SPOILED GIRL - Season 9 Episode 92

Not long after Jacob spoke to Emily, he was told that Darren was making his move and had taken action.

A few days later, the news that the CEO of the Xu Group would be changed spread in all of the major news media outlets, implying that the fight within the Xu Family had begun.

As a result, the stock of the Xu Group plummeted. What’s more, the whole company fell into a state of depression. David remained at the company headquarters to deal with those things for several days in a row and didn’t go home to rest at all. He soon became worn out and strained by facing the siege within his own family.

Seeing the news concerning the Xu Group displayed on the screen, Dina polished her newly buffed fingernails and her lips curved up into a wicked smile. “Emily, did you see that? I will destroy all that anchors you, one by one.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a soft male voice sounded in the room as Darren rolled his wheelchair closer to face Dina.

“So are you satisfied with what you saw now?”

“Yes.” With one word, she expressed her jubilation at her enemy’s looming demise. Dina looked up at him curiously and pointed at the man who had suddenly appeared on the screen. “By the way, are you okay with treating your brother like this?”

She remembered that at the beginning, when Darren had told her that he would do her a favor, she had wanted him to punish Emily. But she had never imagined that he would so casually disregard his own family in the process and strike out at his own brother.

“Of course not. But if I didn’t do that, how could I help you to deal with Jacob and the others?” he asked, his voice almost a purr of contentment. Moving to face Dina, Darren pulled her feet from the tea table and onto his thigh.

“You’re right. Hey, that’s so ticklish. Stop it,” Dina chided as Darren stroked her feet.

Darren’s fingers gently pinched her delicately-shaped toes. Dina shivered with goosebumps as he tickled her and she pulled her feet back. Then, she sat up and hugged his neck.

“Darren, do you think that I can start filming again soon?” she implored.

Now that Darren had become the largest shareholder of the Xu Group, it meant that she had a backer who could compete with Jacob. Therefore, it would make sense for the company to resume her work.

Dina was used to the adrenaline-fueled life of being a famous star with many events to attend and parties to be seen at. Her recent life of peace and quiet bored her and she felt uncomfortable in this forced role. She hoped to reprise her role as a starlet as soon as possible.

“Yes, it’ll come very soon. Just wait.” Darren soothed her and touched her head gently.

‘If everything goes well, David would have to agree to let Darren become the CEO of the company.

By then, the Xu Group will be Darren’s as well, ‘ Dina planned gleefully.

However, events rarely turned out the way one wished them to. While Dina and Darren thought that victory was in sight, the Xu Group released new statistical information – the board of directors had decided not to change the CEO, which meant that the company was still under David’s control.

Hearing the news, Dina immediately called Darren but discovered that his phone was switched off.

In fact, Darren was in the CEO’s office of the Xu Group at that very moment.

“David, my brother, to my surprise, you’ve still won against me,” Darren stated with a trace of bitterness in his voice. After carefully reading the deed of shares transfer several times, Darren sneered and dropped the document on David’s desk. The results were not as Darren had hoped.

David sat opposite Darren. His fingers were folded on top of the desk in a vaguely meditative pose as he regarded his brother. He looked at Darren, but felt like he was looking at a stranger.

Shaking his head, David said, “My second elder brother, this is not my fault. It’s you who shall be blamed for this media circus since it’s you who has stopped regarding me as your brother of late.”

David’s eyes were full of disappointment, he did not know what else to say to Darren. After all, he still really respected his second elder brother in his heart. There was a past between them which could not be so easily erased.

“Ha-ha, you said I don’t regard you as my brother. Don’t I, David? There’s one matter which you shouldn’t forget. If I hadn’t been in a car accident, the CEO position would have been mine. I should be the one working in this office.”

A ferocious look appeared on the disabled man’s face, distorting the softness of his appearance. Darren was unable to remain in camouflage in front of his brother whom he was so jealous of. The farce of Darren’s meekness was now revealed.

“You’re right. All of this originally belonged to you, my second elder brother,” David admitted quietly. He lowered his head and studied the pen in his hand, turning it between his fingers. David had been too young at the time of the accident to take over the family business. He would not have had a chance to lead the company if his second elder brother had not been in an accident. Therefore, he still believed that he should be grateful to Darren despite what he had been up to lately.

“In fact, if you want, I’ll grant your wishes. But you…” David’s voice faded away as he swallowed his words upon reflection of Darren’s new darker side. He couldn’t tolerate this side of Darren which played tricks behind his back and even divided the company internally. There was no honor in these games and it reeked of wickedness.

“If I told you that I wanted to have all that used to belong to me returned to me, would you agree? David, don’t be naive.”

The world of adulthood was not like playing house. There was nothing you could gain easily. Therefore, Darren only believed in power and his own interests. Only what he gained by his own hand would satisfy his need for control.

But David looked at Darren and spoke in all seriousness without any hesitation, “If you had let me know in the very beginning, I think I would have. But not now. Now, I won’t. Not after everything you’ve done.”

Then, David lowered his eyes and set his pen down. He remembered what Jacob had said to him earlier and now believed that he had spoken the truth. Some people always thought of themselves first and of others last when it came to economic interests. While blood was thicker than water, it seemed that money had indeed become thicker than blood.

“As expected, you still won’t!” Darren sneered as if he had predicted David’s denial of his wishes.

Darren’s strange behavior mystified David and left him feeling uncomfortable. He frowned and asked softly, “My second elder brother, how did you become like this?”

“You want to know the reason? It’s all because of you!” Darren spoke in short biting phrases as if he were barking at David in his rage.

David still did not understand what he had done to make Darren so angry.

“Because of me? Why do you say that? What did I do to you?” David’s mouth remained slightly parted with surprise at this ridiculous accusation.

After they had set up their own families, although David had often kept in touch with Darren, they had still lived in different places. So, he could not understand why Darren would hold him responsible, since there had been very little communication between them.

“Isn’t it? I have nothing now. Do you dare to say that you had nothing to do with it?” Darren asked lightly as he looked out the window at the city landscape.

Did it mean that David had been innocently unaware of Darren’s failures in his family and career?

David was shocked when he heard what Darren said. “My brother…”

“Well, I’m lost. And I have had enough of your rubbish excuses. Let it be.” Raising his hand to stop David from going on, Darren motioned to the bodyguards standing along the wall to push him out of the office.

“My brother, please wait!” David wanted to stop him from leaving. He felt a draw to his own blood and didn’t want matters to stay unresolved.

However, Darren did not want to stop. When David reached the doorway, he heard Darren’s voice drifting in from the hallway.

“After I get divorced from Nora, I will return to M Country. You can count on it.”‘

Quietly looking at the empty doorway, David thought that this feud of smoke and mirrors was finally over. Exhausted, he sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh.

Not long after, he received a call from Jacob.

“How did it go?”

Hearing Jacob’s deep and familiar voice over the phone, David took a deep breath. Then, closing his eyes while rubbing the bridge of his nose, he replied weakly, “It’s done. Everything went as planned. Thank you, Jacob.”

If he hadn’t followed Jacob’s advice this time and communicated with his father in advance, he might really have had to give up what he had gained from several years of hard work.

“You’re welcome. Helping you is also helping myself.” Jacob looked at the dreary rain outside his window. “What are you going to do next about Darren?”

Darren could absorb the Xu Group’s scattered shares in just half a month if he was secretly prepared for it, so Jacob thought that things were not as simple or settled as they appeared to be.

“He plans to divorce Nora and return to M Country,” David reported wearily.