Her Return, His Regret by Natie

Chapter 152~ Jason's offer Celeste's triumphant smile froze, her eyes widening in shock as Jason's rejection echoed around the conference room.

"What do you mean you're not interested?" She yelled, her voice a mixture of panic and anger. "This is your chance to take control of the company, Jason!" "You mean it's your chance to gain power?" Jason asked, looking at his mother. "I know what you're up to, Mother, but it won't work. I've never been interested in the company anyway. I only tried to fight for it to please you!" The room fell silent after that. Shareholders exchanged confused glances, their earlier relief now replaced with growing concern.

"That's nonsense! I only wanted you to take over for your sake. It's your birthright as a Kingsley! You deserve the position. Do you want Ryan to take everything away from you? He already took your father away from you... you had to grow up away from us because of him," Celeste yelled, no longer concerned with pretending to be a kind person.

Jason pushed his chair back and got to his feet. He looked at his mother and stated, "It wasn't Ryan who took everything away from me. It was you, Mother. Your greed made you sendaway thinking I was your ace card in your plans to get your hands on the Kingsley Group. Because of you, I couldn't grow up with my father. I'm not close with my grandfather and my siblings. You ruined my childhood, mother. Not Ryan, not Father but you. You are so greedy." "Y-You-" Celeste was bereft of any words. How could Jason reject such a huge opportunity? At the stime, Ryan glanced at Jason and asked, "Why did you reject the offer?" Jason shrugged. He placed his hands in his pockets and replied, "Why would you givea company that's on the brink of being stolen by others? It's your mess, so you take care of it." "You know why I'm handing it over to you," Ryan stated.

Jason nodded, saying, "Yes, I do but you've spent so much tand effort on building this company to be where it is today. I think you should be the one to protect it, after all, you're still breathing, are you not? Don't hand over the company to anyone- not me, not anyone else. Protect what you've worked hard for." "You fool! If I knew you would be such a failure, I wouldn't have put my hopes in you!" Celeste said through gritted teeth, her eyes bloodshot from anger.

"I'm not interested and you can't forceto take over," Jason remarked. He was about to walk away when Franklin Hall's mocking laughter echoed around the room.

"Oh, how noble," he sneered. "But noble sentiments won't save this company. It's already crumbling under Ryan's leadership. If you're too scared to step up, Jason, I have someone in mind who can do a better job." Ryan Kingsley suddenly laughed. He glanced at Franklin and remarked, "I was waiting to see when you would finally speak your mind. Is the person who can do a better job, your son who's the general manager of this company? I knew you weren't loyal when you sided with Celeste but letmake this clear- the Kingsley Group isn't yours to take." Franklin's face flushed but before he could respond, the doors swung open.

Lawrence Scott entered the room, breathing heavily. He was holding a stack of documents and placed them on the table next to Ryan.

"Sir, the countermeasure strategy we've been preparing has pulled through. We can now save the company," Lawrence announced.

All eyes turned to Ryan, who leaned back in his chair, a faint smile playing on his lips. He glanced at his wife and the two shared a brief moment, relief washing over them.

"I may be sick, but that doesn't mean I have abandoned the company," Ryan stated, his deep voice echoing around the room. "For weeks, Lawrence and I have been working to secure partnerships that would help protect our shareholders interests. The Kingsley group has been there for generations... it can't go bankrupt just because I might kick the bucket soon." The shareholders glanced at Ryan, hope flickering through their eyes. Rick looked at Ryan and asked, "Are you saying the stock price will go up again?" Ryan nodded, picking up the documents and going through them.

He said, "These partnerships are

even better than the ones we had earlier. I don't need to work with Ο unreliable people who back out of a contract the moment they smell trouble. Once these partnerships get into effect, I guarantee a two I hundred per cent increase in stocks." "That's a big lie," Celeste snapped. "You're just trying to calm the shareholders with your lies. No one is willing to work with the Kingsley group at the moment. It's not stable."

Ryan chuckled, looking at his stepmother. He said, "You underestimated me, Celeste.. won't waste my ttrying to explain thing things to you. The results will speak for themselves. This company will belong to the future Kingsley generation, I wasn't going to watch it crumble while I'm still alive." After the meeting, Ryan asked Jason to see him in his office. From there, Ryan asked, "Does this mean you won't be takingup on my offer?" Jason shook his head and said, "It was a tempting offer but no thanks... I think I deserve to be with someone who lovesback." "Jason-"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of your children as if they are my own. They have my blood too... Jason om remarked. He sighed heavily and revealed "I know the culprit who was behind your kidnapping years ago and I'm going to help you catch them."