Ex-wife, Please Come Back novel Chapter 332

The crowd fell into dead silence. The onlookers had already settled back down to their stations, and started to mind their own business. However, occasional glances could be observed as the confrontation between Jacob and those experienced employees continued for a while.

Although everyone wanted the scoop of what was to be the result of this matter, they knew that once Jacob had made his decision, there was no way to persuade him otherwise. This was all a futile activity—a total waste of effort.

But one couldn't really blame them for trying. If they succeeded somehow, it would have been beneficial for most of them. If they failed, at least they could give a warning to the other employees present.

As Jacob pondered in silence, he walked around back and forth as if also trying to scan the area. He glanced over at the stunned employees, and finally said, "I know you have done a lot for the company until now, and I'm aware of your fair share of contributions to keep this place running. Idlers, however, are not welcome in the company, but those who work hard will never go unrewarded. So, please, people. You have nothing to worry about. I will deal with this matter fairly and with utmost transparency."

The employees who heard his words never uttered a word in response, but one could tell how their hearts sank into despair. They didn't care about fairness and justice. What they hoped was for Jacob to reconsider his decision entirely.

Now it seemed that all hope was lost, and there was no way back for them. They knew that any further attempt would be a waste of time.

Jacob turned around, and left the area in silence, leaving the employees standing there in a daze.

As soon as he got back to his office, Jacob locked the door as his annoyance started to manifest in his otherwise stoic facial expression. He took out the list again and started crossing out names of people he didn't want to lose.

Since he couldn't possibly be generous to just basically everyone, he had to at least try his best to make everyone satisfied with how he would handle the matter with fairness.

He looked up as he lay back against the chair after crossing out some names. The calm demeanor returned to him again, but the waves of rage and intense emotions that were mixing up were roaring from inside his heart.

It was supposedly not that much of a deal for him to handle something like that, but he suddenly felt much tenser than he expected.

He called out for Cindy and ordered her to carry out the list to the directors. It was not until then that he knew that the show had only just begun.

Naturally, people might not have the courage to fire the person they recruited, but Jacob reminded himself that he did so to let others know how determined he was to set the company straight with his own ways.

And now, he was well aware of how covetous other people could be. Those people had been planting some grudges against him that he wasn't aware of.

He didn't exactly expose them, even though he now knew all about them.

The higher position he stood on, the more resentment he would get. Such was just the nature of the corporate world. When he looked down, all those concepts flowed through him like a clear proverb.

"Knock, knock, knock."

He looked at the door of his office, and took his time before acting on the right response.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in, please," he calmly answered.

"Jacob, have you released the layoff list?" James took a deep breath as if the air was thin from outside.

"Yes, I did it just now." Jacob squinted his eyes, and refrained from explaining too much.

"Why didn't you discuss it with me before you made the decision?" James took a chair as he anxiously sat opposite his nephew. Jacob, on the other hand, could tell that his uncle was anxious.

"Uncle James, you know, I owe you too much. I don't want you to get involved in this and risk dragging you into trouble."

James was frozen in place when he heard those words, but he calmed down as he managed to fully process what Jacob had said. "What are you talking about? I'm your uncle. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. It doesn't matter if they want to put the blame on me, really."

A smile on his face arched up as Jacob stood up and walked closer to James. He rested his hands on his uncle's shoulders, and massaged them as if to assure him that everything was fine. James looked at him in surprise. His eyes slid out of focus and back again as he gazed at Jacob.

"Uncle James, I know it. They will put all the blame on me no matter what I do. So you don't have to take the bullet for me. I can handle myself, and I just want them to leave at ease,"

Jacob calmly assured him as he kneaded his back.

"Well, it seems that I got worried for nothing. But there's one more thing." James paused midway.

"Is it about Jonathan again? His reaction was indeed very suspicious. Logically speaking, he would have some objection to such a request before. But this time, he stayed silent and was unusually obedient. I don't know what's wrong with him."

He suddenly stopped pinching as he talked about Jonathan's recent behavior. James cleared his throat. He didn't expect his nephew to have such a keen observational skill now.

No, he had never once underestimated his nephew. He only concluded that Jacob must have grown up a lot now that he seemed quite different from what he had imagined.

Before, James could tell that his nephew was very much against being in the business field. Back then, he had to be careful when talking to him because he believed that if a person didn't have the slightest interest for an industry, he might give up so easily at any given point.

But to his surprise, his nephew showed so much courage and showed no signs of giving up. James could tell, too, that even during the times most difficult for his nephew, he managed to hold on long enough until he could solve the problem.

Now, James realized that he was right about this young man after all. It was because of Jacob's resilience that he could achieve what he had today. It could be attributed to a sheer miracle for him.

At least Jacob had an unwavering resilience and he wasn't corrupted by choosing this path.

What his elder brother feared the most was not that his son wasn't particularly interested in the family business, but that he would be unhappy by the time he took over it.

James was worried about this, too, so he spared no effort in guiding Jacob and showing him the ropes of running a business. Now, when James looked at him, it felt like he was looking at his own child. He cared about him the most and would support him whichever path he wanted to take.

Jacob was his only family in the world. He knew it, and he kept that at heart. On the day of his elder brother's death, he was just as sad as his nephew.

Although he was not married, James had seen his fair share of experience through life. He was never the type to view things in the extreme. On the contrary, he could be optimistic most of the time that people found so hard to do when confronted with difficulties in life.

This was what made him so special. Not everyone understood how he viewed life, but he remained optimistic.

"Yes, you should pay attention to him, especially these days. I don't think this peculiarity in his actions would be that simple. We suffered a major setback about what happened recently. We should stay sharp. First, it was the file being missing, and now the inevitable layoff. Now, someone might accuse you of orchestrating the whole thing."

James frowned as he gave it some careful thoughts. It wasn't very likely, but it was still hard to cross off of the things they had to be wary of. After all, everything that happened so far could not have been a pure coincidence.

"Uncle James, will you blame me if I give up one day?" Jacob stopped what he was doing as he suddenly asked.

"What?" His uncle was frozen in place, partly due to a sudden shock. However, he understood what he meant.

James looked out of the window in a daze, and replied, "To tell you the truth, Jacob, I have never thought about forcing you to do all this. I hope you can understand that these things are really not that important. I believe there are more things in life other than the company. And so does my elder brother. We don't wish you to be unhappy doing everything for us."

He paused for a good while, and continued, "We just want you to live a life where you can be happy. Of course, everyone would experience pain at some point of their lives. But it doesn't matter. What matters is how you feel and what mentality you bring as you survive the pain that you experienced."

"Uncle James, I know you and my father are doing this for my own good. You and him have been nothing but kind to me over the years. I'm doing this out of my own will. It turns out that I can actually start to enjoy this path after all. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone this far."

Jacob smiled as he let out a soft chuckle. He didn't want to comment on that anymore. However, he would always think of the time when both his father and uncle mentored him in his younger years.

James had taught him a lot, not just about running a business, and Jacob vowed to himself never to forget those lessons.

"I hope you can live a good life where you'd be free from all the stress of worrying about the company. I will support you no matter what choice you make. So, to answer your question: even if you are disappointed and choose to give up, I won't blame you. I know my elder brother wouldn't either. If only he's still here with us."