Love beyond the mask (Whitney)



Hugh squinted his eyes, comfortably seated in his wheelchair, as he calmly watched Whitney make her entrance, greeting her with a gentle smile. "My dear niece, what brings you here today? Did you need something from me, or is there some emergency with your father?"

His tone was laced with the natural concern of an elder for a younger family member.

The attention of everyone in the room shifted almost in unison from the Sheldon Group shareholders to Whitney upon her arrival.

Whitney couldn't help but smirk inwardly. Strike first, strike hard.

She raised her head high and walked in confidently, without showing any fear. "Uncle Hugh, if my father were in some kind of emergency, wouldn't you be thrilled?"

"What makes you think that, kiddo?" Hugh's voice was tinged with resignation, yet he remained relaxed and nonchalant.

Standing by the doorway, Whitney signaled to close it halfway and raised her voice provocatively, "If we're talking about misunderstandings, then perhaps the shareholders you've dismissed from their positions within the Sheldon Group this past week have greatly misunderstood you as well." "You're just waiting for the Chairman to die! In just a month, everyone has seen right through you, Hugh. On the surface, you're disabled, but in reality, you're just waiting for Mr. Sheldon's downfall. As soon as you joined the Sheldon Group, you started purging us veterans, trying to oust us by any means necessary! Dear shareholders, especially the boss of Splendor Group, please open your eyes wide. Hugh is a wolf in sheep's clothing, lacking in both morality and competence. He's using underhanded tactics to force us veteran shareholders out, aiming to monopolize power! A man like this, even if you sign agreements with him, you can forget about enjoying the profits you did under the Chairman's tenure!"

"Yeah, Hugh's just not business-savvy; he's only interested in hoarding profits for himself. You'd be wise to avoid partnering with him. We'd rather harm the Sheldon Group's interests than not speak out. Think carefully about the kind of person he is and the recent rumors swirling around him in the business world!"

The other executives in the room looked visibly uncomfortable. The Splendor Group's boss pondered the situation, eyeing the aggrieved shareholders confronting Hugh. Nothing happens without a reason...novelbin

Although Hugh appeared to give Splendor Group a five percent advantage, that advantage could easily turn into a trap once they partnered up. The Splendor Group's boss considered retracting the contract. "Hugh, it seems you're embroiled in internal affairs today. Perhaps we should discuss our partnership another time?"

Hugh's handsome features darkened subtly. He glanced at his secretary and signaled, "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for today's inconvenience. My dear niece has stirred up some trouble by rallying these shareholders against me. When I first took the helm, I didn't want to replace my brother, but our old man insisted. I knew my niece would be resentful, thinking she alone had a claim on the Sheldon Group!"

With a sharp turn in his rhetoric, Hugh's words seemed to strike a chord with Whitney.

As the secretary escorted the executives out, their curious glances lingered on Whitney. It seemed Hugh's explanation had swayed them, portraying him as an innocent party.

Whitney let them scrutinize her. After all, she wasn't here for her reputation.

She turned to Hugh, her gaze cold and mocking. "You've really got a way with words. It's clear these shareholders are dissatisfied with you, not me. I'm merely representing my father, taking responsibility for their future with the company. After all, if it weren't for these veterans, the Sheldon Group wouldn't have risen to its current stature as the third-largest enterprise in the country. Even if it meant pampering them, it would be worth it. But you, in your quest for absolute control, were quick to dismiss them."

Her calm and measured words stirred the shareholders into a frenzy.

One of them, eyes blazing, declared, "Hugh, even before, you were the one we overlooked! From the founder to the Chairman, over these forty-odd years, what have you contributed to the Sheldon Group? Nothing! Your brother treated you with kindness, granting you the same profits as us, yet you, ungrateful and bitter, betray him... Did you hear Whitney? She's so young, yet her vision surpasses yours by far! She truly is her father's daughter. We should have opposed your involvement in the company from the start. Whitney should take over, not you!"

Hugh looked down at his legs, covered by a blanket. His deformity was an eyesore, one that Holly particularly disliked.

He chuckled softly, his gaze shifting to the outspoken shareholder. The shareholder, along with his companions, fueled by anger, declared, "We see through you now. You just want to swallow the Sheldon Group whole. The Chairman isn't dead yet; you won't succeed. Today, if you don't give us our rightful share of the Sheldon Group's profits for the next ten years, don't even think about leaving."

"Hugh, the Chairman will wake up soon. You'd best revoke your decision to dismiss us, or when the Chairman awakens and sees how you've treated us veterans, he won't let you off easily!"

"Let's show him what we're made of!"

Whitney watched from a distance as the shareholders' anger peaked, surrounding Hugh in a rush. Regardless of how the confrontation ended, her goal was merely a piece of Hugh's hair.

She subtly signaled to Cody. Cody's bodyguard, seizing the moment, blended into the fray.

"Let's calm down, everyone. Fighting me won't solve anything," Hugh said, unfazed.

But the shareholders were beyond reason. "We've dedicated our lives to the Sheldon Group, and you think you can just dismiss us? Decades of billions in profits, and you say it's over just like that?"

"Let's take him down!"

Hugh's bodyguards quickly intervened, creating a buffer around him as his secretary stepped forward to protect him.

Hugh watched the agitated old timers, then turned his attention outside the crowd, to Whitney, who orchestrated the evening's events without getting directly involved.

What was she really after? Surely, she hadn't just stirred up this bunch of has-beens to hurl a few harmless insults at him.

Hugh's gaze was locked on Whitney when suddenly, a pair of hands lunged towards his head. He was momentarily startled. Then, with a smirk, he snapped his fingers.

The door next to Whitney burst open, and over twenty bodyguards streamed in! The tide quickly turned.

Whitney and a few shareholders, caught off guard, were swiftly subdued by Hugh's pre-arranged bodyguards. The shareholders, advanced in years, their faces flushed with embarrassment, cast covert glances towards Cody and Whitney.

Whitney, pinned harshly against the table by a bodyguard, could only look ahead with one eye. Hugh wheeled closer, stopping in front of her. Leaning on his cane, he slowly stood up.

He was nearly as tall as Hudson,

Whitney noticed for the first time as

.n

she saw him stand! She didn't know that Hugh, despite his disability, could stand. Neither did the elders of the Sheldon family. This cripple had kept his secret too well!

Hugh approached her, looking down with interest. He turned to a bodyguard with a chilling command, "Take these old fools out, search them thoroughly, especially for any extra items they might be carrying."

Whitney's face fell at his words!

Cody looked at Whitney worriedly, sensing a hidden meaning in Hugh's words. Had he realized something?

Cody and his bodyguards were escorted out along with the others.

Hugh's secretary closed the door of the private room behind them.

Whitney remained motionless.

Hugh didn't move either, his cane tapping lightly as his gaze turned fierce, "My dear niece, always plotting. You came for my hair, didn't you? Creating a diversion, focusing attention elsewhere, you almost had me fooled. What now? You didn't get my hair. But dealing softly with you, my niece, seems unlikely now!"

Hugh's smile vanished, his eyes hardening, a chilling similarity to Florence's gaze.

Whitney bit her lip, remembering the scene of Cody's bodyguards being taken away, her heart sinking. She had gotten Hugh's hair. But whether she could keep it safe was another matter. And as for her own safety, what was she to do next?

With Hugh locking her in, having seen through her plan, it seemed impossible for her to leave alive.