CHAPTER 529: AUNTS LIKE ANTS (3)

Ian turned to his younger brother, but his parents beat him to the question.

"Who did what?"

"Molly and Sally...."

Those two names were enough for the three to piece together the whole issue.

"Oh," Ian raised an eyebrow,

"Do you need help?"

Brad shook his head with a lazy wave of his hand. "I have it under control. It’s nothing to deal with... such ants."

Though the two words sounded similar, the family smiled, shaking their heads at Brad’s choice of words.

There was a moment of silence. Then—

"Did he just say, ’ants’ or ’aunts’?" Geneva asked, half-chuckling.

"Does it matter?" Alex murmured, lips twitching in barely restrained laughter. It was as if the object of ridicule were strangers and not his sisters.

Ian smirked. "Both sound accurate."

The family’s continued amusement had no impact on the waiting assistant, who remained by the door. He was more than familiar with how they worked.

"This will take no effort from me at all," Brad added, brushing invisible dust off his shirt with mock grandeur. "But now that you’re back..." He turned with a hopeful gleam in his eye, "Can I go back to my leisurely life? I really miss that guy. He was charming, stress-free, and had hobbies."

"You mean drinking, partying, excessive shopping, and dodging meetings?" Ian asked dryly.

"Exactly," the younger grinned.

Shelby, listening from the bed, laughed softly, cradling her belly.

"And hopefully," Geneva added with a soft, wistful smile, "you never will."

"You’re right, mum, my wife is pregnant, and she needs me-"

"Oh no! You don’t get to play that card with me!" Brad shouted, but Ian smiled slyly. Brad felt it was weird to see his brother without the bushy beard they had become accustomed to, but this was the very old Ian anyway.

"Watch me!" Ian taunted, then added, "When it gets to your turn, we’ll have this conversation again."

Brad did not take it to heart because he was never going to get married.... At least that was what he told himself. But he was so engrossed in this conversation that he did not see that gleam in his mother’s eyes.

They had a more pressing conversation to have, so that idea was laid to rest, but it did not mean that it was at the end of its lifespan. Brad would never see it when it hit! Ian read his mother’s mind and lifted one corner of his lips in amusement.

Brad’s assistant, Erik, was still waiting patiently, but Brad turned to his brother, "Let’s take a look at what our aunts have planned for us." It was more of how he said it that piqued everyone’s attention.

"Erik?"

"It’s all been arranged, Sir,"

Brad nodded and settled back to enjoy the show.

****

In a sleek, high-profile media studio. Two plush chairs were angled toward the camera. A live ticker scrolled below with the title:

"BREAKING: Family Scandal? Aunts of the All-Powerful Thornston Family Speak Out..."

The two sisters, none other than Molly and Sally, elegantly dressed as usual, sat poised in front of the cameras, their icy smiles and smug confidence betraying no hint of their inner thoughts. Their makeup was flawless. Their jewellery sparkles under the light. In their manicured hands, they clutch a brown envelope — "proof" they plan to unveil live.

Immediately, after leaving the conference room, Sally felt it was futile to waste time, and she had activated their plan B. This time, Moly had left all the planning to her, for she thought it was time for Sally to handle some of their thought processes, and there was little room for this plan to go awry. But Aunt Molly was about to find out the hard way that plans were made to be foiled.

They had left the boys out of all this for good reason, too. The two knew their sons’ capabilities more than anyone.

Across from them, the host — an eager reporter with a reputation for breaking scandals leaned in.

"Welcome to our evening edition of..."

He went ahead to read their ad sponsors and everything, then quickly jumped in.

"Viewers don’t miss this juicy gossip that is coming your way. In our studio today, and also for those of us who don’t know of them.... We have the two Thornston women, Mollya and Sally. We can also consider them the two most powerful women on our island, after Matriarch Geneva, though."

Sally frowned, but Molly gently tapped her, reminding her that they were on live TV and their every action was being viewed and scrutinized in real-time. Sally quickly composed herself, taking a sip of water to try to conceal her reaction.

