Thorns Grow After Betrayal (Celeste and Chester) novel Chapter 307

“Stein…” Merlin’s voice quivered. “How could you do this to me? No, you can’t do this! After all my years at the company—even if I haven’t accomplished anything spectacular, I’ve certainly put in the work! You’re just going to kick me out over a few careless words from this woman? Brother, everything I’ve done has been for you!”

“Enough!” Stein’s tone was cold as steel. “At the Fordham Group, we judge by ability, not by connections. You haven’t made any outstanding contributions all these years, and now you’ve made a serious mistake. The only reason you’re not being asked to pay damages is that Mrs. Fordham is being generous. Don’t even think about clinging to family ties here.”

He shot Merlin a warning look. After all these years, Merlin should know what could and couldn’t be said; Stein shouldn’t have to teach him that anymore.

“Stein! You can’t just act like a dictator. Mrs. Fordham hasn’t said a word—what gives you the right to decide for her?” Merlin’s jaw tightened as the truth settled in. He couldn’t rely on his cousin anymore. His only hope now was Celestine.

He had worked so hard to get a foothold in the Fordham Group’s finance department—a veritable gold mine. There was no way he’d accept being thrown out so easily.

Desperation flickered in his eyes as he turned to Celestine, his tone meek and pleading. “Mrs. Fordham, you’re a generous woman, far above the likes of me. I admit I haven’t been entirely honest. If you want, you can slap me again—I’ll take it, whatever you decide! I beg you, just let me stay! I don’t care what you have me do—I’ll scrub floors, run errands, whatever it takes!”

Celestine’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “All right, we’ll do exactly as you suggest.”

A spark of hope lit up Merlin’s face. “Really? I can stay? I can keep my job?”

Celestine turned her head, glancing at Stein, who stood just behind Merlin. “Stein, handle things just as you said before.”

The final thread of hope snapped for Merlin. He was finished.

Celestine only smiled in response. There would be time enough to dig into the accounts later.

She had come today for one reason: to find out how much the Murdock family had siphoned from the Fordham family behind her back.

Within the hour, Stein and the head of finance personally brought the reorganized files to the private office set aside for her. Celestine soon found herself poring over the documents, a pounding headache beginning to form—not from the sheer number of reports, but from the anger building inside her as she realized what the Murdocks had done.

The month before she and Chester married, the Murdock family diverted nearly two million dollars from Fordham Group’s accounts, with a note attached: “wedding fee.” She hadn’t asked the Fordham family for a single cent in dowry, yet her uncle had stabbed her in the back anyway.

After that, the transactions continued—sporadic, each with a different excuse or pretext. But in the end, it was always about her and her grandfather.