Chapter 264 I Have Something to Show Everyone

Chapter 264 I Have Something to Show Everyone

The conference room fell silent for a moment, then erupted into discussion.

"Mrs. Martinez, this—" An elderly shareholder with graying hair stood up, his expression frozen. "Isn't this too sudden? Such a major decision—why didn't you discuss it with us first?"

"That's right, Mrs. Martinez. Jessica is still young and inexperienced. Can she really handle such a heavy responsibility?"

"I'm not questioning Jessica's abilities, I just think—shouldn't you reconsider?"

Doubts came from all directions, one after another.

Jessica sat there, her face unchanged.

She had seen this coming. These old shareholders had worked at The Martinez Group for decades. They recognized Evelyn, not her.

In their eyes, she was just a lucky young woman who would soon have a decent marriage. She'd gotten a few plots of land through Joseph's connections and completed a few projects, and now she was supposed to lead the Martinez Group?

She didn't need to explain, didn't need to argue, didn't need to convince anyone. She just needed to wait.

She was waiting for that moment that would shut everyone up.

"She's young, her experience is limited, but which of you didn't start out young?" Evelyn's voice wasn't loud, but she didn't need volume to command respect. "Which of her projects lost money? Can anyone here say they didn't profit from investing in her projects?"

The conference room fell silent again.

Some lowered their heads, some picked up their tea cups pretending to drink, some flipped through documents pretending to read. No one spoke up, because there was no room for rebuttal.

Every project Jessica had done made money. Those who invested with her made good returns, those who didn't regretted it deeply. This was fact. No one could deny it.

But some still weren't convinced.

A middle-aged shareholder pushed his documents back across the table, his voice audible throughout the entire conference room. "Mrs. Martinez, I won't deny she makes money. But do you know she recently spent eight figures to buy a worthless piece of land? In eastern Valewin City, overgrown with weeds, not even connected to roads. That kind of land—I wouldn't want it if it were free. But she threw a fortune at it. Isn't that just stupid?"

The murmuring started again. Some agreed, some shook their heads, and some stared at Jessica with expressions ready to watch her fail, waiting for her to be embarrassed.

Jessica didn't look at him.

She lowered her head to unlock her phone and pulled up a news article. The notification had arrived ten minutes ago; she'd only glanced at the headline.

She opened it, placed her phone screen-up on the table, and pushed it to the center.

"That 'worthless land' you mentioned just made the news." Her voice was steady, her lips curved with certainty. "Eastern Valewin City has been officially designated as a key commercial development zone. Over the next five years, land prices will increase at least fifty-fold."

The conference room went quiet—so quiet you could hear the clock ticking on the wall, the wind outside the windows, and the sound of people picking up their phones to open the same news article.

One, two, three.

Different people, different phones, the same announcement. Eastern Valewin City, key commercial development zone, planning approved, construction starting next month.

The middle-aged shareholder who'd just been pounding the table froze, eyes wide.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but no sound came out. He looked at the news on his phone, then at Jessica, his eyes full of disbelief.

He didn't disbelieve the news—he couldn't believe this woman.

How did she know? How could she predict that land would become a development zone? How could she keep hitting the mark? Once could be luck, twice maybe, but three, four, five times—was that still just luck?

"Does anyone else have objections?" Evelyn's words fell like a gavel, tightening the atmosphere in the room once more.

No one spoke. No one dared.

Those who had just questioned Jessica now kept their heads down, pretending to read documents. Those who had invested in her projects wore "I knew it all along" expressions, while inwardly celebrating that they'd chosen the right side.

Those who hadn't invested had complex expressions—half regret, half jealousy, and something else they couldn't quite articulate.

Evelyn nodded. "Then it's settled. From today, Jessica is the largest individual shareholder of the Martinez Group. All paperwork will be completed by tomorrow."

She stood up, preparing to adjourn the meeting.

The conference room door was suddenly pushed open, the impact echoing through the room.

Jeremy stood in the doorway, holding up a manila envelope, his face flushed red, his temples throbbing. Two security guards followed behind him, having tried and failed to stop him.

"Wait!" His voice was loud, echoing repeatedly in the hallway. "I have something everyone needs to see!"

The people present exchanged glances.

Jeremy was the eldest son of The Martinez family, Jessica's father in name, and also one of the Martinez Group's shareholders.

He burst in at this moment, envelope in hand—what was he trying to do?

The tension in the air suddenly escalated. Everyone was waiting for a direct confrontation.

Evelyn's expression darkened. "Jeremy, what are you doing? The shareholders' meeting is over. Whatever it is can wait."

"It can't wait!" Jeremy strode to the conference table and slammed the envelope down. "This must be said here, today, in front of everyone!"

Evelyn stared at him, her gaze cold. "What exactly do you want to say?"

He didn't look at her. He turned to Jessica, his lips slowly curling upward, that smile full of long-suppressed resentment.

His fingers tore open the envelope, pulled out a test report, and held it up for everyone to see.

"Everyone, what I'm holding is a paternity test report. Mine and Jessica's. The result—" He deliberately paused, as if savoring this moment of being watched by everyone. "The result—can you guess what it is?"

The conference room fell completely silent.

Everyone's eyes fell on that paper, on Jeremy's triumphant face, on Jessica's almost cold composure.

Evelyn's hands were shaking. "Jeremy, have you lost your mind? That's your daughter! In front of all these people—"

"She's not my daughter!" Jeremy's voice grew heavier. "I bought her from outside! She's not part of The Martinez family at all! What right does she have to hold Martinez family shares? What right does she have to be the Martinez family's daughter? What right—"

He lowered his head to look at the test report in his hands, ready to read out the conclusion he'd been anticipating for so long.

His gaze stopped on the last line at the bottom of the report. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.