Single Mother of a Werewolf Baby

Chapter 173: Tension in the Whitmore Family

That day, William Whitmore exited the company building utterly defeated. He didn’t even go to the underground

parking lot where his car was parked. Absentmindedly, he walked all the way home.

By the the arrived, his clothes were drenched in sweat, his hair dishevelled... he looked like he’d just walked

through a disaster.

Jeanne, who was on the ground floor sipping tea, rushed towards him the moment she saw him.

"What happened to you?" she almost shouted in shock.

William didn’t answer. He simply walked past her towards the stairs. He nearly stumbled on the steps, and if

Jeanne hadn't been following close behind, he might have fallen. She caught him just in time. He went directly to

his room.

As soon as he entered, he collapsed onto the floor. Tears began to fall silently down his cheeks. Jeanne had never

seen him like this before. Alarmed, she immediately called Jennifer, who rushed in from her room... only to stop,

stunned, at the sight before her.

No matter how much both women tried to comfort him or ask what had happened, William couldn't utter a single

word.

It took a long tbefore he regained enough composure to explain everything. Slowly, he recounted in detail

what had happened at the shareholders’ meeting.

"I can’t believe Eleanor has such a powerful family behind her," he said. "I knew her mother’s surnwas

Langford, but | never imagined she was connected to the Langfords of Birmingham. You were her secretary for

years... how could you miss something so important?" Jeanne asked sharply.

William shook his head. "She never mentioned it. Not to any of us. We were relying on the Grant family’s power

and connections here. She never once used her father’s influence. Even when she died, her father was the Lord

Keeper of the Privy Seal... but she never said a word about it."

Jennifer added, "Maybe she had a falling out with her family. | remember her grave was in Manchester. Even after

death, she didn’t return to her family."

Jeanne said, "What's done is done. But how on earth did Eleanor get those transfer deeds from your study?

Someone in this house must have helped her. Maybe one of the staff went in while cleaning."

William frowned. "The key to that cabis always kept in this room. If someone stole those documents, they'd

have had to take the key from here and then go to the study. And they would've had to know exactly what they

were looking for."

Jeanne replied, "We should interrogate the staff and find the culprit."

Suddenly, one ncto William's mind... someone who had once shown curious interest in company

ownership documents. But the moment Lydia's face appeared in his thoughts, he shook his head. No. She had no

reason to betray him. And he certainly wasn’t going to say her nin front of Jeanne.

Instead, he said, "It's pointless. No one will confess. Besides, we can’t involve the police in this kind of theft. It's

better if we replace all of them with new staff to avoid further problems."

Jeanne nodded. "You're right. I'll contact the agency tomorrow and hire a new batch of staff."

Jennifer said, "That's fine. But what do we do now? With the Langford family’s power, we can’t do anything to

remove them. What options do we have?"

Jeanne replied, "They can’t throw you out completely, even if they want to. We still hold our shares. Even if they

don’t appoint you chairman again, they'll have to make you a director."

Jennifer agreed, "Yes, Dad. We should contact the board and demand that you be made a director. We're still the

second-largest shareholders in the company."

William was quiet for a moment. Then he said slowly, "There's a problem. | applied for a bank loan for the

company. | was planning to take sof the funds from that for your wedding expenses. Now, | have only two

options: either | sell this house, or | sell sof my shares."

He paused, then added, "I've decided to sell part of my shares to fund the wedding. At this stage, we can’t afford

to fall behind the Clifford family. If we don’t maintain appearances, they won't take us seriously."

Jennifer protested, "But if you sell your shares, how will we regain control in the company later?"

William said, "I know it might make things harder in the future... but we don’t have another option. Aside from

this house, we own nothing. And we don’t even have complete documentation for the property. Other than the

shares, we've got nothing left."

Jeanne frowned. "How could that be? What happened to the incfrom all these years at the company?"

William scoffed bitterly. "We spent it all... on your luxurious lifestyle. Whatever we could save, we used to buy

more shares in EverBuild. It’s not your fault. | was the one who underestimated the enemy. | never imagined

Eleanor could becsuch a threat."

Jennifer stood up abruptly. Her voice was filled with rage. "We should've killed that bitch earlier. We waited too

long to act."

With that, she stormed off to her room.

