"What is this?" asked Shannon in confusion. She looked carefully at each picture Tom Cobb sent her via email.
Realising they were the same, Shannon got up from her desk. She scurried into her room and rummaged through her wardrobe.
A light-coloured box decorated with a pink ribbon was soon spotted at the bottom of her closet. Slowly, she opened the medium-sized box and removed the photo album.
Shannon's index finger began to peruse each picture. Impatiently, Shannon took the photo album back to her workspace. She juxtaposes the pictures of the boy, who was always there in every favourable moment before her dad passed away.
Sure enough, they were the same boy. Shannon let out a long sigh before dialling Tom Cobb's phone number in the body of the email.
"Where did you get these old photos? I've been to Mr Fischer's house for quite a while and I've never found any pictures like the
"Maybe you guys think I'm getting crazy and just joking around, don't you? Introducing, I'm Tom Cobb. From now on, I will officially take over this JF Groups subsidiary."Instead of being happy to have a new CEO, they stared at each other. Liam seemed to notice Cobb's appearance from head to toe."Do you know what you're talking about? I know, Mr Fischer just passed away. But maybe only his son will take over all the JF Group’s business."After saying that, O'Dell leaned closer. "We appreciate your efforts to entertain us, sir. But please don't overdo it. Perhaps this small subsidiary with no income will be eliminated soon. Please leave if you just want to make fun of us."When Tom heard how discouraged the employees were, he naturally became demoralized. He snapped his fingers, making the three employees stare at him questioningly."Arthur Fischer wouldn't dare close JF Pr
"This is so crazy! Why are you trying to attack JF Groups from below when you yourself are going after JF Groups through me?" Arthur asked. He threw the newspaper that Tom had shown him earlier in the direction where Jill Reynolds was standing in front of him.Jill, who remained unsurprised, ended up pacing back and forth with her arms crossed. "Why bother thinking about such a small thing when you have much bigger stocks to take care of? After all, you haven't been paying attention to them, have you? I guess you also forgot where you inaugurated JF Properties, which were completely neglected and did not produce.""Then why don't you just talk to me directly, Mrs Reynolds? Why are you attacking me? You know what? You stabbed me in the back!"Jill Reynolds approached, pointing her forefinger in front of her flaming red mouth. "Have you forgotten that I've been supporting you all this time? You can't even manage JF Groups.
"Goddamn it!" Arthur threw a tantrum. He threw away everything on his current desk. The small room was less than a quarter of the size of the director's office at JF Groups before. "Why don't you just kill me in front of everyone, huh?"Arthur's breath caught in his throat. He stared at the picture of his dad, who was still looking fit in one corner of the room. With eyes burning with anger, Arthur approached. He picked up the picture of his dad and slammed it down."Stop smiling like you're mocking me, dad! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You're teaching your son a sneaky way to get everything, aren't you? I really can't believe it! What the fuck with everything!"Arthur looked up, then paced in front of his desk that was no longer filled with files. Occasionally, he would glance at his dad's picture and kick it quite hard. The broken picture frame of his dad soon hit the suddenly opened door.
"What makes you keep coming here every morning, huh? Don't you get bored? I'm even sick of seeing you having breakfast here!"Arthur chewed his last bite in a hurry. He got up and greeted Jill, who had just come out of the room. "Morning, future mum-in-law. I was just popping in earlier and thought of you. How's it going? Have you been resting well lately?"Jill waved her hand, trying to ignore Arthur's intrusive presence by simply walking past him without responding. She headed for the car park after grabbing a coat that was on a hanger near the main door.Arthur trailed behind Jill's back while occasionally looking up. His eyes seemed to wander in all directions. Unfortunately, he bumped into Jill, who was deliberately waiting for him with her arms crossed."Damn! You bumped into me on purpose?" Jill cursed and pushed Arthur's shoulder away.Arthur stammered. He shook his head
Quickly, Arthur held Ronald White's door open. "Wait, Mr White. Who are you referring to? You didn't mean to refuse co-operation with JF, did you? Have you forgotten—""I'm still working with JF Groups, Arthur. I still do and will continue to work with them. But I will not sign a contract with you. Shall I repeat myself? Please let it go. I lost my time for breakfast because of you. Don't lemme call security here to get you out of here right now."Of course, Arthur immediately let go of his hand. Meanwhile, Jill's face turned bright red. Her hands were clasped together with a glare that was sharper than a knife."Damn it! How could he possibly know about Ronald's project on this one? I've even sacked Pete from following me around and reporting what I'm doing!"Arthur kicked the door of Ronald's house violently. His cursing sounded utterly desperate.Without commenting, Jill
Sarah and Emma took a step back. Both of them glanced at each other because they began to feel a considerable aura of hostility. Not to forget, Emma also pulled Nick's shirt to stay away for a while.Seeing that, Jill Reynolds just laughed. Her index finger shifted the edge of the sofa that had just been unloaded from the boxcar. "You know, Cobb? Ah, I'm amused at the mention of such a soft rubbish name."Jill's hand gripped the arm Tom had managed to reach. She looked at Tom, whose face was no longer as friendly as before. "You shouldn't come here and dream too high. You think starting a business is easy? Even for experienced people, it takes more than ten years to find the right business for them. And you're trying to bring down Arthur, who's already in the business world with your dad before?"Arthur smiled dismissively. He stepped back, then gave a thumb up to the still silent Tom. He moved away after Jill gave him a
Tom walked quickly. His hand clutched a copy of the JF Moulding yearbook that was stuck in the middle of the street. His eyes were red, burning, like an unquenchable flame.Pete was just coming out of the servants' quarters when he saw Tom coming up the stairs. He knew full well that Arthur's room would be Tom's prime destination now.Quickly, Pete moved to join Tom on the stairs. His laboured breathing couldn't keep up with Tom's steady pace.Tom had arrived on the second floor. His hand was about to knock on the door of Arthur's room when Pete greeted him breathlessly. Not to forget, his shoulders were gripped firmly, as if Pete could no longer stand on his aged knees.Surprised, Tom looked back. He helped Pete to sit up when he saw his dad's confidant looking so tired. The anger in his eyes turned to anxiety. "What's wrong, Pete? What's going on? Are you sick?"Pete shook his
"Shut your mouth, Tom Cobb! You've gone too far in slandering me! After this, what will you do? Spread the rumours? Bring me down and humiliate me in front of everyone?"Tom laughed and stepped to stand closer to Arthur, who was enjoying the last bite. "Do I look like someone who spills the tea in public?"Arthur twisted his head and laughed dismissively. He pushed the empty plate to the centre of the table before finally getting up and moving. He pushed Tom's shoulder away with a fingertip. "You don't look like that, but I'm sure you'll make trouble with this. But this time, I will also prepare myself better, Tom. Luck won't always be on your side. You should know that."Instead of answering and warning Arthur about his recklessness, Tom just nodded as he approached the dining table. His stomach was in knots, and he didn't have time to think. He invited Pete and the maid to join him at the table."D