4: 4
4
I set the date for June eighth, the day I had handed the company over to Leslie Floyd in my past life.
On this day, I would let the whole city witness their "moment of glory and triumph" all over again.
On this day, the entire city buzzed, because Phil Floyd had booked twenty-eight helicopters just to rain flower petals from the sky.
Banners of congratulations and blessings hung all over the hotel.
Business associates and neighbors, relatives and elders, even our mutual friends and old classmates, all of them showed up.
Everyone praised my mother-in-law's kindness for taking in the orphan of a poor girl, and praised my good fortune, saying I'd have an heir to carry on the line.
Inside the banquet hall the flattery never stopped, and every face was flushed with joy.
My mother-in-law wore a dark red qipao, cradling her precious grandson as she drifted among the guests, showing him off without pause.
"Look, this is the eldest grandson of my Floyd family. Isn't he handsome? The spitting image of Phil when he was little."
The guests chimed in with their compliments.
"Absolutely. This child has a full brow and rounded ears, truly the image of Mr. Floyd. When he grows up he'll be a dragon among men, just like his father."
"Mrs. Floyd, you're truly blessed. This child will bring honor to your ancestors and make the Floyd family even greater."
Phil Floyd went further still, openly leading Rose Fox through the crowd, introducing her to everyone and accepting their congratulations.
They thought they had me completely under control now, so they'd stopped bothering to hide anything, acknowledging the child's identity out in the open.
Rose Fox had taken care to dress up today too, her makeup delicate, her clothes tasteful, and around her neck hung a hundred-thousand-dollar new-model Burberry diamond necklace.
She looked every inch a lady of means now, with none of the pitiful misery she'd worn just days ago.
Everyone praised her too, congratulating her on her good luck, on meeting a benefactor.
She only lowered her eyes meekly, gazing tenderly at Phil Floyd.
"It's all thanks to Phil's kind heart. I kept the child to repay his kindness, and now he has an heir to carry on his name too."
And once again everyone praised her for repaying kindness, having completely forgotten how she'd slept around and given birth to an illegitimate child in her junior year.
I only watched, calm, this lavish feast just before its collapse.
Soon the auspicious hour arrived, and the emcee's voice swelled to work up the room.
"May I now invite Mrs. Floyd to the stage, to recognize the child before all present and announce the family's new heir."
To thunderous applause, I walked up in a long gown, unhurried, and took the microphone from the emcee's hand.
"Since Mr. Floyd and I have agreed to formally accept Rose Fox's child, we'll raise him as our own, and the paperwork is naturally a necessary step."
As I spoke I picked up the adoption agreement and the company asset transfer agreement in my hands.
"Once the adoption is formal, I've decided to transfer thirty percent of the company's shares to this child, so that he becomes the rightful heir of the Gilbert Group."
Applause rose again. The light in Rose Fox's eyes blazed, wild joy she couldn't suppress, and Phil Floyd was so worked up his face went crimson, his tightly clenched fists giving away his elation.
I let out a soft, mocking laugh, paused for a moment, then turned the words another way.
"As the heir to the Gilbert Group's ten-billion-dollar fortune, he must of course be protected. To prevent any messy disputes down the road, I now invite Rose Fox to sign an abandonment agreement."
Rose Fox looked at me with hesitation, but the moment her eyes fell on the share transfer agreement, she lifted her head and strode gracefully onto the stage, composed.
There was nothing left of her old humility and timidity now. She was certain she had won.
It was only an abandonment agreement. Once the child took over the Gilbert Group and got hold of my assets, he'd naturally acknowledge her as his birth mother.
She stood at center stage and gave a slight bow, her tone generous and at ease.
"Thank you, Mr. Floyd, for supporting me all these years. Christina is magnanimous and loving. With the child in her hands, I trust she'll treat him as her own and raise him into an outstanding heir."
And with that she crisply picked up the pen and signed the three characters of her name across the agreement.
I gave a light laugh, watching Rose Fox at center stage, still not forgetting to guilt-trip me even now.
When her stirring little speech was done, I stepped forward again, took up the microphone, and spoke slowly.
"Since we're adopting an heir and removing the child from his original family, the child's biological father has to sign an abandonment agreement too."
"Now, may I invite the child's biological father to the stage."
One sentence, and thunder split the clear sky.
Every gaze followed mine to the door, and whispers broke out.
"Didn't they say the child's father forced himself on her? How does he dare show up?"
Rose Fox went rigid all over, the smile on her face cracking apart inch by inch.
A thin young man walked toward the ceremony platform, step by step, and then Rose Fox burst out in a scream of terror.
"Wyatt James, who told you to come? Get out, now."
I walked forward, unmoved, leaned close to her ear, and spoke with a cold laugh.
"I did, of course. He is the child's biological father, after all. This abandonment paperwork does need his signature."
