Chapter 170 William, Learn from York
On the same day, the actual leaders of Shadow City's two major families—one a bad man, the other extremely gentle—immediately sparked discussion.
The most-liked comment was: "William, learn from York!"
William's reputation completely collapsed. It was rumored that the group on Seraphim's side also intended to tear up their agreement. For a time, public opinion fermented even more intensely.
Countless investors were already lining up overnight orders, just waiting to quickly dump their stocks tomorrow.
Everything seemed impossible to reverse.
Yet the entire city was surging with undercurrents.
After York took Amelia and Briar to the welfare home, he drove Amelia back home.
Although he really wanted to see her upstairs, he ultimately restrained himself.
He was still in the pursuit phase. She hadn't agreed yet. Going upstairs before they'd confirmed their relationship wouldn't be appropriate.
Thinking this, he smiled gently and said, "Well then, let's proceed according to the plan we discussed earlier. As for the rest, we'll be in touch tomorrow."
Amelia nodded and waved at him after getting out of the car.
Earlier at the Jenkins Group's secret base, they had both understood each other without words.
When they were playing with the cat at the Jenkins family home, they had also discussed things.
Tomorrow when the market opened, the Brown Group's stock price would definitely plummet.
Then, there would only be two possible outcomes.
First: It drops, and the Brown Group's market value evaporates.
Second: They'll try to salvage the situation, and in the process, many people will start making moves.
Perhaps someone will have foolish ideas.
Our country is different from overseas—regulation is very strict.
Many things must follow some basic rules.
Otherwise, there will be endless trouble.
"Sweet dreams," York said with a smile. "I'll watch you go up."
Amelia nodded, then walked into the elevator.
As the elevator climbed floor by floor, Amelia's mood was complicated.
Reaching her floor, Amelia opened the door and went home, then came to the balcony and saw the Bentley parked downstairs.
He was standing by the car, looking in her direction.
She waved.
"I'm home," Amelia sent him a message.
"Good, I see you," he replied with a voice message, smiling.
Then neither of them sent more messages, just looking at each other like this—one on the balcony upstairs, one downstairs.
Finally, he said, "Go inside, it's windy on the balcony."
So he watched her go back in before driving away.
Standing inside her home, Amelia thought for a moment, then peeked out again. York's car had already left.
In the past, she would always wait at home for William to come back.
Often waiting until very, very late.
Now...
It was a very strange feeling.
Thinking about it, Amelia went to the sink to wash her face, which helped her settle down a bit.
She changed into slippers and sat on the sofa, thought for a moment, then called Jeffrey.
Soon enough, Jeffrey answered.
He'd been busy these past few days with the Adams Group's internal conflicts. Ever since the news broke that Lika was Amelia, and Amelia won the championship, Jeffrey's value kept rising, making Beck and Zaid restless. They'd been causing him trouble these past few days.
"Amelia," Jeffrey said, finally getting a break and slumping on the sofa.
"Jeffrey, did you see today's news?" Amelia turned on the TV as she spoke to Jeffrey.
"Don't even get me started!" Jeffrey said angrily. "William is just... I've never seen such a shameless man. He protects Isabella so much, why doesn't he just tattoo 'Isabella' on his forehead!"
Amelia felt warmth in her heart.
Although Jeffrey was always pretty hot-tempered and sometimes thought with his butt instead of his brain, he was indeed a very warm-hearted person.
Always firmly standing by his friends' side.
Just hearing him curse a few times made her feel much better.
After listening to Jeffrey curse some more, Amelia began discussing the real matter.
"Jeffrey, I need your help with something," Amelia said.
"Go ahead," Jeffrey immediately responded.
Amelia carefully said to Jeffrey, "Tomorrow, I hope you can pay more attention to the Adams family, especially Zaid's cash flow."
"Why watch that?" Jeffrey was a bit puzzled. "Zaid usually spends money in many different places, and he's made various investments too. He hasn't hidden any of that."
Amelia thought about her plan and said, "Actually, I'm not sure either. It's just one possibility. It's hard to explain over the phone."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. When I handle things, you can relax," Jeffrey sat up straight. He knew Amelia wasn't someone who acted rashly.
And also...
Jeffrey smiled darkly. Recently Zaid had thrown plenty of obstacles his way—he needed to strike back too.
"Zaid, you better not do anything illegal, or else..."
After hanging up, Amelia thought for a moment, then went to make a list, sorting through her thoughts, before finally washing up and going to bed.
This night was destined to be a sleepless one for many.
Various parties had their own ideas. Shadow City's three major powers, the next-tier forces, and smaller players were all actively meeting and discussing among themselves.
William was also handling various matters, finally further confirming all the connections and collaborations.
And preparing contingency plans for everything after the market opened.
This way, even if the stock price plummeted after opening, as long as partners weren't lost in batches, there was no astronomical divorce case, and product quality had no issues, it would slowly recover in the future.
His problem, in the end, was just his personal gossip.
The Brown Group had solid technical support—this was beyond question.
As dawn broke, he looked at the sky outside the office's huge floor-to-ceiling windows, wearily rubbing his temples.
How long had it been since he felt this exhausted?
Before, when she was by his side, he seemed to have unlimited energy, seemed able to believe everything would get better.
But now, although he could still handle related matters, he felt physically and mentally exhausted.
She wasn't by his side. There was no jasmine tea she'd brewed for him at hand.
William closed his eyes, his right hand hidden to the side clenched tight.
She would come back.
When everything was over, she would come back. Everything would come back.
...
The sky gradually brightened. A new day began.
Today's stock market was the focus of everyone's attention.
Amelia had already taken Briar to kindergarten earlier and was now opening her computer, watching the relevant screens.
Jeffrey secretly contacted his confidential personnel, said a few words, then began casting his net strategically.
York sat in his study, brewed a pot of tea, and quietly waited for the market to open.
William sat in his huge CEO office, his expression calm.
Isabella was at Floral Haven, applying makeup that made her look weak yet especially beautiful. She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded slightly.
Everyone was in position.
The time came.
One refresh.
Moments later, whether entertainment or financial headlines, they were all uniformly occupied by the same trending topic—
#Market Opens Today, Brown Group Market Value Evaporates by Hundreds of Billions of Dollars#