Chapter 436
If he was that great, how come the Diamonde family found her so fast after she’d been hiding for years?
“Take your pick,” Ernesto said coldly.
‘Carmen only has me left,’ Alice thought, covering her face. ‘Aubree… Aubree, your birth was destined for Carmen, so don’t blame me for being cruel. I’ll clear the way for Carmen one last time.’
“I moved that couple to Rithol City a while back. I’ll find a chance to meet them. It’s better to have them do it than anyone else,” Alice said.
Ernesto smiled, clearly pleased. “I knew you had a plan, Alice.”
“That’s still not enough. I’ll get Ronald to help, too,” Alice said, her voice calm and steady.
She’d made her decision. I have to make sure nothing can go wrong if I’m going to do this, Alice told herself.
Her eyes grew distant for a moment as a sudden thought crossed her mind. ‘If I hadn’t gone soft back then and let that couple kill Aubree, would any of this have happened?’
“No,” Alice reminded herself. “I only told them to send Aubree far away back then. Aubree got lucky and was rescued, eventually ending up in an orphanage. Maybe this is just how fate works!"
On the other hand, Carmen also heard the news GrabCheap had gone public and raked in assets worth over hundreds of millions. She panicked, her heart pounding with doubt. ‘Can I go head-to-head with Aubree?’ she wondered.
‘Right now, unless Dad has lost his mind, there is no way he’ll ignore his own daughter, who could pull off a project worth hundreds of millions, just to let me, his adopted daughter, who failed a project and almost got myself in trouble, into the company.'
Then, Carmen forced herself to calm down after freaking out for a bit. She thought, "No. Why should I be scared of Aubree? I’ve got people backing me like the Diamonde family, Mom, and Daxton. They’re all on my side. I started out ahead of her. If she can do it, so can I. Uncle Ernesto is definitely going to make a move once this news gets out!”
Carmen hurriedly texted Ernesto.
Ernesto Diamonde: [Relax, I got Aubree handled. What you need to focus on now is getting a project off the ground.]
Ernesto Diamonde: [Don’t let your dad find out you’re behind this project until it’s a hit. Once it takes off and the timing’s right, it’ll be your ticket straight into Wilson Group’s upper management.]
Ernesto was thinking that once Aubree was out of the picture and Ronald was reeling, Carmen could step up, carrying that same aura and determination as Aubree. Ronald would see her in a new light.
Ernesto Diamonde: [You’ve got an edge over Aubree, which is your reputation in the art world that earned you a solid network. You don’t have to worry about startup funds at all. You’re starting way ahead of where Aubree was, and the risks are way lower for you.]
Carmen knew she desperately needed something impressive to show for herself, but that was easier said than done.
Carmen Wilson: [Honestly, I have no idea what kind of project I could even pull off right now.]
Anyone could start a project, but coming up with something groundbreaking like Aubree had done? That was a whole different story.
Ernesto Diamonde: [Start a bike-sharing business.]
‘Can that really work?’ Carmen wondered, full of doubt.
Bike-sharing was already everywhere, and the market was saturated. Most people who tried it lost money, and the ones who made a profit had cashed in. There was basically no room left for newcomers.
It wasn’t like an e-commerce platform. There was no untapped lower-tier market to go after.
Ernesto Diamonde: [All the bike-sharing companies out there use regular bikes. We’ll go with electric bikes instead. Same idea, but way more convenient. Honestly, who wouldn’t pick the easier option? This is a project Diamonde Group has been planning for a while, and I’m handing it to you specifically. Don’t let me down.]
Everything he said was true. Over the years, Diamonde Group had been searching for breakthroughs. Besides their jewelry business, they’d been leveraging the Wilson Group to expand into new areas, and the shared e-bike project had been one of their main priorities lately.
By giving the project to Carmen, Ernesto was investing heavily to back Carmen.
However, he was only giving Carmen this one shot. If she couldn’t get into the Wilson Group, he’d just use her as a pawn to clear the way.
Carmen had no idea what Ernesto was planning, but her face was full of excitement after hearing what he said.