Chapter 181
Sebastian chuckled, "Still, I should at least explain myself."
Abigail looked at the vegetables she had just washed and felt a bit regretful. She had been thinking of telling Sebastian the plan herself, but then she heard him say, "I asked James to take the veggies you washed."
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for him?" Abigail asked.
"You’re overthinking our relationship. James, Warren, and I are friends precisely because we're honest with each other. If he didn't want to do it, he wouldn't have agreed in the first place to help bring you dinner," Sebastian replied.
Abigail genuinely envied that kind of friendship.
"I've got some things to handle here. Eat and rest early. Oh, and thanks for buying toys for my cats," Sebastian said playfully before hanging up.
Abigail smiled from the heart as she watched the kittens chase after the toys.
James soon arrived carrying a pile of takeout. Abigail said to him, "This is way too much – I can't possibly finish it."
"It’s fine. I didn’t know what you liked, so I just bought a variety. Pick what you enjoy," James said as he placed the takeout boxes on the table.
"Thank you, guys," Abigail said as she opened the boxes.
James said, "If you really want to thank me, then just let us know when you're hungry. There's not much in the fridge here, and cooking isn't convenient for you. Besides, you’ve already worked a full day; no need to tire yourself out in the kitchen," he said while handing her a fork.
Abigail took the fork. After a moment of silence, she said to James, "Actually, I’m not feeling great tonight. You probably already know Warren and my grandpa are collaborating again—tonight they redistributed the shares.
"Grandpa told me privately he hopes I’ll take over the CEO position. I don’t know much about business, but I do know Gibson Group is in the tech industry. I don’t really want to run it, but you know what the Gibson family is like.
"He didn’t give Daniella any shares. My mother has been crying and begging me ever since, even got on her knees. I lashed out at her, but honestly, I still feel frustrated."
Abigail didn’t eat; instead, she poured out everything that was weighing on her to James.
“You’ll have responsibilities if you take over the company, but you don’t want them reaping the rewards of your hard work, especially now that Mrs. Gibson wants Daniella to benefit from the dividends too. That makes it worse, doesn’t it?” James said calmly.
Abigail nodded. “This company is my grandpa’s life’s work. If I’m going to take over, I have to follow through with his original vision. But what I really want is to focus on my own projects and not get entangled in all this.”
The biggest problem with Gibson Group right now is that Gabriel and Christian are both incapable of managing the company.
Abigail knew that – even if she couldn’t handle it alone, she still had Warren, Sebastian, and James to consult. But it was precisely because they mattered to her that she didn’t want the rest of the Gibson family squandering the fruits of their labor.
“I think you can talk to Seb about this, but I can also give you a starting strategy now – launch a high-risk business division and let the target shareholders either fund or guarantee it,” James said.
“How?” Abigail asked immediately.
James said, “There are many subsidiaries under Gibson Group. You can assign one to each of them, and then assign them high-risk ventures.
"Eventually, those ventures will crash, and as shareholders of the subsidiaries, they’ll bear all the losses and liability. The parent company will stay untouched. You can even sweeten the deal for them, get them to throw everything into it." James smiled slyly.
“I think I get it now,” Abigail blinked.
James said, “What you need to do first is bind them tightly to their respective subsidiaries. In truth, those companies are just shells with no real assets. Once the venture collapses, everything they own will be seized by the banks.”
James leaned back on the couch. “And at that point, you can just blame them for mismanagement. Then when the time comes for dividend distribution, use their cut to patch up the hole in the funds. Of course, for the specifics, you’ll need to work those out carefully with Seb,” he added.
He looked at Abigail with genuine approval. “Abby, you’re finally learning how to fight back. If you’ve made up your mind, you have to strike hard. You need to use this move to make the Gibson family bow to you.”
“I actually thought about it back when I was in prison—if I ever got the chance, I’d fight back,” Abigail said softly. But back then, the company was under Gabriel’s control. She had no way to even get close to the core.