Desperate Lovers novel Chapter 365

Grandpa Smith squinted at her, "Why don't you suggest us to buy fifty percent of the shares in order to win a controlling stake in the Chante Group?"

"That sounds good!" Adeline failed to perceive the sarcasm in his voice, and added joyfully, "Then the whole Chante Group ...."

Edward interrupted her with a lump of pork rib, "Have a taste. The ribs are well cooked today."

"It tastes similar as usual," Adeling complained after a bite. She went on, "Dad, what do you think of my suggestion?"

Edward let out a faint sigh.

Grandpa Smith sniffed, "What do I think? Leave aside whether the Chante Group would sell fifty-one percent of the shares. Even in terms of the money, can you pay such a huge amount?"

"We Smith Group is bigger than the Chante Group anyway, so how could it be possible that we can't ...."

Goaded beyond endurance, Grandpa Smith stopped her before she could finish, "No one would presume you lost your tongue if you comment less on something you are ignorant of."

Adeline was displeased while Edward tipped her a wink to prevent her from going on. "I'm done." She went off in a fit of pique after putting down her tableware roughly.

"Why is she behaving like an unmatured teenage girl even though she has already got on in years? How could Charles make his child develop this way?" Jessica’s grandmother Beverly had always disliked her daughter-in-law.

Her family, though esteemed as a literary family, was full of loafers, from the young to the old, not even a patch on an ordinary family!

Edward said, "She had been always like this, so please don't mind."

"There has been chemistry between her and Jason for all those years. As a man, I wonder why have you pampered her all the time." Beverly felt aggrieved for her son.

Seeing they had got carried away, Jessica put down her tableware, and asked softly, "Grandpa, what do you think?"

"As you said, the Chante Group is not doing well, so why should we buy those shares? For charity?" Granda Smith boomed.

Beverly had been having her meal mutely. It's better for her not to meddle in business affairs since she knew little about it.

"Recently the Chante Group is not in a good condition, and it has been knee-deep in the gloomy news. Besides, it is not likely to grow fast in the long term." Jessica said.

Grandpa Smith wiped his mouth with a tissue before he said, "Aware of all these, why are you still talking about buying the shares? Do you think we have so much spare money that we can purchase a quarter of the Chante Group as easy as pie?"

"Grandpa, why not hear me out before making your decision?

"The target customers of Chante Group largely coincide with ours, and we have been always competing in many programs.

"If we take the chance to buy a twenty-five percent stake from Director Lau, and in association with several other shareholders, we could have more say than Uncle Lorenzo.

"In that case, isn't it a good deal for us to ask the Chante Group to offer us some good projects?" Jessica said.

After a sip of his soup, Grandpa Smith said, "You wish! Other shareholders' dividends are closely linked to the Chante Group's profits ... Offering some projects to the Smith Group? Do you think they are mental?"

"With enough benefits, they don't mind at all how the Chante Group will be since they don't own it," Jessica replied. "For instance, the profit we have in a project is one hundred dollars, and we only need to give out twenty dollars to make them satisfied. We are still profitable. It's a win-win, and the only loser would be the Chante Group."

Having contemplated for a moment, Grandpa Smith was tempted. Anyway, he had longed for some of the Chante Group's projects for a long time.

But, "the shares in the Chante Group have been falling all the way, hitting the daily limit twice. Once we buy the shares in Director Lau's hand today, do you know how much they will devalue when we sell them? Maybe the amount is more than what we earn from the projects!"

"I have taken it into account," Jessica said confidently. "Several biopharmaceutical companies of good performance owned by the Chante Group have developed two new drugs recently, one against leukemia, the other to cure breast cancer.

"As long as we spread this news, numerous people will compete to take over the shares in our hands.

"What's more, the Chante Group's frequent changes of shareholders would lead to a panic among the public. Then we ask the media to do us a favor, which would bring the Chante Group to its knees. In that case, how could it still be able to compete with us for the market?"

With that, Grandpa Smith became psyched. However, he cast his eyes on Edward instead of giving an immediate reply.

Edward lowered his tone, "I also got the news. Barring accidents, the Chante Group will soon make it public to save the current situation."

Jessica added eloquently, "Nevertheless, we can discuss with other shareholders to hold the news for now if we take over Director Lau's shares.

"We release the news when we intend to quit so that we could sell our shares at a high price and make a fortune."

All these benefits together were beckoning Grandpa Smith even though he was late in life.

Yet out of caution, he asked, "Since you are aware of the news, there's no way Director Lau is not. What's his rush to sell the shares?"

His tone softened much compared to what it was just now.

Jessica sniffed to herself while remaining a respectful look, "I have investigated on it. There's something wrong with the cash flow in Director Lau's company so he is badly in need of a big amount of money.

"However, he is afraid that it will do harm to his company to let others know its situation so he uses the Chante family's affairs as an excuse to realize his shares."

It's just like a poor guy refusing to acknowledge his poverty, claiming he was on a diet, and turning down others when he was invited to have a big meal.

Grandpa Smith's eyes glowed with excitement, his fingers trembling with a thrill.

But with his habitual caution, he pursued, "Are you sure the companies owned by the Chanted Group have really developed two new drugs? Could it be a smokescreen of the Chante family?"

"Greyson is not that smart," said Jason.

Ignoring him, Grandpa Smith gazed straight at Jessica.

"I'm sure," Jessica answered with a smile. "This news has been confirmed in many ways and it can't be fake."

Though Grandpa Smith was discontent with what his granddaughter had done recently, he was still confident with her competence, or he wouldn't have appointed her as the chief financial officer.

Hearing that, he said excitedly with a smack on the table, "Good, you can fix a time to meet Director Lau! As for the money, I will deal with it!"

In the Bamboo Estate.

In the bedroom.

Angela lay on the bed after a shower.

Noticing James's phone was ringing, she exclaimed to the bathroom, "You have a call."

"Answer it," his voice came out from the bathroom.

With that, Angela was a bit surprised, since he had always taken his privacy seriously and never allowed anyone to inquire much about him. Now, how could it be possible that he told her to answer his phone without even asking who was calling?