Her Return, His Regret novel Chapter 152

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 send me away 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 same time, 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 give me a 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 time and 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 force me to 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.”