Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 64

She wasn't stupid. Seeing her mother like this, how could Lillian not be suspicious?

After the blood clot in her brain dissipated, she should have started to recover. But in two years, not only had she not recovered, her condition had actually worsened. And when she had tried to take her mother away, the Mercer family had opposed it. Could it be that they had done something they were afraid she would discover?

"It seems I need to investigate exactly how they've been 'caring' for my mother these past two years."

Leonard nodded. "Ethan, did you hear that?"

Ethan replied promptly, "Rest assured, Ms. Mercer. Leave this to me."

Lillian looked at them. "Thank you both."

She had never built a network of reliable people before. If it weren't for Leonard, she probably wouldn't have been able to get her grandmother and mother out and settled so quickly. She had no proof yet of what the Mercer family had done to her mother, but once she did, she certainly wouldn't let the matter go.

--

Her week of leave ended early, and Lillian returned to Litech NaLabs.

The entire company was in a state of frenetic activity. Everyone was practically jogging through the hallways. This unusual level of urgency clearly meant something was wrong.

Lillian made her way to Nathan's office and heard his agitated voice from within.

"You're the ones who kept telling me everything was under control. And now you're telling me this is what you call losing control? Haven't I reminded you time and again not to overlook any details, because those very details could lead to our failure?"

"Mr. Cole, this wasn't our intention."

"Mr. Cole, the government genuinely favored our proposal for this project. Even though it's now been awarded to the Blake Group, the officials haven't given up on us. They have more faith in our technology."

"That's right, Mr. Cole. The Blake Group has already sent over their collaboration proposal. Their demand is simple: they just want you to fire an ordinary employee."

Nathan exploded. "An ordinary employee? Do you have any idea who she is?"

Hearing this, Lillian couldn't help but knock on the office door. It was ajar, and she hadn't meant to eavesdrop. But since she had heard, and it involved the Blake Group and apparently herself, she couldn't pretend she hadn't.

Nathan looked over. "Li, you're here."

"He's always been so professional, keeping business and personal matters separate. I never thought he'd stoop to using this kind of pressure on something so important."

Lillian found it almost laughable. In all the years she had known Sebastian, he had never used business to satisfy a personal vendetta. It was clear that two years had changed him a lot.

"At the end of the day, the government prefers our company's technology, and the key component is our algorithm," Nathan said. "Sebastian knows this too. He wants to work with us even more than the government does. He wants me to kick you out of the company, but he doesn't know your true identity. Li, how about we use this algorithm update as an opportunity to put you on the map?"

Lillian shook her head wearily. "Nathan, don't let me affect the company's development."

She didn't care about making a name for herself. She didn't even know how much time she had left.

Nathan slammed his hand on the desk. "Li, you are still the core competitive advantage of this company! Do you really expect me to agree to Sebastian's terms and fire you? Who the hell does he think he is? This is my company, he doesn't get to call the shots! Li, you just stay put and do what you do. I'll deal with that son of a bitch Sebastian."

Lillian looked at Nathan and offered a reassuring smile. "I'm not worried. But if I stay at Litech NaLabs, your collaboration will probably fall through. Nathan, you're already exhausted running the company. Sebastian and Bella's crew... they're not people you can easily handle. This was originally my mess. Let me be the one to clean it up."

Just as she finished speaking, her phone rang...