Chapter 486
Rachel opened her mouth to speak, desperately wanting to mediate, but she swallowed her words. Everything Mira said was undeniable.
“When Mara needed that blood transfusion, I had already severed ties with all of you. Yet you still brought a pack of bodyguards to aggressively kidnap me. If I hadn’t been prepared, you could have killed me right then and there. You don’t deserve to be my mother. Stop looking for me p>
Lacey turned to leave, her shoulders trembling, but she stopped at the door, unable to fully let go. “I heard from Ethan that when Adrian ordered his men to throw me out, you were the one who tipped Ethan off p>
“Adrian was fully prepared to shatter your legs, and Mara ordered the bodyguards to strip you naked. I tipped Ethan off out of basic human decency, not because you’re my mother. If I saw a stranger on the street facing that, I’d have made the same call. You don’t need to thank me p>
“Mira… I have money now. If you need any capital, I can give it to you p>
“I don’t need it p>
After Lacey finally left, Rachel sighed softly. “Your mother… I mean, Lacey really does look pitiful now p>
“Whether she’s pitiful or not has absolutely nothing to do with us p>
On the other side of town, Adrian was still nursing the agonizing sting of losing half his shares to Lacey. However, he consoled himself with the fact that he was finally living peacefully with Fiona and Mara, completely dodging any jail time.
But between his shares being halved and his earlier, spiteful sabotage of his own business deals just to undercut Ethan, the Mercer Group was bleeding out. The company had already been hollowed out, and now it was on life support.
Just as he was drowning in stress, Roxanne Porter delivered an absolute lifeline: Shane Porter was stepping in to help him rebuild the empire.
“Adrian, I’ve got some free time lately, and Roxanne mentioned you’re going through a rough patch. Do you need me to step in and help out for a few days p>
“Hahaha! Yes, yes, absolutely! You are more than welcome!” Adrian beamed. “Sigh, family misfortune, my friend. I’m sorry you have to see me like this p>
“Don’t be ridiculous. Every family has its issues,” Shane replied, his tone dripping with understanding.
Adrian was convinced that with Shane’s expertise, the company would bounce back in no time. After all, many of the clients and partners they had lost were ones Shane had successfully poached while helping Adrian fight Ethan. If the Mercer Group thrived again, Shanes thirty percent stake would be highly profitable. Or so Adrian thought.
He positioned Mara to work closely alongside Shane and Roxanne. Officially, it was for her to learn management skills; unofficially, she was his spy just in ca
Adrian
defended his throne againsthis brilliant sons with cutthroat
paranoia, yet against actual wolves, he deployed Mara-a naive, utterly out-of-her-depth girl.
The Porters were undeniably ruthlessly efficient. In less than half a month, they streamlined the Mercer Group’s internal chaos and got everything back on track.
But when it came time to hand over the agreed-upon thirty percent in assets, the facade cracked.
Adrian wanted to hand over Mercer Jewels, but Shane insisted on taking Mercer Construction. Porter Entertainment had repeatedly lost major construction bids to the
Mercer family over the years, and
Shane was deeply bitter about it. This time, he was determined to rip
Mercer Construction from their hands.
Adrian fought back. The construction company was the foundational pillar of the Mercer family. On paper, it might hold a similar market value to the jewelry division, but its elite technical team made its actual profit margins substantially higher.
But beggars couldn’t be choosers. Adrian had taken their help, and now he had to pay the piper. He had no choice but to yield.