Chapter 182
In another chamber of the Wilson residence, Alice clutched the photo in her hands, her heart torn between two worlds. The photo showed an utterly adorable five-year-old girl with twin ponytails. It was Aubree at age five.
Alice’s vision blurred for a moment. She realized with a pang that she could barely recall what her daughter looked like as a child.
She thought, “Somehow, all my memories of Aubree got replaced by Carmen. If we hadn’t found Aubree, I would have already regarded Carmen as my biological daughter, as if I’d never lost a daughter at all. But why can’t the two of them just get along peacefully? No matter what, I could never give up on Carmen. She’s my daughter!”
Alice’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Bryan about Aubree, its every word brimming with his amazement at how far Aubree’d come. It detailed her recent achievements, every i dotted and t crossed.
[Mom, Aubree was closest to you when she lived at home. Now she refuses to come back. She can’t stand us brothers. Could you try talking to her?]
[Mom, all those things we thought about Aubree were wrong. The truth is, she’s a good person. You must see that too, right?]
A flood of messages poured in, all from Bryan, pressing her to convince Aubree to come back. Not once did he mention Carmen, which left Alice feeling uncomfortable again. All Bryan cares about is bringing Aubree back, she thought. Did it even occur to him what would happen to Carmen if Aubree returned? As the adopted child, Carmen never truly felt belonged. Now that Aubree is so outstanding, if she comes back, won’t Carmen be completely displaced?
Alice fidgeted uneasily, her face cycling through shades of pale and ashen. Aubree has to return, she decided, but it absolutely can’t be at Carmen’s expense.
Now that she’s so successful, she no longer needs the Wilson family’s fortune. If Aubree insists on returning to the Wilson family, she must relinquish her share of the family fortune to Carmen. And that matter must never come to light.
“Aubree was taken from me when she was just five and has lived in an orphanage all these years,” Alice muttered. “So, of course, we’re not close. Carmen is my real daughter, the one I raised from infancy. I can’t let my daughter feel wronged.”
With winter break underway, Aubree finally had more control over her schedule. She poured almost all her time into her company. The Wilson family kept pushing their way into Aubree’s life, but she wasn’t some pushover. When she was still building her career in the past, she had no choice but to tolerate it. But now, her business had grown, not enough to take on the entire Wilson Group, but big enough to fight back.
The Wilson Group is huge, Aubree thought. No corporation that big stays completely clean in every corner.
“Vincent, with a corporation as massive as the Wilson Group, surely there must be some dead weight, don’t you think?” Aubree mused, recalling her past life. Back when Ronald was young, he was a visionary intellectual who recognized the potential of real estate with great foresight. He had made his fortune in real estate, and when the market hit rock bottom, he pivoted the Wilson Group into other industries, laying the foundation for today’s diversified conglomerate.
Now, despite the real estate market’s recovery, Wilson Group, while still the industry leader, had seen its attention wane as it prioritized higher-growth sectors. The head of Wilson Group’s real estate division, a longtime associate of Ronald, brazenly traded on his close ties to Ronald and plundered company funds without restraint, even embezzling money earmarked for workers’ safety equipment at the construction sites.
Vincent nodded in understanding. “I’ll have someone keep tabs on them.”
Aubree smiled faintly. “Focus your investigation on Rosepoly Group,” she instructed.
Vincent looked genuinely surprised. “Does Ms. Miller already know something?” he wondered. As Rithol City’s leading enterprise, Rosepoly Group served as the origin of Wilson Group.