Chapter 184 – Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel

Filed To Story: Finding the Secret Daddy for My Baby Novel

To the side, Erica scoffed. “Dad said nothing about leaving the company to you, so what are you still badgering him for?” she snapped.

Upon hearing this, Alex was stunned. He never thought that there was so much going on in the Tillman Family.

Anastasia couldn’t care less about the mother-and-daughter duo, not while she was occupied with her own thoughts. Even if Francis woke up, it wouldn’t change the fact that the company was being acquired. Will the ongoing acquisition worsen his condition? Will he be able to pull through this and hand the company over to the other party?

If he couldn’t go through with the acquisition, Anastasia could very well be forced to turn to Elliot for help. No, I mustn’t. Not in this life. She had only just drawn the line between them and told him not to cross it. As things were, she couldn’t bring herself to swallow her pride and ask him for yet another favor.

After a while, Francis woke up and was transferred to the regular ward. Without another word, Naomi rushed over to his bedside and began to sob dramatically, and she was nagging away at him as well. This irritated him to no end.

“Enough,” he snapped. “I’m still alive, aren’t I? What are you crying for?”

“Dad, you can’t just fall sick like this! What will Mom and I do if anything happens to you? How will we live?” Erica wailed as if blaming him for suddenly having a heart attack.

Anastasia wanted nothing more than to chase the crying pair of stooges out of the room. She glared at them and pulled up a seat next to her father’s bed as she asked, “Dad, how are you feeling? Are you hurting anywhere?”

When Francis heard her words of concern, his heart felt warm as he answered reassuringly, “I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Alex, on the other hand, could no longer keep his curiosity and anxiousness at bay as he piped up and asked, “President Tillman, is it true that the company is being acquired?”

“What? The company is being acquired?” Naomi shrieked, and even Erica jumped in shock.

Since she knew that her father was having a hard time reconciling with this, Anastasia consoled, “Take it easy, Dad. Nothing else matters as much as your health right now.”

At once, Francis’ chest rose and fell rapidly as if the mention of the acquisition was like a rock crushing the air out of his lungs. In a labored voice, he said through gritted teeth, “I built that company up from scratch, and I put all my best years into it. I will not stand to let someone else take it away from me, and I won’t have those b*stards buy it out either!”

“That’s the spirit, honey. You can’t just let anyone take the company away from you! You have to pull through this no matter what,” said Naomi as she encouraged him with renewed fervor.

Anastasia interjected, “Dad, do you know who the acquiring party is?”

Francis was seething with rage, and his eyes were bloodshot red as he snapped angrily, “He’s an old rival of mine. He’s despicable and disgustingly ruthless, and I can’t believe he’d resort to such underhanded ways to whittle me down!”

Upon hearing this, Anastasia’s heart dropped to her stomach. If the acquiring party was Francis’ old rival, she couldn’t possibly expect her father to go through with the acquisition without putting up a fight. Even if he did, he would resent and grow angry over this for the rest of his life.

Naomi was beside herself with panic as well. Her continued life of luxury depended on her husband’s company, and if he were to call it a day and let the acquisition go through, it would be the end of her privileged lifestyle. A look of horror colored her face as she turned to Francis and urged, “In that case, what should we do? Honey, you have to think of a way to save the company, and you must be quick! We can’t just let someone snatch the company away!”

“That’s right, Dad! You have to do something!” Erica chimed nervously.

“My hands are tied,” Francis admitted a little tiredly. “The acquiring party now holds thirty percent of the shares in the company, giving them enough leverage. More to the point, the business hasn’t been doing great for the last two years, and I’ve had to sell ten percent of my own shares to another company to help tide things over. Now, that company has decided to join forces with the acquiring party. As things are, I’m left with a forty-percent share in the company, and if they were to persuade the other shareholders to jump on their bandwagon, my words will not carry any more weight.”

Francis was devastated. Never did he think that his company would fall victim to such a hostile takeover.

“Dad, why don’t you just buy those shares back?” Erica suggested.

Alex, who had been standing to the side all this while, knew the company’s financial troubles well enough. He pointed out emotionlessly, “Buying back those shares isn’t as easy as it sounds. Our company hasn’t been profiting for the last two years, and we’re making just enough to keep the business afloat.”

