Mia was stunned after hearing Emily's words.
Once she recovered, her face was filled with anger. She gritted her teeth and said, "How could you make such a big decision without consulting me? You gave away your shares just like that. How naive can you be?"
Seeing this, Emily frowned and felt a bit uneasy.
Had she really made a mistake?
Before she could say anything, Mia seemed to have figured something out. She gritted her teeth and said, "I wondered why Raphael was refusing to divorce before. Now I see he was waiting for this. I thought he was a good man, but he's just like his father. No, maybe the two of them have been plotting against us together."
"Mom, what are you talking about? Is there something else I don't know?"
The more Emily listened, the more uneasy she felt.
Mia looked at her, took a deep breath to suppress her anger, and then explained everything from the beginning.
It turned out that after Emily was taken into custody last time, Jones Group was severely affected. Coupled with Lance's suppression, the company was on the brink of collapse. Garrett sought help from the Howard family.
The Howard family agreed to lend money but made Garrett sign a debt agreement. One of the conditions was that if the debt was not repaid on time, the Jones family would have to use company shares as collateral.
It was then that Garrett realized the Howard family had been scheming against them.
However, in the face of the company's crisis, even knowing that the Howard family was taking advantage of them, the Jones family had no choice but to accept.
The only consolation for Garrett and Mia was that Raphael seemed to genuinely care for their daughter. Despite various pressures from Mr. and Mrs. Howard, he insisted on not divorcing her...
Wait!
"So that's it! The Howard family is really good at scheming!"
Mia's expression turned from realization to gloom.
Seeing this, Emily's face also darkened.
After all, she wasn't truly foolish. She clenched her fists tightly. "Raphael, Howard family!"
At this moment, she understood that Raphael's demand for a divorce yesterday and the compensation agreement were all part of a plan to seize her shares.
If the Jones family couldn't repay the debt on time, the shares held by the Howard family would make them the second-largest shareholder of Jones Group. They could easily overthrow her father and rename Jones Group.
"No way, I need to go back and ask Raphael for clarity!"
With these words, Emily turned and left.
Mia did not stop her.
Causing a scene might be good; it could expose the true nature of the Howard family to everyone and disrupt their plans against the Jones family.
Unfortunately, things did not escalate as Mia had hoped.
When Emily confronted Raphael, she immediately questioned him harshly.
"Raphael, you asked me to compensate with shares. Was this all part of your family's plan to swallow up the Jones family?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Compensating with shares was your own suggestion, wasn't it?"
Raphael frowned and looked at her with displeasure.
Emily was at a loss for words.
Indeed, compensating with shares was her idea to get help from Howard Group for Jones Group.
As she pondered this, Raphael's cold voice echoed in her ears again. "Don't take everyone for fools. You mortgaged your shares to me with your own agenda in mind. If it weren't for our marriage, I wouldn't want anything to do with Jones Group's mess."
This left Emily completely speechless.
But remembering what her mother had said, she scoffed, "Don't try to sound noble. If you didn't want anything to do with Jones Group, why did your family demand our shares as collateral when lending money to my dad?"
"If not for Jones Group's shares as collateral, what valuable assets does your family have?" Raphael retorted calmly.
He looked at the silent Emily and said coldly, "The Howard family is not a charity. When you got into trouble before, we helped your family several times without compensation. Do you expect us to lend such a large sum without any security? The board of Howard Group was already unhappy with helping you before; our money doesn't grow on trees."
After saying this, Raphael paused and a glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Emily.
Then he continued, "Besides, using shares to repay debt is only if your family can't repay the money. As for the shares you transferred to me, as long as you can pay the compensation, I can return them to you. These shares are of no use to me and only cost me money."
Hearing this, Emily's anger over being deceived was extinguished and she felt a bit ashamed.
Raphael's words made sense.
The Howard family had no reason to scheme against their nearly bankrupt company.
Thinking this, Emily tried to appease Raphael. "It seems my dad and I misunderstood this situation. I'll explain it to them."