Chapter 244
Hayden froze for a moment, then looked at James and Sophia.
"Sophia, I know you're the major shareholder of the Brown Group now, but do you think this could work?"
Although Hayden hadn't finished speaking, James already knew what he was getting at.
"Hayden, let me tell you, don't try any tricks. After all, that day at my house, you and Sophia already signed the inheritance transfer in black and white."
Hayden said dismissively, "How could I? Mr. Smith, I just wanted to say that Sophia is still young, and besides, I've been managing the Brown Group all these years. If we hand it over to Sophia now, she'll definitely be exhausted. Plus, haven't you two been busy with wedding preparations lately? While you're preparing for the wedding, I can manage the company for Sophia."
Hearing this, James looked displeased.
"Mr. Brown, how strange. Don't you pay any attention to Sophia at all? We haven't been preparing for the wedding recently. Didn't you know that?"
Hayden had been busy with company matters lately. He even wanted to pull some tricks behind the scenes before Sophia took over the Brown Group, to see if he could get more benefits.
So these past few days, all his attention had been on the company, and he'd completely forgotten that Sophia's wedding had been postponed.
Hayden suddenly realized and slapped his thigh.
"Mr. Smith, I almost forgot—you two postponed the wedding, right? Although Sophia doesn't need to worry about wedding preparations now, she doesn't really understand how to manage the Brown Group yet. I'm worried..."
Before Hayden could finish, James stood up angrily and said coldly, "Just because Sophia can't manage the company doesn't mean I can't. Mr. Brown, some things are no longer your concern."
Sophia raised her chin and added, "That's right, Hayden. I never imagined my mother left me the position of CEO of the Brown Group. You've occupied this position for so long, and now it's finally time to return it to me."
Hayden's heart was pounding as he looked at them nervously and laughed awkwardly.
"Sophia, how can you say that? I wouldn't call it occupying. After all, when your mother died, you were still young..."
Before Hayden could finish, Sophia interrupted, "Because I was young back then, you sent me away from the Brown family?"
Sophia had never understood why, even though she was also Hayden's daughter, he had sent her away when she was so small.
If she hadn't retained some memories from back then, she might never have known she was the second daughter of the Brown family.
Even if Hayden wanted to please Hazel, wasn't he being too cruel to such a small child?
Hearing this brought up, Hayden became even more flustered.
"Sophia, please don't take that to heart. After all, Hazel was your stepmother, and she was taking care of Veda at the time. She had no time to look after you, and I was busy with the company, so I had no choice but to send you away."
Sophia sneered disdainfully.
"Hayden, in that case, don't blame me for not being sentimental now. After all, there's no real bond between us."
"My mother left me 60% of the Brown Group's shares back then, so now that I'm back, you're just a shareholder of the Brown Group at best. So from now on, you don't need to worry about major company decisions. I'll handle them myself."
Hayden's expression changed. Was this Sophia coming to take his position?
"Sophia, I know the Brown Group belongs to you now. I'm just worried—the Brown Group was built from scratch by your mother and me. You have no management experience, and if something goes wrong with the Brown Group in your hands, it would be like destroying all the hard work your mother and I put in back then."
Sophia frowned, looking displeased.
"Hayden, what do you mean by that? Didn't my husband just explain this to you? Although I don't know how to manage and have no experience, James does."
"My husband is the famous CEO of Emerald City. He was able to manage the Smith Group perfectly and make it thrive years ago. You may not trust me, but you can't possibly not trust James, right?"
"Besides, since the Brown Group is mine now, even if something goes wrong under my management, it has nothing to do with you anymore. As a company director, you just need to look after your own interests."
Hearing this, Hayden's face turned pale.
"Sophia, I think..."
Hayden wanted to say more, but James had lost his patience.
"Mr. Brown, I suggest you face reality. You're no longer the CEO of the Brown Group. You should return the Brown Group to its rightful owner. According to my investigation, when you and Sophia's mother started the Brown Group from scratch, Sophia's mother contributed more than half the capital."
When Hayden was with Ava back then, it was almost like marrying into her family. Ava's family was already wealthy.
Because Ava trusted Hayden too much, when they started their business together, she invested all her family's money into the Brown Group.
She just didn't expect that when the Brown Group was just getting started, she would discover Hayden had a mistress.
That's why Ava thought to set up an inheritance and will in advance. She never imagined it would actually come in handy.
Hayden was still trying to explain what happened back then.
"Mr. Smith, although it's true that Ava contributed more capital when we started from scratch, we were already family at that time. How can family members distinguish between yours and mine?"
Sophia found Hayden's words laughable.
"Hayden, did you ever treat my mother as family? My mother was just your stepping stone. Back then, when you saw that the Brown Group's foundation was stable, you wanted to push my mother aside. Not only did you have an affair, but you also had an illegitimate daughter outside."
"If you hadn't been messing around outside back then, how could my mother have died so young?"
After Sophia said this, Hayden became even more nervous and quickly explained, "Sophia, you've actually misunderstood. Your mother's death back then was simply because she was weak. It had nothing to do with anyone else—nothing to do with Hazel, and nothing to do with me."