The autumn breeze was cool and refreshing, and it helped to clear Jerome''s head a little.


    "Mom, are we going for a walk in the park?" he asked with a smile.


    "No." Wendy''s eyes were cold. She stopped in a secluded spot. "Did you go to Natalie and tell her not to enter thepetition? Did you tear up her designs?"


    "Are you so sure she was even going topete?"


    "Yes. Joanna came home crying this morning because Natalie bullied her," Jerome admitted freely. He had indeed gone to cause trouble for Natalie.


    He looked away, at the sycamore trees in the distance, watching as an asional leaf drifted to the ground.


    Wendy knew that with Jerome''s stubborn personality, nothing she said would make him believe her.


    She took out a stock transfer agreement. "You own five percent of thepany''s shares. I need you to transfer them to me now. Someone is secretly buying up shares, and I can''t lose my position as chairwoman."


    Jerome was stunned. "Mom, is thepany really in that much trouble? I''ll call my brother and have hime back to help you."


    "Don''t bother. A useless, lovesick fool and a coddled good-for-nothing. What help could they possibly be?" Wendy''s eyes welled with tears.


    Her cold words shocked Jerome. "Mom, how can you talk about your sons like that?"


    "Just answer the question. Are you going to give me the shares or not?"


    Wendy stared at him, her heart sinking as she saw the hesitation in his eyes.


    "Mom, you know my ownpany doesn''t make any money. My only ie is the dividends from my shares. If I give them to you, I won''t have any money to live on."


    It wasn''t that he was unwilling, but he had his own expenses. Racing was a very expensive hobby.


    "But if mypany goes bankrupt, I won''t have any money to give you either. If you''re not willing, then forget it. I''ll find another way."


    Selfish. Just like Nathan.


    Even though they were her sons, if they were this selfish, she would have to choose to abandon them. She had to protect what her parents had spent their lives building.


    With tears in her eyes, Wendy turned to leave. Her father still had money; she would have him secretly buy up shares from other stockholders. It wouldn''t be difficult with his help.


    She was just afraid that her eldest son''s shares would fall into Joanna''s hands.


    Jerome watched his mother''s slender figure retreat, a bitter taste in his mouth. He loved racing, but he hadn''t done anything to help his mother all these years.


    "Mom!" he called out, running after her. "Mom, it''s not that I don''t want to give them to you. I just need enough to get by."


    Furious, Wendy pulled out her phone and yed a recording for him.


    It was the conversation between Nathan and Joanna at the hospital.


    ет


    Jerome listened, stunned. He looked at his mother''s red, tear-filled eyes and felt a wave of sadness. His mother had changed too. He let out a bitterugh “Mom you''d really steep this jew just to get my shares Why would Dad and Joanna do this to me? I''ve been so good to them."


    He simply couldn''t believe it. The sister he had doted on since childhood would never do such a thing Joanna had always been kind-hearted. And his father had always loved and supported him in everything he did.


    His mother was the one who had always been against his racing. She was just making this up to get him to stop.


    Wendy sneered. "So, even with the evidence right in front of you, you still don''t believe me, do you?"