\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the way home, Scarlet couldn\u2019t stop thinking about the cold look in William\u2019s eyes. She debated whether she should apologize. Her words had been harsh, but then she remembered how much he had hurt her over the years without a single apology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She decided to do it anyway. She only had a month left and didn\u2019t want their final memories to be defined by a cold war in any relationship, the person who cared more would always be the one who had to give in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her internal struggle turned out to be for nothing. By 8:00 pm, William still wasn\u2019t home, Ruth had been cooking smaller portions lately, but Scarlet was still sitting in front of a six-course meal for one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruth was acting especially helpful tonight. She had seen a spark between the couple recently and thought they were finally making progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, Lester had called and told Ruth that Scarlet caught a cold. William had left early in the morning to send her a coat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although Ruth couldn\u2019t figure out their relationship, she understood that couples would fight and make up all the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t know about the fight at the hospital, so she took the initiative to ask, \u201cWhy don\u2019t I call Mr. Cooper and ask if he\u2019s coming back?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet didn\u2019t stop her. \u201cGo ahead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruth called him eagerly, but she returned looking disappointed. \u201cMr. Hemworth said that Mr. Cooper is busy. He won\u2019t be\u00a0<\/p>\n
back for dinner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet wasn\u2019t surprised. She kept her head down and continued eating, \u201cWhatever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The calico cat had managed to escape its room again and jumped onto her lap, purring for attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlet couldn\u2019t bring herself to push it away. Since William wasn\u2019t home, she let the cat roam for a bit. She petted it while picking through her food. She didn\u2019t like half the dishes on the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sterling Restaurant was a restaurant designed like a garden. Every path in the courtyard offered a new view with stone bridges and flowing water. It was late fall, and even the dense gardens looked a bit bare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A server, dressed in an elegant silk gown, stood by the table, preparing tea with graceful movements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William pushed the door open, and a gust of cold air followed him in. The server shivered slightly. Another woman took his coat, and he sat down. The server placed a cup of hot tea in front of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted to see me?\u201d Willian asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur took a slow sip of his tea. \u201cCan I not ask my son to dinner without a reason?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William had been irritable all day and had no patience left even for his father. \u201cJust get to the point. I am in a bad mood.\u201d \u201cThen deal with it,\u201d Arthur replied calmly. \u201cPlenty of people are in a bad mood, but the world doesn\u2019t revolve around you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William scoffed. \u201cSpoken like a true father.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur didn\u2019t waste time with small talk. \u201cWhat have you decided about merging Bova Capital and Pearson Securities?\u201d Heritage Bank was the foundation of Cooper Group. It held trillions in assets and focused on traditional banking activities, such as loans and payments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pearson Securities was their investment firm. It had the prestige of the family name and the backing of the bank, which meant it had an endless supply of cash. But even with all that support, its growth couldn\u2019t compare to what William had built\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
independently with Bova Capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since William\u2019s return, Arthur had the idea to merge Bova Capital and Pearson Securities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
William leaned back and picked up his cup. \u201cPearson Securities is a total disaster. You want my successful firm to marry into a mess like that? You must be mad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur was speechless to hear his comparison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPearson Securities has the backing of the legacy firm. Merging with Bova is hardly an insult to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William raised an eyebrow. \u201cDo you think I\u2019m short on cash?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked incredibly arrogant. Arthur was about to speak when William cut him off with a click of his tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNever mind. You\u2019re indeed a very rich man. I\u2019ll give you that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur sat there in silence. His son was an adult, but he wondered if hitting him would really be against the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pearson Securities was a mess and not good enough for William. But it was still a firm with history and Arthur\u2019s own creation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMerging the two companies isn\u2019t out of the question,\u201d William said, taking a slow sip of his tea. \u201cBut tell your useless little firm that it has to take my name.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wanted the resources from Heritage Bank, but Pearson Securities had to be rebranded under Bova Capital\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur had planned for Bova to be absorbed into Cooper Group. He hadn\u2019t expected William to be this greedy, trying to take everything for nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A standard business merger had turned into a total takeover. Arthur had spent his whole life in business and had never been played like this. His blood began to boil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou certainly have it all figured out,\u201d Arthur said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William smiled faintly. \u201cDidn\u2019t you personally teach me how to do the math when I was a kid?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur had no choice. This was his son. He waved his hand in frustration. \u201cFine. Have it your way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
People outside whispered about the power struggles within the family, but Arthur already had a plan in place. His eldest son, Julian, had been trained to take over the family legacy since childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once the business talk was done, Arthur asked for the food to be served. The kitchen had everything ready, and the dishes arrived one by one. Arthur was a man of few words, and William was in a terrible mood. They ate in silence for a while until Arthur spoke up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you and Scarlet talked about the divorce yet?\u201d Arthur asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William took a piece of fish, tasted it, and frowned. \u201cThis fish is undercooked. It tastes fishy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arthur hadn\u2019t even tried it yet, but he raised his hand. A server immediately took the fish away and brought William a clean set of cutlery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William didn\u2019t take another bite. He loosened his tie and took a sip of his tea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been too busy lately,\u201d William said. \u201cI haven\u2019t had time to deal with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had just moved his company back to the country, so he truly was busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you finish this busy streak, find some time to sit down with her,\u201d Arthur said. \u201cWhatever her conditions are, as long as they\u2019re not crazy, just agree to them. She has been through enough these past few years. Compensate her fairly and end things on good terms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William didn\u2019t answer and slowly finished his cup of tea. \u201cWhat about Grandma?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe requirement was three years, and the time is up,\u201d Arthur replied. \u201cShe\u2019s healthy now, so she won\u2019t be against it. She is a reasonable woman, so she isn\u2019t going to keep you two tied together forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not so sure about that,\u201d William said with a cold laugh. \u201cShe knows how to cause a scene better than anyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they left the restaurant, William got into the car. Lester waited for a moment. When William said nothing, Lester finally asked, \u201cWhere to tonight, Mr. Cooper?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
William had closed his eyes, but he opened them and looked at Lester in the rearview mirror. \u201cWhere do you think?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lester had no idea. He remembered that William had been surprisingly thoughtful that morning by bringing Scarlet a coat, but he had left the hospital looking angry. He assumed the couple had fought again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBack to The Meridian?\u201d Lester guessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWrong,\u201d William said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lester was speechless. It was impossible to know what William was thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William closed his eyes again. \u201cJust take me home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Act Fast: Free Bonus Time is Running Out!\u00a0<\/p>\n
X\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claim\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0 Chapter 16\u00a0 3\/3\u00a0 Chapter 16\u00a0 On the way home, Scarlet couldn\u2019t stop thinking about the cold look in William\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-end-of-the-contractstart-of-his-obsession"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}