It was all filth, ugly truths buried beneath the surface of a wealthy family. The secrets within these kinds of households were never meant to see the light of day, and Arnold knew that all too well. He glanced at Grace sitting on the couch and fell into his own thoughts. No one could truly guess what Grace was thinking now. Sometimes, even she didn’t know what was going through her mind.

Getting the company to where it was had taken everything she had, but the mess it had become was also thanks to those wolves and jackals circling around. They all waited for their dividends yet schemed to seize even more for themselves. To be blunt, if she hadn’t been the one to build this company from the ground up, none of this would even exist. There’d be no profits to fight over. She would let those people sit at home and wait; they were nothing but freeloaders. Did any of them have the brains to create a company like this?

Now that her health was failing, her mind wasn’t as sharp either, but their ambitions had only grown more ruthless, far beyond what she could control. Fortunately, Aurora had ruled with an iron hand, securing two major projects back to back and keeping them in check. There was no way she would hand the company to that lot of people. Letting Tessa try instead still offered a glimmer of hope.

Grace gripped the armrest, her expression shifting between dark and unreadable. No one could tell what she was feeling. She just hoped Aurora would recover soon. Only then could they truly reclaim control of the company.

The moment Tessa stepped out the door, she was overwhelmed with joy. She hadn’t expected Grace to let go so easily. Compared to before, it was like she’d become a completely different person. Tessa had thought she’d need to give Aurora another dose of the drug. She figured it would take more time, but now, she had secured the position of acting general manager so smoothly. She wasn’t that far from taking full control of the company. As long as Aurora didn’t wake up, she could stay right where she was.

Chapter 542

Once she fully understood the company’s internal operations, so what if Aurora woke up? The company would already be hers. Tessa had planned all of this from the beginning. Excited, she called Julian. “Julian, our plan is more than halfway done. Now all you have to do is keep Aurora in check.”

Julian, who was with Lily at the time, saw the call from Tessa. At first, he didn’t want to answer, but then he thought of their recent plan and picked up anyway. After all, between Lily and Tessa, the more important one was obvious. Lily was a woman, while Tessa represented an empire. Julian knew exactly where his priorities lay. His parents had been pressuring him constantly, and the sooner he married Tessa, the better. Besides, Tessa had offered him far too much to ignore.

With that thought, he answered the call even faster. Lily noticed and her gaze darkened slightly. Julian shot her a warning look, then focused on Tessa’s voice through the phone. His heart raced with excitement—did this mean their wedding day was drawing even closer?

Chapter 543