Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Nicole had always been dead set on landing the Delaney Group endorsement.

55 vouchers

Her agent had already worked out the deal with the Delaney Group, and all that was left was to sign the contract.

Nicole was baffled-‘What could have made Collin suddenly change his mind?’ she wondered.

Her mom usually didn’t care much about her career in showbiz.

But she was really invested in Nicole becoming the face of the Delaney Group’s perfume line, because Alicia’s mom was the one who created it.

Her mom would secretly love that the endorsement went to Nicole instead of her own daughter.

If Nicole failed, her mom would be seriously disappointed.

Nicole didn’t want to let her mom down.

So Nicole tried calling Collin.

But he didn’t answer.

Nicole tried calling him two more times, but still got no answer.

She even shot him a WhatsApp message, but he left her on read.

That was totally out of character for him.

‘Maybe he’s just busy?’ Nicole wondered.

‘There’s no way he’d ignore me on purpose… would he?’ she tried to convince herself.

But Nicole was way off this time-Collin was totally ignoring her on purpose.

After thinking it over, he decided to reach out to Kevin.

As soon as Kevin picked up, Collin said, “Kevin, I met with Ally today.”

Kevin couldn’t help but ask, “Collin, did Ally agree to sell you her shares?”

Collin let out a sigh. “No, she said she already sold them.”

Kevin was stunned. “That fast?”

He quickly asked, “Who did she sell them to?”

Collin replied, “I asked, but she wouldn’t tell me.

“But if you ask me, I’m betting she sold them to the other big shareholder in the Hammond Group.

“So you guys better be prepared,” Collin warned.

Kevin felt his last shred of hope vanish. “She really went through with it.”

1/5

7:22 pm

Chapter 88

PWM.

Collin just sighed, “It is what it is. Those shares were hers from the start.”

Ally only had those shares because his aunt, Celia Delaney, gave them to her.

Celia didn’t get those shares as a wedding gift from the Hammonds.

65 vouchers

Back when the Hammond Group went through a crisis, one of the shareholders panicked and decided to cash out.

The Hammond family couldn’t scrape together enough cash to buy them.

Celia originally owned 8% of the Delaney Group’s shares.

She asked him if he wanted to buy them, and naturally, he didn’t say no.

Back then, Delaney Group shares were way more valuable than Hammond Group shares.

Celia sold her Delaney Group shares and immediately bought up the Hammond Group shares from that panicking shareholder.

She also picked up a bunch of smaller shares at the time, which is how she ended up with 15% of the Hammond Group.

Gotta admit, Celia really had a knack for making killer investments.

After the Hammond Group pulled through that crisis, the company just kept booming, and those shares shot up in value.

The cash Celia got from selling 8% of the Delaney Group went straight into buying 15% of the Hammond Group, and now those shares had skyrocketed to several times what she paid.

That’s why those shares weren’t tied to the Hammonds at all, and Alicia could sell them off with zero guilt or hesitation.

Kevin got it-Alicia could sell her shares if she wanted. But of all people, she had to sell them to the one big shareholder who was always against them. That stung.

She was obviously doing it just to get under their skin.

Suddenly, it hit Kevin.

Back then, Alicia couldn’t stand Nicole, but they always backed Nicole up, thinking Ally was just being dramatic.

Now Alicia was helping out their rival to mess with them, and they finally knew how much it sucked.

Kevin let out a sigh. “This is a real headache. I’ll talk it over with my dad and see what we can do.”

Honestly, there was only one way out-transfer all their shares to their dad, so he’d still be the biggest shareholder.

Kevin was the next in line to take over the Hammond Group, so handing his shares to his dad wasn’t a big deal.

But he wasn’t sure if his two younger brothers would be okay with it.

After all, they’d been living off the dividends for years, using that money to build their own businesses.

Alicia really threw a curveball at them.

After reminding Kevin of that, Collin added, “By the way, Ally’s pretty pissed at me too.

“It’s mostly because I picked Nicole to be the face of the Delaney Group’s signature perfume line.

