Chapter 161 Share Transfer
Chapter 161 Share Transfer
Rolf remained noncommittal, calmly pouring a cup of coffee and placing it in front of Astrid.
"Uncle Rolf, Grandpa's body is barely cold. Is this really appropriate?" Astrid's voice was cool and firm.
Garth had worked hard to raise three sons and one daughter. Throughout raising them, no one had heard of Garth playing favorites.
The four of them hadn't given Garth even the slightest bit of care when he needed love most.
They had drained every last bit of value from Garth.
"Astrid, look at today's society. It seems peaceful on the surface, but it's still survival of the fittest."
"These things don't just happen in the Prescott family. You should have figured this out long ago."
Astrid disagreed with his views, but couldn't find grounds to argue back.
She picked up the pen beside her and smoothly signed her name on the agreement.
"Uncle Rolf, I've kept my promise. I hope you can properly protect what Grandpa built."
After speaking calmly, Astrid stood up.
Her words carried no warning—she simply felt it wasn't worth it for Garth's sake.
When she was little, Rolf had been good to her too, buying her snacks, playing games with her, holding her up high in his arms.
Though it didn't last long, it fulfilled Astrid's fantasy of the father's love she'd been missing.
She didn't know when it started, but Rolf gradually faded from her world.
Maybe it was as she grew up and started clashing with Arthur, ignoring everyone else, or maybe it had been part of Rolf's plan all along.
Rolf took the agreement in hand, suddenly raised his eyebrows, looked at the figure nearly reaching the door, and spoke slowly with an ambiguous remark.
"Sometimes, what you see with your own eyes isn't necessarily the truth."
"Astrid, take care."
Astrid paused slightly, didn't turn back, and walked out of Garth's room.
Before, she'd been deeply attached to this place, coming back whenever she could. Now that Garth was gone, it felt like the string tethering her kite had snapped.
From now on, the sky was hers to soar in, but she could never return to the past.
After Garth's funeral, Astrid lost interest in many things, numbing herself with massive amounts of work each day.
This approach did work.
She spun like a top every day until exhausted, able to fall asleep quickly once in bed.
Silas watched her work around the clock like this, even more driven than himself, and felt something uncomfortable stirring inside.
However, he just quietly observed her movements without doing anything.
During her spare moments, Astrid heard news that had already spread privately among Starlight Gems staff—after Garth's death, Prescott Jewelers had experienced an unprecedented upheaval.
Rolf from the Prescott family had secretly bought up many scattered shares, becoming the person with the most say at Prescott Jewelers in one leap.
Everyone was talking about him. Some said he'd been hiding his abilities and biding his time; others said he had good relationships and people trusted him.
Some felt sorry for Dean and Arthur. Garth had arranged positions for them both; they often represented the company at various events, but in the end, Rolf reaped all the benefits.
No one knew what had really happened. The Prescott family's upheaval became everyone's gossip topic.
After listening, Astrid pretended not to have heard and continued burying herself in work until one day, when she came to the office as usual and found that no matter how she swiped her access card, there was no response.
"Piper, my card's broken. Come out and let me in." Astrid called Piper.
"Ms. Prescott, I'm sorry." Piper's words on the phone were halting.
"An apology won't solve the problem." Astrid's tone was sharp.
"You don't know what happened?" Piper's tone grew even stranger.
"Should I know what happened?" Astrid's chest filled with anger, confusion, and bewilderment.
"Ms. Prescott, check your email," Piper spoke evasively. "I'm sorry!"
Hearing the busy signal, Astrid irritably opened the company email on her phone. Two unread emails sat there prominently.
"Notice Regarding the Removal of Astrid from the Position of General Manager of Starlight Gems"
"Notice Regarding Prescott Jewelers' Reclamation of Full Control of Starlight Gems"
They were posted half an hour ago this morning, when she'd been driving to work.
Rolf hadn't consulted her beforehand, hadn't even given her advance notice—he'd just kicked her out directly.
As the main character in this whole affair, she was probably the last person in the entire company to receive the notification.
Astrid looked at the content and laughed bitterly.
Some employees saw her outside, their eyes showing some regret, but no one walked toward her.
Astrid turned and got back in her car.
She wanted to ask Rolf face-to-face what exactly he was trying to do.
The person inside heard the sound of a vehicle outside and opened the door. Two furious people walked out of the room.
"What are you doing back here?" Arthur's tone was cold to the bone, his eyes bloodshot, blocking the doorway.
"I don't have a daughter like you. Get lost!"
Catherine stood on the other side of the doorway, coldly watching Astrid's dejected appearance, thinking she wanted to return to the Prescott family to hide from disaster and seek comfort.
"Move aside." Astrid didn't want to explain to them or argue with them.
No one understood how she felt right now.
When she was in power, they were like lapdogs, flattering her at every turn.
Now that she'd lost power, they instantly changed their attitude, showing their true faces.
Fortunately, Astrid wasn't controlled by their attitude and single-mindedly did her own thing. So at this moment, her mood was calm, without flying into a rage.
"Astrid, you're only now seeing who your real family is. It's too late." Catherine's tone was steady but imposing.
"Back then, your father said every nice thing to you, offered you benefits, and asked you to give your shares to Isabella. You didn't care about father-daughter feelings and gave the shares to Rolf just to spite us."
"Now you've been used and discarded. It's too late for regrets!"
The two of them mocked her viciously. If they could, they'd love to kick her while she was down.
"Did you know about this all along?" Astrid lowered her eyes slightly, looking at them.
"Astrid, you betrayed us first. Coming here now to ask this question—don't you think it's a bit ridiculous?" Isabella's voice came from a nearby window.
She was leisurely leaning on the windowsill, looking down at Astrid from above.
"You look like a stray dog right now. If I were you, I'd be so ashamed I'd bash my head against a wall and die." Isabella insulted her gleefully.
"No one in the Prescott family wants you around. If you know what's good for you, you should get far away and never come back."
Listening to their taunts, Astrid felt a chill run through her body. Barely maintaining her composure, she turned and left.