “What die hell were you two doing?” he shouted, face flushed with rage. “Three days! I was gone for three damn days, and you let the company slip away! Were you trying to land the empire over to someone else?!”
It was rare for Braiden to lose his temper like this. Both Marshall and Luciano were stunned
Marissa quirkly stepped in, trying to calms things down. “Braided You’re the one who told them not to make any moves while you were away. Now you’re yelling at then for doing what you asked?”
Braider’s chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. He turned to his wife, gritting his teeth. “Yes, I told them to hold back, but any idiot should we realized the shares were slipping away. They should’ve tightened their grip, consolidated our holdings. If someone was using that as cover
to launch a courdinated tikrover
“Dad, relax, Marshall cut in. “The shares were bought by a bunch of scattered companies. None of them hold more than a small per no way they’re a threat to our control”
percentage. There’s
1/3
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Chapter 219
“Right.” Luciano added quickly. “We double checked. All those companies are unconnected. Unless they all teamed up impossible–we’re fine”
Branden slowly nodded, the logic sinking in
practically
Marissa sam his expression soften and jumped in to support her sons. “Exactly, Braiden. They’re not islions. You yell at them for doing what you said, but if they’d taken insituative and things had gone woung, you’d be yelling at them anyway. No matter what, they’re still better than that linde hastand. Nicolas. If it were him numing the company these past thure days, the whole place would’ve been in flames by now”
“Yeah,” Luciano muttered. “That idiot would’ve bankrupted the company
Marissa snorted. “Not surprising. His mother was just as clueless. Home smart could be bett
Braiden considered their words. He still didici think highly of Marshall or Landarm, but at least compared to Nicolas. well, it could be worse
Now that he was back, things would settle. Stock prices would bounce back, and once the panic buyers sold off, they’d scoop the shares back up. Everything would return to normal.
He finally sighed and said, “just stay alert next time. This dul go too badly, but if someone had been orchestraying a coordinated attack, we’d he
“Don’t worry, Dad,” Marshall assured him. “Unless those companies all joined forces, there’s no way they could shake our control” Braiden nodded.
But just as he started to relax, Marshall’s phone rang
He answered
“Marshall—it’s had his assistant said in a panic.
“What now!” Marshall tensed.
Almost simultaneously, the family’s butler came rushing into the rooms.
“Mr. Sawyer–something’s happened!”
“What is it?” Braiden barked.
The butler swallowed nervously. “It’s the headlines, sir. United Press just announced that it’s completed a majority acquisition of the Sawyer Group They now own 52% of the company”
“What did you just say?” Braiden bolted upright. He stormed over and grabbed the butter by the collar.
“That can’t be right! That’s fake news! I’ve never even heard of
United Press!”
have verified seals…
“I–I swear it’s true the budder stammered. Their officiall documents h
“Impossible!” Braiden growled. “Didn’t you both just say the shares were scattered? Where did United Press come from!!
Luciano chimed in, equally confused. “Yeale That name never showed up in any of the trades”
Marshall finally spoke, his voice hollow. “They didn’t buy the shares directly. United Press is the parent company. They used multiple smaller firms to acquire the shares piece by piece so we wouldn’t notice they were all connected?
Braiden and Luciano turned to him in stunned silence.
“Oh, they have a grudge, Marshall murmured with a bitter smile, his face pale.
“What the hell are you talking about? Braiden grabbed his shoulder tightly. “Who the hell is United Press? Why are they doing this? What did I ever
do to thein
ite had made plenty of enemies in his life, sure. Hut United Press He didn’t even know th
Anghe very least, if he was going down, he wanted to know why.
Marshall looked at him, eyes wide, lips trembling.
the