William sighed. "What's happened is already done. We should focus on Jennifer's wedding. It's the only way we

can keep the family in the upper class."

Jeanne nodded. "Yes. Once Jennifer marries into the Clifford family, we’ll have a chance to turn everything

around."

William said, "Alright. | need a bath. Call the driver and tell him to bring the car back."

With that, he walked into the bathroom. There was still a lot to do. And this marriage... it had to go perfectly.

ork

In the meantime, Jennifer was seething with anger in her room. After smashing a few decorative pieces, her

mood calmed slightly. She sat down and began searching online for any news related to Eleanor’s kidnapping all

those years ago.

But no matter how long she searched, she couldn't find anything.

Frustrated, she picked up her phone and called one of her lackeys, Willow White.

"Can you find any news related to Eleanor’s kidnapping and rape case?" she asked the moment Willow picked

up.

Willow was startled. She paused for a moment, then said, "I’m not sure if any newspapers that old are even

accessible. Have you checked online?"

Jennifer scoffed. "Do you think Id call you if | hadn't already checked? The news sites must've deleted the

articles. | called because your grandfather's a collector. Does he have any papers from back then?"

Willow said, "Alright. | can try. But you could also check the libraries... they usually keep archives of national

newspapers."

Jennifer said, "Fine. I'll try that too. But please, helpwith this. If you find anything, callimmediately."

"Okay," said Willow, and ended the call.

Jennifer then called several of her friends and asked them the squestion. But no one could find any relevant

news.

Angrily, she threw her phone onto the bed and lay down, her mind churning with thoughts... how to ruin Eleanor.

ork

In another room, William emerged from the bathroom after a long soak. He felt refreshed. At least now, he could

think clearly.

He was even more determined than before to give Jennifer the lavish wedding she deserved.

Holding his phone in his hand, he stared at it for a while. Then, he made a decision. He would call a business

partner who had been buying EverBuild shares from the market.

"As a business partner of EverBuild, he should already know. And if not, he’ll know soon enough." William

thought, as the call rang.

"Hello, Mr Whitmore. What a pleasant surprise... you remembered me," cthe voice from the other end.

"Mr Sanders, you flatter me," William replied smoothly. "Haven't seen you in a while. Is everything alright?"

Mr Sanders said, "I'm well. Just busy with business. I'm really surprised to hear from you."

William said, "Actually, | wanted to ask... are you still buying EverBuild shares?"

Mr Sanders chuckled. "Yes. Are you going to givesinsider information?"

William sighed. "I need to sell a portion of my holdings. If you're still buying, we can move forward."

"I'm interested," said Sanders. "But I'll only offer the current market price. How many shares are you planning to

sell?"

William leaned back. "The price will rise soon. You may not know, but EverBuild has just undergone a major

change. Are you familiar with the Earl of Birmingham?"

"Yes. He was in the news recently... Walter Langford. Elected to the House of Lords."

I" : : : Fl

Then this will be easier to explain,

Hh : 1 a

William continued. "EverBuild's

founder, UAE Mm

psd {0 tHAEr ily. Today, the

Langford family officially took over

,

the company. They've even

appointed famous Miss Francesca

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Walters as the new CEO." The

content is on novelenglish.net! Read

the latest chapter there!

There was an audible gasp from the other end.

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William pressed on. "So tell me... how

high do you think the share prigemwil

go wheq this news Hrdake? And

B 3 q

r&member.. I'm offering this

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information before it goes public.

"Alright," Mr Sanders replied. "I'll offer you a 30% premium on ten percent of your shares."

"I'll only sell five," William said. "I hold just over eight percent."

I" ) [1 :

Please, don't haggle," Sanders said

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calmly. "As a thank you for the ngys,

Y 0,

I'l go up to 4 % aid Market But |

&sh

wianit\all the shares you have. Trust

a qa . )

me... this is the best price you'll get.

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Even if you wait a month." The

content is on novelenglish.net! Read

the latest chapter there!

William was silent. He knew Sanders was telling the truth. Reluctantly, he agreed.

"Fine. Have the funds ready by tomorrow morning. I'll cto your office at ten."

"It’s a deal. I'll be waiting," Sanders said, before ending the call.

William stared at the phone screen for a long time. Finally, he set it down beside him and closed his eyes, lying

back on the bed.