"I didn't insult your guest, Ms. Flemming. He was the one who took it personally."
Nate hurriedly defended himself. "Ms. Flemming, if you think I was in the wrong, I'll apologize. I'll go inside and apologize to your guest too. I was impulsive and shouldn't have said those things.
"I was just jealous. I was jealous that your guest is even more handsome than I am, and he looks like a successful businessman. Which company does your distinguished guest work for?"
Nate had heard that Everly never deferred to her maternal relatives, and that she would not give even her own uncle any special treatment.
Yet, Everly's uncle desperately wanted to get a hold on this niece of his. After all, she was the successor to Flemming Group. Once Kaden passed away, Flemming Group would be entirely under Everly's control, and the enormous fortune of the Flemming family would belong to her.
Maddie would not inherit much. Rumor had it that Kaden had already prepared his will, and his daughter-in-law would only receive a limited portion of the family fortune. Most of it would be assets left behind by her late husband.
However, Ike had died young, not long after getting married. Even though he had been born into a wealthy family, the assets under his name were limited.
After Maddie gave birth to Everly, Kaden handed over all of Ike's assets to Maddie, leaving nothing for himself.
Maddie did not know how to run a business. Aside from keeping her savings in the bank to earn interest, she was unable to manage the two small companies her husband had established when he was alive. With her relatives interfering as well, both companies had repeatedly come close to bankruptcy.
Kaden could not bear to watch the two companies his son built wither away, so he helped them survive. However, he did not take over their management and merely provided enough money to keep them from going under.
They could not make any real profit, but at least they managed to stay afloat.
Kaden's plan was that if Maddie eventually came to her senses and stopped blindly trusting her maiden family, choosing instead to hand both companies over to her daughter, then he would truly step in and help.
Well, even if the two companies were handed over to Everly, with her abilities, she could manage them well even without Kaden's assistance.
The Zellers had once been a
prominent family. However, their businesses declined over the years, and their financial situation
deteriorated. In recent years tol ne
relied on assistance from the
Flemmings to maintain their wealthy lifestyle.
Their family business barely made any money throughout the year, but at least it was not bankrupt.
Because their fortunes were declining while the Flemmings continued to prosper, the Zellers kept favoring their own side of the family.
No one knew the exact contents of Kaden's will, but given his cautious nature, he would surely have left most of his fortune to his only grandchild. At most, Maddie would receive some houses, shops, and the like.
She could put aside any thoughts of inheriting Flemming Group shares. Those belonged to Everly.
"What does that have to do with you? Even if you lived another twenty years, you still wouldn't measure up to my guest."
Everly did not want to waste any more time arguing with Nate. She left him behind and walked into the hotel. When he tried to stop her again, Sarah blocked his path.
Sarah had already followed Everly's instructions and contacted Nate's father, asking him to come to Clearfield Hotel as quickly as possible to take his son away and stop him from harassing Everly.
Watching Everly disappear, Nate
gave up on pursuing her and glared viciously at Sarah "Your boss is so domineering She's not even that pretty but she's so arrogant. If she doesn't give me a chance, she'll never be able to get married.
"Who else could tolerate that bossy personality and her arrogance except me? She'll be an old spinster for the rest of her life! She ignored me today, but one day she'll be begging to come back to me instead!"