Chapter 401: Boyfriend?
On the other end of the phone, Gwyneth stared at the disconnected call, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She looked at the contact name—
"BF"?
Gwyneth frowned.
BF, boyfriend?
The call had come from Lumaria.
So, Ansley had a boyfriend over in Lumaria?
Just then, Isabella came in from outside.
"Mom, what are you doing? Have you seen my phone? I think I left it here."
Gwyneth looked at Isabella as she walked in, pressed her lips together, and handed over the phone. "Your boyfriend just called, but he hung up without saying anything."
Gwyneth deliberately emphasized "boyfriend," looking at Isabella with a meaningful expression.
Isabella paused mid-step, her face showing slight embarrassment. "Mom, I..."
"Ansley, since you have a boyfriend, shouldn't you introduce him to me?"
Gwyneth was very worried about Isabella. Although she knew Isabella had grown up and it was normal for her to date, there were many jerks in this world. Ansley was still just an innocent kid—how could she easily see through a man?
Gwyneth felt it necessary to vet him for Isabella.
Isabella smiled and walked over. "Okay, I'll bring him to meet you another day."
She took the phone from Gwyneth. Sure enough, William had made a brief call, lasting only a few seconds.
Something must have happened in Lumaria.
Isabella didn't deliberately avoid Gwyneth and called William directly.
"William, you called me?"
Hearing Isabella's voice on the phone this time, William finally relaxed. "Yes."
"The Taylor family is in trouble," he said.
William briefly told Isabella about the Taylor Group facing bankruptcy.
"Isabella, I'm planning to acquire the Taylor Group and make you the new major shareholder. What do you think?"
Isabella frowned. "But the Taylor Group is facing huge losses right now. Even if you acquire it, it's just a mess."
Isabella felt this didn't seem very meaningful.
"It's okay, I can clean up this mess."
But he wouldn't clean up this mess for the Taylor family.
Having lived two lifetimes, William had seen the Brown Group face various crises, big and small. The Taylor Group's crisis really wasn't much to him—he had enough ability to solve it.
"Isabella, as long as you're willing, I can rebuild the Taylor Group within a year. You just need to agree. As for management, you don't need to worry about it."
Isabella thought for a moment. "Alright, but if the Taylor Group's situation is really bad, don't push yourself too hard."
"I know."
William thought for a moment, then spoke again. "Your mom is nearby, right?"
Isabella glanced at Gwyneth and found her looking this way, too. She smiled at Gwyneth and said softly into the phone, "Yes, she is."
"Can you pass the phone to Ms. Powell? I want to apologize for my rude behavior earlier."
"Okay."
Isabella did as William asked and handed the phone to Gwyneth.
"Ms. Powell," William began. "I'm sorry. I hung up on you earlier because I was nervous. Please forgive me."
"Nervous?" Gwyneth raised an eyebrow. "Why would you be nervous when I called? You must have done something wrong."
William: "..."
He hadn't expected Gwyneth to be so sharp right off the bat. William clenched his palm, but quickly regained his composure.
"I haven't done anything wrong, and I'm not guilty. I was just afraid I wasn't prepared enough and would make a bad impression on you."
William knew that Gwyneth's status in Novaria was above millions of people, her position even surpassing the king of the Northern Ice Empire.
Facing a girlfriend with such a special mother, he believed no man could be completely calm.
But what could he do? When he met Isabella, she was still the poor girl who had been lost for years and remained unloved even after returning to the Taylor family. In the blink of an eye, her status had changed dramatically.
Honestly, when he first learned about this, it was quite a shock to him, too.
Gwyneth snorted coldly.
"At least you know to apologize to me, which shows you have some sense of responsibility."
"I just heard you say you want to acquire the Taylor Group and put it under Ansley's name?" Gwyneth asked.
Even though Isabella hadn't put the call on speaker earlier, with her sensory abilities as a hypnotist, it wasn't hard to hear clearly.
Moreover, hearing him called William, Gwyneth had already done a quick search about William on her tablet, learning only that he was the chairman of the Brown Group. There were no photos of him, though.
"Yes, I do plan to acquire the Taylor Group and put it under Isabella's name," William said.
"My Ansley doesn't lack money or assets. She couldn't even inherit all the companies under my name," Gwyneth said coldly.
William's expression didn't change. He calmly replied, "I naturally know you can give Isabella a lot, but my acquiring the Taylor Group for Isabella isn't simply to add another asset to her name. I just want to use this opportunity to let the Taylor family know that their lack of appreciation for Isabella was a mistake."
Hearing this, Gwyneth's expression softened slightly.
"Have you been taking care of her all these years?"
"I wouldn't say taking care of her. I met Isabella after she went to the Taylor family."
"Did you have any other girlfriends before you met our Ansley?"
"No."
"Your romantic history is that clean?" Gwyneth didn't believe William.
She reminded him sternly, "I will investigate."
William was, after all, the head of the Brown Group, with a significant status in Lumaria. Never been with a woman? Gwyneth didn't buy it.
William laughed helplessly. "Ms. Powell, I'm not lying, so naturally I'm not afraid of your investigation. Feel free."
Gwyneth: "..."
Gwyneth wanted to say more, but Isabella quickly spoke up. "Mom, I'll introduce you two properly another time, and you can ask whatever you want then. On the phone, there's no need to be so thorough."
Gwyneth glanced at her and ultimately said nothing more, only saying coldly, "You're right, Ansley. William, we'll meet eventually."
Gwyneth's sense of pressure was really too strong. William unconsciously clenched his palm, but he had to maintain his composure when speaking. "I will come to visit you in person."
"At least you know proper manners."
After Gwyneth said this coldly, she hung up.
William held his phone: "..."
William hadn't yet recovered when David knocked and entered.
"Mr. Brown, Hayden from the Taylor Group is here, along with the Taylor family's eldest son, Chase. They say they have urgent business with you."
"They have urgent business?" William's lips curved slightly. "Bring them up."
"Yes."
David went down and looked at Hayden and Chase. "Mr. Brown has agreed to see you. Follow me."
Hayden and Chase were overjoyed.
They knew it—William wouldn't just stand by and watch the Taylor Group's troubles!
When they held Isabella's birthday party, both William and Sophia had attended and given expensive gifts. William had said personally that Isabella had once saved Sophia from kidnappers, and he owed her a favor.
So after Ascend Global Group got into trouble, they immediately thought of William.
As long as William was willing to help the Taylor Group, they might be able to get through this crisis!