Chapter 119: Chapter 119: No Family to Bring

Cecilia Croft walked up to Titus Croft, stopped, and linked her arm with his.

"Dad, it feels like it’s been ages since we had a proper meal together. How about we have dinner tonight? You can hear my plans for Vantage’s future first, and then decide whether you still want to pass on buying its shares. What do you say?"

Titus Croft wore a fake smile. Terrified of falling into Cecilia’s trap, he refused without a second thought.

"I have other dinner plans today. Some other time. I’ll ask Auntie Sutton to join us, and we can all have a meal as a family. We can sit down and have a proper chat then, how about that?"

Ever since Cecilia and her mother returned to Silvercrest, she had never spoken to him so pleasantly.

’If she didn’t have something to gain, that girl would never give him the time of day.’

Titus Croft had, of course, heard the rumors from the welcome-back party Ruby Croft threw for Cecilia—that the Croft and Hawthorne families were working together again.

’Cecilia is trying to trick him into taking over this mess of a company, Vantage.’

’But he wasn’t about to fall for it.’

Cecilia’s eyes lit up. "I’ll wait for your call, then."

Titus Croft nodded and pulled his arm out of Cecilia’s grasp.

"I’ll be going now."

With that, he strode away.

Cecilia followed him out. Titus immediately went on alert, his back straightening.

Seeing how constantly on guard he was, a cold smirk flickered in Cecilia’s eyes. She walked over to the elevator bank and pressed the down button for him.

Noticing Jude Sheridan standing at the doorway to the conference room, watching them, she deliberately moved closer to Titus Croft. She lowered her voice, speaking so that only the two of them could hear.

"Dad, if you’re serious about buying shares in Vantage, you can come to me. I’m willing to sell you a portion of mine, and I guarantee I’ll give you a much better price than whatever Jude Sheridan is offering."

Her voice was too low for Jude to hear.

Titus Croft stood facing the elevator, so Jude couldn’t see his expression either.

"I’ll think about it."

He said in a low voice. The elevator doors opened, and he rushed inside.

"Let me walk you down, Dad." Cecilia made to step into the elevator.

Titus quickly blocked her way. He said in a low voice,

"Your meeting isn’t over. You should get back to it. I’ll contact you after I’ve thought it over."

Cecilia gave a deceptively obedient nod.

"Alright, Dad."

Titus managed a tight-lipped smile, jabbing the "door close" button several times, terrified that Cecilia would keep pestering him to buy shares in Vantage.

The moment the elevator doors slid shut, the obedient expression vanished from Cecilia’s face.

Cecilia turned and saw Jude Sheridan still standing in the conference room doorway. A slight smile played on her lips.

"You guys figure out how to scrape together fifteen percent of the shares. I’ll handle things on this end."

Jude met her gaze, freezing for a second. He suppressed the turmoil welling up inside him and spoke in a heavy voice.

"Cecilia, didn’t you say your father was dead?"

Cecilia’s lips quirked into a smile.

"He was. He was dead to me, but if it’s to save Vantage, I can bring him back from the grave."

"Go discuss it with the others. It’s only fifteen percent of the shares; it shouldn’t be that hard for you all to scrape together. Don’t worry about my father—I’ll handle him. He feels guilty about me, and besides, Vantage isn’t a terrible investment. Taking everything into account, I’m confident I can persuade him to buy in."

With that, Cecilia pressed the "up" button for the elevator.

Jude took a sharp breath, strode over, and grabbed Cecilia’s wrist.

"Didn’t you tell me you have no family left in this world?"

Cecilia frowned and wrenched her wrist free from Jude’s grasp, her eyes turning cold and indifferent.

"I lost my family because I chose you. Now that we’ve broken up, I have them back."

With a faint smile, she stepped into the elevator. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Jude stood frozen in place, his face grim. A flicker of unease was hidden in his dark eyes.

’He’d been so sure Cecilia would never leave him because she had no other family in the world.’

’They had been together for seven years. She’d long considered him her only family.’

’A bond forged over so many years couldn’t be broken that easily.’

But now...

’Not only did Cecilia have family, but they seemed to have a significant background.’

A sense of crisis washed over him.

His hands, hanging at his sides, clenched into tight fists. He recalled the smile on Cecilia’s face as she spoke with Titus Croft, the calculating glint in her eyes, and his heart sank.

’They had been together for seven years, after all. He knew what Cecilia was like when she was in work mode.’

’So, even though he hadn’t overheard their conversation, he could make a pretty good guess as to what it was about.’

’Cecilia and Titus are family. If Titus gets shares in Vantage, then combined with the shares Cecilia already holds, they could completely take control of the company.’

’Before long, they would probably kick him out of the picture entirely.’

’He would never let that happen.’

After returning to her office, Cecilia Croft sent a message to Sebastian Hawthorne.

[Mr. Hawthorne, I’m setting up a play to acquire 15% of Vantage’s shares.]

Sebastian Hawthorne replied almost instantly.

[?]

Cecilia: [Jude will be looking for investors soon. Arrange for someone to buy up that block of shares.]

Sebastian: [I’m surprised. You move fast.]

It was rare to get a compliment from him. Cecilia couldn’t help but smile, her pretty eyes crinkling at the corners.

[With me on the case, there won’t be any surprises. It’s only 80% of the shares. It’s a sure thing! I’m sure I’ll complete this assignment in no time.]

It took a while for Sebastian Hawthorne to reply.

All the while, Cecilia kept her phone in her hand, watching the screen.

When he didn’t reply, she didn’t send another message. Instead, she quietly set down her phone, the smile in her eyes fading slightly.

When her phone buzzed again, she snatched it up instantly.

Sebastian had replied.

It was just two short words.

[Not bad.]

’If only his compliments were as long-winded as his insults,’ she thought.

She sighed for no particular reason and exited the chat. Just as she was about to put her phone away, she noticed some activity in her old high school class group chat, which was right below her conversation with Sebastian. It had been dormant for a long time.

Cecilia tapped into the group chat and scrolled to the top of the conversation, reading her way down.

It turned out their class president was suggesting a reunion, since it had been so long since they’d all gotten together.

Plenty of people below had chimed in, all seeming very enthusiastic. They were discussing the best time for it and asking for a headcount of plus-ones to book a venue.

Someone had even tagged Cecilia and Jude, asking if they were free.

The group went quiet for a moment.

Everyone had probably heard about what happened at her wedding to Jude.

Just as Cecilia was about to type a reply, Jude beat her to it and sent a message in the group.

[I’m free. I’ll bring Cecilia along.]

The chat immediately sprang back to life. A flood of messages complimenting Jude filled the screen, though everyone was hiding their true thoughts behind their keyboards.

Cecilia had no choice but to delete the message she’d been typing and write a new one.

[I’ll be coming alone. Just save one seat for me. I don’t have a plus-one.]

The chat fell silent once more.