Chapter 22

Aaron exhaled in relief, thinking, "Wow, Mrs. Kingsley coincidentally dodged a bullet."

“I don’t buy it.” Henry shot to his feet and retorted, “You met with all the executives and managers today. There’s no way you didn’t learn something.”

“I just didn’t, believe it or not,” Amelia replied coolly, her eyes flicking toward Aaron.

Aaron stepped forward with the stack of documents in his arms. "Mrs. Kingsley spent the day meeting people and collecting paperwork, but she didn’t look at or sign a single file.”

Gloria grabbed a couple of documents off the top and flipped through them. Sure enough, Amelia’s signature was nowhere to be found.

Gloria was stunned, and she thought to herself, ‘If she didn’t do anything, why even bother going to the office?‘

“Gloria, I brought all the documents home to wait for your guidance,” Amelia said, her tone calm.

She then gestured toward Aaron, who set the hefty stack of papers on the coffee table. The implication was clear – Gloria was free to make the decisions.

Technically, Gloria did have the authority, but she hesitated.

“Just let Henry handle it. At least he won’t run my son’s legacy into the ground,” Donna scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.

Amelia’s brow furrowed. Sensing her confusion, Aaron leaned closer and whispered, “Ms. Gloria tried to manage the company affairs and ended up losing 15 million dollars within a few days. Almost got the company tangled in a lawsuit too.” Amelia forced a smile and thought, ‘How did she even lose that much money with such a competent team at her disposal?‘ Donna declared, rising to her feet, “I’m tired. Henry, take these documents home and guard Kingsley Group properly.” Henry, grinning ear to ear, moved to scoop up the documents.

“Hold it.” Amelia slammed her hand down on the stack, stopping him in his tracks. She turned to Donna and asked, “Grandma, you don’t think Gloria’s capable of managing the company, do you?”

Donna shot Gloria a scornful look and scoffed, “Her? Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Gloria lowered her head, clearly ashamed.

Amelia said firmly, “If Gloria really can’t manage the company properly, I’ll help her. Together, we’ll keep the company thriving.”

“You?” Donna let out a derisive laugh, as if she had heard something amusing.

“We can, and we will.” Amelia’s gaze was unwavering. “Give us one month. If we fail, Uncle Henry can take over.”

Henry didn’t have the patience to wait another month and couldn’t wait to take over the company now. He snorted, “One month? You two will ruin the company before the deadline.”

Amelia asked, “How about a bet?”

“A bet? With what?” Henry sneered. “Don’t even think about bringing up the Edwards family. They’re practically bankrupt.”

Amelia said, “Gloria holds 20% of the company’s shares. If the company takes a loss after one month, the shares will go to you, free of charge.”

Gloria’s eyes widened in shock. “Amy, are you out of your mind?”

“Gloria, trust me, and trust Landon,” Amelia said with determination.

Gloria hesitated, her eyes darting to Aaron, and he gave her a silent nod of reassurance.

Taking a deep breath, Gloria finally agreed. “Alright, Amy. I trust you.”

“Deal. I’ll give you another month.” Henry smirked and stood up.

‘In a month, not only will I be running Kingsley Group, but I’ll have an extra 20% of the shares in my pocket. That feels so good. Just let the two women play around for a while. It’ll make my victory even sweeter,‘ Henry thought.

“Gloria, don’t come crying to me when you lose everything,” Donna said with a sharp glare, her eyes flicking between Gloria and Amelia before leaving with the group of people.

As the door closed, Gloria let out a heavy sigh of relief, though her worry quickly returned. “Amy, are you sure about this? Can you really handle it?”

Amelia gave a resolute nod. “We’ve got this. And even if I can’t, Landon will nail it.”

“Alright, then. I’ll leave the company to Landon and you.” Gloria pulled Amelia into a hug, but her eyes carried a bittersweet sadness.

Gloria thought, ‘Aaron said Landon was able to speak occasionally, but I spent an entire day trying to get a word out of him. My voice was hoarse, and he didn’t even respond once. It really breaks my heart.’

After dinner, Amelia carried the stack of documents upstairs. Landon lay silently in bed, though his mind was anything but calm.

He’d overheard enough of the commotion downstairs to piece together what had happened. The frustration of being unable to get up and protect his mother and wife gnawed at him.

As soon as Amelia walked in, he blurted out, “Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?”

“Nope. Brooke was there, so they didn’t dare try anything.” Amelia dropped the pile of documents on the table and flopped onto the couch, launching into full-on rant mode. “Landon, I just realized that being the CEO isn’t that easy.”

Landon raised his eyebrows and asked, “Someone giving you trouble?”

“Your dear uncle tried to smash me with an ashtray. If it weren’t for Brooke, who knows what would’ve happened?” she huffed, crossing her arms.

“Scared now?” he teased with a low chuckle. “Why not just quit and have a baby instead?”

“Scared? Please.” Amelia sneered, “I’ve already died once. What’s there to be afraid of? Your cunning executives wanted to test me. I can’t let them get the upper hand.”

“And what?” Landon prompted, already sensing the storm brewing.

“I brought all the documents back for you,” she said.

Landon clung to a shred of hope and asked, “How many in total?”

“All of them,” she replied, flipping through the pile. “71 files.”

Landon almost blacked out. Internally, he groaned, ‘71 files?! Does she think I’m a machine? As a vegetable, I’m supposed to be resting now, not pulling an all-nighter, okay?‘

“Oh, and another thing," Amelia continued, oblivious to his mounting despair. "I’m sure you heard the commotion downstairs. Your uncle and I made a bet. If the company suffers losses this month, he takes over as CEO, and your mom’s shares will go to him.”

Landon sucked in a sharp breath. “Amelia, are you out of your mind?”

“It was the only way to shut them up.” She shrugged and added, “Besides, I have faith in your abilities.”

Landon screamed in his mind, ‘Faith? Faith won’t save us from a scheming shark like Henry. A bet like this is just asking for trouble, and he’s bound to set traps left and right.’

“Landon,” Amelia said with a sly grin, “it’s all on you now.”

She slipped off her suit, changed into something more comfortable, and plopped down at the table. One by one, she started reading the documents aloud.

For each file, if Landon approved it, she would sign and stamp it. If he rejected it, she’d demand a reason and carefully jot it down in the margins.

It was two in the morning by the time they finished all 71 files. Landon, who hadn’t handled such a workload in ages, felt like his brain was about to fry.

Landon grumbled, “Listen, for any project under 1.5 million dollars, just ask Aaron next time. Don’t take it home.”

“No way,” she shot back. “I’m not risking repeating your mom’s glorious history and handing the company to your uncle.” Landon fell silent. The memory of his mother’s past mistakes was too painful to argue against.

“Let’s call it a day and go to bed. We’ve got who knows what waiting for us tomorrow. Honestly, if it were practical, I’d take you to the office with me,” Amelia sighed.

Landon shouted inwardly, ‘Excuse me? I’m a patient! A vegetable!’

Amelia stacked the completed files neatly and then stretched out on the couch. Within minutes, her soft and uneven breathing filled the room. Even in sleep, she tossed and turned uncomfortably.

Landon watched her for a while before sighing, “Amelia, you might as well sleep on the bed. That couch is awful.”

“Really? Can I?” She rubbed her waist and asked. Having slept on the couch, she felt her waist sore.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Sweet.” Amelia immediately sat up.

Ten minutes later, Landon was dragged onto the couch, while Amelia sprawled across the entire bed like she owned it.