The Rich and Furious Son-in-law - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: You Bought It Off The Street
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Raymond reminded his grandma, and she gave him an assuring look calmly, telling him not to worry.
Before the death of Lumi’s grandpa, he handed the management of Mears Corporation to Lumi. Even Grandma had no right to intervene.
But Grandma was not too happy with Grandpa’s decision.
So for the past two to three years, Lumi’s grandma had secretly persuaded her sons and some shareholders to seize power today.
It just so happened that the company was experiencing financial difficulty. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Therefore, naturally, Grandma would not want to miss it.
After calming down her emotion, Grandma let out a faint smile. “You have grown up and seem to have your own opinion now, Lumi. So much so that you would get angry when I say something that you don’t like. Fine. Since you wanted to protect your husband, I have nothing more to say. But today is my birthday. Why don’t you two stay and have a meal first before leaving?”
Grandma had compromised for now as this was not the time yet. Several of Lumi’s uncles and aunts had not yet arrived. When everyone—including the shareholders—was here, she would make her move against Lumi.
Lumi also compromised, since her grandma had softened her stance.
Lumi’s parents died when she was small. It was her grandpa and grandma who raised her. Lumi could not bring herself to fall out with her grandma for now.
…
When Ryan left the living room to come outside the villa compound, he dialed Archer’s number. “Mr. Morton, I need every detail about the core members of the Mears Corporation… you know what I mean; those dirty things that they have done… Also, about Moore Corporation…”
The Fletcher family was the most powerful family on the planet. Archer had been operating in the Southwest for so long. So it was a piece of cake for him to get insider information about these families.
“OK, Mr. Fletcher. You will receive the information on your phone in a minute,” Archer said with no hesitation. The purpose of Fletcher Sr. sending him to the Southwest was to assist Ryan. So Archer had already done his homework.
Ryan came to Lumi’s BMW, opened the door, and looked under the front seat. As expected, the gift box was there.
He picked up the gift box. When he came back into the living room, there were a few groups of people, some of whom Ryan knew, such as Lumi’s first and second uncle, aunt, and a few whom Ryan did not know, had arrived.
Ryan took the gift box, came up to hand it to Grandma with respect. “Happy birthday, Grandma.”
Grandma was sitting in the main seat. As she opened the gift box and took the content out, a pair of fiery red earrings, crystal clear, like a burning flame under the light, appeared in front of her eyes.
The earrings felt warm and sleek in her hands, giving her a very pleasing feeling.
Although Grandma did not know the material the earrings were made of, she—as the family’s matriarch—knew that this was something valuable. She fell in love with this pair of earrings at first glance.
She did not display her feelings on her face. Instead, she put the earrings on the table beside her. “Thank you, both of you.”
Raymond could not believe that Ryan had come up with another pair of earrings. The shape of these earrings was very similar to yesterday’s pair, but they were not the same pair.
Where did Ryan and Lumi get the money to buy another pair of earrings of the same value?
Raymond had sent someone to investigate Lumi before. She had injected the ten-million-dollar savings she originally owned into the company. Ryan was a waiter at a bar. He should not have that kind of money.
Seeing the pair of red earrings, Raymond’s eyes flashed with jealousy. At first, he was here to embarrass Lumi and Ryan so that Ryan would make himself scarce.
“This is a gift to you from Ryan, Grandma. Hope you like it.” Lumi said with respect, then winked at Ryan. Apparently, Lumi wanted to give all the credit to him so that Grandma would change her perception of Ryan.
Raymond thought he had finally put two and two together, that it was Ryan who bought the earrings.
He took two steps forward, picked up the earrings from the table, and weighed them in his hand. “Oh, I didn’t know that it was my good brother-in-law who bought it. Did you buy it off the street for two bucks?”
Ryan frowned as Raymond kept poking at him like an annoying fly. After handing the earrings to Grandma just now, Ryan had checked his phone and quickly browsed through the personal files of each of the Mears family members.
It just so happened that he saw the dirty secret of Raymond.
“We are a family, Raymond. Do we have to go against each other?” Ryan looked at him with interest. In the Mears family, Raymond had never bothered to conceal his ambitions. He always wanted to seize control of the Mears Corporation.
It was a pity that his ability was not as high as his ambition. His grandma might have assigned him an important position within the Mears Corporation, but he kept messing one thing up after another. So he had little reputation in the company.
Raymond glanced at Ryan with a contemptuous look. “We are family? You are just—” Raymond choked back when he saw Lumi glaring at him. It would be too embarrassing if she slapped him again.
“Tell us, Ryan, how much did you buy these earrings for?” Instead of continuing what he had said before, Raymond changed the subject.
How much did he buy the earrings for?
This question stumped Ryan, as it was Preston Parker who gave it to him. Preston said it was worth eight million dollars, but his gut feeling told him that those earrings were worth way far more than that.
“A few hundred thousand dollars, I guess?” Ryan made up a figure.
Raymond looked triumphant as if he now had something on him. “What do you mean ‘I guess’? You must have bought the earrings off the street for a few dollars. Just admit it. Hmph! Take a look, everyone, there is not even a price tag on the earrings. He might as well say it is worth a few million! A loser is always a loser. Keep your eyes open, Lumi.”
Raymond waved the earrings in front of everyone. There was not a single tag or sign on the earrings, and it did indeed look like stuff off the street.
“Did you two really buy earrings that are worth a few dollars off the street for Grandma, Lumi? That is so unbecoming of you,” Lillian Meyer, Lumi’s aunt, said. “Like I said before, Ryan is trash. Trash is trash, no matter how you look at it. Yet you didn’t believe me.”
“Not that I want to single you out, Lumi. You shouldn’t have married a scum like Ryan since you are in charge of Mears Corporation. While everyone is here today, divorce him. I think Allan suits you more,” Lumi’s third uncle said.
“Look at Ryan; he is a loser. What can he bring you? He is living off you. He is dragging you down and making the company the way it is now. As long as you divorce him, we all guarantee that we will throw our support behind you to continue to lead the company and help you grow the company as it should be.”
…
Everyone took this opportunity to bombard Lumi and Ryan.
Raymond stood on the side and watched on with a smug smile on his face.
This was the effect he wanted.
Meanwhile, Grandma sitting on the chair was silent and did not stop their ridiculing act.
Lumi looked over at Ryan. “I’m sorry, Ryan. I shouldn’t have brought you here today.”
