“Bruno, are we not going to end up shooting ourselves in the foot?” Fanny suddenly felt that what she had previously embarked on with Bruno didn’t seem like a good idea.
In reality, Bruno was taking a gamble. He had planned the car accident, hoping Grandma would die, but she miraculously survived. This unforeseen turn of events had forced him to shift the blame onto others to avoid suspicion.
“Fanny, don’t worry. Even if we can’t completely destroy Leo and Sophia this time, we can still make things very difficult for them,” Bruno said with resentment.
Bruno was well aware that even by framing Leo and Sophia for the car accident, it wouldn’t be enough to completely bring them down. He knew from their long-standing battles with Leo and Sophia that to truly defeat them, he needed to unite all the forces he could.
Now, Bruno had Patrick’s support. Patrick had rallied several cosmetic companies under Langstel and was prepared to launch a deadly attack on Sophia through the acquisition of her company’s shares. Once Sophia’s cosmetics company was ruined, she would be the scapegoat, and the old Mrs. Henley would certainly exile her from the family. At that point, Bruno could happily watch Leo and Sophia begging for food on the streets.
At half-past nine, the old Mrs. Henley, leaning on her walking cane, walked into the meeting room.
As soon as the old Mrs. Henley entered, the discussions stopped, and everyone rose from their seats to pay their respects to her.
Even after the car accident, even with the old Mrs. Henley looking somewhat frail and aged, her authoritative presence remained undiminished.
As long as the old Mrs. Henley lived and held the positions of chairman and clan leader, no one dared to show disrespect to her.
The old Mrs. Henley walked to the main seat and surveyed the room.
Everyone respectfully greeted her based on their respective ranks before taking their seats.
After the old Mrs. Henley settled in her chair and set down her cane, her gaze fell on an empty seat, and she asked in a solemn tone, “Where’s Sophia? Why isn’t she at the meeting?”
“Grandma, every time there’s a family council meeting, Sophia is either absent or late. It seems she doesn’t take these meetings seriously at all. She has no sense of organization!” Bruno criticized.
Fanny, as usual, chimed in, “Bruno is right. People like Sophia, who are disorganized and undisciplined, should be severely punished.”
Teresa cleared her throat and her gaze turned icy.
“Mom, you’ve just been discharged from the hospital, and now you’re exerting yourself for family matters. You must take care of your health.”
“Grandma, attending a family council meeting despite your condition, while Sophia doesn’t even show up, is truly outrageous! I believe she should be exiled from the family!”
With Bruno leading the way, the Henley family members started to criticize Sophia and Leo. The old Mrs. Henley remained silent, unfazed by their accusations.
Just then, the meeting room door opened, and Leo and Sophia walked in.
All eyes instantly focused on the two of them, and the intensity of the glares was unsettling.
The reason for this hostile attitude towards Leo and Sophia was the rumor Bruno had spread – that the car accident was somehow linked to them.
Leo, that useless guy, is following Sophia again. His audacity is thicker than the city walls!
A mouse dropping spoils the whole pot of soup. I bet it’s Leo, our family’s bad luck charm, causing our recent business downturn.
If it weren’t for the family council meeting today, I’d love to give him a piece of my mind!
Leo paid no heed to the insults from the Henley family members. In his view, there was no need to pay attention to these barking mad dogs.
“Grandma!” Leo and Sophia called out to Teresa.
Teresa merely raised her aged eyes and glanced at them without any visible reaction.
The truth was, the old Mrs. Henley had mixed feelings. During her time in the hospital, she had learned the entire process of her rescue, including the fact that Leo had pulled her back from the brink of death. While Teresa still didn’t particularly like Leo, she couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of gratitude deep down for him.
Once Sophia took her seat, Leo moved to his “exclusive” corner and settled in.
Leo attended the family council meetings with Sophia every time to ensure her safety, preventing the unruly family members from attacking her.
“Sophia, I notified you about today’s family meeting yesterday morning. Why are you late?” the old Mrs. Henley scolded Sophia, showing her displeasure.
“Grandma, there was a traffic accident that caused a roadblock…”
“That’s enough, no excuses for being late!” the old Mrs. Henley interrupted. “Your company was running smoothly, and yet you initiated a stock reform! Now your shares have been maliciously acquired. Are you planning to let someone else control our Henley Group’s subsidiaries?”
“Grandma, I’m currently working on resolving this matter. I believe that Sophia Cosmetics can overcome this crisis,” Sophia replied firmly.
“I don’t want your belief; I want to see concrete actions! Tell me, how do you plan to handle this?” the old Mrs. Henley pressed.
“Grandma, I’ve recently implemented a stock reform in the company, and shortly afterward, we encountered this malicious takeover. It’s clear that someone has set a trap for us,” Sophia had already seen through the situation.
Bruno couldn’t contain himself and loudly interjected, “Even if it’s a trap, you’ve already fallen into it. Don’t beat around the bush, grandma is asking you for solutions!”
Bruno had assumed that today’s family council meeting was going to address the issue of the old Mrs. Henley’s car accident, but he hadn’t expected the old Mrs. Henley to bring up Sophia’s company right away. If that’s how it was, he needed to find a way to connect the two issues.
Seeing Sophia temporarily at a loss for words, Bruno sneered with a strange accent, “Sophia, you don’t look the least bit worried. You must have already figured out how to solve your problems, right? Perhaps by using Henley Group assets, for instance.”
“Bruno, what do you mean?” Sophia glared at Bruno.
“Don’t pretend. You know exactly what I mean,” Bruno said, locking eyes with Sophia. “To resolve the issues your company is facing, you need to leverage Henley Group. If grandma gets into trouble, you can then find a way to control Henley Group. This way, your company’s shares being maliciously acquired will be a thing of the past.”