Chapter 64: You Hit Me

Joyce looked up at her mom and began to cry. “Mom,” she whined. “Look what that bitch did to me.”

Jessica grabbed the cup and was about to aim it at Crystal’s head, but Todd caught her hand and gave her a dirty look. That scared her, and she took back her hand immediately.

Todd turned to the lawyer and said, “There is something that I want to show you.” He took out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to the lawyer.

The lawyer glanced at Crystal and said, “Miss Smith, it looks like you signed an agreement with Mr. Henry one week ago. According to it, you gave up the shares of the Henry Group. Is that correct? Did you sign it voluntarily?”

Crystal was shocked. It seemed as if Todd had somehow anticipated this day. She looked at her father with a look of hurt aggrievement in her eyes. It wasn’t that she cared overly much about the shares. What hurt the most was that her father would go to such lengths to destroy his daughter.

“I signed it voluntarily,” Crystal said, “but I had only intended to sign over the shares that I possessed at the time. It had never been my intention to sign over future shares. How could it have been? I had no idea that my Grandfather had left these to me!”

“I’m sorry,” the lawyer said. “If you signed this voluntarily, then all of Mr. Henry Sr.’s shares will be handed over to your father for distribution. Do you have any objection to this?”

“I do object!” Crystal cried. “But, my objections don’t matter, do they?”

“I’m afraid not,” the lawyer admitted. The lawyer got up and said, “Well, I will deal with the formalities. Mr. Henry, there are some documents that you will need to sign. I will contact you when they are ready.”

Mr. Henry: “No problem.” He doesn’t even glance at Crystal.

Crystal looked around the room and took note of the greed in everyone’s eyes. I need to get out of here! - she suddenly realized. She began to stand up, but Joyce barred her way.

“You hit me!” Joyce hissed. “But you got what was coming to you, didn’t you? You must regret signing that paper!”

Crystal sighed and said, “Honestly, Joyce, I don’t care. The company never held any interest in me. If it had, I would never have signed that paper. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!”

“Don’t pretend,” Joyce scoffed. “Those shares are worth a billion dollars. But, of course, you care! If you work every day until the end of your life, you won’t make that much. And after father dies, it will all go to Evan and me! Ha! Grandpa was very affectionate to you. Unfortunately, he had such a stupid granddaughter. If I were him, I would definitely be turning in my grave right now.”

Crystal: “Enough! Are you finished? Don’t talk ill against my Grandfather because you don’t know him personally,”

Joyce’s every word felt like a knife in Crystal’s heart. Grandpa had treated her best, and he had left everything to her because she was his favorite. If there were only three pieces of chocolate left, he would have given them all to Crystal without reservation for Joyce and Evan. Indeed, he would have been disappointed by this turn of events. Joyce was right about that.

Crystal clenched her hands into fists, and her nails dug into the palms of her hands, drawing blood. She had been defeated, but she didn’t want to admit her defeat. She had been hurt, but she didn’t want to show her wounds - not to Joyce. At this point, all that she wanted was to leave.

Crystal walked towards the front door. The road to it was less than ten meters long, but each foot forward felt like a mile. Her feet felt heavy, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Carlos and Evan suddenly called her name in unison, but she ignored them. She just wanted to leave the Henry’s Mansion as quickly as possible.

Crystal had almost reached the exit when the doorbell rang. Aunt Lucy ran ahead of her, opened the door, and Mike walked in. Crystal looked up in surprise. “Mike?” Mike: “Miss Smith. Good to see you. I hear it’s your birthday. Happy Birthday!”

Mike was the lawyer who had handled the marriage procedures for her and Nathan. Why did he come here? - Crystal wondered. “Thank you,” she replied. “I am surprised to see you here!”

Everyone had turned to look at the stranger, and the place was suddenly very quiet. Todd stood up and said, “Sir, you seem to know my daughter. Would you be so kind as to tell me what your business here is?”

Mike took out a business card as he walked into the living room. He handed it to Todd and said, “Hello, Mr. Henry. I am the attorney for the Brilliant Group.”

Todd frowned and said, “Should we go somewhere private to discuss whatever business brings you here?”

“Not at all,” Mike laughed. “There is no need to waste so much of your time. What I have to say will be quick, and it is related to Miss Smith and the Henry Group.”

“Oh?” Todd wanted to cooperate with the Brilliant Group because he wanted to expand his business. Typically, though, a big company like the Brilliant Group didn’t bother with small companies like his company - so Todd took Mike coming to his home as a good sign.

“Alright,” he said. “What have you got for me?”

“This is not for you,” Mr. Carter said. He smiled, opened his briefcase, and removed several documents. Then he turned to Crystal, wished her a Happy Birthday, and gave them to her.

As Crystal accepted the papers, her brain froze, and all she could think to say was, “Thank you.”

Todd frowned and turned to Mike. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked.