The entire morning, the Jean Group staff scrambled to prepare for the shareholder meeting.

After breakfast, Ross headed straight to the office, while Shermaine and Joshua headed to York residence to visit Owen.

At York residence, Owen sat stewing in frustration. He couldn’t understand why his youngest sister, Sarah, who had practically cut ties after her distant marriage, still hadn’t returned to her husband’s side. Instead, she kept dragging that nuisance Kylie around.

Worse, Kylie hadn’t technically done anything offensive. For the sake of the York family’s dignity, Owen couldn’t just kick them out.

“Mr. York, what are you up to? Need help?” Kylie smiled sweetly, walking over in her frilly dress.

Owen’s skin crawled when he heard her voice. He tossed a handful of corn into the chicken coop. His plump birds were still waiting for their destined role in Shermaine’s soup pot.

The moment Kylie caught wind of the coop’s pungent aroma, her smile stiffened.

She thought, ‘The York family is Basterel’s first family, yet Owen keeps chickens and grows vegetables like some peasant.’ Disdain was in her eyes before she smoothed it over.

Her reasons for lingering in Basterel were simple–kill Shermaine and steal Joshua. Her grandmother, Sarah, fully supported this, hoping Kylie would defeat Shermaine. That was why Sarah kept bringing Kylie to York residence, trying to win Owen’s favor.

Coincidentally, in August, the organization had assigned Kylie a new mission. She needed to infiltrate Joseph Brightman’s secret lab in Wallington and help him resolve the bottlenecks in his longevity plan.

Owen found Kylie utterly insufferable. Her barely concealed disgust clashed with her saccharine act. “I’ll be fertilizing the vegetable patch later. Care to help?”

Kylie froze.

“What? Not willing?” Owen pressed.

Forcing a smile, Kylie said, “Of course I do, Mr. York. I’ve just never done it before.”

“Then start by weeding,” Owen said, pointing to the overgrown plot.

“Right away,” Kylie beamed, misinterpreting his request as acceptance. She thought, ‘If I impress him later, he’ll see my worth.’

When Joshua arrived at York residence with Shermaine, they found Sarah lounging in the hall. Her initial delight at seeing Joshua vanished the moment she noticed Shermaine.

The butler greeted them. “Good morning, Mr. York. Mrs. York.”

“Where’s my grandpa?” Joshua asked.

“He’s in the backyard,” the butler replied.

Joshua led Shermaine over.

Sarah’s jaw tightened at the butler’s use of “Mrs. York” for Shermaine. Sarah thought, ‘They’re not even married yet.’ But she held her tongue, praying Kylie would win Owen over and expose Shermaine’s promiscuity.

In the backyard, Owen stood under the sun, his wide-brimmed hat shielding him as he barked orders at Kylie, who was crouched on the ground pulling weeds. “Faster.”

He took a swig of water and continued directing her. “Be careful. Don’t trample my cabbages.” Those were for Shermaine’s dinners, after all.

Kylie’s designer dress was now sweat-soaked and dirt-streaked, her makeup melting. She bit back curses until Shermaine’s voice shattered her composure.

Shermaine thought, ‘Kylie is still here. Looks like she won’t give up on Joshua so easily!’

With a small smile, she greeted, “Hi, Owen.”