CHAPTER 173: TENSION IN THE WHITMORE FAMILY

That day, William Whitmore exited the company building utterly defeated. He didn’t even go to the underground parking lot where his car was parked. Absentmindedly, he walked all the way home.

By the time he arrived, his clothes were drenched in sweat, his hair dishevelled... he looked like he’d just walked through a disaster.

Jeanne, who was on the ground floor sipping tea, rushed towards him the moment she saw him.

"What happened to you?" she almost shouted in shock.

William didn’t answer. He simply walked past her towards the stairs. He nearly stumbled on the steps, and if Jeanne hadn’t been following close behind, he might have fallen. She caught him just in time. He went directly to his room.

As soon as he entered, he collapsed onto the floor. Tears began to fall silently down his cheeks. Jeanne had never seen him like this before. Alarmed, she immediately called Jennifer, who rushed in from her room... only to stop, stunned, at the sight before her.

No matter how much both women tried to comfort him or ask what had happened, William couldn’t utter a single word.

It took a long time before he regained enough composure to explain everything. Slowly, he recounted in detail what had happened at the shareholders’ meeting.

"I can’t believe Eleanor has such a powerful family behind her," he said. "I knew her mother’s surname was Langford, but I never imagined she was connected to the Langfords of Birmingham. You were her secretary for years... how could you miss something so important?" Jeanne asked sharply.

William shook his head. "She never mentioned it. Not to any of us. We were relying on the Grant family’s power and connections here. She never once used her father’s influence. Even when she died, her father was the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal... but she never said a word about it."

Jennifer added, "Maybe she had a falling out with her family. I remember her grave was in Manchester. Even after death, she didn’t return to her family."

Jeanne said, "What’s done is done. But how on earth did Eleanor get those transfer deeds from your study? Someone in this house must have helped her. Maybe one of the staff went in while cleaning."

William frowned. "The key to that cabinet is always kept in this room. If someone stole those documents, they’d have had to take the key from here and then go to the study. And they would’ve had to know exactly what they were looking for."

Jeanne replied, "We should interrogate the staff and find the culprit."

Suddenly, one name came to William’s mind... someone who had once shown curious interest in company ownership documents. But the moment Lydia’s face appeared in his thoughts, he shook his head. No. She had no reason to betray him. And he certainly wasn’t going to say her name in front of Jeanne.

Instead, he said, "It’s pointless. No one will confess. Besides, we can’t involve the police in this kind of theft. It’s better if we replace all of them with new staff to avoid further problems."

Jeanne nodded. "You’re right. I’ll contact the agency tomorrow and hire a new batch of staff."

Jennifer said, "That’s fine. But what do we do now? With the Langford family’s power, we can’t do anything to remove them. What options do we have?"

Jeanne replied, "They can’t throw you out completely, even if they want to. We still hold our shares. Even if they don’t appoint you chairman again, they’ll have to make you a director."

Jennifer agreed, "Yes, Dad. We should contact the board and demand that you be made a director. We’re still the second-largest shareholders in the company."

William was quiet for a moment. Then he said slowly, "There’s a problem. I applied for a bank loan for the company. I was planning to take some of the funds from that for your wedding expenses. Now, I have only two options: either I sell this house, or I sell some of my shares."

He paused, then added, "I’ve decided to sell part of my shares to fund the wedding. At this stage, we can’t afford to fall behind the Clifford family. If we don’t maintain appearances, they won’t take us seriously."

Jennifer protested, "But if you sell your shares, how will we regain control in the company later?"

William said, "I know it might make things harder in the future... but we don’t have another option. Aside from this house, we own nothing. And we don’t even have complete documentation for the property. Other than the shares, we’ve got nothing left."

Jeanne frowned. "How could that be? What happened to the income from all these years at the company?"

William scoffed bitterly. "We spent it all... on your luxurious lifestyle. Whatever we could save, we used to buy more shares in EverBuild. It’s not your fault. I was the one who underestimated the enemy. I never imagined Eleanor could become such a threat."

