Five percent of Garcia Corporation’s shares? How much was that? Elena had no idea about that at all.
She blinked at the old master. “How much is that in cash?”
Milo felt uneasy. Even though he was also fond of Elena, Old Master Garcia would never joke about something like that. Five percent of Garcia Corporation’s shares! That was also how much the Garcia family’s Eldest Young Master and the two Young Misses had! Had the old master gone crazy? The rest of the family would go mad if they found out about it. After all, Elena was only the daughter of Ava’s adoptive parents. She was not the old master’s real granddaughter!
Butler Milo also did not expect the old master to answer Elena so seriously. “Well, according to the price of the current market, five percent of our share is about 50 billion dollars.”
“Fifty… billion?” Elena almost fainted when she heard the figure. She was overwhelmed; she could not imagine if she were to own that much money!
“Grandfather, please don’t joke with me. My heart can’t take it.” She placed her palm over her heart.
“I am not joking with you.”
He had blurted the question on an impulse, but he did not regret it. He wanted to give five percent of his shares to Elena. The old master might not have believed in destinies or superstitions, but he believed in fate. He was fated to know Elena, and they were destined to meet!
Ava might have been his granddaughter; the DNA tests had proved that. However, he admitted to himself that he only felt guilty toward Ava instead of love. As for Elena, he liked her wholeheartedly!
When he was back in City L, he had missed that young lady every day, and he had wished that he could go back to Bentson to visit her. Butler Milo knew about it; they had even bought a ticket to go back to Bentson the week after that. Old Master Garcia thought that Elena could not make it to the banquet, and so he wanted to visit her the week after that. He was pleasantly surprised when she turned up in City L.
“Elena, as long as you are willing to stay here with me, I will immediately transfer those five percent to you!”
There was no need to wait until Monday; he would go to the office immediately, get a lawyer, and transfer it to her! Elena sighed when she realized that he was serious.
She smiled faintly. “Grandfather, do you think our relationship can be measured with money?”
“Elena…” The old master was flustered. He did not mean to vilify her kindness; he only wanted to keep her with him.
“If I were to stay here with you for 50 billion, is this really the type of relationship that you wanted for us?”
The old man did not say anything; he was touched.
“Let’s not talk about money. It makes me feel uncomfortable.” Elena looked at the lake in front of them and sighed. “You have a gorgeous home…”
There were gentle ripples on the surface of the lake, and it was a sight to behold.
“Some time ago, they had a lake like this in the Williams estate. Old Madam Williams liked to have the maids push her around the lake in her wheelchair.”
She walked toward the lake, and her slender figure gradually disappeared into the distance. The old man just stared at her back; his eyes narrowed.
“Do you really want to transfer the shares to Miss Ava next week?” Butler Milo stood beside him as they watched Elena walk further away from them.
The old man nodded. “It would have been Harley’s anyway.”
Those ten percent shares were intended for Harley. He had rejected his son’s request to be with Talia because the young lady was not from a prominent family. The father and son had a dispute, and Old Master Garcia has refused to transfer the shares to his son. Then, the shares had been transferred to his daughter instead.
“Old Master…” Butler Milo wanted to comfort him, but he did not know what to say.
“We have been friends for so many years. Do you still hold your tongue?” Old Master Garcia glared at him. Butler Milo sighed quietly. If it were about something else, he would not have hesitated. However, it was a comment about Ava, and he knew how the old master felt about her.
The old master thought he had owed Ava, and he wanted to repay his debt. Butler Milo had a lot to say about that, but he felt there was no need for that.
Yet he felt uncomfortable that he had to keep his opinions to himself.
In the end, Butler Milo chose to speak up. “Old Master, I have sent people to investigate the three accidents that Miss Ava had encountered.”
“I can’t find a piece of useful information about any of them at all. Just like this time, Miss Ava is not willing to tell us what had happened.”
“I retrieved all the surveillance footage from the areas that she had visited today. There was a traffic accident where someone was killed, and there was a police record.”
“There was no information about Miss Ava on the scene, and there was no record of her in the surveillance footage.”
After the detailed explanation from Butler Milo, did the old master fail to understand why he had brought it up? Ava and Grace had made up the stories about the accidents. Ava had not wanted them to investigate any of the accidents. She did not cooperate with them, and she was even reluctant to disclose the location of her supposed accidents.
The old master still had a sliver of hope before everything that transpired that day. However, when Ava asked about the shares, how could he not know what was on her mind?
“If Ava had fabricated the stories about her accidents…”
“So what if she did?” The old master seemed to have grown older by the minute. The wind blew on him, and he felt a hint of desolation. Butler Milo’s heart ached for the old master. He should have been thrilled to have found his granddaughter. He should be content, so why was he unhappy?
After they brought Ava back with them, there were rifts and estrangement between the family members. It was as if good times no longer existed.
Old Master Garcia sighed. “She only wanted what was originally reserved for Joseph. Since she’s his only child, it was only right that I leave his inheritance to her.”
Even if Ava did not mention anything about the shares, he would have transferred those shares to her in a year or so, after she had graduated from university.
“Milo, don’t worry about these things. It’s all hers, isn’t it?”
The old man adjusted his state of mind and walked toward Elena. Butler Milo trailed behind him, but he dragged his feet. He was not the old master, so he did not have the same profound feelings for Ava.
If he were to look at the family from an outsider’s perspective, it did not do them much good to have found the long lost granddaughter. Ava had claimed that someone in the Garcia household had wanted to harm her. She had also made up stories about accidents so that the old master would transfer the shares to her.
Old Master Garcia could not see through that, and even if he did, what could he possibly do to her? He owed her that much. He hoped that the shares would pacify her flair for drama. He wanted the warmth and peace restored in the family.
Old Master Garcia was no longer a young man. He wanted to enjoy happiness in the world for whatever time he had left. Hopefully, Ava could feel the love and favor that the old master had showered upon her. Butler Milo hoped that she would be more sincere toward her grandfather in the future.