2/5

:22 pm

Chapter SS

PW M

155 vouchers

“That perfume was developed by Celia, and Ally thinks anyone but Nicole should’ve gotten that endorsement.

“Honestly, after thinking about it, I kind of get where she’s coming from.

“Plus, she’s been getting some bad press lately.

“Since the Delaney Group and Nicole haven’t signed the contract yet, we’re not giving her the endorsement after all.

“Honestly, I have no idea how to tell her about this. She’ll probably reach out to you guys instead.

“So you deal with it.”

He only got involved because the Hammond brothers asked for his help, and now Alicia’s got a bone to pick with him too.

So it was up to the Hammond brothers to deal with Nicole themselves.

Kevin got the message loud and clear.

If this had happened before, his first thought would’ve been, ‘Why is Ally being so petty?

‘It’s just an endorsement-what’s the big deal if Nicole gets it?’

But now, he realized they’d been way too impulsive.

Nicole had hinted that if she could land ads with both the Hammond Group and the Delaney Group, it would really boost her status in the entertainment industry.

That was why they’d gone out of their way to help her get the Delaney Group endorsement.

Now that he thought about it, he could see why Alicia was so bothered. If their mom found out, she’d probably blame them

Kevin rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “If Nicole contacts you, just explain it to her yourself.

That way, she won’t have to come to us, he thought.

But Collin said, “She called me, but I didn’t pick up. I just couldn’t deal with her crying right now.”

Nicole’s go-to move for getting what she wants is always turning on the waterworks.

Usually, giving in to her wasn’t a big deal, so he just let it slide.

But right now, he was way too stressed to deal with her tears or play the comforter.

Kevin fell silent.

So is everyone just scared of her breaking down?’ he wondered.

He suddenly realized-Nicole was always in tears. If things didn’t go her way, or she couldn’t get what she wanted, she’d start crying.

Thinking back, they’d always given in to her because she looked so pitiful when she cried, worried she’d fall apart or do something drastic.

Now that he thought about it, at least half the times Nicole cried, it was because of Alicia.

3/5

7:22 pm

Chapter 88

Every time they sided with Nicole, Alicia ended up getting hurt.

Kevin sighed, “Honestly, I can’t stand her crying either.”

He was already stressed out about Ally deciding to cut them off, not to mention the whole mess with the shares.

Just the thought of having to listen to Nicole cry again was enough to give him a headache.

No wonder Alicia kept saying Nicole was bad luck.

55 vouchers

Collin said bluntly, “Hey, this is on you guys-you were the ones who wanted me to get her that endorsement in the first place.

“Now Ally’s got it out for me because of all this. Honestly, I feel like I’m the one who should be complaining to you guys

now.

“I asked her for a tiny favor today, and she shot me down and then totally went off on me.

“I’m starting to realize we really didn’t get what was going on before.”

His aunt had done a lot for him, but since she’d passed away so long ago, he honestly hadn’t even thought about her when he agreed to give Nicole the endorsement.

Plus, Ally had always been big-hearted and cared about family, so he figured she wouldn’t hold a grudge over something like

this.

But clearly, they’d totally misjudged her-this time, they’d really hit her sore spot.

That’s why he made sure to call off Nicole’s endorsement right away.

From now on, Nicole was off the table for any future Delaney Group endorsements.

Kevin let out another heavy sigh. “Yeah, we were totally clueless.

“But honestly, we didn’t have much of a choice back then.

“My dad kept reminding us to look out for Nicole, make sure nobody ever messed with her, and do whatever it took to help her chase her dreams.

“If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have bent over backwards to protect her or poured everything we had into her.”

Hearing that, Collin couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘Is Leo really just siding with Nicole and her mom and forgetting all about Celia?’ he wondered.

His aunt was incredible-there was no way Nicole’s mom could ever measure up.

But from the way Leo acted, it seemed like his current wife had completely taken Celia’s place in his heart.

He hadn’t really thought about it before, but now that Alicia brought it up, he couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable about it.

4/5