"It seems like you really don't know, Mia. If you have some time, you should go home and look for it, or ask your older brother's personal lawyer before he passed," Ferguson said confidently, as if he wasn't lying.
After Robert Wenshte's death, Jennifer found various excuses to remove his people from the company, and the personal lawyer had long since disappeared. If the lawyer really had a will, it would be a problem.
"Right now, we're talking about Jonathan. Don't try to sidestep with other issues. I'm managing the company for your brother, and sooner or later, all the assets will go to Lambert. You need to take care of Jonathan; hugging women at the company in broad daylight, how inappropriate! It's disgraceful for the company," Jennifer said calmly, reprimanding him.
Of course, she had to punish Jonathan; otherwise, she would lose face.
However, the punishment changed from a dismissal to a deduction in bonuses, clearly trying to downplay the situation.
Ferguson, a person who knew how to gauge the situation, stepped back, and on the surface, they still appeared to be a harmonious family.
After leaving Jonathan's office, Jennifer immediately called her people and instructed them to find Robert Wenshte's personal lawyer at all costs.
Several days passed with no news, and Jennifer couldn't hold back anymore. She went to Lambert and asked, "Lambert, shouldn't I hand over your father's shares to you now?"
Her question was insincere. If she really wanted to give them to him, she would have done so long ago.
All the annual dividends from Robert Wenshte's shares had gone into her pocket, without her ever giving him a penny.
"What's the problem?" Lambert responded with a confused look. He owned 20% of Wenshte Group, and if he added Robert Wenshte's 30% stake, no one could challenge him.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found the lawyer, so for now, he had to proceed step by step.
"The thing is, the shares are too much. You're still young, and the shareholders wouldn't trust you with them. You've been at the company for years and haven't achieved anything remarkable, so giving them to you would be hard to justify. How about this? There's a new project, and if you can close the deal, I'll talk to the senior shareholders about giving you the shares."
There was a new project, but the client was difficult, and there was a shortage of funds. Jennifer had made no progress after six months.
This tough challenge was handed over to Lambert, so everyone could see that Lambert had no capability. Then, even if a lawyer appeared with the will, no one would agree to give him the shares.
He had control over Mia, who was the largest shareholder of QIY Group. Using QIY's money to invest in Wenshte Group would, in some ways, weaken QIY's strength—killing two birds with one stone.
"Fine," Lambert replied, his lips barely moving as he spoke.
Jennifer left his office, disappointed.
A few days passed in silence before Julie and Hannah started stirring things up again.
Julie had someone take a covert photo of Lambert embracing a woman in a bar. She also dug up old photos of Mia with Daniel from their school days, sending Lambert's photo to Mia and posting Mia's online, guiding public opinion to speculate that Mia and Daniel were involved in an illicit relationship.
Lambert was infuriated when he saw the trending search online, with a crowd of people tagging him and leaving comments under his public account, humiliating the Wenshte family.
Fuming with rage, he stormed home and kicked open the bedroom door. Ethan shoved him inside and closed the door behind him.
"Mia," his voice was icy as he walked to the bed, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her from the bed entirely.
Gasping for air and feeling heartbroken, Mia's tears flowed uncontrollably. Her hands desperately clutched his wrist, unable to let go. At this rate, she felt like she might die in his hands.
He's out there having fun, but when he comes back, he takes it all out on me. He doesn't care about me at all. Living in the Wenshte family, I'm just Lambert's punching bag, Mia thought, her heart turning to ash.
Just as she thought she was about to meet death, Lambert's hand suddenly loosened.
Weak and exhausted, Mia fell to the floor, breathing heavily as she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.
To her astonishment, he was standing. His long, straight legs were in front of her, and his wheelchair was pushed far away. Was he not disabled?
Her heart leapt with excitement, and she reached out to lift the hem of Lambert's suit pants. His legs were intact, flesh and blood—no prosthetics.
"You're not disabled?" Surprised joy replaced her previous despair, and she suppressed the urge to speak. Her lips moved, asking Lambert.
"How much do you wish I were?" he sneered as he pulled a stack of printed photos from his pocket and threw them in Mia's face.
In the photos, Mia was smiling brightly at Daniel, who gazed at her with affection. There were more—Daniel adjusting her hair, twisting a bottle cap for her, Mia holding his jacket, watching him play basketball...
The number of photos was overwhelming, and the content left little room for explanation.
Mia picked up each photo, and when she reached the last one, she saw herself in an embrace with Daniel. From the angle, it looked like they were kissing.
No, she never did such a thing. She had always loved Lambert, and she could never get close to another man.
She shook her head vigorously, the photos slipping from her hands. In a panic, she began signing rapidly.
Slap. Lambert raised his hand and bent down, swatting her hands away.
He gripped her chin, looking down at her with disdain, then caught sight of the photos in her hands and mocked, "Can't bear to throw them away?"
In the next second, Mia decisively tore the photos into pieces.
He held on tightly, not allowing her to deny it. She felt as if he were about to rip her head off.
"You love Daniel, huh? Loved him since you were young?" Lambert had already sentenced their relationship to death.
"Lambert, please let me explain," Mia weakly tried to speak, but he wouldn't even glance at her.
She clung to his pants, refusing to let go.
"Let go." Lambert pulled his foot out forcefully and kicked her shoulder in anger. The force was so great that Mia was thrown onto the floor, crashing into the bed frame, and pain shot through her abdomen.
"I didn't."
Despite everything, she still raised her hand, stubbornly protesting.
She crawled toward his feet, undeterred.
For half a second, Lambert's eyes softened, then they turned cold. He turned and left, not giving her a chance to explain.
He opened the door, sat back in his wheelchair, and continued his act of the crippled CEO.
Her stomach pain became unbearable as Mia lay on the floor, drenched in sweat and feeling weak. She clearly felt liquid dripping from her body, and when she looked down, it was drenched in blood.