Two days later, Crawford Heights Group declared bankruptcy. The placement of thousands of employees was carried out in an orderly manner. Coralie let Frieda handle the compensation plan for the employees and returned to the north with her brother.
She believed she could put in a good word or two for him if she went back with him so that he would not lose all his opportunities in the future.
Frieda and the finance department staff provided the employees with severance compensation with each person receiving an additional two months’ salary.
The severance package invoked a sense of regret among the departing employees. They were all sorry to part ways with such a great company.
Despite having only worked for a month, they were given three months’ salary. Crawford Heights Group had also explicitly stated in the employees’ resignation report that they were let go due to the company’s poor management and that it wouldn’t affect their employment record.
That day, Frieda finally completed her task after working overtime. She wanted to call Shawn to see how he was doing because she was worried about him but eventually gave up, as she knew she could not be of any help.
After taking a sidelong glance at the empty office with a complicated expression, she walked out of the building. Before stepping out of the premises, she could not help turning around to take one last look.
Finally, she came to the realization that she was far less capable than Coralie, not to mention Roxanne. After all, Roxanne’s Flora Verba Group was thriving with a remarkable growth trajectory.
The company began with a start-up capital of around one or two billion but quickly surged to a market value of two hundred billion. The market value continued to climb even after the launch of their second phase of products.
On the other hand, Shawn’s twenty-billion investment had yielded nothing in return. After contemplating her failure for a brief moment, she turned around and was ready to hail a cab to take her back to her mansion. Suddenly, she saw a familiar face from a distance. It was her brother, Jonathan.
“Jonathan…” Frieda subconsciously called out. Only then did she come to understand the meaning behind her brother’s words.. Lucian was indeed a formidable opponent to be reckoned with, and the Queens were lucky to have Lucian as their ally.
Jonathan asked, “You want to come home with me? Shawn probably won’t be coming back to Horington anytime soon.”
Frieda shook her head, declining his offer. She was grateful that her brother neither held any grudges against her nor ridiculed her.
Nonetheless, there was no turning back for her now. She no longer had the right to return to the Queen family after the previous incident involving the medicinal herbs’ price hike. It would only put the Queens in an awkward position if she were to return. Furthermore, Lucian might take it out on the Queens if she were to return to the family.
“Jonathan, everything seems clear to me now, and I’ve learned my lessons. You don’t have to worry about me. I might go abroad to pursue my studies or start a small company from scratch. As for Shawn, I don’t know if he really cares about me or if he was just using me. But I know what I did was wrong. Thank you, Jonathan!” Frieda took the opportunity to open up to her brother.
Recently, she had been reflecting on herself and all the horrible mistakes she had made. She finally understood that everything Jonathan did was in the family’s best interest. After a few seconds of silence, Jonathan inclined his head in acknowledgment.
“Call us when you’re free. Dad and Mom still care about you no matter what. You need to stop being willful. Lucian and Roxanne will not harm you as long as I’m around!” Jonathan promised. He then returned to his car and took out a bank card before handing it to his sister.
“Take this. There are about three to four million on this card. I’m surprised you could tolerate not having a car, considering you’ve been pampered since you were young.”
Frieda froze and did not know how to react at first. She instinctively wanted to reject his help but still reached out her hand to take the card.
“All right. Take good care of yourself. I’ll be leaving now!” Jonathan got into his car after waving his sister goodbye. Frieda’s tears fell uncontrollably as she watched the car gradually drive away.
