Loving DAD 1123

Gerard’s eyes flashed. “The one who hurt him? Are you implying that Sharon caused Miles’s disappearance- that she’s responsible for his vanished whereabouts?” 

Silas shot back, “Miles went missing after he met Sharon. Whose guilt looks greater, if you ask me?” 

if he could 

Silas knew full well that without proof, you couldn’t convict Sharon. Still, that didn’t matter- poison the relationship between the Silverstone and McKinzie families and scuttle the deal, that would suffice. 

He wanted Sharon to understand that, so long as the Kalen family opposed her, she could achieve nothing. What good were original shares if she was blocked at every turn? Let her keep those shares and rot with them. 

Gerard’s tone turned cool. “According to my inquiry, Sharon was in intensive care that day, unconscious the whole time. Even if she’d wished to, she wouldn’t have had the energy or opportunity. 

“By the time she woke, Miles was already gone. I did suspect her at first, but your grandstanding–publicly accusing your own sister–makes me think otherwise. 

“If she truly were the culprit, the Kalen family would suffer more than it would gain. Your reckless words, unbacked by evidence, only serve to drive a wedge and doom today’s signing.” 

He fixed Silas with a meaningful look. “Silas, you’re still too young. 

11 

Old hands are sharper than youthful pride. Gerard – no less a fox than Richard stunt. Silas’s face went taut. 

— 

saw straight through Silas’s 

Richard stepped forward with a genial smile to smooth the scene. “Gerard, don’t take a young man’s words to heart. Silas was only joking.” 

Gerard laughed politely. “Of course. As an elder, I wouldn’t stoop to such petty quarrels. But consider this–if an outsider hears your son publicly smearing his own sister, what stories will they spin? Richard, you should rein him in; such rumors won’t do your family any favors.” 1 

Richard smiled and agreed outwardly, but a cold glint passed through his eyes. 

The signing time arrived. Sharon appeared, composed and immaculate in professional attire; her hair was neatly pinned, her bearing dignified and serious. 

Even the hangers–on who’d come hoping to see her humiliated straightened at the sight. After raising that sum in three days, she deserved respect, if nothing else. 

Richard and his sons sat in the front row, watching as Sharon extended her hand and shook Gerard’s. The contracts were exchanged, and each party began to scan the clauses. 

Silas watched her closely, searching for signs of panic, but her face remained calm. He finally couldn’t help himself and said, “Dad, Rick, do you think… she really raised the money?” 

Rick’s expression darkened. “From what we can see, yes. 

Scott frowned. “She didn’t sell any original shares to those shareholders. How did she secure the funds?” 

Silas snorted. “Probably borrowed from Carter or Xavier. If so, we can proceed to phase two.” 

Rick interjected, “Their funds haven’t shown major movements. This money might not have come from them.” 

Silas suggested, “Perhaps it was transferred to her quietly, without alarming anyone.” 

After all, if such transfers were public knowledge, they would be dangerously destabilizing for the companies.