Chapter 870
Owen was just as tragically mediocre as his father, and equally content with his comfortable, unchallenging life.
Therefore, Tiffany’s constant, frantic social climbing made her stick out like a sore thumb in their household.
There were moments when he deeply regretted his momentary lapse in judgment. He should have listened to his uncle and never let a woman like her join the family.
But he had chosen his wife himself. What could he possibly do about it now?
She had already given him two children. It wasn’t like he could just return her for a refund.
“Tiffany, today is the day my uncle formally introduces his granddaughter to society. You’d better keep your mouth shut!”
Owen glared at her, his gaze flashing with a harsh warning.
His wife was unbelievably dense. If his uncle’s family hadn’t built their massive empire, how could they possibly afford their current life of luxury?
If she kept acting like a toxic troublemaker and actually managed to infuriate his uncle, they could be kicked out of the corporation entirely. Then they’d really be left destitute.
Sure, they were wealthy, but there were countless rich people in this world.
Moreover, this was Cabinda.
In Cabinda, wealth meant nothing without the ironclad authority of true power to back it up.
Why couldn’t his idiotic wife comprehend such a simple concept?
“How am I not keeping my mouth shut? Am I not stating the absolute truth?”
“She’s nothing but a hillbilly from…”
“Shut up!” Owen abruptly cut her off before she could finish. “Tiffany, I’m telling you right now if you dare make a scene at an event like this, I will divorce you!”
That brutal threat successfully paralyzed Tiffany. She didn’t dare utter another syllable.
Instead, she whipped her head around to look at her daughter.
“Yolande, you know I’m only doing all of this for you.”
Yolande’s patience was already wearing razor-thin. “Mom, I appreciate it, but there’s really no need.”
Besides, do you really not know who you’re actually doing this for?
Padgett was blissfully unaware of the petty drama unfolding with Tiffany.
He simply waved Claire over, gesturing for his granddaughter to step forward. Claire obeyed and walked up to him.
“Grandpa.”
Padgett was immensely proud of his poised, obedient granddaughter. He introduced her to the rapt audience: “This is the child of my youngest daughter, Melissa. Her name is Claire.”
“From this day forward, Claire is the sole heiress of the Churchill family.”
“I will be transferring all of the company shares that rightfully belonged to Melissa directly into Claire’s name.”
He had already discussed the stock transfer with his two sons and daughters-in-law beforehand, and the immediate family had raised zero objections.
However, the guests attending the banquet were left reeling in absolute shock.
None of them knew exactly how many shares Melissa had possessed, but even if it was a mere one percent?
A single percent of the Churchill empire’s shares was an unfathomable fortune that an ordinary person couldn’t earn in a hundred lifetimes.
“Ophelia, your father-in-law can’t be serious, right?” Ophelia’s sister-in-law, lieana, nudged her arm.
lieana genuinely thought her sister-in-law was a complete fool.
Their own family’s hard-earned shares were being handed over to an outsider for free.
Rather than giving it all to some country bumpkin, wouldn’t it be better to give it to her own daughter?
At least her daughter actually shared blood ties with Ophelia.
In the future, Ophelia’s sons were bound to take the helm of the Churchill family anyway. Giving away such a massive chunk of shares now was a colossal waste.
Why wasn’t Ophelia thinking about her own sons’ futures at all?
“It is absolutely serious.”
Ophelia nodded. Publicly announcing this decision was a massive testament to just how much the Churchill family treasured Claire.
From now on, anyone who dared to weaponize her background would have to heavily weigh whether they could afford to cross the entire Churchill empire.
“Has your father-in-law completely lost his mind? She’s just a little girl, and she doesn’t even share your last
name! How can she possibly inherit your family’s shares?
lieana truly believed she was looking out for her sister-in-law’s best interests. Unfortunately, Ophelia didn’t appreciate the sentiment in the slightest.
She turned and issued a stern
warning to lieana instead. “Watch
your mouth. What do you mean just
a little girl? Our entire family
farmily
absolutely adores Claire.”
“If she were a boy, she might not have even received this many shares. It’s precisely
because she’s a girl that we have to double her inheritance.”