He had no fond memory of his past. However, the winter this year seemed troublesome to him.
Standing by the door of the second floor, Sara greeted the two people downstairs. Little did they know,
she heard most of what they had talked about. In her heart, she figured that perhaps the two were too
engrossed in their talk that they did not notice that she had already opened the door.
"Why did you get up so early?" Sara rubbed her eyes and walked downstairs. As she did, her slippers
made a sound in every step.
James turned around and greeted, "Good morning, Sara."
"Why did you get up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?" Jacob asked.
"Well, I woke up suddenly. When I saw that you weren't there, I decided to get up and find you," Sara
answered while walking at the stairs. She then walked over towards the two and sat down next to
Jacob.
He hugged her affectionately. Even though he was still sad, he felt so much better now that James and
Sara were sitting next to him.
Meanwhile, Winnie was preparing their breakfast in the kitchen. She knew the reason why the
atmosphere at home was depressing. To be honest, even she felt sad because of it. She was young
when Jacob's mother died. Now, she was no longer youthful when Jacob's father passed away.
Time flew fast, and many things had changed along the way. Winnie had gone through a lot and even
felt the malice of life. Even though she was already used to it, there were still things that she could not
accept.
However, regardless of how sad she felt, the most important thing for her was to do her job well and not
cause trouble to Jacob in any way.
Dora was peacefully sleeping. That dog was cleverer than other dogs. One time, it ran to Sara's side
and leaned close to her. To everyone's surprise, it returned to its doghouse immediately.
The dog must have sensed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, so it walked away as
soon as it came.
While he was staring blankly at the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Jacob's mouth twitched. Although the
breakfast was aromatic and mouth-watering, he was not in the mood to eat.
When he went to the table, he could barely finish two spoonful of food. Unfortunately, he had
something important to deal with today. Moreover, he did not want Sara and James to worry about him.
If it were not because of them, he would not have eaten breakfast at all.
His meal lay unfinished on his plate. While the other two were having breakfast, they suddenly heard a
knock on the door.
Winnie answered the door. As she did so, she saw familiar people on the other side of the door. They
were all members of the Shi clan. Although Winnie knew who those people were, she still felt a little
intimidated by the dignified look on their faces.
"Please come in," she said softly.
Those people did not answer. Instead, a young man, who seemed to be the leader, raised his
eyebrows and asked straightforwardly, "Where is Jacob?"
Winnie heard the man's tone. It seemed ungentle and impatient to her. Upon hearing his words, she
lost her respect to him. 'Did they speak like this when Mr. Michael was still alive?
How dare they come to the house rudely just after his death? It's so disgusting!'
"Mr. Jacob is having breakfast right now," Winnie answered politely. She was standing by the door with
her fingers interlocked to each other. For some reason, her own answer made her feel somewhat
awkward. Nevertheless, she had to endure her anger regardless of how extreme it felt. After all, she
was aware of her obligations. She had to treat guests properly no matter what.
Besides, she was just a servant. She was not allowed to interfere. Not only that, but she was not in the
place to call out guests just because she felt that she was in the right.
"How could you eat? Your father just died!" the uninvited man shouted as he walked to the kitchen.
Although he had not reached the dining room yet, his remark had already been heard.
His tone and voice were undeniably annoying!
Hearing his irate words, Jacob lifted his gaze and looked at the man in front of him. It was Jonathan.
Behind him was a large group of directors from the family. Seeing them in the dining room made
Jacob's eyebrows raise. Although he was trying his best to stay calm, he could not help himself but
frown upon hearing Jonathan's words.
"Why? Am I not right? How could you eat when your father just died? You know what? You really have
the potential to be a CEO. You're open-minded and indifferent."
Jacob's eyebrows raised even higher. Meanwhile, Sara and James' mouths turned into a frown.
Jonathan's motives had been revealed. That must have been his reason for suddenly storming in. He
figured out that it would probably best to piss Jacob off to push him to do something outrageous. That
way, Jonathan would have a chance to defeat him.
Defeating Jacob was Jonathan's lifelong dream. In Jonathan's mind, Jacob took possession of his
resources when it was him who worked diligently in the company. He must be ready now to take over
the company whenever he wanted. Besides, Michael promised him that he would consider all his
efforts.
