Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
Her father, her uncle, they had such a tangle in the past.
George tried to clarify, “Back then, Tomas always called you ‘little sister Jennifer,’ and I really thought he saw you as a sister. I
never knew his feelings. He also thought I was heartless and naive, and he never expected that I would pursue you, let alone end up together. When he realized we wouldn’t split, he suffered for a long time.”
Only then did Jennifer remember that during the time she was dating George, Tomas seemed to appear less frequently, as if only George existed in her world.
But she had been so immersed in her sweet romance that she paid no attention to this.
Only now did she realize why Tomas had been so scarce.
“Do you know how I got through that time?” Tomas’ voice was filled with restraint and pain; his eyes reddened as if he were a caged animal on the verge of devouring his younger brother.
“Every day was sheer torture. I had to pull myself together under the guise of being the heir, but the oe ld return every ni seagthGat in Heart. aha Peli ing persisted throughout my college years, and even after I graduated and started working from the bottom up in the company, working day and night, I
couldn’t escape the pain.”
Tomas paused, seemingly lost in the painful memories, before continuing, “Later, when Dad suddenly com announc cat thenoimpany’ S annual Bui NS you were the successor, do you know how I felt? It was like climbing desperately out of a pit, only to be brutally kicked down again by someone, and this person, was my dearest brother!”
Hearing this, George hurriedly said, “Brother, you’ve got it all wrong. Dad talked to me about this three months before he made th aunge AtyhattiimeI dir have any real experience in managing a group, all my knowledge came from books, and I hadn’t really learned how to apply it.
In addition, I was still three months away from graduation, it was simply not suitable for me to take care of such a large group.”
George hurriedly explained to his older brother, “I nagged Dad for three whole months, trying to get him to change his mind. In the end, Dad told me that if I took over the reins of the group, you wouldn’t have to work so hard. I thought about how my thing with Jennifer hurt you, and if I could make your days ahead a bit easier, a bit happier.”
That’s why he showed up at the company’s annual meeting!!
Later, his brother mentioned he had a new dream; he wanted to chase after his own dream and start his venture outside.
How could a younger brother not support him?
And later, his brother made a success of himself and married Donna. George thought the matter of his brother liking Jennifer had turned the page.
But he never expected that, about two decades later, his brother would stand before him and say he couldn’t get past it for the rest of his life.
Tomas didn’t expect that his younger brother’s insistence with their father had been for his sake, to let him inherit the company.
He was completely stunned.
At that moment, Phillip, who was sitting at the main seat, spoke up.
“From the time you were in kindergarten until you graduated from college, I raised both of you as my successors. You attended the same private lessons, all designed around shaping a competent and outstanding heir. As a father, I never favored one over the other.”
Tomas was somewhat surprised, as he had always thought that his father only trained him, and he didn’t expect his brother to be included.
Phillip’s gaze settled on Tomas, “You’ve always had better grades than George, but George is more adaptable, flexible, and knows how to improvise. By contrast, you’ve always been too by-the-book.”
Phillip’s words caused Tomas to pause in thought. He had always believed his academic excellence was more than enough to overshadow his brother.
He hadn’t anticipated that in their father’s mind, grades were not the only criterion for evaluation. What his father valued more was flexibility and adaptability in action.
“Since childhood, George has been capable of resilience; he was not a slave to his emotions, unlike you, who can be easily shrouded in negativity for so long. He has his own principles and approach to life. In contrast, you stick to the rules. With the group in your hands, it’s hard to expect breakthroughs.”
Tomas, who had always seen himself as the chosen one, felt like he’d been struck by a bolt from the blue upon hearing his father’s words.
Phillip continued, “Before I announced the successor, I did talk to George a few times. But George felt he was too flighty than you, his calm older brother. Besides, the tradition among the other prominent families was always to pass the company to the eldest, and he didn’t think there was a precedent for giving it to a younger son, so he kept refusing. But I trust my judgment.”
Tomas’ heart took another hit.
He had always thought that with the best grades and heres avaras His fetheryrauld stitch) and over the company to him.
Furthermore, with the praises fro relatives, direc pspared Sharéhbl ers cVar tbs yaats.
And the conventional practice to pass the family business to the eldest son.
He believed that he was the rightful heir to the company.
He thought that it was only because his brother pestered their fat eHYen three months thaphe@hahge his rhinld eaten to hand over the company to his younger sibling.
Never in a million years did he think that in their father’s heart, his younger brother was the most suitable successor.
“From the time you both were in preschool until you graduated from college, all the tests were subtly integrated into your daily lives. The challenges I set for you were the same, and every time, George outperformed you.”
That’s why Phillip insisted on choosing George as his successor.
“Hold on a minute.” Cathy interjected, confused, “What does this have to do with the Collins family? And what about that fire from years ago???”
She felt like she had been listening forever but was still clueless about the connection.
