Chapter 212: Brooke York and Alice Cole Go to the Company

As soon as Alice Cole returned to the bedroom she shared with Miles York, she demanded an explanation.

“How could you give your shares to Chloe? Even if you had to, a few percent would have been enough. But you gave her twenty percent! That’s half of what you own! Do you have any idea how angry Brooke is? Have you forgotten that Brooke is your actual daughter?” Alice started settling the score the moment she walked in.

“Do you think I wanted to? You think I wanted to transfer my shares? I did it to clean up this mess.”

“What mess? If you ask me, you just wanted to give them to Chloe. What, since she’s not your biological daughter, are you trying to keep her as your mistress or something?”

“W-What did you just say?” Miles stared in absolute disbelief. He never expected Alice to think of something so perverse.

No matter what, Chloe had called him ‘Dad’ for over a decade. He had played the role of her biological father for all those years. He wasn’t sick enough in the head to take his former daughter as a mistress.

“You heard what I said. Don’t play dumb with me. If you didn’t have a thing for her and want to keep her as a mistress, why would you give her your shares?” Alice didn’t feel there was anything wrong with her accusation at all.

“Alice!” Miles roared furiously.

“I gave her those shares because of the stupid things *your* daughter did! If she hadn’t secretly taken those photos to frame Chloe, and then failed to clean up her own mess, I wouldn’t have had to do it for her! Why else do you think Chloe let your daughter off the hook?

“And look at what’s happening now. Because of what your daughter did, our company’s stock price has been plummeting. It only bounced back because of Chloe! If people find out she moved her household registration and is no longer part of the Yorks, do you think you’d still be living this luxurious life? Do you think your forty percent stake would still be worth a damn?

“I didn’t tell you any of this because I knew you’d throw a fit, and Brooke would throw a fit. Fine, I wash my hands of it. How about this? Starting tomorrow, you go to the company. You manage it. You hold the most shares now anyway, so you can be the CEO. Cancel every single partnership we secured because of Chloe, and see for yourself if this company can even function with you at the helm!”

Having said his piece, Miles sat heavily on the bed, looking utterly done with the conversation and the situation.

His words left Alice frozen in place. She hadn’t realized there was so much going on behind the scenes. She genuinely thought Chloe was simply magnanimous enough to forgive Brooke and drop the matter just because of an apology.

So it was all because Miles had given her shares!

Fine. Even if Brooke was spared because of the share transfer, Alice refused to believe the company would collapse without Chloe.

“You said I should go manage the company tomorrow? Fine, Brooke and I will both go.”

“You and Brooke?”

“Yes. The company is going to be handed over to Brooke in the future anyway, so she might as well familiarize herself with it early. And it’s no use objecting. You only have twenty percent of the shares, while I have forty. I get to decide who the next CEO is.”

Now Miles understood—Alice still didn’t trust him.

“Alright then, all three of us will go tomorrow. I’ll have my secretary separate the partners that Chloe brought in. Aside from those, you can manage the rest. You can see for yourself whether our company will turn a profit or a loss without Chloe’s connections.”

“Fine!”

The next day, Alice had Brooke call her school to take a leave of absence.

“Mom, did you and Dad have a falling out?” Brooke asked.

Brooke didn’t want Alice and Miles to be at odds. Although Alice currently held more shares, Miles was still the CEO, and the employees at the company undoubtedly trusted him more. If Miles willingly pushed her into the CEO position, it would definitely be much more convincing than if Alice did it.

Hearing this, Alice assumed her daughter was worried about her parents’ marriage. She took Brooke’s hand and said gently, “Brooke, don’t worry about our relationship. We’ll be fine. After all, we’re bound by the company, so we can’t just cut ties. Rest assured.”

Alice was incredibly touched that her daughter was concerned about her and Miles’s marriage. This was what a true family looked like. No matter what happened, even if there were conflicts of interest, they still put family first when it mattered most.

If it were Chloe, that definitely wouldn’t be the case. After all, she wasn’t truly family. Otherwise, why would she have been so ruthless toward Brooke just because of some stuff posted online? She had even demanded company shares and forced Brooke to apologize in person before letting her go.

Realizing that Alice had misunderstood her intentions, Brooke couldn’t say much else. If Alice knew what she was really thinking, she would probably be disappointed. For now, Brooke could only rely on Alice to get her seated in the CEO’s chair at the York Group.

The three of them arrived at the company together and went up to the CEO’s office. Miles’s secretary, Keith Morgan, greeted them immediately. “Mr. York!”

Secretary Morgan was surprised to see Alice and Brooke tagging along. Brooke had just returned to the family and had essentially never been to the company, aside from one previous visit. As for Alice, despite being the CEO’s wife and a company shareholder, she hadn’t set foot in the office for years. Why was she here today?

“Secretary Morgan, compile a list of all the companies that have partnered with us recently because of Chloe. Hand those projects over to the Vice President. Then, gather all our previous partnerships, data, and profit-and-loss statements, and bring them to my office.

“Also, bring up the company’s financial records for the first half of the year, as well as the records for the last two months. Keep them separate.”

Miles rattled off his instructions.

“Understood!” Secretary Morgan acknowledged and turned to carry out the orders.

“Wait a moment, Secretary Morgan,” Alice suddenly called out.

He paused and looked at her in confusion. He wasn’t the only one—Miles was just as baffled.

“Brooke, go with Secretary Morgan. And Secretary Morgan, please explain everything clearly to Brooke while you compile the data. Tell her when each contract was signed, who our company sent to negotiate, and which party initiated the contact.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Secretary Morgan agreed, though he remained puzzled.

Brooke leaned close to Alice and lowered her voice. “Mom, I…” She didn’t understand any of this business stuff and had no idea why Alice was doing this.

Before she could finish, Alice interrupted her. “Don’t panic. Just focus on memorizing what I told you. Secretary Morgan will help you compile and organize everything. All you need to do is keep an eye on him and make sure he’s doing it correctly.”

“Okay!”

Brooke walked over to Secretary Morgan, who gave her a polite nod. “Please follow me, Ms. York.”

Brooke followed him out.

Miles scoffed coldly. “What, are you afraid I’m going to tamper with the data?”

“It’s not about tampering. I’m just worried that you’re getting old and your eyes aren’t as sharp as they used to be. You might get fooled into giving someone else the credit for contracts we worked hard to secure ourselves.”

“Rest assured, I’m not that senile yet.”

The two of them sat in the office, waiting for Secretary Morgan and Brooke to return.