However, Michael fell ill some time later, making Jacob the president by default. How could Jonathan
accept that so easily? That was why Jonathan loathed Michael and Jacob to the core. They betrayed
him!
God must have been listening to Jonathan's prayers that Jacob lost his backing. Besides, what could
Jacob do without Michael's help? Now that he had nothing but himself, it was worth questioning his
ability.
"Watch your words. I don't want to hurt a member of our Shi clan." James cleared his throat after he
spoke. He knew to himself that he was of great importance to the clan than Jonathan.
Only this impatient young man dared to act rashly in front of everyone. If it were in the past, he would
have killed such a person who dared to pester him.
With a sheet of paper towel, James wiped his mouth gently and slowly stood up. He sensed that Jacob
was infuriated by Jonathan's words and that those words had crossed the line.
However, James just stood up and looked at Jonathan with his piercing gaze. Other than that, he did
nothing else. The truth was, he just wanted to see Jonathan's trick under his sleeves and if he was
really that ruthless.
"What now, Uncle James? Are you going to stand up for him again? You know what? I wonder most of
the time why you, an outsider, work so hard for Jacob and Michael. Let me give you a piece of advice:
Don't let them take advantage of you. Otherwise, you'll only suffer a great loss in the end."
Jonathan laughed sardonically after speaking. He was more than happy to enjoy such a moment of him
being condescending. He wanted Jacob to feel the pain Jonathan had suffered because of him.
"You..." At that moment, James was so furious that he felt an urge to kill the man right there and then. If
James had not vowed to quit being vicious, Jonathan's blood would have already splattered to the
ground.
Meanwhile, Sara glanced at Jonathan. She already figured out what kind of person he was.
"Don't you think you've gone too far?" Sara asked while glancing at those who were behind Jonathan.
"Mr. Michael just passed away. Can't you tell whether someone is grieving or not?" Sara really wanted
to drive these people out. Their dignified yet gloating looks made her extremely unhappy and
distasteful.
"You two are divorced, aren't you? There was a lot of news about you before. Let me ask you this:
What's your reward for speaking for Jacob?"
Jonathan cast a scornful glance at Sara. He removed his hand out of his pocket casually as if his words
were not actually hurtful.
"You..." Sara was taken aback by his retort. She had seen people who tried to rub salt into someone
else's wound, but Jonathan was remarkable among them. Michael had just died. How could Jonathan
speak like that?
Jacob stretched out his hand and pulled Sara back as if to protect her. Then, with his eye, he hinted her
to stop arguing with the likes of Jonathan. Jacob has been suppressing his anger with all his might.
Even if he were to face these people on his own, he was confident that he could shut them up at once.
But because he was grieving right now, he did not want to deal with those people at the moment.
As long as they stayed away from him in the meantime, everything would be fine.
"If you have something to say, just say it. You don't have to be sarcastic." As soon as Jacob finished
speaking, he took Sara's hand and walked out. James followed closely behind. Jacob had no interest in
solving the dispute in the dining room.
If he did, he did not think that he would be able to eat there as long as he remembered this matter.
Well, how could he eat when the faces of these disgusting people came to his mind?
Although some of them were actually kind, they did not have the courage to stand up and defend
anyone at this time. Besides, they were at a disadvantage. There was no way they would oppose nor
interfere.
The moment Jacob passed by Jonathan, he saw Jonathan was smirking. Because of this, he felt his
temples throbbed in annoyance. As he moved past those people, he resisted the impulse to punch
Jonathan in the face. With his fist clenched at the side of his body, he successfully walked out of the
dining room without hurting anyone.
All of them made way for Jacob and the other two. It was only Jonathan who stirred up trouble. Some
remained on neutral sides, and many others even sympathized with what just happened to Jacob.
After all, nobody ever wanted to see someone grieving after the death of his father.
What was more, they came here just to express their condolences. Most of them who agreed to come
had no interests in joking around and stirring up trouble. Only a few of them had come to laugh at them.
Those were the same people who were usually offensive and had a habit of chastising everyone that
came their way.
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