Overnight, the people who had been criticizing Deanna changed their attitudes completely.
The Mercer Group emerged as the biggest winner. The stock market, which had previously plummeted, soared back to its peak and even surpassed it.
Many investors regretted their earlier decisions.
Of course, some were pleased.
These were the ones who did not sell their shares in a panic when the Mercer Group was in trouble. They believed in the company's potential to rebound and waited patiently.
Apart from these people, there was one person who felt neither happy nor sad.
That person was Raphael.
During the Mercer Group's crisis, he had been quietly buying up its scattered shares in the stock market.
Now he held ten percent of the shares. Although this allowed him to join the board of directors, he had no real say in decisions. This dissatisfaction extended to those behind him as well.
"If the Mercer Group is in no trouble, then create some for them. Do you need to ask me about such trivial matters? Is your brain just for decoration? If you bother me with this again, I'll find someone else to execute this plan."
A deep, angry voice came through the phone.
Raphael's face darkened from the scolding, but he dared not retort. He could only respond affirmatively and then hang up.
After putting down his phone, he felt a surge of frustration and wanted to vent it out.
Throughout his life, apart from suffering losses from Deanna and Lance, he had never been reprimanded like this.
Especially when he saw Emily sitting nearby, leisurely playing with her fingers. He couldn't suppress his anger and snapped, "Why do you keep fiddling with your fingers all day? Do you have gold on them? Look at Deanna. She started from a lower point than you but has already achieved great things. Now she's even helped the Mercer Group make a comeback!"
"Raphael, are you out of your mind? Giving me grief first thing in the morning!"
Perhaps because they had already fallen out, Emily was not afraid of Raphael and retorted immediately.
Raphael's face grew even darker. "I must have been blind to marry a woman like you. I should have married Deanna instead!"
"Ha, regretting it now? Too bad there's no medicine for regret in this world!"
Emily sneered at him.
Furious, Raphael lost his appetite and stormed out, leaving his breakfast untouched.
With his departure, Emily was left alone in the dining room.
Sitting on her chair, her beautiful face turned grim, her eyes filled with deep hatred.
"Deanna, Deanna, one day I'll make sure you disappear from this world!"
She muttered through gritted teeth and then bit into her bread as if she were tearing into Deanna herself.
Just as she finished her bread and reached for another piece, the butler walked in and said without much respect, "Mrs. Howard, your father is here."
As he spoke, Garrett entered with Mia.
"What are you doing here?!"
Emily frowned as she walked out to meet them, clearly not pleased by their arrival.
Garrett and Mia noticed her displeasure and sat on the sofa with a hint of annoyance. "What, we can't visit our own daughter?"
"That's not what I meant. I just want to know why you're here."
Emily didn't want to argue with them and asked coldly as she sat down nearby.
She had given up on these parents long ago and saw through them completely.
Maybe her mother still cared for her somewhat, but her so-called good father only saw her as a pawn.
When Raphael wanted a divorce earlier, her good father didn't comfort her. Instead, he threatened to disown her if she went through with it.
Garrett was unaware of these thoughts but was displeased by Emily's cold demeanor.
"What's with that attitude? We came to see you, and you're giving us a hard time."
"Are you going to tell me what you want or not? If not, I have things to do."
Emily took a deep breath to suppress her urge to kick them out.
She knew that if she said anything about making them leave, her father would make a scene. If that affected Raphael, he would make her pay dearly.
Thinking of this, she didn't wait for Garrett to scold her and continued, "You know my current situation. If you cause trouble and Raphael gets angry, don't blame me for not warning you."
Surprisingly, this worked.
Garrett wanted to scold Emily but had to hold back since he needed something from her today.
"Fine, I won't scold you. Let's get to business. You need to get Raphael to lend me a hundred million dollars."
"What? A hundred million?!"
Emily was shocked by Garrett's request. "What do you need that much money for?"
Garrett didn't hide it. "The company ran into financial trouble. Your mother and I mortgaged all our assets but still fell short, so we borrowed from loan sharks. Now with the interest piling up, we need a hundred million dollars. Otherwise, they'll come after us."