Chapter 203

“Mom, you have no idea how hard it is to watch you struggle every day. It breaks my heart. I hate myself for being so useless,” Tessa said, her voice full of guilt.

Grace looked at her with nothing but tenderness. “This isn’t your fault. Health isn’t something you can control.” She paused, her gaze drifting toward Aurora, who stood silently to the side. After a beat, Grace made up her mind. “Power should be in the hands of those who are capable. I’ll be giving this serious thought moving forward.”

“What gives you the right?” Aurora couldn’t help but speak up. She had always known Grace was biased toward Tessa, but this time, the favoritism was blatant, undeniably public. She could barely suppress the fury bubbling in her chest.

“There’s no ‘what gives me the right.’ Those who are capable carry more responsibility. After everything that happened today, do you really think I can trust you with this company?” Grace’s tone sharpened as Aurora continued to push back.

Tessa, meanwhile, froze at the words “trust you with the company.” Her eyes widened in disbelief. So that was the plan all along? Grace had been considering handing the company over to Aurora? Then what did that make her—a joke? She clenched her fists. No. She couldn’t let that happen. The company had to be hers. At the very least, if not entirely hers, it had to be shared–split evenly between her and Aurora.

Aurora felt a bitter chill inside her. “So just because of this incident, you’re ready to throw away everything I’ve done? Is that it, Madam Grace? You’re really just going to cast me aside now?”

“You…” Grace slammed her hand on the table, furious. Watching Aurora stubbornly talk back made her blood pressure spike. She had never realized until now just how stubborn Aurora could be.

Grace had just opened her mouth to speak when Tessa jumped in. “Aurora, is that really how you talk to Mom?” Tessa looked genuinely disapproving. “She’s our mother, and yet you keep calling her ‘Madam Grace.’ Do we really need to draw such a hard line between us like that?”

“And saying things like ‘cast aside’–isn’t that a bit much?” She sounded indignant, as if she were only standing up for Grace, nothing more.

Grace, hearing Tessa’s words, felt instantly comforted. Yes, at least one of her daughters still understood her.

That was enough.

“I’m the general manager of this company,” Aurora said coldly. “There’s nothing wrong with addressing my superior as Madam Grace. And you, those oh-so-considerate words of yours–don’t think I can’t see through them. Are you trying to stir things up between us?”

“Watch your tone,” Grace interjected, clearly displeased. “That’s your sister. What do you mean, ‘stir things up’?”

Aurora nearly laughed out loud. Tessa could speak against her all she wanted, and Grace would still be pleased. But if she said anything, suddenly it was inappropriate.

Tessa shook her head lightly and said, “It’s alright, Mom. My feelings don’t matter. What really worries me is the company. What if our suppliers start pulling out? That could seriously damage our operations.”

Grace sighed, her own frustration growing. “I know. I’ll try to come up with a solution.”

Tessa cast a glance at Aurora, her tone light, almost offhand–but every word was laced with intent. “I did hear some of the suppliers are still quite reasonable, especially if they believe in the partnership’s long-term potential. Strange that this time, they seem…”