Jennifer stood up abruptly. Her voice was filled with rage. "We should’ve killed that bitch earlier. We waited too long to act."

With that, she stormed off to her room.

William sighed. "What’s happened is already done. We should focus on Jennifer’s wedding. It’s the only way we can keep the family in the upper class."

Jeanne nodded. "Yes. Once Jennifer marries into the Clifford family, we’ll have a chance to turn everything around."

William said, "Alright. I need a bath. Call the driver and tell him to bring the car back."

With that, he walked into the bathroom. There was still a lot to do. And this marriage... it had to go perfectly.

***

In the meantime, Jennifer was seething with anger in her room. After smashing a few decorative pieces, her mood calmed slightly. She sat down and began searching online for any news related to Eleanor’s kidnapping all those years ago.

But no matter how long she searched, she couldn’t find anything.

Frustrated, she picked up her phone and called one of her lackeys, Willow White.

"Can you find any news related to Eleanor’s kidnapping and rape case?" she asked the moment Willow picked up.

Willow was startled. She paused for a moment, then said, "I’m not sure if any newspapers that old are even accessible. Have you checked online?"

Jennifer scoffed. "Do you think I’d call you if I hadn’t already checked? The news sites must’ve deleted the articles. I called because your grandfather’s a collector. Does he have any papers from back then?"

Willow said, "Alright. I can try. But you could also check the libraries... they usually keep archives of national newspapers."

Jennifer said, "Fine. I’ll try that too. But please, help me with this. If you find anything, call me immediately."

"Okay," said Willow, and ended the call.

Jennifer then called several of her friends and asked them the same question. But no one could find any relevant news.

Angrily, she threw her phone onto the bed and lay down, her mind churning with thoughts... how to ruin Eleanor.

***

In another room, William emerged from the bathroom after a long soak. He felt refreshed. At least now, he could think clearly.

He was even more determined than before to give Jennifer the lavish wedding she deserved.

Holding his phone in his hand, he stared at it for a while. Then, he made a decision. He would call a business partner who had been buying EverBuild shares from the market.

"As a business partner of EverBuild, he should already know. And if not, he’ll know soon enough." William thought, as the call rang.

"Hello, Mr Whitmore. What a pleasant surprise... you remembered me," came the voice from the other end.

"Mr Sanders, you flatter me," William replied smoothly. "Haven’t seen you in a while. Is everything alright?"

Mr Sanders said, "I’m well. Just busy with business. I’m really surprised to hear from you."

William said, "Actually, I wanted to ask... are you still buying EverBuild shares?"

Mr Sanders chuckled. "Yes. Are you going to give me some insider information?"

William sighed. "I need to sell a portion of my holdings. If you’re still buying, we can move forward."

"I’m interested," said Sanders. "But I’ll only offer the current market price. How many shares are you planning to sell?"

William leaned back. "The price will rise soon. You may not know, but EverBuild has just undergone a major change. Are you familiar with the Earl of Birmingham?"

"Yes. He was in the news recently... Walter Langford. Elected to the House of Lords."

"Then this will be easier to explain," William continued. "EverBuild’s founder, Esmeralda Langford, belonged to that family. Today, the Langford family officially took over the company. They’ve even appointed famous Miss Francesca Walters as the new CEO."

There was an audible gasp from the other end.

William pressed on. "So tell me... how high do you think the share price will go when this news breaks? And remember... I’m offering this information before it goes public."

"Alright," Mr Sanders replied. "I’ll offer you a 30% premium on ten percent of your shares."

"I’ll only sell five," William said. "I hold just over eight percent."

"Please, don’t haggle," Sanders said calmly. "As a thank you for the news, I’ll go up to 40% above market. But I want all the shares you have. Trust me... this is the best price you’ll get. Even if you wait a month."

William was silent. He knew Sanders was telling the truth. Reluctantly, he agreed.

"Fine. Have the funds ready by tomorrow morning. I’ll come to your office at ten."

"It’s a deal. I’ll be waiting," Sanders said, before ending the call.

William stared at the phone screen for a long time. Finally, he set it down beside him and closed his eyes, lying back on the bed.