In her mind, there was no way that Geneva should be more powerful than she and her sister, but unfortunately, that was not up to her to decide.

"Welcome ladies and thank you for granting us this exclusive interview.... So, you’re saying... the current CEO, Master Ian Thornston, ... is not really his father’s son?"

It was not an understatement to say that all the viewers on the island gasped in unison. This kind of scandal was unheard of!

There were many questions that arose because families like the Thornstons preferred to maintain a clean lineage. The implications that Ian was not the son were too much for anyone to comprehend. Although the news had circulated once, it was merely a rumour.

What made this different was the fact that Sally and Molly were on live TV, indicating that the words spoken were the truth, and they even claimed to come with evidence.

"Did that mean that the all-powerful Geneva had cheated?" Someone from the audience asked, while another murmured, "That’s not possible.... Master Ian is the oldest ... so this can only mean, Madam Geneva married while pregnant!"

"That’s correct," Sally responded to the host just at that same time,

"... and we believe the public has the right to know who’s running the company."

Molly smirked, "We have documents that speak for themselves. Our brother was deceived—"

The two sisters had a grand plan to unseat the current family, and what better way than to discredit them. The host laughed nervously. This was the most significant breakthrough of his career, but it was also a double-edged sword that could break him.

A few moments prior, one of his subordinates had warned him of taking this live, without verifying the supposed evidence first, but he had brushed it aside. Thinking back to that excitement and that conversation, he couldn’t help but think that something was amiss.

"Boss, you should really consider whom you want to offend! Even if Master Ian is illegitimate, he can crush you and our whole station, without the family’s support!"

"Isn’t he missing? ... and what good are the words of an illegitimate son? That changes everything!" He scorned,

"Haven’t you heard that he returned with his wife and that e-"

"Spare me the fake news! Nothing is going to change my mind. This is the moment in my career that I have been waiting for!"

"But-"

"In our line of work, you should learn to take calculated risks, for they pay off from time to time."

He had stormed off. This was the moment he had been living for, so why would he let go of the opportunity?

A slight buzz in the air brought him back to the present and in the studio

"So, what is the evidence you have backing this? You know this is a serious accusation..."

"We know that better than anyone else, but we don’t want our brother to die, not knowing the truth of this matter!"

It sounded as if they were for justice, but most people could punch holes in this narrative. If the two sisters, in their old, wise age, were thinking of their brother, shouldn’t they have gone to Alex Thornston instead of airing out the family’s dirty linen outside?

It sounded wrong on all levels and exciting for them as well. Everyone wanted to see how all of it played out.

"In my hands is a DNA test-"

Suddenly, a soft chime cuts through the air — the host’s earpiece buzzed, making him frown slightly, then stiffen from whatever he had heard on the other side. He cleared his throat awkwardly. He knew it before the instructions had been given... his moment was gone, and as to the consequences, he knew not.

He had assured his superiors that he had done his due diligence on this and had been a thousand per cent positive, but judging from the tone of voice coming from his headset, he knew that he was screwed before his moment to shine had arrived.

"Uh... ladies, I’ve just received word from our control room... there’s... breaking news."

The aunts’ glance at each other, irritation flashing across their carefully curated expressions. The host reluctantly raised a remote and turned to a massive digital screen behind them.

A LIVE NEWS BULLETIN appeared with bold red letters flashing:

"EXCLUSIVE: DNA Scandal Shocker — Prominent Socialites Exposed in Family Inheritance Fraud."

Gasps ripple across the production crew and the audience because the picture shown under the news bulletin was of Molly and Sally, not Ian. Cameras zoom in, making the confused Molly and Sally shift uneasily.

"According to authenticated court-ordered DNA tests and a confession video from a now-deceased nurse... neither of the women claiming to be sisters of Chairman Alex Thornston is biologically related to him or the founding family."

The envelope that Molly had in her hand dropped, and her face contorted into fury!

"What kind of ridiculousness is this?!"

Before Sally could react, the giant screen lit up and a very familiar face appeared, making the two gasped.

*********

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