Chapter 199: Invitation

Chapter 199: Invitation

Ophelia picked up the milk and took a few slow sips. She had just gotten pregnant not long ago, and her body hadn't shown any obvious changes yet. She didn't have any particular food restrictions, and she could still move around easily.

"They probably wouldn't dare do anything to me now. The Johnson Group is struggling to survive, and Walter really needs my help right now. Nothing will happen."

Ophelia didn't want to talk about Walter anymore, so she changed the subject and asked about their trip.

"Did you have fun on this family trip?"

Freya paused when she heard the question. She actually really liked Timothy's mother, who didn't have so many rules and got along well with her. Compared to her own mom, Timothy's mother felt more like a real mother to her. Of course, she was happy to travel with Timothy's mother.

But Timothy was different. He was always distracted, constantly on his phone, and Jessica kept sending him messages or calling him. Although Timothy didn't reply in front of everyone, his mind was clearly not on the trip, and he barely spent time with them the whole journey.

Ophelia had been pretty tired lately, too. Work matters needed her personal attention, and with William away, she had to take on more. After work, she still had to go to the hospital to keep William company. Today, members of the Johnson family had come to see her again, and she was already exhausted. Freya didn't want Ophelia to worry about her problems on top of everything else.

"It was pretty fun. I'd never been to those places before, so I finally got the chance to see them."

Freya answered with a smile, and Ophelia smiled back.

"That's good. Jessica's surgery is in a week, and with Timothy, you..."

Before Ophelia could finish, Freya interrupted her.

"Ophelia, I know everything you did that night was for my own good. You don't need to avoid the topic around me. It's actually fine that Jessica is back now. Timothy will make his choice."

Timothy was stuck in his feelings right now and couldn't figure out what he really wanted. With Jessica back, Timothy could understand what he actually wanted.

Anyway, they were getting close to their divorce date. After the baby was born, she would raise the child on her own, and her marriage with Timothy would be over. She'd just treat it as an experience.

Freya touched her belly. She was already eight months along. In a couple of days, she'd start maternity leave, and by the time the baby was born, it would be right around their agreed divorce date.

If Timothy was willing to make their marriage work, she wouldn't mind Jessica. The decision was really in Timothy's hands.

Seeing that Freya didn't want her to get too involved, Ophelia didn't say more. She just reminded her, "If you need my help with anything, just let me know anytime."

After Christmas, the company would get busy for a while. William had arranged for Terry to help out there, so Ophelia had more time to stay at the company.

In the afternoon, Ophelia called Gregory.

"The Johnson Group isn't as powerful as before, but they still have a solid foundation. If you cut off your partnership with them, the company will lose quite a bit of money too."

Gregory was in a meeting. When he saw Ophelia's call, he paused the meeting and walked outside with his phone.

After hearing what Ophelia said, he immediately asked, "Did Walter come to give you trouble?"

Ophelia laughed lightly, "How would he dare give me trouble? Right now, he's just begging me for help."

Only then did Gregory relax. "That's good. I was worried he really didn't have any sense and didn't know who to ask for help. Since you know about it, what are you planning to do now?"

Gregory had originally just wanted to help Ophelia get some satisfaction. Now that things had progressed, of course, he wanted to ask Ophelia, the person involved, what she thought.

"When there's money to be made, why wouldn't I take advantage of it? I looked into it. Walter needs a large sum of money to start a new project. He can't get this loan in Empire City. Only you can approve it. You can continue working with the Johnson Group, but raise the loan interest rate by 2%."

"Raise it by 2%? Walter's so stingy, he definitely won't agree, right?"

Gregory was a bit doubtful. In his impression, Walter wasn't someone who gave in easily.

Ophelia switched the phone to her other hand and said calmly, "I'm having dinner with him tonight. I'll use that opportunity to get him to agree."

Gregory asked back, "If this actually works out, I make money, Walter's company gets through its crisis, then what do you get out of it?"

Gregory was doing all this to help Ophelia in the first place. Now it looked like everyone benefited except Ophelia, who got nothing.

"Of course, I won't do something that loses me money. I'll use this chance to ask him for shares in the Johnson Group."

Walter had lost quite a bit of money when Robert went after him before, but he never sold his shares. He was still the Johnson Group's largest shareholder.

Gregory understood what Ophelia was thinking and shared his view. "Walter gave each kid 3% of the shares, and he has 37% himself. As long as the shares you ask for don't exceed 7%, he'll definitely agree."

Walter could call the shots at the Johnson Group now because he held the most shares. Although the other people in the company's shares added up to more than Walter's, none of them planned to sell.

Ophelia was a bit surprised. "How do you know all this so clearly?"

Gregory explained with a laugh, "During lunch, your husband called me and said Walter was taking you to dinner tonight, so I checked things out in advance. Can't let you be taken advantage of, right?"

"Oh, and the fact that William could call me means he hasn't forgotten you at all. When he told me all this, he didn't hide anything from me. He said he's just pretending to have forgotten you, and at the end he specifically told me not to tell you."

Gregory was laughing happily on the other end of the phone, as if seeking praise.

"Of course, I'm on your side. How could I possibly hide something this big from you? So I told you right away."

Ophelia felt a bit helpless. William really was terrible at pretending - he was giving himself away at every turn.

"I saw through his terrible acting a long time ago. Since he wants to pretend, let's just act like we don't know anything."