Chapter 309: Stark Contrast
“Heh… As I said, my offer stands for the next twelve hours, Mr. Goodridge. Please consider it as soon as possible.”
While Plumpy was still negotiating with him, Harriet and Samuel learned about the incident and rushed over to meet them.
Upon hearing the details, Harriet anxiously advised, “Alaric, why don’t you just agree to give her the shares? She’s able to save Waverly! What could possibly be more important than that?”
“Are you just as crazy as this plump woman here? She’s demanding thirty percent of my shares! Do you understand what this signifies? Handing her the shares is basically signifying that I, as the chairman of Goodridge Group, am about to be dethroned! All my years of hard work will be destroyed in an instant for a daughter I’ve only reconnected with four years ago! You may all be crazy, but I’m not!” Alaric snapped at her, clearly irritated.
Samuel said with a frown, “Dad, it’s not that serious, is it? Even if you lose thirty percent, you still own more than fifty percent of the shares. At worst, you’re no longer the majority shareholder. You’ve been managing Goodridge Group for so many years now, so your position within the board of directors is deeply rooted. Your standing should remain unshaken.”
“You don’t know squat! You’re nothing but a silver-spooned hedonist, only knowing how to eat, drink, and make merry. Goodridge Group is filled with nothing but deception and betrayal! The outside world is full of predators watching our every move like hawks. Every step we take is fraught with danger, and I’m the one bearing it all! Besides making sarcastic remarks, what else are you good at? If you had been half as sensible as Casimir and had come to help me at the company earlier, I wouldn’t have had to work myself to the bone like this! All of you are far from being easy to deal with. My daughter is stupid, and my son is a good-for-nothing spendthrift. How could I have given birth to such disappointments?” Alaric retorted, clearly irritated.
Having been called a disappointment, Samuel, full of indignation, retorted, “I may not know much, but isn’t Goodridge Group destined to be mine eventually? You can think of it as me settling for less of our family fortune, so hurry up and relinquish thirty percent of the shares to save Waverly! There’s nothing more important than saving Waverly right now!”
Harriet pleaded through her tears, “Exactly! Now’s not the time for scolding or blaming, Alaric. Let’s prioritize saving Waverly! She must be having a hard time all alone in the detention center!”
Alaric still refused, saying, “No, it’s not worth it! If I have to sacrifice such a large portion of my shares and destabilize my foundation just to save her, then it’s simply not worth the cost!”
Harriet’s cries grew even more intense. “Is money all that you care about? Would you even disregard your own daughter’s life for the sake of money? That’s our daughter! We’ve lost her for eighteen years, so we’ve already let her down big time. She’s in jail now, and you could easily save her with your shares, but you choose to stand by and do nothing. Is this how a father is supposed to act?”
“I don’t care what you say; she’s simply not worth sacrificing that much of my shares! Everyone should have the capacity to face the consequences of their actions. If she was foolish enough to make such mistakes and befriend those who she shouldn’t have, then she must pay the price for her own stupidity!” Alaric scoffed.
Supporting the tear-stricken Harriet, Samuel chimed in, saying, “Dad, Waverly is still young and naive. When she makes mistakes, we, as her family, should guide her back to the right path and help her out of difficulties, not abandon her like this!”
“She’s a fully grown adult capable of independent thought! It is only fair that she should bear the consequences of the mess she created! Besides, it’s not like I’m giving up on her completely! Just look at Raylee! Didn’t I fail to save Raylee back in the day? Didn’t she manage to pull through just fine anyway? Moreover, Waverly’s situation is different from Raylee’s. Once she’s officially imprisoned, I’ll use my resources to make her life as comfortable as possible in there. Afterward, I’ll make peace with the Lorimer family by offering them some benefits. Once their anger has subsided, I will use my connections to help Wavy get a reduced sentence.” Alaric had confidently laid out his plan for all present to hear.
This was his last resort, the final step he took to save his daughter after he had exhausted all other options. To him, this was the most cost-effective rescue method. The cost would be nothing more than Waverly experiencing some hardship in prison, which wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Not only would it be possible to save thirty percent of the shares, but this experience and the time spent in prison might also give that stupid daughter of his some time to reflect on herself. Ideally, she would be more humble and cautious in her actions after she was released.
Plumpy was in the office with her phone constantly on speaker mode, so Raylee had overheard their entire conversation and the ensuing internal strife. Everything unfolded as she had anticipated – Alaric did show paternal affection, but it wasn’t abundant. Samuel and Harriet’s proactive attitude, however, had exceeded her expectations.
So, there is a distinct difference in treatment between one’s own child and someone else’s! She felt as if time had rewound back to four years ago when she was apprehended and taken into custody, detained there until the court passed down her sentence, sent to prison, and then covertly transported to the notorious devil’s prison. Apart from Alaric presenting her with a document to sever their parental ties the day she was taken into custody, the members of the Goodridge family never once made an appearance throughout the entire ordeal.
Even if Alaric refused to use thirty percent of his shares to save Waverly, he still had other plans to rescue her. This stark contrast greatly annoyed Raylee, so she decided to let the storm rage on even fiercer.