Chapter 14 

"Think carefully, Lily. Think about how much scorn and ridicule you had to face since marrying Darryl," Samantha said coldly. "We’ve provided him food and clothes during the three years of your marriage to him. At least he has the decency to repay the favor by lending us money to help with the company’s five million deficit. We’re even now and all I want is for you to leave that loser."

"Mom... " Lily bit her lip.

"Also, Ashton called me and said that he’d attend your grandma’s birthday," Samantha continued. "He said he prepared an amazing gift that your grandma will love. You can and should be with him if grandma takes a liking to him."

As she was talking, she saw a man coming over from some distance away. Dressed in a suit and leather shoes, he held a suitcase in his hand. The person was Wentworth, Lily's father.

Lily and Samantha went over to welcome him. The family of three then chatted and laughed all the way out of the airport.

Back home, Samantha cooked a sumptuous meal. Cooking was usually Darryl's duty and she had not cooked in a long time, so it was unsurprising that she could maintain her appearance so well at her age.

At the dinner table, Samantha asked Wentworth how life was abroad.

Wentworth remarked that his life was uninteresting, other than three meals a day in high-class hotels and daily business discussions with the richest men in the region. He hyped up his stories, and as he spoke, he took out a check and scribbled on it before handing it to Samantha.

50 million!

Samantha grinned from ear-to-ear when she saw the check!

‘Hahaha, our days of suffering have finally come to an end! He took out a fifty million check like it was nothing!’

"I heard a few days ago that your company was facing some problems, Lilybud. Something about a shortage of five million?" Wentworth looked at Lily and said, "I was worried about you when your mother called me the other day, but at that time, my funds were still strapped in the stock market. There was no way I could have helped you, but it’s all good now though. I’ve cashed the money out."

Wentworth scribbled on another check while talking.

"Here’s another check for fifty million." Wentworth chuckled and said, "By the way, the check I’ve given you can't be cashed in right away. You can only do so in a week as the check will only take effect after I leave the country."

Was there such a requirement?

Samantha bought his statements despite having some doubts and nodded repeatedly with a smile.

Finally, they could rise to their feet again after enduring for so long. They were eager to know whether anyone would dare to look down on them again during Grandmother Lyndon’s birthday!

Ding-ding!

The family was chatting away happily when Lily's phone suddenly rang. After glancing at the caller ID, the entire family looked at each other.

A call from Grandmother Lyndon?

"What's the matter?" Samantha asked at once.

The old lady was personally in charge of all the Lyndon clan’s affairs and was therefore swamped in work every single day. It was usually the Lyndon family’s elders who were in constant contact with Grandmother Lyndon. She never phoned her juniors in the past, especially when it came to Lily, as the latter had the lowest status among the Lyndon family's juniors.

"Beats me," Lily replied as she answered the call and switched on the loudspeaker mode.

"Lilybud?"

The old lady’s voice came from the other side of the phone.

Despite her reluctance to initiate a call with someone younger than her, she was completely bereft of all options. Platinum Corporation made it clear that any future business discussions must only involve Lily and Lily alone. It was futile for others to handle the negotiations!

"Lilybud, Granny wants to ask you a favor..." The old lady continued.

The three of them were stunned after hearing that sentence!

Grandmother Lyndon had been in charge of everything for so many years. When did she ever ask anyone for favors?!

Samantha hurriedly said, "Mom, what’s going on? Please just tell us what you need!"

"I want to ask Lilybud ..." The old lady was silent for a moment, but eventually continued, "I want to ask her for her favor to negotiate with Platinum Corporation to take over Giselle’s image consultation."

Samantha was puzzled. The old lady had already handed the responsibility to William. Lily was undoubtedly the one who negotiated the deal but William was allowed to take the credit. Why then, would the old lady hand the responsibility back to Lily again?

Although Samantha’s heart lamented the unfairness, she still smiled. "Don’t worry, Mom! I'll tell Lilybud to go there later in the afternoon."

After all, the grandmother was the head of the family. Samantha was flattered that the old woman would call them and beg them with that pleading tone! There was no reason to refuse!

