Chapter 133 Pretend To Be Poor In Front Of Him


    Edmund thundered at the other end of the line. He said that in addition to Lucian, Jonny had stirred up


    all the shareholders of the An Group, forcing Edmund to give up his position as the CEO.


    Emma''s hand quivered when she heard Shelly''s question—so much so that she almost spilled her


    porridge. Thankfully, she was quickly able to gather herself. Smiling, she said, "You just woke up. You


    shouldn''t be thinking about these things yet."


    Shelly pushed the bowl away, her eyes gleaming in anger. "Am I really your daughter? Why is it that


    you''re so focused on protecting your son so much?"


    Back when Shelly was still a child, she felt as if Emma didn''t really care about her. Although Emma was


    kind to her, it wasn''t really the same as how she was with Jonny. It seemed as if Emma cared more


    about Jonny than she did Shelly.


    Emma''s face darkened. She apologized, "I''m sorry. I neglected your feelings all these years."


    "Do you think that''s enough?" Shelly sneered as she red at her mother, eyes filled with


    resentfulness. "What? Have you been waiting for this day all your life? You willingly take insults and


    humiliation just so your son can have the power in the family? Are you proud, huh?"


    Surprised, Emma didn''t expect that Shelly, at her young age, would be upying her mind with these


    kinds of things and assumptions.


    "Shelly, we''re family, not enemies." This only made Shelly even angrier.


    "Family?" Shelly snorted and bit back, "Did you ever hug me?"


    "Shelly, I know I wasn''t exactly the perfect mother to you but trust me when I say that I love you and


    Jonny equally," Emma exined anxiously. She just wanted to let Shelly know how much she loved her


    amidst all this.


    "You don''t need to exin yourself to me because you''re a hypocrite!" Shelly kept her gaze fixed on


    Emma, her eyes icy cold.


    Emma trembled, bitterness filling her heart.


    Meanwhile, the door of the ward suddenly flew open. Emma figured it was Jonny since she''d called him


    when Shelly woke up.


    "Dad..." Shelly called, her voice revealing that she was upset.


    While Emma was surprised, she kept herposure on the outside.


    She knew that it was Shelly who had called Edmund because she definitely didn''t.


    "Does your head still hurt? Are you feeling any better?" Edmund walked to Shelly''s bedside, took her


    hand, and looked at her with concern.


    As Emma watched this entire scene unfold, she couldn''t help but feel warm in her heart. Seeing


    Edmund like this was a nice change to his usual demeanor.


    "Can you leave?" Shelly said snidely as she cast Emma a cold nce.


    Temporarily taken aback, Emma nodded and handed the bowl of porridge to Edmund. "She just woke


    up so she needs to eat."


    Edmund looked coldly at Emma as he took the bowl. Disgruntled, he said, "Looks like your son''s


    be more capable."


    His voice wasced with irony which hurt Emma deeply.


    "Well, her son''s capable because his mother encourages him," Shelly chimed in, echoing Edmund''s


    sentiments.


    Emma felt as if a knife was cutting through her heart. However, she was already used to being


    misunderstood so she had no problems dealing with the pain.


    "Dad, is the An Group really going to be owned by Jonny now?" Shelly asked anxiously as soon as


    Emma left.


    She didn''t care who took control of the An Group. The only thing she cared about was her marriage


    with Lucian even though it was only a business deal.


    Edmund looked worried upon hearing this. Growing anxious, he frowned as he spoke, "Lucian is...


    definitely not on our side. They have something on me. If I don''t do as they say, I could end up in jail."


    At this point, Edmund was trapped—there was no way this whole situation was going to turn out in his


    favor and his priority right now was keeping himself safe.


    "Are you saying that you''re going to give up the An Group already?" Shelly asked in horror, her heart


    pounding in her chest.


    "Why would I want to do that willingly? The An Group is my life''s work. If I had my way, this wouldn''t be


    happening. I just can''t understand how it''s slowly slipping away from my hands." Edmund didn''t want to


    be in this power struggle with Jonny anymore. If they continued like this, it was going to be a matter of


    life and death for both of them. He knew that everything he had worked hard for in his entire life was for


    Jonny but it seemed that Jonny''s prioritiesy elsewhere. Jonny was doing all of this as revenge on


    behalf of Emma.


    "I''m begging you. Please think of a way! There has to be another way!" Shelly urged him. Tears welling


    up, she added, "I can''t lose Lucian. What do I have to live for if I don''t have him with me?"


    "Don''t even mention that name to me!" Edmund snapped, eyes furious.


    If it were not for Lucian''s help, Jonny never could have roped in all those shareholders of the An Group.


    Shelly grew quiet upon hearing this. When Edmund had noticeably calmed down, she asked cautiously,


    "Dad, can you think of a way to give Lucian a hard time?"


