Chapter 756
A week passed since the new owner, Vernon Phoenix Gray, acquired the Gray company.
Nigel had prepared himself to leave this company, even though he had been dedicating his life for a long time here.
He had a lot of good memories with his coworkers, though he never had a good memory with Mr. Gray or Secretary Maria. He knew those two were doing terrible things, but he had no power to fight them back, so all he could do was do his intended job.
After all, the Gray company might be led by an absolute monster, but the thousands of staff were honest people who worked to make ends meet every month.
Nigel didn't know the character of Vernon Phoenix Gray. But based on some insider information he gathered, he was a lot more ruthless and efficient than his older brother, so Nigel simply thought he was an even bigger monster than Vincent.'
'I can't imagine having to work with another monster. I've had enough,' Nigel thought as he began to put his belongings on his office desk into a cardboard box, thinking that he had to prepare himself before Mr. Phoenix Gray handed his severance pay.
Nigel hadn't heard any of the employees getting laid off, but he just assumed that Vernon would fire the ones at the managerial position, such as him, because he would see those at the managerial positions as Vincent's lapdogs.
And just as he expected, one of the staff suddenly entered his office and said, "Sir, the CEO wants to see you. He's in his office right now."
"Okay," Nigel nodded. "I'll be there soon."
Nigel used the elevator and stood in front of the CEO's office.
He saw Khloe sitting at the secretary's seat, playing with her phone and checking on some email on the computer. She didn't seem to be panicking even though she was the prime target of this massive layoff their new boss would do.
Khloe looked at Nigel and said, "Mr. Phoenix Gray is waiting for you inside."
"Do you know what he wants me to do?" Nigel asked. Though he already knew what would happen next, he still wanted to get moral support from his coworkers.
"No idea," Khloe shrugged. "Maybe he wants to give you a promotion?"
Nigel laughed dryly at that bad joke. He wished Mr. Phoenix Gray would be kind enough to let him stay, but the chance was close to zero anyway.
So he braced himself and opened the door.
As expected, Mr. Vernon Phoenix Gray sat on the CEO seat, replacing his older brother as the new CEO through a legal acquisition. But that wasn't what shocked him.
He was shocked upon seeing an old woman sitting on the sofa. She looked frail and was wearing a long white dress that made her look like a kind old lady.
She smiled at Nigel as their eyes met and asked, "It's been a while since the last time we met, Nigel."
"M—Madam Gray?" Nigel couldn't believe that he would be able to see his old boss once again. He thought Madam Gray was dead after her stunt by stopping all the scholarships from the Gray Foundation, creating a buzz on Twitter that Vincent stopped the charity foundation erected by Vaughn Gray long ago.
Dorothea had a kind smile as she saw Nigel. It had been a while since the last time she saw him, and she wouldn't lie that she missed him.
Nigel was her direct subordinate who managed the Gray Foundation. He was a good man who had his own ideal. That's why he preferred to work with Dorothea as the manager of the Gray Foundation before Drotohea suddenly made a crazy move that basically shut down the entire foundation, putting it to sleep.
And thus, Vincent, who still saw potential in him, put him in a managerial position in the Gray company instead.
"Long time no see, Nigel. You seem to be doing well. I'm glad," Dorothea said.
Nigel was still too shocked to react. He stared at her with a gaping mouth, which was quite funny that Dorothea chuckled while covering her mouth elegantly, "Are you surprised that I'm still alive? Well, I've been hiding for a while without telling you or anyone on Vincent's side. I guess that's natural for you to think I'm dead."
Dorothea glanced at Vernon, who was busying himself by reading some documents, but of course, Dorothea knew that Vernon was actually on ears the whole time, listening to what Dorothea was about to say to Nigel.
"I've been hiding under Vernon's protection all this time. That's why Vincent can't find me," Dorothea said. "But as you can see, I'm alive and well. Though I do feel a little old."
Nigel felt emotional as he saw the sweet smile that Madam Gray had made.
Many people called Madam Gray an old witch because of her cold demeanor. But Nigel had been working with her for so long. So he knew that Madam Gray hid much of her sadness.
She was constantly crying, even when she was drunk. She was a kind woman, at least from all the interaction that they had for years, but she was trapped in a family that didn't appreciate her, hoping that she'd die soon, so they could split the inheritance or at least kiss Vincent's boots so he'd share some of that money.
Dorothea had been holding the assets under her name for so long because she knew many useless branch families wanted a piece of the cake. Vaughn's family was old money that went downhill after their big investment failed, leaving many of his relatives scattered.
Vaughn successfully rebuilt a massive business empire that had lost its vigor back then, which came at the cost of those old relatives and their descendants trying to try their luck to be instantly rich.
Dorothea held the asset for Vincent before because she thought that Vincent was still too rash and immature, even in his 30s, to hold so many assets.
But now that she had no more motherly feelings for that Vaughn 2.0, she wanted to give the massive inheritance to someone else.
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