As Ste and Joshua were about to leave, someone called out from behind.


    "Star."


    Ste turned and found herself facing her uncle Hugo.


    She offered him a polite, measured smile. “Uncle Hugo, is there something you need?"


    Hugo smiled warmly. "Star, you haven''t met your grandparents yet, have you? When you have some free time, let me take you over to the Cameron family estate to visit them. When they heard they had another granddaughter, they were over the moon. They keep talking about you, hoping to meet you soon."


    Ste kept her tone courteous. "My brother mentioned he misses our grandparents too. I''lle by for a visit with my brothers another day."


    She nced at Hugo and his son, then added, "Uncle, cousin, I have some things to take care of right now, so I''ll be off. I''ll be in touch when I''m free."


    Without waiting for a reply, Ste and Joshua walked away.


    Hugo''s expression stiffened.


    Ever since that mess a few years back-when that troublemaker from the second branch got involved in an altercation and, leveraging his connection to the Williams family, ended up killing someone-the three Williams brothers had kept their distance from the Cameron family.


    They used to visit the Cameron estate from time to time, if only for the sake of the elderly couple. But after that incident, the Williams brothers stoppeding altogether, and the business orders from their side started to dry up. It was clear they wanted to cut ties.


    There were rumors that Ste held a ten percent stake in original shares. If they could win her over, perhaps the Camerons could regain their ce among the elite families.


    They assumed Ste, having grown up away from the family, hadn''t seen much of the world. They thought if they yed the family card and offered her a few favors, she''d be easy to win over.


    No one expected Ste to greet them with such cold indifference.


    ...


    Back in her office, Ste watched as Joshua swept the room with a strange- looking device.


    "What are you doing?" she asked.


    "Checking for surveince," Joshua replied, methodically scanning every corner.


    After a thorough check, he finally put the device away. "There''s nothing for now, but we can''t getcent. Just because we''re clear today doesn''t mean we''ll be safe tomorrow. We should check every day."


    Ste nodded. "I''ll leave that to you."


    Joshua turned serious. "How did things go today?"


    Ste''s eyes grew thoughtful. "Pretty much as you predicted. The people who support my mother are


    struggling at the Williams Group


    About half of thepany sides with my father, maybe twenty percent support my mother, and the other thirty percent stay neutral."  s


    In other words, even if Ste managed to sway all the neutral parties, she''d only


    be able to split thepany fifty-fifty with Skyler. The odds were still not in her favor.


    It wasn''t really about Skyler and his father favoring the illegitimate daughter, Aurora, or simply wanting to see Ste fail. The truth was, they were using Aurora as an excuse to reim the original shares held by Ste and the other minorit


    shareholders. Content bétongs to s


    Joshua said, "Breaking the stalemate isn''t impossible. Since they want your shares, they''ll make the first move either by tripping you up this year or making it impossible for you to work at the Williams Group."  s<fn8009> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n FindN()vel</fn8009>


    He had barely finished speaking when there was a gentle knock at the office door.


    A young man entered, introducing himself with respectful formality. "Ms. Cameron, hello. My name is Aicken-your personal assistant."


    Aicken was tall, with striking good looks and the kind of youthful charm that was all the rage these days. He could easily have been mistaken for an actor or a model, even among the stars in the entertainment industry.


    If Abby were here, she probably wouldn''t have hesitated to sign him on the spot.