Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Gladys was out the entire day, so she missed the news.
She was unaware of the press conference the chairman of the Celestial Group had held, the fact that
Celestial Group had canceled their partnership with Eternality, and how Thea had leveraged her return
to the family against Lex by making him pass ten percent of the shares over to them.
She froze at Thea's words. "Transfer letter for ten percent of the shares? What share?"
Gladys stared blankly at the document Thea held out.
"Mom, grandpa wrote this transfer contract," Thea said. "He signed it himself. If dad signs it too, ten
percent of the family's shares will be his."
Gladys promptly snatched the file from Thea's hands and read through the contents carefully.
She cheered in delight when she was done, hugging and kissing the contract. "Haha! It's real!" she
squealed. "It's an actual transfer contract! We finally have ten percent of the shares! The old man finally
came to his senses!"
"Let me see that, Mom," David said incredulously. Lex held most of the family's shares. The other
family members had some, too, but never his immediate family.
Gladys happily passed the file to him. "Didn't you always want a new car, Davie? Let's get you a brand
new one tomorrow! It'll be one that's far more presentable. You'll be the envy of the road!"
David read through the contract, his face brightening with every line. He turned hurriedly to face
Gladys. "Mom, even holding ten percent of the shares gets us a considerable amount of money when
they hand out bonuses in the future! I'm planning to have a kid, but our place in the city is too small for
that. Get Dad to pass me five percent of his share, Mom! I want a new house!"
"There's no rush! Whatever your father has will be yours one day!"
"Mom, I've got my eye on a dress, but it costs tens of thousands of dollars," Alyssa said petulantly,
tugging on Gladys's arm. "Our wedding anniversary is coming up in a month, I plan on getting a decent
dress for once."
"Yes, of course! We'll get you that dress!" Gladys was elated. She finally had some of Eternality's
shares after years of being shunned.
Thea felt joy as she watched how happy her mother was. She hugged James's arm, beaming up at him
in gratitude.
However, James had noticed how Gladys did not even give Thea a single glance after she took the
contract from her. Something compelled him to speak up. "Mom, Thea was the one that got the
contract for dad."
"Trust you to ruin the mood." Gladys's expression soured. She crossed her arms. "You're a mere
servant we brought into our household. You don't get a say in anything. Also, I've raised her for twenty
years. Isn't this what she's supposed to do?"
"I'm sorry, mom," Thea said hurriedly, seeing how Gladys had become annoyed. "James didn't mean
that. This is indeed what I'm supposed to do."
"Whatever. Come in," Gladys said as she entered the house, not wanting to bicker with James while
she was still in a good mood.
Thea smiled, happy that she finally had her mother's approval.
James, however, felt helpless.
Thea was too soft on them. She was too desperate to get her family's approval.
But, from this, he also saw the years of pain and grievances she had to endure.
They started discussing the contract. Gladys even called Benjamin to hurry him home so he could sign
it.
Soon enough, Benjamin was home.
When he learned how Thea had helped him obtain ten percent of his family business's shares, he froze
in shock. "T-Thea," he said. "Is this true?"
Thea nodded from where she sat on the couch. "It's true, Dad. Grandpa allowed me to return to the
family, too."
"Haha! This is amazing…" Benjamin laughed in elation.
"Don't be too happy," Gladys snapped, ruining the mood. "You're not the one that earned this. You've
been useless your entire life, and you always will be. If it weren't for Thea, you'd never amount to
anything in this family!"
Benjamin hung his head, not daring to retort.
The dampened mood was short-lived. Now that Thea had gotten them the transfer contract, the entire
family planned to celebrate by having a meal in a nice restaurant.
While Benjamin was not considered rich, he was still the company's manager. His salary was
considerably high, enough for him to put down a loan for more than 300,000 dollars on a Hondai.
David, too, had a car. The family had bought it for him as a wedding gift. While it only cost them
200,000 dollars, it did the job of transporting them just fine.
David and Alyssa left in their car, while James and Thea rode in Benjamin's.
The family drove downtown to a high-end restaurant.