James merely held out a finger. “Ten million?” Dahlia took a deep breath and tried to suppress her anger. “It’s quite a lot, but at least we can still pay it back. Treat it as the price of a lesson learned.”
“You’ve got it wrong, Sis. It’s not just ten million dollars; it’s a hundred million.” James mumbled weakly. “A hundred million?!” Dahlia paled. “Are you serious? Where did you get so much money in the first place?”
“We had a few million in savings. Then, we used our two villas to take out loans. Mom stole the remaining tens of thousands from you.” James shrank back and confessed softly.
“What?” Dahlia’s blood boiled. “A-are you guys crazy? Taking loans and stealing? Who said you could do that?”
Who in their right mind would sell their house to invest in a business? What a fool!
“It’s all my fault, Dahlia. I’m so sorry. I should die instead!” Florence moaned and began banging her head on the wall again, acting so well that she deserved an Oscar.
“Enough!” Dahlia yelled. “Rather than commit suicide, why don’t you think of a way to take care of this mess?”
“You’re the president of Cardinal Group now. A hundred million dollars shouldn’t be a lot to you, right?” Florence asked tentatively.
“Yeah, right!” Dahlia humphed, irritated. “I borrowed ten billion and merely bought a portion of the company’s shares. It’s not time for dividends yet, so I don’t have any spare cash. Besides, I have a one-billion-dollar loan to pay back, so I’ll be in debt for the next three years!
“What? Is it that serious?” Florence was shocked. She thought Dahlia was living a glorious life after being promoted to President and didn’t know that her daughter was struggling so badly. “Aunt Florence.” Just then, Julie and her mother, Victoria, walked into the room.
“Julie, you’re here. How did it go? Did you manage to find Terence?” Florence sprung up expectantly. Things were still salvageable if they could catch Terrence.
“We couldn’t get ahold of him at all. I’m sure he ran away.” Julie sighed.
“Who knew that he was a swindler? Curse our rotten luck!” Victoria spat.
“Julie, Terrence is your boyfriend. How do you propose we solve this issue?” James demanded.
“What does it have to do with me? I’m not the one who lied to you!” Julie frowned. “Besides,
we’re victims too! We lost a lot of money as well!”
“Who knows if you guys are working together?” James retorted.
“Hey! What do you mean by that?” Julie sprung up and demanded.
“Enough. We’re a family. It’s not the time to fight right now. We should be working together to get past this storm.” Florence placated. “Dahlia, you’re the smartest here. What should we do now?”
“Admit defeat, I guess. Whatever else?” Dahlia grumbled.
“I have an idea.” Suddenly thinking of an idea, Julie whispered. “Since Terrence lied to us, we can do the same to someone else. As long as we find another scapegoat, everything will be fine.
“That’s a good idea. My daughter is so smart!” Victoria’s eyes immediately lit up. Julie was right. Rather than suffering themselves, why don’t they make someone else suffer? They should just act in their own interests.
“That is a good idea, but where will we find the scapegoat?” James rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“A scapegoat?” Florence thought about it for a second, and her eyes shot to Dustin. Wasn’t there a perfect one right there?