Despite that, a shiver came over Lily's body! Darryl had just sent a text message to her, telling her to refuse if the old lady came calling!

How could Darryl know that Grandma would call her? Was he a fortune teller…?

Lily bit her lip tightly. Unaware of her conscious mind’s inner workings, she picked up the phone and said, "I’m sorry, Granny, but I refuse. Since you’ve already given the task to William, he should be the one to negotiate."

"You!" The old lady was thoroughly incensed. "You’ve become stubborn now, haven’t you, Lilybud? Do you believe that the Lyndons will fail in securing the partnership with the Platinum Corporation without you?! How mighty arrogant of you!"

Lily had already ended the call before the old lady could finish talking!

Back at the dinner table, Samantha and Wentworth looked at each other, followed by the former lashing out!

"Lilybud, what are you doing?!" Samantha slammed the table angrily. "How are we going to live out our days in the Lyndon clan after offending the old lady?! Grandma is partial toward William, but you can’t deny that William is competent at what he does! Aren’t you going to show her any respect, now that she’s set aside her arrogance by phoning you and asking you to negotiate?!"

Lily bit her lip tightly because Darryl had sent her a text message in advance. Her thought process was a mystery to her and she wondered why, for that brief moment, that she believed Darryl's words and rejected the old lady.

Listening to Samantha's complaints, Lily silently took out her cellphone and absent-mindedly sent a text to Darryl: ‘I’ve rejected the old lady, what should I do next.’

Everyone called Darryl a loser, and it angered Lily because she felt that he was not doing anything to try and improve himself. Be that as it may, his recent goings-on was something of a curiosity, since it seemed as though Darryl constantly came to her aid at critical moments. Her subconscious mind had gone so far as to begin heeding Darryl's words.

The phone rang not long later and Darryl replied with a couple of short sentences: ‘The old lady will continue begging you and you’ll continue to refuse. Platinum Corporation won’t acknowledge anyone else except you. Trust me.’

Lily felt an inexplicable sense of security after reading his last two words.

All of a sudden, Samantha then snatched her phone away!

"Perfect! You rejected the old lady! It was Darryl who told you to do so, right?!" Samantha's chest trembled as she pointed to Lily and lambasted, "Are you crazy? Do you really believe in Darryl’s words! I'm telling you, you’d better divorce him after grandma's birthday!"

"Mom, Darryl guessed that Granny would call me... " Lily protested.

Samantha became even angrier and slapped the table heavily. "Mark my words, Darryl is a good-for-nothing! Look at everyone else. Do any other people have a son-in-law like him? Is there any family that doesn’t have a son-in-law worth tens of millions!"

She became increasingly agitated while she spoke and her anger flared up at the mere mention of Darryl.

In the afternoon, Grandmother Lyndon sent Stefan Lyndon to handle the negotiations.

Stefan was one of the standout individuals among the Lyndon family’s younger generation and his status was second only to William. In the end, though, he was chased out of Platinum Corporation by the security guards before even getting a chance to talk.

The old woman began panicking when Stefan returned. What was going on? Was Lily the only person that Platinum Corporation would accept?

Grandmother Lyndon sat on the chair and smoked her cigarettes one after another.

"I have a plan, Granny." It was then that William walked over and said.

"Granny, my guess is, Lily only managed to secure the contract because of her good looks," William postulated. "From that, we can see that the Platinum Corporation’s President is simply a womanizer. Lily isn’t the only beautiful girl in our family! Elsa is also very beautiful, so why not let her give it a shot."

Indeed, two women in the Lyndon family were widely recognized for their beauty.

One was Lily, and the other was none other than Elsa.

Based on their age, Lily even had to address Elsa as her elder sister.

Everyone agreed with that suggestion. William’s remarks made sense, and they were certain that Platinum Corporation’s President only fancied Lily’s good looks.

Early the next morning, Elsa went to Platinum Corporation alone.

Elsa was undeniably stunning, she was the crème de la crème in both body figure and looks!