Chapter 251: Today's Humiliation, Repay Tenfold
"Dad, don't forget that most of the works the Johnson Group used before were Emily's. You can have someone check if there are marks she made, just like Emily said. If we don't give Emily a satisfactory response, the Johnson Group will probably face even more risks going forward."
Chase could see the situation clearly and took the opportunity to add this reminder.
Eli's expression changed.
This time he had no energy left to argue and immediately made a decision. "Bianca, for the sake of the Johnson Group and everyone here, just do what Chase suggested!"
It sounded like a discussion, but his tone left no room for disagreement.
He was essentially giving up on Bianca.
How could Bianca accept this willingly?
She looked pleadingly at Aiden. "Aiden, I can apologize, but I don't want to go abroad. Please help me talk to Dad. If Ronnie finds out I'm being forced to leave the country, he probably won't have the heart to continue his AI research."
Bianca was trying to use Ronnie to threaten Aiden.
Aiden heard the threat and felt somewhat annoyed.
Especially recently, Ronnie seemed to have hit some kind of bottleneck and hadn't made any new progress.
Even though Aiden was somewhat dissatisfied with Ronnie, he was still the lead person on the project. Unless they could find someone better to replace Ronnie, Aiden couldn't really disregard his feelings for now.
So Aiden said, "Bianca, don't be afraid. The family all cares about you. It's just that this situation is really serious. Going abroad will let you and James be together without any outside interference, which is better for developing your relationship. It's also a way to avoid the spotlight. Internet users are forgetful - after a while, everyone will forget about this and you can come back. Just think of it as a vacation. Don't forget about the baby in your belly..."
Fortunately, Aiden wasn't a woman and didn't understand pregnancy. Bianca should have been showing by now, but her belly was flat, and he didn't suspect anything.
Reminded by Aiden, Bianca realized that with everything working against her right now, she definitely couldn't let anyone know about her miscarriage.
She pulled the blanket up to cover her belly, then nodded with tears in her eyes. "Dad, Aiden, Chase, for the Johnson Group and for all of you, I'm willing to humble myself, apologize, and go abroad."
But in her heart, she was thinking: Emily, one day I will repay the humiliation I'm suffering today double - no, ten times over.
Hearing Bianca's words, Eli finally showed a better expression. "I knew you were the most reasonable one, Bianca. Emily can't compare to you."
Chase frowned. Even though Eli now knew the truth and knew he had wronged Emily, he still talked about her this way.
He disagreed and said, "Dad, you shouldn't say things like that anymore. If it reaches Emily's ears, there'll be even less hope of her forgiving us."
Eli wanted to say, "I'm only saying this in front of you few. How would it reach her ears?"
Chase lowered his eyes, hiding his mockery of Eli's self-righteousness, and said flatly, "Walls have ears. Who knows!"
The room fell into a brief silence.
Eli's expression darkened.
The air in the room seemed to become thin and cold.
Chase felt a chill all over, though he didn't know if it was because of these cold-hearted family members or his own heart that had long grown cold.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back. Oh, and what about Hayden? Dad, are you really not going to care about that?"
Bianca's defeated spirit suddenly found new fighting spirit.
She took the opportunity to say, "Dad, I heard that when Emily came back to the country, she brought Hayden back with her. Could she have hidden him away just to extort us?"
Chase frowned. "Bianca, if Emily really did save Hayden, we should be grateful to her. Why are you still targeting her like this?"
Bianca was angry at Chase, and feeling she was in the right, she spoke with barbs. "Chase, even if you want Emily to help clear your name, you shouldn't defend her at every turn. She can't even hear you. Or do you know that Hayden is being held by Emily, and you've been working with her all along to scheme against the Johnson Group?"
Bianca was deliberately slandering Chase, but unexpectedly, she had accidentally hit upon a bit of truth - like how Chase's scales had already tipped toward Emily, and he had already gone to tip her off and warn her to be careful.
"Enough!"
It was Aiden who took charge now, sternly scolding, "At a time like this, we need to stick together. What are you two fighting about?"
Aiden made the final decision. "Bianca, you'll apologize as we discussed, then we'll arrange for you to go abroad. Chase, you go ask Emily if she's willing to help clear your name. As for Father and me, regarding Hayden - since Emily wants those twenty percent of shares, she'll naturally bring him to us on her own."
In other words, wait!
Seeing Aiden make the final arrangements, Eli didn't say anything more.
So, not long after Emily got home, Byron and Sophia immediately sent messages in the group chat.
Byron: [@Ms. Johnson, look quick! I thought Bianca could hold out for a while longer, but I didn't expect her to give in so fast. She actually apologized.]
Sophia: [She had no choice but to apologize. The Johnson Group was affected so badly. Even if Bianca didn't want to, given how selfish the Johnson family people are, they would force her to apologize and admit her mistakes! But watching the apology video, there's not much sincerity. Ms. Johnson, you can't easily forgive her.]
Byron: [What do you mean the Johnson family people are selfish? You're including Ms. Johnson in that insult! Do you even know how to talk?]
Sophia: [You're the one who doesn't know how to talk! Ms. Johnson isn't one of the Johnson family people. She cut ties with those selfish Johnson family people long ago. Oh, Ms. Johnson, I just looked into the Johnson Group's previous design works - they're all your works, right? You can't let the Johnson Group get away with that. You should sue them or demand copyright fees!]
Emily saw the group chat buzzing with notifications. She looked at the content and clicked the link to watch Bianca's apology video.
Sophia was right - it was pretty fake.
Emily smiled and replied: [Who says I have to forgive her just because she apologized? As for those Johnson Group works, they are indeed mine, but for now, I don't plan to go after the Johnson Group. Soon, I'll have over thirty percent of the Johnson Group's shares.]
In the past couple of days, she had Little Bird take advantage of the situation to buy up some of the Johnson Group's scattered shares. Combined with the twenty percent she would soon get, she would be able to control the Johnson Group very soon.
Since the Johnson Group would be hers, why would she cause trouble for it?
Sophia and Byron didn't know the specifics of how she got these shares. They first praised her, then curiously asked how she obtained the shares.
So nosy!
Sophia: [Ms. Johnson, how did you even do this? I really want to learn!]
She wanted to know so that when she took over the family business in the future, if a similar situation arose, she would know how to handle it.
Emily didn't explain exactly how she saved Hayden. She just mentioned saving someone and then signing an agreement.
Emily: [Keep this confidential. The fewer people who know, the better. Understand?]
Byron and Sophia understood. Since Emily said this, it seemed the person had probably already been rescued.
Byron's eyes sparkled with admiration. That was Zephyria - to rescue someone from there, Emily was amazing!
Sophia didn't think as deeply as Byron.
But someone that the Johnson family couldn't rescue, Emily dared to promise to bring back - that was real capability!
Emily didn't immediately hand over Hayden. On one hand, she wanted to temper Hayden's character. On the other hand, she was waiting for the right opportunity.
Soon, that opportunity arrived.