Chapter 474

Chapter 474 She Will Return

With her experience as a head secretary, Emelie instantly picked up on the peculiar structure of his question. “Are you trying to tailor your story based on what I already know?”

She stared at him while emphasizing each word. “You promised to reveal everything.”

There would be no cutting corners. She looked dead serious.

Wesley smiled and uncrossed his legs. “I’m not trying to deceive you. It’s just that the timeframe of this is long and there are a lot of details. I’m at a loss for where to begin, so I asked you for a starting point.”

Emelie pondered for a moment before asking about Ashley’s discovery. “Someone took my father from the hospital. Whoever it was, they seem to have brought him to a villa, but the owner remains a mystery.”

“It belongs to Charles,” Wesley responded swiftly.

Emelie was surprised. “Charles?”

Wesley reached for the glass kettle simmering on the induction cooker and poured out the hot wine. “Charles Davis from Calmcrest. He pursued you before, didn’t he?”

“This whole thing involves him too?” Emelie frowned, puzzled by the seemingly irrelevant connection.

The cruise ship glided smoothly across the ocean and was devoid of turbulence. It felt more like solid ground than a vessel.

Wesley said, “Of course. He was the one who took your adoptive father from the hospital.”

Suddenly, Emelie could guess what Ashley wasn’t able to tell her during the call in the afternoon.

Ashley had mentioned that she saw a familiar figure in the surveillance footage leaving the hospital ten minutes after her father. That person was most probably Charles.

Emelie blinked. She felt like everyone around her seemed to be harboring hidden motives: It was absurd.

“Why Charles?” she asked.

Wesley responded calmly, “After Xander Group fell, four major business families rose to prominence: the Middleton family of Cloudex Corporation, the Swanson family of Swanson Corporation, the Davis family of Davis Group, and the Collins family of Collins Corporation. They divided up the market previously held by the Xander Group.”

Emelie pursed her lips. “There are winners, and there are losers. That’s normal.”

She had witnessed this countless times. When a company crumbled, competitors would swoop in to claim its market share. This was how things worked.

However, Wesley asked, “Why those specific families?”

Emelie was taken aback.

He continued softly, “Have you ever looked into the background of these families‘ chairmen?”

She shook her head.

“When Xander Group still existed, the Middleton family and the Swanson families were its closest partners. The Davis family had a vice president position within the group, while the Collins family’s representative was Xander’s secretary. They were all very close to Xander himself,” Wesley said.

Emelie’s eyelids twitched.

She set down her fork. “So, you’re saying that they conspired to bring down Xander and his company?”

“The Xander Group wasn’t flawless, but not to the extent of being wiped out. Xander wasn’t without his faults, but he didn’t deserve to die,” Wesley replied.

He continued with a rare hint of sarcasm, “But if Xander hadn’t died and the Xander Group hadn’t collapsed, how would those coveted markets have opened up, and how would The Great Four exist today?”

A deafening crack of thunder seemed to erupt right on cue. It was like a sledgehammer had hit Emelie’s heart, sending shivers down her spine.

The moment William stepped inside of Eastbay, the rain started pouring.

He didn’t bother to turn on the lights in the living room and headed straight for the bedroom.

One entire wall of the master bedroom was constructed entirely of glass..

On clear days, it offered a great view of the sky, reminiscent of a Hayao Miyazaki scene. Emelie used to love lying on the bed and watching the clouds.

Now, the storm outside felt like an impending apocalypse, mirroring William’s mood.

He took a remote and pressed a button. The curtains shut automatically, blocking out the downpour.

He took off his damp clothes. His expressionless face was reflected on a glass cabinet.

He had given tasks to his men in the car, but it didn’t include sending someone after Wesley and Emelie. This was because he was very sure that even if they managed to leave Capebatt City, Emelie would eventually return.

She only left with Weseley because she wanted to find out the truth. Once she knew, she would return. If not for herself, then for her mother. Her mother was still in his hands,

after all.

As always, William trusted his own judgment. All he needed to do was wait patiently at home for her to return.

He remained calmn and composed as he removed his shirt and belt. He turned on the shower after entering the bathroom.

As warm water trickled down his body, an image surfaced in his mind, and the impassive demeanor that he had maintained for so long began to crumble.