Chapter 345: Wait for Him to Come Back
Chapter 345: Wait for Him to Come Back
Mia's heart skipped a beat when she realized it was Robert.
She answered immediately, her voice urgent and filled with barely concealed hope. "Did you find James?"
"Ms. Wilson, we still don't have any news about Mr. Smith yet."
Robert spoke hoarsely and honestly.
he flicker of hope that had just ignited in Mia was instantly extinguished.
Her nose tingled, and she bit her lip hard to force back the tears.
"Ms. Wilson..."
"No news is good news."
In the darkness, Mia murmured, interrupting Robert's attempt at comfort.
She was also trying to encourage herself.
She took a deep breath, glanced at the sleeping Pax, and got up to leave.
Outside the bedroom, Mia's emotions had stabilized. "Robert, what's the matter at this late hour?"
"Ms. Wilson, I'm at your front door."
Mia hung up and threw on a coat to open the door.
"Ms. Wilson, I'm very sorry to disturb you so late, but the situation is urgent..."
"Come in and we'll talk!"
Mia stepped aside to let Robert in.
Robert had worked with James for years and knew his limits well.
Robert stepped inside and gently closed the door.
On the sofa, Robert got straight to the point.
"Ms. Wilson, I received word that Uri is calling a shareholders' meeting first thing tomorrow morning."
"Over the years, although Mr. Smith bought out Uri's people, they still hold shares. Some shareholders also feel Mr. Smith's position isn't legitimate so their loyalty is shaky."
"When Mr. Smith was around, he could keep these people in check and make them behave. But now that Mr. Smith is gone, nearly half the shareholders are leaning toward Uri."
"With Mr. Smith's fate still unknown, everyone from shareholders to investors is panicking. The situation doesn't look good."
Mia's expression darkened.
She used to not understand James's world.
That changed after she entered the workplace and took over the branch office.
She thought back to when she first met James.
It was the period when the Smith Group was most unstable.
His father was gravely ill, Uri had a car accident, and the Smith Group was leaderless.
Although James never told her what he went through, thinking back to those days was enough.
She remembered James's exhaustion and weight loss.
She knew how much pressure he endured, how much effort he put in to stabilize the company and get it back on track.
She also remembered how he gradually built the Smith Group into what it is today.
This was James's life work.. It absolutely couldn't fall into Uri's hands.
If it fell into his hands and he truly seized power.
Given Uri's vindictive nature, after the humiliation Carl and the others had put him through that night, he definitely wouldn't let them off.
"What can I do?"
Mia didn't mince words and got straight to the point.
Robert coming to find her at this hour meant she could play a key role in this matter.
"I hope Ms. Wilson can help Mr. Smith hold onto the company until he returns, and not let it fall into Uri's hands."
He had always followed James.
He knew how important the company was to James.
He couldn't just watch the empire he built fall into the hands of someone who harmed him.
"I want to, but..."
She really wanted to, but she had nothing in her hands, no way to get involved in company matters.
"Ms. Wilson, you can, and only you can!"
"Have you forgotten? Four years ago, when Mr. Smith divorced you, he gave you all his assets, including all his shares."
At the time, James was determined.
And Uri was in a vegetative state then.
No one could replicate the returns James brought them.
The other shareholders had no objections at all.
Mia's pupils contracted sharply.
Her face showed complete shock.
She didn't know.
At the time, she just wanted to get divorced as quickly as possible.
After the farewell dinner, James asked her to sign some papers.
She only saw Luxe Haven at the top.
She didn't even want Luxe Haven then, but James insisted it was a condition for the divorce to be finalized.
So she didn't look at what else was included and just signed everything.
She didn't expect that James would give her everything when they divorced.
The next day, after getting the divorce certificate and finalizing everything with him.
He sent her a text message.
He said that, in his heart, she would always be his wife.
He said that no matter when or where, as long as she needed him, he would always be there.
He said that he would always wait for her.
Tears filled Mia's eyes. She covered her mouth and turned away.
She took several deep breaths to calm herself down.
Now wasn't the time to think about these things.
"Robert, let's help James hold onto the company together and wait for him to come back."
...
The next day, at the Smith Group, for the ten o'clock meeting, the company's largest conference room was packed by nine-thirty.
Every shareholder who could return had rushed back.