That’s when Donna started to speak, her voice tinged with self-deprecating humor, “I had the biggest crush on your father for six whole years in middle and high school. I worked my butt off to get into the same college as him, just to spend more time around him.”
Everyone was stunned, Cathy included, who was gaping in disbelief.
“The day we started college, I finally mustered the courage to confess my feelings to him, only to be turned down.”
Donna chuckled at the memory, “After that, I confessed year after year, and was rejected just as many times, right up until graduation. I still couldn’t win his heart.”
Now that even Jeffery, Luna, and Cathy were taken aback. They had never imagined their usually quiet and reserved mother had been so fervently pursuing their father in her youth.
“It was after I had received my degree that Tomas first mentioned the name Jennifer to me. He told me to stop wasting my time on him, saying he only had room in his heart for Jennifer.”
All eyes turned to Jennifer, who herself was surprised by the depth of Tomas’ feelings for her.
“But I was young and stubborn, how could I admit defeat to someone else? The more unattainable he was, the more I wanted to prove myself. On one hand, I felt sorry that he loved someone he couldn’t have; on the other hand, I thought I stood a chance, and then there was a part of me moved by his deep affection. After that, I went all out to be good to him.”
Donna’s voice was laced with the sour tang of old regrets as she continued.
“For him, I interned at McMillian Corporation, starting from the bottom like he did. On the night Phillip announced the successor, Tomas got drunk for the first time, crying his heart out. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, maybe he just needed someone to comfort him, but that rainy night led to something indescribable. The next day, he woke up and said he would take responsibility.”
No one could have guessed that was how their parents came together.
“At the time, I was so happy, thinking I finally saw the silver lining after all the clouds. Even though I soon found out that all he had for me was courtesy and a distant companionship, I was willing to be the moth to his flame. When he wanted to start his own business, I was right there with him. No matter how hard or exhausting it was, I wanted to show him that even though I was a pampered miss, spoiled from childhood, I was capable of standing by his side, through thick and thin.”
As Donna spoke, a tearful smile played on her lips.
“Later, when George and Jennifer got married, he got drunk again, mistaking me for her. Then, I got (oneanene pregnant, and pEsnee Buy atter our marriage, I discovered that whenever he was drunk, he’d call out her name. Even after I had our second and third child, sometimes I
could still hear him calling for Jennifer in his dreams.”
Overcome with emotion, Donna could no longer hold back her tears.
All these years, she had made so many sacrifices. for her husband—too much indeed ssi transfor ed frormaidarnpered young JOG unchest ally, a formidable figure in the business world as if she had experienced a rebirth. But in the end, she was still not comparable to Jennifer!!
There was a place in her husband’s heart that, though they were married, though they had children, she still couldn’t enter.
The bitter irony that the love of her life, her husband, cheri hed reo)
ther swéle AOnest. How could iC
she not feel resentment?
Especially when George and Jennifer appeared together, the more love they showed for each other, the deeper the wound inflicted on Tomas’ heart, the colder Tomas became towards her.
And so, Donna grew to hate Jennifer more and more.
Why should Jennifer effortlessly win the love of both brothers and live so happily, outshining her the moment she married into the family?
Why should she endure such hardship.
George and Jennifer’s love shone brightly.
While her own love was dim and shadowed.
Donna continued, “Then there was this old board member who applied for resignation and went back to his hometown to live out his old age. He had been with George ever since he took over the group and was instrumental in helping him establish a foothold. George thought he wanted to retire due to old age, so he gave him a generous reward to ensure his comfortable retirement.”
Donna paused before adding, “But later, George found out that he had actually returned home for a surgery at Mercy Hospital due to health problems. The old man didn’t want to worry them. When George learned of this, he wanted to visit him that very night.”
Donna’s thoughts seemed to drift back to that evening, “At that time, Tomas’ loathing for George had peaked, and my resentment towards Jennifer had burrowed deep into my bones. I was aware that Tomas had orchestrated an ambush at the clinic, planning to blow up the entire place upon George’s arrival, taking the old man along with it.”
Because that “old man” had always been a staunch supporter of George, while showing nothing but disdain for Tomas and for her, the two of them had endured him for far too long.
A flicker of hatred flashed in Donna’s eyes, “When I learned about the plan, I wanted Jennifer to go too, to die with them. I told her that the old board member had always been wholeheartedly supportive of George, of the McMillian family, and as George’s wife, it would be good for her to visit as well. She didn’t think much of it and agreed.”
But then, Jennifer suddenly got her period, and with the pain and the mess, George couldn’t bear to see her suffer, not to mention, it wouldn’t be good to go out and see people with soiled clothes.
So, George decided to send her back home to rest and go visit the old board member alone.
Unbeknownst to them, in this brief window of time, the clinic would explode.
After the police got involved, they reported the fire as an accident, so George didn’t think much of it.
Only now did he realize that the fj was a trap set his elder pfether in oder BoikiN tim.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.