Swapping a Broken Heart for a New Start novel Chapter 1172

"I agree with the comment above. The police really should investigate the other big companies under The Smith Group too."

...

The Lee family's reputation was already in ruins thanks to Nicholas Lee's scandal. Now, after the police released the latest news, things had only gotten worse. Their stock price hit a historic low, and the Lee Group's name was completely trashed. People wanted nothing to do with them. It was obvious to everyone that the Lee family was about to lose their spot among the top ten families for good.

The Lee Group went into crisis mode that night. Their PR team rushed out statements, trying to distance the company from the Lee family to protect NextGen Technologies' interests. After a tense emergency meeting with the shareholders, they decided to cut the Lee family out completely. All three of them were kicked out of the company's inner circle, and power was handed over to the second-largest shareholder from The Smith Group.

Back at home, Camila was sitting at the table, coloring with her little one and chatting with Sarah Brown on her phone. Even with a new boyfriend, Sarah just couldn't resist keeping up with the Lee family drama, sending Camila every juicy update she found online.

Sarah sounded way too happy as she messaged, "The Lee family is done for. The three of them will end up in prison, and I doubt anyone will mess with you again."

"Let's hope so," Camila replied. Now that the person behind all her troubles had been exposed, she could finally relax. Aside from her memories still being a bit foggy, her life was peaceful and she felt pretty happy every day.

Meanwhile, Aaron was giving Dennis Williams a rundown of everything that had happened.

"The Lee family took a huge hit," Aaron explained. "Even if they somehow manage to stabilize things, their assets are going to shrink by a huge margin. Everyone in business now knows what they did. No one will want to work with them. The Lee Group won't completely go under, but it's definitely going to be a second-rate company now. A lot of their overseas projects are collapsing too because their funding fell apart. They'll probably have to shut down a bunch of subsidiaries. The family's personal assets and shares have been taken to cover the company's losses. Basically, they have nothing left."

Aaron shook his head and added, "The worst part is, it's not just the Lee Group staff that hates them. Everyone outside is eager to kick them while they're down. Even if we stop now, plenty of people will make sure they never get back up again."

Dennis nodded, looking satisfied. "What about Nicholas Lee's two illegitimate sons?"

Not only had all his business partners abandoned him, even his own relatives wanted nothing to do with him. Instead, they came by just to pressure him to sign the papers, to cut all ties with the family. Their message couldn't have been clearer. They blamed Nicholas for dragging them all down.

Nicholas's days in detention were miserable. The police didn't go out of their way to make things hard for him. It was his own family that did that, piling on the pressure and forcing him into a corner. The man who used to be so high and mighty was now just another prisoner with no one to blame but himself.

It was only now that he started to really reflect and feel regret. If he'd known things would end up like this, he never would have let Cynthia keep pestering Dennis Williams. His ambition had simply been too much.

Back when the Williams family tried to settle things peacefully, he should have just accepted their offer and taken what they gave him. But he wanted more. He wanted to keep holding onto their power, no matter what.

Now, all he felt was regret. He regretted being greedy. He regretted thinking the Williams family was just another rich family like his own, even though they were at the top in Cabinda. Now, he finally understood just how much higher up they really were. The Williams family and the other major families of Cabinda weren't even in the same league. A family with money was nothing compared to one with deep connections in politics, the military, and beyond. By the time the truth hit him, it was already too late.