The attendees were clearly divided into three factions.
Those leaning toward Uri sat together, the undecided ones sat together, and those firmly standing with James sat together.
Last night, news of James's accident and unknown fate had gone viral.
The perpetrator tried to flee, but was involved in a car accident and fell into a coma.
Below the accident news, another trending topic was Uri returning to Imperial City to take over the Smith Group.
Rumors spread everywhere with all kinds of speculation.
The most common theory linked it to what happened years ago, when Uri was in a car accident shortly after taking over the Smith Group and James assumed control.
Now, their roles were reversed.
Back then, everyone speculated that Uri's car accident was deliberately orchestrated by James to seize power.
Now everyone was also speculating that the perpetrator in James's accident was just a scapegoat, and the real mastermind was Uri.
He was seeking revenge.
No matter what people speculated, there was no evidence.
Just like that car accident years ago and like James's current accident.
Early in the morning, the press were camped out at the company entrance.
Uri made a high-profile appearance.
The press swarmed him.
Facing questions about James's accident, Uri looked deeply pained.
"I believe James will be blessed with good fortune. As long as we don't find his body, the Smiths won't give up for even a day."
He played the role of a loving brother.
When asked about the Smith Group's management, Uri replied, "I'm part of the Smith family. This is a responsibility I should bear."
"With me here, everyone can rest assured."
After conveying what needed to be conveyed, Uri strode inside, leaving the Press outside.
He walked briskly forward.
He tried to enter James's private elevator, but couldn't get in.
In the end, he could only enter the regular elevator with an unpleasant expression.
In the conference room, shareholders were all watching public opinion and discussing heatedly.
They were worried about what would happen when the stock market opened.
Last night, all of Imperial City's search and rescue teams had been deployed.
Several major families mobilized all their manpower, searching with full force.
But the accident had happened at high tide.
And the location where the car fell into the sea happened to be in turbulent waters.
They searched along the surrounding areas, but they never recovered James's body.
All night, they kept expanding the search radius from the center point where the car fell, but still found no trace.
No one gave up.
No one dared to think further.
No one dared consider that the person might have been swept away by the tide. The explosion had been so powerful that the body might have been blown apart, leaving nothing to recover.
Those close to him didn't dare think about it.
Online, people saw the explosion scene recorded by the perpetrator's dashcam.
Seeing that explosion, they concluded there was absolutely no chance James survived.
This made investors even more panicked.
The online public opinion had the shareholders on edge.
Until Uri appeared at the company entrance.
It was like giving investors reassurance, and the shareholders also breathed a sigh of relief.
They were discussing heatedly in hushed tones, but all were mindful of Robert, who was the first to arrive.
Although there was a ninety-nine percent chance that James was dead, there was still that one percent.
After all, the search hadn't been abandoned yet.
It only showed how deeply James had intimidated them over the years.
Even Robert alone commanded some fear in their hearts.
With matters not yet settled, they didn't dare be too blatant.
Robert just sat in his seat, keeping a stern face throughout. Having been by James's side for so long, he had naturally picked up some of his traits.
Especially in recent months, James rarely appeared at the company, so Robert oversaw all company matters in his place.
No one could figure out Robert's stance.
With shareholders each harboring their own thoughts, the conference room door opened from outside.
Uri walked in with commanding presence.
The shareholders who supported him immediately stood up to greet him.
The wavering ones greeted him respectfully but didn't stand.
Those supporting James remained seated and offered only perfunctory greetings.
Only Robert neither stood nor greeted him, as if Uri didn't exist.
Uri's expression turned cold.
He shot an icy glance at the tactless Robert.
Once he took over the Smith Group, the first thing he'd do was deal with James's lapdog.
After a single glance, he looked away. He couldn't be bothered to waste any more attention on him.
He walked toward the head seat. Just as he was about to sit down, Robert suddenly reached out and pulled the chair away. "Mr. Smith, this chair isn't yours to sit in. You're not qualified."
"Robert!"
Uri's voice was ice-cold.
He looked at him as if he were looking at a dead man.
He must be tired of living.
Robert looked up and met his gaze with neither servility nor arrogance.
He was completely unaffected by his stare.
To Robert, that look meant nothing.
"Robert, what's with your attitude? Just because you've been managing the company for Mr. Smith, you think it's yours now?"
