Chapter 285
“Morn, we came to you because we’re certain about this matter,” Brandon said.
Brandon slammed a document on the table before Stella, which contained information about Bryan and Eileen that they had guessed. It stated that Eileen was Bryan’s ex-wife. Stella ignored the document before her and sneered, “Is that all? Do you think this will stop them from getting married? Eileen intends to confess to Bryan about this. Bryan loves her so much; he wouldn’t mind.”
“It’s not my place to do something about this, but I know you can,” Brandon said.
Only Stella could do something about this since she was the one who had convinced Eileen to sign the agreement and had the two documents in her possession. Stella looked at him disdainfully. Was he an idiot? How could he expect her to do such a thing?
“Then look at this. It cost me a fortune to stop this article about your husband from being made public by a reporter a few days ago. If the public gets to know about this, the Dawson family would go down.” Lydia placed photos before Stella.
They were photos of some implicating documents.
Stella was stunned at their revelation. “You… you two!” Her gaze flickered from Lydia’s smug face to Brandon.
She said, “That’s my father, for goodness’ sake! You are an ungrateful son! How dare you try to threaten me with these pictures?”
“So you acknowledge he’s my father. Why then haven’t you treated me as his son? You always take sides with outsiders instead of me.” Brandon flared up. “You handed all the authority to Bryan since you are the head of the Dawson family, giving absolutely nothing to me. Do you even consider how I feel at all?”
“How dare you say that!” Stella raised her voice, slamming her hand on the table. “Bryan is your son! Do you want to leave the Dawson family in the hands of someone who’s not even related to us by blood? How could you?”
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The mention of Bryan made Brandon so angry that he cursed, “He should have died alongside that witch! Would I have been in this situation if it weren’t for them?”
“Don’t judge others with that blind mentality. You are the cause of your problems. Don’t blame it on them. Don’t you realize it? Bryan is the only son you have. He is your heir!” Stella confronted Brandon, shouting in agony. However, Brandon was unmoved. His expression remained unchanged.
Lydia said to Stella, “Calm down. For the sake of your health, save yourself the stress. If something bad happens to your health, your precious grandson will have no one to support him.”
Sitting on the sofa, she poured Stella a cup of warm water to drink. “Please, just let my son, Travis, be part of the Dawson family.”
Stella never acknowledged Lydia as part of the Dawson family, despite Lydia being married to Brandon for four years now.
As for Lydia’s son, Stella was definitely not going to include him in the Dawson family.
“In your dreams!” Stella blatantly refused. Lydia grimaced at her words.
“Since you are hell-bent on leaving the Dawson family to Bryan, then—” Brandon pointed at the photos on the table and continued, “The Dawson family would be doomed if this gets to the public. The Dawson family’s competitors won’t hesitate to take the Dawson family out, starting with Bryan, who is in charge now. It’ll hit him first. If I have the Dawson family, then I’ll destroy it. Bryan would take the fall for my father’s mistakes. I will make you see it happen.”
His words hit Stella so hard that she began to struggle for breath.
But Brandon and the others watched her as if she were a stranger and didn’t offer her any help.
Jarred rushed in with Stella’s medication and gave it to her. He rebuked Brandon sharply, “Your father must be disappointed. You should protect the Dawson family and not destroy it!”
“I’m not the one destroying it; she is!” Brandon defended himself, pointing at Stella with anger.
Stella gutted her as she angrily stared at Brandon, unable to say anything.
She had never thought he would use the family’s secrets against her.
So many other families’ survival depended on the Dawson family, but if these confidential pictures were sent out to the public, the Dawson family would be deserted, which would cause others to join forces to destroy the Dawson family.
Stella braced herself. She thought about how the Dawson family could be destroyed!
But what would happen to Bryan? Those secrets were capable of putting him behind bars if legal actions were to be taken.
However, if she saved the Dawson family from being destroyed, there would still be hope for changing the situation.
“What do you want?” Stella eventually said.
Upon hearing this, Lydia broke into a broad smile, looking at Brandon.
Brandon felt relieved and said, “I want Travis’ name included in the Dawson family. You also need to remove Eileen from the picture.”
“You are threatening to take my life by requesting this!” Stella lowered her head and sighed heavily. Then she raised her head and said, “You have to transfer half of your shares to Bryan if you want this.” Brandon refused her without hesitation.
Stella sneered, “What are you afraid of? Dealing with Eileen will affect Bryan deeply. Without Eileen in his life, he would be left alone without an heir. He deserves compensation, don’t you think?”
She knew Brandon would never give up all his shares. Therefore, she opted to ask for half of it.
Stella continued, “I have made a prominent compromise. You should think about it. Travis can inherit the Dawson family if he becomes part of it.”
Brandon and Lydia fell silent as they evaluated her proposal.
“Come with me.” Lydia took Brandon’s arm and led him to the courtyard to discuss this together.
The light there amplified their expressions as they talked. “Brandon, you have to accept her proposal. That is the only way to get Travis to be part of the Dawson family.” Lydia had not found an opportunity like this one in her nearly four years of marriage.
She recalled that Stella had vehemently refused even when Brandon had offered to buy Bryan’s mother in the ancestral grave.
“But with half of my shares, Bryan would exercise more authority in the boardroom. Besides, Travis is ten years younger than Bryan. I don’t think he would be able to compete with Bryan even if they both had equal shares.” Brandon seemed really worried about this.
He acknowledged that Bryan was competent.
“Bryan is too emotional. He’ll be disoriented should anything happen between him and Eileen. Then Zola would come into his life and marry him. When this happens, he’ll be no threat to us because he won’t have any heirs. We can take back the shares then,” Lydia tried to convince Brandon.
Though it was risky, they had no other choice than to go with the option presented to them.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Stella sipped the tea that had already gone cold. She looked at Zola, who had been silent all along.
She asked, “For how long have you had feelings for Bryan?” Zola was taken aback by her question. She quickly lowered her head. “What are you talking about?”
“I hate it when people pretend before me. Don’t do that! If you really care about him, you wouldn’t want others to hurt him. He has nobody and nothing to fall back on if he doesn’t have any power in Apex Group.” Stella’s words hinted at an offer of alliance.
Zola was quiet for a while, biting her lip. Upon hearing the approaching steps of Brandon and Lydia, she hurriedly whispered, “I just want to be with Bryan. Please help me get rid of Eileen. I’ll support Bryan the best way I can when we’re together. I’ll even find someone to bear his child. Please don’t tell him I have feelings for him.” She was sure Bryan would hate her for life if he found out that she was part of the plan that resulted in his separation from Eileen.
Eileen and Bryan failed to remember to take their wedding photos until Phoebe and Jacob asked them about it.
Eileen took no liking to photos, but she just went along with Phoebe to get them done anyway.
Jacob and Phoebe’s wedding was six days apart from Bryan and Eileen’s, so Jacob wanted to seek advice from Bryan about matters he was unsure of.
“My wedding with Eileen must be special. I want to make sure it is one of a kind,” Bryan held back the details of his wedding from Jacob.
Jacob was infuriated. He grumbled, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t it just wearing the white dress and suit to the altar and having a ceremony afterward? What could make it unique?”
Phoebe snorted and said, “You are not creative, always trying to copy someone else. Why don’t you wait until theirs is over and then ask everyone to stay there to do it all over again six days later?”
“That would be impossible since the guests are different from theirs,” Jacob replied. He clearly didn’t notice that Phoebe was being ironical.
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