    "A hard time?" Edmund was immediately lost in thought. A bit nervous, his eyes lit up as if he''d thought


    of something. After a momentary pause, he finally spoke, "Well, you were injured because of Lucian.


    You can use that to your advantage. Threaten him if you have to so you can get what you want."


    With that, Edmund felt as if Shelly had given him new insights which put him in a much better mood.


    Nodding in agreement, Shelly said, "All right, dad, do what you have to do but I really don''t believe


    Lucian is as cold-hearted as you believe he is."


    "In that case, you have to figure out his weakness then so we can hit him where it hurts," Edmund


    added.


    "Dad, don''t worry. I''m willing to do anything for the man I love." She was ready to risk everything


    because that was how much she loved Lucian.


    Just as they had finished talking, someone came knocking on the door.


    Briefly exchanging nces, Edmund opened the door.


    "What are you doing here?" With a hint of displeasure in his tone, Edmund turned around and said to


    Shelly, "Shelly, now that the person you''ve been wanting to see is here, I''ll get going then."


    "Dad..." Shelly eximed, pretending to be upset.


    "Be good to my daughter..." Before leaving, he reached out and patted Lucian on the shoulder.


    Lucian couldn''t help but be a little confused. With the way things were going at the An Group, he would


    have expected that Edmund would be more hostile towards him, not calm like this.


    The room reeked of the smell of disinfectant fluid, the air extremely chilly.


    Lucian stood in front of the bed as he asked Shelly in concern, "How are you feeling now? Is there


    something wrong?"


    After all, Lucian med himself for her ident so when he spoke, his tone was soft and gentle.


    However, the care he showed Shelly waspletely tonic, the same way he would care for a sister.


    This gentle tone did not go unnoticed by Shelly. Her once knitted brows immediately smoothed out as a


    smile spread across her face. "Lucian, don''t worry. I''m not ming you."


    She only said this in an attempt to please Lucian but it seemed as if it didn''t work as in his mind, he


    was frowning.


    N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    "Oh, Lucian, my father was just about to feed me porridge when you arrived. He already left so would


    you mind helping me?" Shelly pleaded as she nced at the bowl of porridge sitting on the table. She


    tried her best to look as miserable as possible in order to gain Lucian''s sympathy.


    Catching sight of the bowl of porridge, Lucian had no choice but to agree.


    When Lucian grabbed the bowl, a glimmer of hope immediately arose in Shelly''s eyes. In excitement,


    she was already racking her mind for a way to stop Lucian from leaving.


    "Open your mouth," Lucian said emotionlessly as he fed a spoonful of porridge to Shelly''s mouth.


    Shelly came to herself immediately and obediently opened her mouth.


    Before Shelly could even swallow the porridge, the door of the ward flew open once again as Jonny


    entered followed by Emma.


    The moment Shelly caught sight of the two, the smile on her face evaporated as it was reced with


    dissatisfaction in her eyes.


    "Shelly, Jonny came here especially to see you." Emma was trying her best to repair Shelly and


    Jonny''s broken rtionship these years.


    "Well, I don''t want to see him," Shelly refused without hesitation.


    Jonny''s face was unreadable. He said lightly, "Well, since you''re angry with me that means that this


    isn''t anything serious. Lucian, let''s go."


    "Jonny, you''re free toe and go as you please but you have no right to take Lucian with you." Shelly


    grew furious at the thought of Jonny taking Lucian with him.


    "Shelly, don''t get mad. Your brother only wants to talk with Lucian because they''re in business together.


    That''s it. It doesn''t mean anything else," Emma tried to exin.


    This only provoked Shelly further especially that Emma was once again defending Jonny. Her eyes full


    of resentment, she snapped, "You always take Jonny''s side no matter what. Is this what you mean


    when you say you love us equally?"


    Emma was rendered speechless.


    Herck of a response didn''t mean that Shelly was right, she just didn''t want to infuriate Shelly even


    more. After all, Shelly had just woken up and the doctor did say that she was going to be emotionally


    unstable for a while.


    "Shelly, you can do whatever you want to me but when ites to mom, I''m drawing the line. Why are


    you yelling at her?" Jonny''s pet peeve was his mom being mistreated and being yelled at so he didn''t


    care that Shelly just woke up—he was angry and he wasn''t going to just stand by and do nothing.


    "Jonny, you''re her brother," Emma said sternly.


    "Do you and your son enjoy taking advantage of me when I''m sick and helpless?" Shelly taunted,


    frowning. Then she turned to Lucian and whined, "Lucian, I want to go home already. I don''t want to


    stay here anymore."


    Shelly believed that if she acted weak and miserable, Lucian would take pity on her.


    "I talked to the doctor just now and he said that since you just woke up, you need to stay in the hospital


    for at least a week," Lucian said calmly, feeling a little ufortable.