Chapter 211

Debra remained unfazed. Melody had lived her entire life as a refined lady, never having to work a day, with enough wealth to last several generations. The concept of financial worry was foreign to her. In her past life, Debra had been much the same. She had believed that the security of the Frazier family and her marriage to Juan would ensure a life free of worry. But she had been wrong. The Frazier family’s reliability was an illusion, and Juan was even less dependable. Having experienced the harsh reality of financial desperation, Debra was determined never to find herself in that position again.

She pulled up a chair and sat down across from Melody. Melody seemed taken aback, unaccustomed to anyone, much less Debra, sitting in her presence without her explicit permission. Debra maintained her smile. “Grandma, don’t be upset. I’m simply going out to work at our family’s company, managing things a bit. There’s nothing shameful about it. You shouldn’t worry about me. You should be worried about Juan. His company has recently lost several projects to the McKinney Group. This means the company will probably lose quite a bit of money. I’m working to help support the family.”

Melody’s brow furrowed, her confusion evident. “What do you mean by that? A tiny McKinney Group? I’ve never even heard of it in my lifetime. It can’t possibly force the Nichols Group to lose projects. Even if this small company makes a splash for a while and the Nichols Group loses money, we can afford it. We don’t need you to work to support us.”

Debra’s smile grew slightly. “I know, the Nichols family is wealthy. A few hundred billion in losses isn’t a big deal, right?”

“What did you say? A few hundred billion?” she asked, thinking she had misheard.

Debra acted as if everything were perfectly normal, her tone conversational. “Yes, a few hundred billion. Grandma, you must have heard of it.”

Melody shot up, her breath coming in short gasps. “How could we lose so much money? What’s going on?”

Debra leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving Melody’s face. “I heard that the McKinney Group opened a commercial street that directly competed with the Nichols Group’s new commercial city plans. This led to a lack of interest when it finally opened. Also, several companies that had previously partnered with Juan have withdrawn and gone to the McKinney Group, working on many projects in the same industry as the Nichols Group.”

She let her words hang in the air, watching as Melody’s expression shifted. “Grandma, think about it. The city is so small, and the pie is only so big. It used to be that Juan had the whole pie, but now the McKinney Group has taken a big chunk. How can the Nichols Group’s losses be small? I’m only estimating a few hundred billion. It might even be more in the future.”

Melody’s face turned pale when suddenly the door creaked open. Juan walked in, and Melody rushed over to slap him. “Tell me, how much have we lost now?”

Juan took the slap without flinching, his gaze immediately finding Debra. She sat there, her smile faint but unmistakable. He realized then that this was all her doing.