“If you’d known that this would happen, maybe you wouldn’t buy that house,” Naomi said begrudgingly as she implicitly blamed her husband for buying Anastasia the apartment.

Francis was already annoyed to begin with, so he glared at Naomi and snapped, “Keep quiet, will you?”

“I’m right, aren’t I? You should’ve tightened your belt and stopped spending money so frivolously if you knew the company was struggling,” Naomi argued, rubbing salt in his wound.

Anastasia knew that she was accusing her of being a liability to Francis, and she wished she could shove Naomi and Erica out of the room. All they were doing was aggravating Francis instead of helping him come up with feasible solutions.

“Is there no one who can save Dad’s company?” Erica whined.

Just then, a lightbulb went off in Naomi’s head when she heard this. “Wait, there is! I can’t believe we didn’t think about this before. Anastasia, you know Elliot, don’t you? Why don’t you get him to save our company since he’s such a bigshot?”

Anastasia had been trying to avoid bringing up Elliot’s name, and she was flustered to hear Naomi even suggest this. She maintained her indifference as she retorted, “Why should he help us?”

“Why not? Your mother died protecting him! This is the least he can do for our family,” Naomi argued like she was only stating a matter of fact.

Our family? When were we ever a family? Anastasia didn’t bother entertaining the woman’s crazy idea and fell silent instead.

Erica was supportive of her mother as well. “Mom’s right. Elliot is a mogul and a billionaire. If he intervenes, I’m sure Dad’s old rival would be so intimidated that he’d back out of the acquisition altogether!”

There was an unreadable look in Francis’ eyes. He had stayed quiet throughout this, but he did sneak a glance at Anastasia, and she did not miss the pleading look on his face. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and he was very much desperate.

Suddenly, he said, “Naomi, go home and take Erica with you. Alex, could you drop them off at the house?”

Alex was stunned at first, but he quickly nodded and replied, “Very well. Mrs. Tillman, Miss Erica, I’ll be dropping the both of you home now.”

“I have to stay and take care of you, Francis!” Naomi insisted, refusing to leave.

“I’ll be fine, and I have Anastasia here to take care of me. Besides, having all of you here is aggravating. Go home,” he said firmly, his patience for both Naomi and Erica wearing thin.

Upon seeing that her husband was determined to have her leave the room, Naomi said to Erica, “Come on, let’s go back.”

Meanwhile, Erica was filled with bitter jealousy as she glowered at Anastasia. Why does she get to stay? Is it because Dad likes her more?

Naomi brought her daughter along and followed Alex out, leaving the ward in a solemn and quiet atmosphere. Meanwhile, Anastasia poured a glass of water for Francis before sitting down. He then said, “Anastasia, I actually agree with Naomi’s suggestion. I hope you can ask Young Master Elliot to save my company.”

Upon hearing that, Anastasia looked up at him in surprise. “How can we ask him for help, Dad? This is a family matter.”

“I know how difficult it is to ask for help, but I’m truly desperate this time. There is nothing else I can do. If I can’t get any assistance, I will have to give up my company to someone else.” After saying that, Francis shuddered and started coughing.

“Calm down, Dad. We’ll find a way,” Anastasia reassured him as she patted his back.

Naomi, who just left the hospital lobby, felt like she had left something behind. When she looked down and realized that her bag wasn’t with her, she turned to Erica and Alex. “I left my bag in the ward, so I’m going back to get it. Can you guys wait for me at the entrance?” With that said, she turned around and walked into the elevator.

Erica glanced at Alex and ordered, “I’m thirsty. Get me a bottle of water!”

Naturally, Alex treated every member of the Tillman Family politely since he had his own plans.

When Naomi arrived at the door of the ward, she realized that the door was left ajar. Just as she was about to push the door open and enter the ward, she heard Francis saying, “Anastasia, I have something to tell you. I don’t wish to lose this company because I hope that it will be passed down to Jared in the future. He will be my successor.”

As Naomi stood outside the ward, her eyes widened in disbelief. It was her first time hearing about Francis’ thoughts on the company’s successor. However, she never expected that her husband would pass down such a huge company to Anastasia’s son, who was barely a few years old!

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