The manager sighed and said, “Miss Hudson, when Mr. Hudson was alive, the company was thriving, and we rarely faced employee resignations. Graduates from prestigious universities used to compete to work here. However, in the past few years, Mr. Grantham has utterly destroyed the company’s reputation. It has become challenging to attract excellent employees, and our staff turnover rate has been steadily increasing. Now, with Mr. Grantham’s scandal, the company’s share price has plummeted. At this point, I’m afraid it’s unlikely we’ll be able to recruit new employees.”
“What if we offer a higher salary?” Estelle inquired.
The manager smiled bitterly and replied, “Other companies are continuously raising their staff’s salaries, and we can’t match them. Over the years, Mr. Grantham has repeatedly reduced our staff’s salaries due to poor management and continuous losses. Additionally, the cash flow problem from the gem project has left us with insufficient funds to pay the employees’ wages this month.”
Upon hearing this, Estelle couldn’t help but curse York in her heart.
All the fruits of the painstaking efforts of Dad and Cristofer’s parents were ruined by York in just six years.
What a black sheep!
At this time, she received a message from Mr. Mysterious.
‘Some retail investors were selling off your company’s stock at a low price. I have asked someone to go bottom fishing. Don’t push ahead with any project for the time being. Remember, without destroying the old, one cannot build the new.’
Estelle knew what he meant. Then she said to the manager, “I see. You may go back to work first.”
The manager hesitated for a while, then took out a resignation and put it on Estelle’s desk respectfully.
“Miss Hudson, this is my resignation. I really want to go through thick and thin together with the company, but I’m sorry I can’t. I need money to support my family.”
Estelle was lost for words.
After being silent for a while, Estelle finally nodded.
The manager had been with the company since its inception and was her father’s, right-hand man. Despite facing salary cuts and witnessing the company’s decline due to York’s mismanagement over the past six years, he remained loyal to the company.
“Alright. As a token of appreciation for your years of service to our company, I’ll have the finance department pay you a yearly salary,” Estelle said gratefully.
“Thank you, Miss Hudson.”
“Shall we exchange contact information?” Estelle proposed. “If the company improves in the future, you’re welcome back at any time.”
The manager was touched by her words. “Miss Hudson, when you said that, your expression and actions reminded me of Mr. Hudson,” he remarked.
“Really?”
“Yes. I worked for him for so many years, and I’m very familiar with him.” The manager said sincerely, “Miss Hudson if you need my help in the future, call me at any time. I will try my best to help you.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
After the manager left, Estelle rubbed her temples with a weary look.
She failed to turn the tide. York ruined the fruit of her father’s painstaking efforts in the end.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Are you feeling sad?” Mr. Mysterious asked, “Let me tell you some good news. York can’t hold on any longer and is selling off his stock.”
Hearing this, Estelle clenched her phone and sat up straight. “He’s selling off his stock?”
“Yes, the stock of the Hudson Group has hit the limit down. Many retail investors can’t bear it anymore. Neither can York. He wants to sell off all his stock.”
“If we take the opportunity to buy the stock back, we will get the company back, right?”
“It’s not us, but you,” Mr. Mysterious clarified. “I’ve opened an account for you in a European bank, and there is a seven-figure sum in it. With the current share price of the Hudson group at its lowest, the money is enough for you to buy all of York’s shares. By doing so, you’ll hold twenty-five percent of the shares in the merged company, and after I buy the shares from the retail investors for you, you’ll become the controlling shareholder of the company.”
Estelle was so shocked by his initial statement that she didn’t hear the rest of his words carefully.
“You opened an account for me and deposited a seven-figure sum in it?” she asked, her eyes wide open in astonishment.
“Yes, I can only get so much money for you for the time being. If you need more, I’ll try to…”
“No, no, no. That’s enough for me. That’s enough,” Estelle said, her voice trembling with excitement. “Sir…”
“Estelle, I know what you want to say, but it’s not the time to talk about this. Your top priority now is to get the company back first. As for the other things, let’s talk about them later, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Come on. I’ll send you the name and password of the account. You must buy the stock as soon as possible in case York changes his mind.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, Estelle logged into the bank account.
Then she saw a long string of numbers in the balance column and surprisingly found that the money was seven-figure euros, which was more than ten million euros.
Without hesitation, she checked the trend of stock prices of the company.
At this moment, a large proportion of the shares of the company were sold off.
Knowing York was selling off his stock, Estelle held her breath and waited quietly, fixing her eyes on the screen.
The company’s stock price had dropped from sixty dollars to thirteen dollars, and it was still falling.
Soon, York, who seemed to have decided to give up the company, sold off all his stock.
Estelle then seized the opportunity and bought all the stock at once.
The transaction was completed just before the trading market closed.
The dust had finally settled.
Six years had passed, and Estelle finally got the Hudson Group back.
As she stared at the screen, she felt an overwhelming rush of excitement, causing her heart to beat rapidly. She couldn’t contain her emotions and had the urge to cry tears of joy.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
“Estelle, where are you now?” Aurora’s voice came from the other end of the line.
Feeling a lump in her throat, Estelle adjusted her emotions and said softly, “I’m in the company. What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Just now, a few policemen came to our house. Melody and Gretchen were arrested on suspicion of murder and taken away by them. Did you call the police?” Aurora inquired.
‘It was surely Mr. Mysterious,’ Estelle thought.
“Did the police say anything else?” Estelle asked back instead.
“Well, they said that we’ll receive a summons in two days and asked us to appear in court on time.”