Celeste''s triumphant smile froze, her eyes widening in shock as Jason''s rejection echoed around the conference room.


    "What do you mean you''re not interested?" She yelled, her voice a mixture of panic and anger. "This is your chance to take control of thepany, Jason!"


    "You mean it''s your chance to gain power?" Jason asked, looking at his mother. "I know what you''re up to, Mother, but it won''t work. I''ve never been interested in thepany anyway. I only tried to fight for it to please you!"


    The room fell silent after that. Shareholders exchanged confused nces, their earlier relief now reced with growing concern.


    "That''s nonsense! I only wanted you to take over for your sake. It''s your birthright as a Kingsley! You deserve the position. Do you want Ryan to take everything away from you? He already took your father away from you... you had to grow up away from us because of him," Celeste yelled, no longer concerned with pretending to be a kind person.


    Jason pushed his chair back and got to his feet. He looked at his mother and stated, "It wasn''t Ryan who took everything away from me. It was you, Mother. Your greed made you send me away thinking I was your ace card in your ns to get your hands on the Kingsley Group. Because of you, I couldn''t grow up with my father. I''m not close with my grandfather and my siblings. You ruined my childhood, mother. Not Ryan, not Father but you. You are so greedy."


    "Y-You-" Celeste was bereft of any words. How could Jason reject such a huge opportunity?


    At the same time, Ryan nced at Jason and asked, "Why did you reject the offer?"


    Jason shrugged. He ced his hands in his pockets and replied, "Why would you give me apany that''s on the brink of being stolen by others? It''s your mess, so you take care of it."


    "You know why I''m handing it over to you," Ryan stated.


    Jason nodded, saying, "Yes, I do but you''ve spent so much time and effort on building thispany to be where it is today. I think you should be the one to protect it, after all, you''re still breathing, are you not? Don''t hand over thepany to anyone- not me, not anyone else. Protect what you''ve worked hard for."


    "You fool! If I knew you would be such a failure, I wouldn''t have put my hopes in you!" Celeste said through gritted teeth, her eyes bloodshot from anger.


    "I''m not interested and you can''t force me to take over," Jason remarked. He was about to walk away when Franklin Hall''s mockingughter echoed around the room.


    "Oh, how noble," he sneered. "But noble sentiments won''t save thispany. It''s already crumbling under Ryan''s leadership. If you''re too scared to step up, Jason, I have someone in mind who can do a better job."


    Ryan Kingsley suddenlyughed. He


    nced at Franklin and remarked, "IThis content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    was waiting to see when you would finally speak your mind. Is the person who can do a better job, your son who''s the general manager of thispany? I knew you weren''t loyal when you sided with Celeste but let me make this clear- the Kingsley Group isn''t yours to take."


    Franklin''s face flushed but before he could respond, the doors swung open.


    Lawrence Scott entered the room, breathing heavily. He was holding a stack of documents and ced them on the table next to Ryan.


    "Sir, the countermeasure strategy we''ve been preparing has pulled through. We can now save thepany," Lawrence announced.


    All eyes turned to Ryan, who leaned back in his chair, a faint smile ying on his lips. He nced at his wife and the two shared a brief moment, relief washing over them.


    "I may be sick, but that doesn''t mean


    I have abandoned thepany," Ryan stated, his deep voice echoing around the room. "For weeks, Lawrence and I have been working to secure partnerships that would help protect our shareholders


    interests. The Kingsley group has been there for generations... it can''t go bankrupt just because I might kick the bucket soon."


    The shareholders nced at Ryan, hope flickering through their eyes. Rick looked at Ryan and asked, "Are you saying the stock price will go up again?"


    Ryan nodded, picking up the


    documents and going through them.


    He said, "These partnerships are


    even better than the ones we had earlier. I don''t need to work with unreliable people who back out of a contract the moment they smell trouble. Once these partnerships get into effect, I guarantee a two I


    hundred per cent increase in


    stocks."


    "That''s a big lie," Celeste snapped. "You''re just trying to calm the shareholders with your lies. No one is willing to work with the Kingsley group at the moment. It''s not stable."


    Ryan chuckled, looking at his stepmother. He said, "You underestimated me, Celeste... I won''t waste my time trying to exin things to you. The results will speak for themselves. Thispany will belong to the future Kingsley generation, I wasn''t going to watch it crumble while I''m still alive."


    ...


    After the meeting, Ryan asked Jason to see him in his office. From there, Ryan asked, "Does this mean you won''t be taking me up on my offer?"


    Jason shook his head and said, "It was a tempting offer but no thanks... I think I deserve to be with someone who loves me back." "Jason-"


    "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of your children as if they are my own. They have my blood too..." Jason remarked. He sighed heavily and revealed "I know the culprit who was behind your kidnapping years ago and I''m going to help you catch them."


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!