Chapter 309

Chapter 309

So what was the point of all her years of hard work?

Just because she was a woman, she deserved to be cut out of the inheritance?

The more Maya thought about it, the colder she felt inside. Atticus was still staring at her, and she couldn't let him see any weakness.

Maya straightened up, her back as perfectly upright as her etiquette teacher had always drilled into her.

She gave Atticus a contemptuous sidelong glance and said with a sneer:

"You've got some nerve setting conditions. Want me to just hand over my CEO chair while I'm at it?"

The truth was, Maya had never been meant to hold the CEO position at all.

It just so happened that when she returned to the country, Elijah had fallen critically ill and been hospitalized. It was her impressive track record and her standing as a daughter of the Coleman family that got her the role.

Even so, her grip on the position was shaky at best. Elijah still held the majority stake in the company.

Maya couldn't help clenching her fists, forcing herself to swallow her anger.

Atticus didn't notice her fury at all. His eyes lit up:

"Didn't expect you to be so self-aware. Since you're being so reasonable about it, once Dad hands the company over to me, I'll leave you a manager position."

Maya couldn't hold it back any longer. A cold, scornful laugh escaped her lips.

"I'm only saying this once. Get out."

The smile faded from Atticus's face, and irritation crept into his voice:

"Maya, I'm warning you, don't push your luck. You really think a woman like you can hold onto this position? If you weren't decent-looking, do you think I'd even give you the time of day?"

Maya slowly curled the corner of her mouth.

"Whether I can hold this position is my business. Right now, I'm the CEO of Coleman Corporation, and you're just an unemployed nobody. What gives you the right to walk into my office?"

She pulled out her phone and called security.

"Get up here. Escort this person out."

"You wouldn't dare!"

Atticus sat up straight and slammed his hand on the desk.

Maya held his gaze, a cold smile spreading across her face, and spoke into the phone:

"Listen carefully, all of you. Atticus is not to set foot in this building again without my permission. Anyone who lets him in can leave with him."

Security rushed up and grabbed Atticus on both sides, not daring to say a word, and dragged him toward the elevator.

The head of security stood beside Maya, bowing repeatedly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"We're so sorry, Ms. Coleman, truly sorry! He said that if we didn't let him up, he'd have all of us thrown out of Coleman Corporation. That's the only reason we..."

"Do I need to remind you who the CEO is?"

Maya cut him off, her voice ice-cold.

"You, ma'am."

The head of security went pale.

Maya had no interest in wasting more time on this. She waved her hand. "Go. I don't want this happening again."

"Yes, ma'am."

He let out a quiet breath of relief and hurried away.

Maya went back to her office and called her assistant. "You abandoned your post. I need an explanation."

Her assistant's voice came through, full of frustration:

"Ms. Coleman, you hadn't come in yet at the time, and Mr. Coleman, he..."

"You're my assistant. Since when do you answer to Atticus? What you did today makes me question your professionalism. Maybe I need someone more reliable."

Maya said flatly.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Coleman. It won't happen again!"

"Get back here now. We have two meetings this afternoon."

She hung up and pressed her fingers to her temples, a headache already setting in.

She hadn't expected Atticus to be this impatient, showing up at the office just to provoke her.

If Atticus was already this bold, what about the others — the other illegitimate children?

Because of her, Coleman Corporation had nearly made an enemy of Glacier Corp.

That was exactly the kind of thing the shareholders would use against her. And Elijah had never wanted a woman inheriting the family business to begin with.

Her position...

Maya let out a slow breath and forced herself to focus.

Glacier Corp wasn't the only major player in Seaside City. There were other companies. She still had options.

As long as she could lock in enough high-profile partnerships before Elijah's will was finalized, she could prove she was the best person to lead Coleman Corporation.

She was still turning this over in her mind when her phone rang urgently.

Kinsley's voice came through the line, thick with tears:

"Yiyao, something's happened! Your father's condition is critical — they've taken him into emergency. You need to come now!"

Already?

Maya's breath caught. She shot to her feet. "I'm on my way!"

---

At the hospital, more than a dozen people crowded the hallway outside the emergency room, crying in a heap.

Kinsley, Elijah's wife, had been pushed all the way to the far corner.

Among the crowd, Atticus sat closest to the emergency room doors, tears streaming down his face.

"Dad, you can't leave us! Mom and I are waiting for you to come home for dinner!"

The others kept crying too.

They all knew Elijah couldn't see any of this right now — but with this many eyes watching, none of them could afford to be caught looking unbothered.

When Maya arrived, this was the scene that greeted her.

She frowned, and spotted Kinsley at the very edge of the crowd.

"Mom."

Maya walked quickly to her side and asked in a low voice, "What happened? The doctors said his condition was stabilizing. How did it suddenly get this bad?"

"I don't know. I came to visit him like usual today. Everything seemed fine, and then I just stepped out for a moment to find a doctor, and the next thing I knew, they'd rushed him into emergency."

Even as she said it, Kinsley couldn't hold back any longer. She raised a hand and wiped her eyes.

After Elijah's affair, Kinsley had kept her distance from him for years. It had been just the two of them — her and Maya — for a long time now.

But now, with his life hanging by a thread, the tears came anyway.

Whatever had happened between them, they had still been husband and wife.

Maya's brow drew together slowly.

He had been fine. And then suddenly he was in emergency?

That was quite a coincidence.

"Maya, how cold-blooded can you be!"

Atticus's voice rang out suddenly:

"Dad is in there fighting for his life and you don't even look upset. What kind of heart do you have? You don't deserve to be his daughter!"

The moment he said it, more than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to Maya.

Some looked surprised. Some looked disapproving. But most looked smug and hungry.

They all had their eye on Coleman Corporation.

But every one of them was illegitimate — Maya was the only one who was openly recognized as Elijah's blood.

Before they could fight over Coleman Corporation, they needed to push Maya out of the picture first.

"So not crying means not caring?"

Maya pulled her thoughts together, her voice calm. "The Colemans have always stood on their own two feet. If you ask me, all this weeping and wailing is exactly what disqualifies you from calling yourselves Colemans."

"You're all crying your eyes out right now because you're waiting for Dad to either recover or die so you can get your hands on his money, aren't you?"

Maya's expression turned cold. "Since you all care so deeply about Dad — who here can actually tell me what his medical condition is?"

Everyone looked around at each other. No one stepped forward.

After a moment, a middle-aged woman walked out, eyes red.

She was older now, but still carried a delicate, quietly affecting presence.

Maya recognized her. Atticus's birth mother. Aurelia