"Chloe, persuade Laurence to just tell Noelle how he feels."
"Trust me. We have all tried. Mom hasn't stopped nagging him. My aunt grills him every time she comes to visit. Has it worked? Nope. Laurence is just as stubborn as Noelle. They are two of a kind."
Callia chuckled. "They do belong together."
She and Chloe chatted for a while before turning in for the night.
Time flew when they were having fun. A week went by in the blink of an eye.
Callia had spent two weeks at Austin's. Having recharged her batteries, she should go to work.
The Yorks were reluctant to let her go to work. They wanted to give her their allowances, which were a lot more than she would earn at work. Koben, in particular, clung to her leg and cried his eyes out, begging to go to work with her.
Callia had to settle them all down. Still, she was determined to keep her job at FC & Co.
Xavier took his future family back to Wiltspoon.
Chester was heading there too.
While all was good and well with the Yorks and the O'Connors, the mood in the Longbottom family remained low.
Many members of the Longbottoms were increasingly displeased with Manny. Even the Longbottom Corporation employees were not happy with his bad decisions. They did not think Manny had the leadership to take down the Longtail Group.
Manny was so close to closing several deals, only for the Longtail Group to poach the contracts right out of his hands.
More infuriatingly, Manny heard that Laurence had been learning how to knit for the past week.
That was right. Laurence was knitting.
He put a lot of his work aside, just to focus on knitting. Apparently, his knitting had improved after a week, but he needed to practice since he was not quite there.
Even when the leader of a huge corporation neglected his duties, Longbottom Corporation still could not keep up.
Resentment toward Manny brewed.
Some members of the Longbottom family made private comments that they wished Laurence were the child from thirty years ago, the only surviving bloodline of the direct lineage. Not to mention, he was a very capable man. It was possible that Laurence would seek revenge if he were to return and reclaim the family business.
However, the vendetta was directed at the guilty. Many in the family were ordinary, unaware of the incident thirty years ago. By the time they caught up to what was going on, things had happened. They could live on a clear conscience that they had never harmed the head of the household.
Still, with a real leader in place, they would finally have a chance at success.
They knew the family had deteriorated over the past three decades. It would take a real leader to pull them out of this rut and restore the family's former glory.
When the whispers reached Manny's ears, he was seething. He sent men to straighten out those who made the remarks.
Back in the grand living room of the Longbottoms, Manny sat on the couch and smoked one cigarette after another.
The interior was a display of opulence, each ornament costing more than one could ever earn in a lifetime.
"Pops."
Manny turned to Tony, who was fiddling with his newly acquired antique.
"Why don't we pull off another big operation? We'll get rid of the defiant ones and rewrite the rules to really take charge of the family."
Manny did not want to be some acting head. He wanted to be a real leader!