"If Mr. Smith isn't qualified, are you?"
Uri's supporters slammed the table and stood up, confronting Robert.
Robert coldly glanced at the shareholder who spoke and slowly stood up. "Of course I'm not qualified."
"At least you have some self-awareness! Now we're holding a shareholders' meeting. You can leave!"
Seeing that Robert wasn't moving,
Uri's subordinates who had followed him upstairs and were waiting outside pushed the door open and strode in.
"Escort Robert out."
Uri said coldly.
His subordinates immediately moved toward Robert.
"I'd like to see who dares touch Robert."
The conference room door opened again.
Mia appeared before everyone. She was accompanied by bodyguards Carl had arranged for her.
With sleek short hair, refined makeup, wearing a suit and high heels, she walked into the conference room with commanding presence.
Robert moved away from Uri's people and walked to Mia's side.
Uri looked at Mia with an indulgent tone. "Mia, this is a shareholders' meeting. Don't throw tantrums here and make people laugh at you."
"Be good, leave first."
Mia felt nauseated listening to him.
She was too disgusted to even look at him.
She raised her eyes as she glanced at all the shareholders present.
She was no longer the Mia from years ago who was dependent on James.
Her years in Aetheria and her workplace experience had prepared her to handle such situations with ease.
"Let me introduce everyone. This is Mia, the largest shareholder of the Smith Group. Starting today, she will temporarily take charge of the Smith Group in Mr. Smith's place."
Robert stepped forward and pushed the chair he had just moved back to its original position.
Inviting her to sit.
"Ms. Wilson, please have a seat."
Under everyone's intense gaze, Mia calmly walked to James's seat and sat down.
She actually dared to sit there!
This was what most shareholders present were thinking!
Bearing everyone's gaze, Mia remained composed. She glanced at Uri indifferently and said bluntly: "Now we're holding a shareholders' meeting. If you're participating, sit down. If you don't want to participate, please leave the conference room and don't disrupt our meeting."
Uri gave a cold smile.
He really hadn't expected James would give all his shares to Mia. It completely caught him off guard.
With one look from him, his supporters immediately moved back to give Uri the first seat on the left.
His subordinate pulled out the chair for Uri, and he slowly sat down.
His gaze swept over the shareholders before finally landing on Mia.
He wanted to see how long Mia could hold onto that position.
Mia acted as though Uri didn't exist.
No matter how much pressure she faced, she had to hold her ground.
Until James returned.
Mia hadn't slept all night. With Robert's assistance, she managed to get through the shareholders' meeting.
"Meeting adjourned."
With those words, the shareholders supporting James stood up and left.
They didn't trust Mia, but they trusted James and believed he would return.
Some shareholders supporting Uri saw he wasn't moving and also remained seated.
Only after he gave them a look did they finally stand and leave the conference room.
Soon, only Mia, Uri, and Robert remained in the conference room.
"Mia, whether James's shares are in your hands or mine makes no difference. What's mine will all be yours eventually. You and I are one."
"I won't force you to hand over the shares. I only need you to hand over management rights of the Smith Group."
Uri's tone was indulgent.
Toward Mia, he had endless tolerance.
He had just given her plenty of face at the meeting, saving this for private discussion.
He had made the maximum concession.
In his mind, Mia was destined to be his woman.
His woman should naturally be pampered.
As for his money, Mia could spend it however she wanted.
"Uri, you're daydreaming. I will never hand over management rights to you. The company is James's."
Mia looked at Uri coldly.
"The company was mine to begin with!"
Uri's expression changed as he interrupted sharply, his gaze cold.
"If James hadn't orchestrated that car accident and turned me into a vegetable, it would never have been his turn to take over the Smith Group! And you wouldn't have been stolen by him!"
"Uri, you're wrong. James never stole anything from you!"
Mia also interrupted him coldly, her tone firm: "Your car accident had nothing to do with James!"
"He took over after your accident because the Smith Group was leaderless. He took over to save the Smith Group. He didn't steal it—James saved the company!"
"All these years, without James, the Smith Group would have been devoured by those wolves long ago. It wouldn't even exist, let alone enjoy its current success!"
Mia provoked Uri so badly that his eyes turned bloodshot and his pupils dilated.
His chest heaved violently.
"He almost forced the words out through gritted teeth: "You trust him that much?"