From Ashes of Scandals to His Embrace novel Chapter 97

The mention of the James family made Laurinda pause, a name bubbling up from her memory.

Adolphus noticed her thoughtful expression and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“I was just thinking about that James family you mentioned. When Jasper was four, I worked with a programmer named James. He said he was from Cabinda. His skills were unreal. York ended up poaching him because he was that good. Do you think he might be part of the James family?”

“What was his name?” Adolphus leaned in, his brow furrowed. It seemed almost too strange to be true, that Laurinda had crossed paths with someone from the James family after all these years.

“I’m trying to remember... give me a second...” Laurinda racked her brain, but nothing came to mind. She called for the butler, hoping he could help.

The butler came in, tablet in hand, and quickly searched through some records. He pulled up a photo and handed it to Adolphus.

“This is him. His name’s Galen.”

Adolphus stared at the photo, recognition flickering in his eyes. “That’s him. Years ago, the James family and the Charles family worked on a joint project. Galen was the one who designed it.”

“Something happened after that. He got kicked off the team, and not long after, the whole project blew up. The James family ended up losing everything, while the Charles family somehow came out on top.”

“Gentry, Galen’s father, is still in prison,” Adolphus added quietly.

Laurinda set down the chess piece she’d been fidgeting with, a sly grin appearing on her lips. The look she gave Adolphus was so full of mischief it made him lose his train of thought for a second.

“How about this,” she said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Instead of crushing the Charles family ourselves, which is honestly kind of boring, why don’t we let Galen take back everything for the James family? Let the Charles family feel what it’s like to lose, just like the James family did all those years ago.”

She looked like she could already see the drama playing out, two powerful families going head-to-head, the way wild animals battle in an arena.

Adolphus couldn’t help but smile at how happy she seemed. The Charles family’s fate was already sealed in his mind. If letting Laurinda stir things up brought her joy, then so be it.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Perfect. I’ll call York and have him bring Galen back. We’ll come up with a plan.”

You’re named “Dedication” for a reason. Get back to work and live up to it.

***

A week later, the Austin family situation finally exploded.

The news of bankruptcy hit like a bomb. Everyone was in shock.

Jeniffer was especially devastated. She dropped to the floor, stunned, unable to process what had happened. She’d just managed to get control of the family, and now, out of nowhere, the second-ranked Austin family was collapsing.

“How could this happen? Why? The Austin Group was always making money... How did it all fall apart so fast? Someone must be behind this!”

As she replayed the last few weeks in her mind, Jeniffer decided it had to be Laura’s fault.