CHAPTER 345: CHAPTER 345: SHARES

Aurora looked at Victor calmly, her voice even and cold. "Fifty properties in New York City and thirty in the suburbs. That is my price."

The words hit like a stone dropped into a quiet pond. Everyone nearby seemed to pause and look at them, sensing the sudden tension.

Before Victor could even respond, Isabella burst out loudly, her voice full of anger.

"That is too much! You cannot possibly think we will give away eighty properties just because of one small attack. Ms. Dawn, you should dream on if you think you can take so many properties from us and hand them to the Waters family."

Aurora slowly raised her eyebrow. Her face showed no anger, only calm strength.

"I am not dreaming," she said softly but firmly.

"I am telling you the price for your naïve mistake. You should have thought about the consequences before trying something so reckless. You should have known that I would not stay silent. Even after knowing about my relationship with the Waters family, your Hawthorne family still dared to go against them."

Her words fell heavy. The crowd nearby leaned in slightly, their curiosity burning.

Isabella’s face stiffened. She opened her mouth quickly, trying to play innocent.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, though there was a flicker of guilt in her eyes that even Emily caught.

Aurora noticed it instantly and gave a small, cold chuckle.

"You should know better than anyone else what I mean. After all, you were the one who orchestrated many of these schemes."

Victor turned suddenly, his eyes wide, staring at his daughter. "Isabella?" he asked in shock. There was disbelief and suspicion in his voice.

Isabella’s heart pounded, but she forced herself to remain calm. She shook her head quickly and said,

"No, Father. Ms. Dawn must have been misled by someone. None of that is true."

Aurora’s lips curved into a cold smile.

"Misled? No. I know the truth, and that is why I can say it with such certainty. You were the one who constantly troubled the Waters family. And Victor, you may not know, but your good daughter went very far with her plans. Do you know how far?"

Victor frowned, his expression dark, but Aurora continued before he could speak.

"She made sure that people in the community slowly broke off their contact with the Waters family. Many who used to visit the public library stopped going there simply because Mary was working there. If I had not known Mary was the librarian and the wife of Adam Waters, she would have lost her job long ago."

Gasps spread quietly among the guests nearby. Aurora’s words carried weight and no hesitation.

Aurora’s voice remained calm, but her words cut deeper and deeper.

"That was not the end of it. Several business partners pulled their contracts from Adam’s company. They said it was because of poor business, but I know it was due to someone’s quiet instigation."

She turned her gaze directly at Isabella. "Someone like you."

Isabella’s face turned pale. She wanted to deny it, but her lips trembled.

Aurora went on, her voice steady.

"And Olivia Waters. Do you think I did not notice how many of her classmates turned cold toward her at the university? They began to avoid her because a rumor spread that her family would take revenge against anyone who got close to her. That rumor did not appear out of thin air. It was planted."

Emily’s hands clenched as she listened. Even she was shocked to hear how much had been done against the Waters family.

Aurora did not stop. Her eyes shifted to Victor.

"And then there was Theodore Waters. During the filming of the movie he was cast in, there were countless obstacles. Delayed contracts, sudden issues with filming equipment, and problems with the set. All of this was the work of certain people."

Her eyes locked on Victor with sharp intensity. "Certain people like you, Victor."

Victor’s face froze, his smile long gone. His fists tightened at his side.

Aurora chuckled softly, her tone cutting.

"What a coincidence. The only person in the Waters family who seemed untouched was Lucas. That is what I thought at first. But then I learned the truth. Lucas was forced out of his company. Slowly, quietly, he was pushed toward the blacklist of the entire industry. That was not a coincidence either."

Both Victor and Isabella clenched their fists tightly. For Isabella, her chest was tight with panic.

She had believed her actions were hidden well, that no one would know. For Victor, his face grew darker as he realized Aurora knew too much.

Aurora leaned back slightly, her calm presence more terrifying than anger.

"You both thought taking revenge bit by bit would not amount to much. You thought no one would notice. But here I am, telling you everything you tried to bury. Isabella never thought her father would strike the Waters family. Victor never thought his daughter would act behind his back. And yet both of you did. Both of you are guilty."

Isabella’s lips parted, but no words came out. For the first time, her mask of calm was cracking.

Aurora gave a soft laugh and continued.

"And it did not stop there. Isabella, do you remember the one named Aurora? You already knew she was connected to me, yet you still went around spreading rumors about her in high school. You tried to ruin her name and her spirit. If she did not have such strong willpower, she might have ended her life. That is the type of cruelty you showed."

The guests nearby began whispering among themselves. Some looked at Isabella with disgust.

Victor’s face twisted. He turned quickly to Aurora and said, "I truly did not know about this. If I had known, I would never have allowed it. I never wanted the Waters family to be harmed like this. Please believe me."

Aurora chuckled, her eyes gleaming with sharpness.

"What is it that you did not know, Victor? Did you not know about my connection to the Waters family even though I married Alex, who is the son of Mary, who is part of the Waters family? Or did you not know that your own daughter already knew my connection to Waters family and Aurora? Tell me, Victor, what exactly is it that you did not know?"

Victor’s face stiffened. He could not answer.

Isabella looked down, her hands trembling, but she still refused to admit the truth.

Aurora’s voice grew even calmer, but it was more frightening that way.

"You should not try to excuse yourselves with ignorance. Ignorance is no shield. Both of you caused damage to the Waters family. Both of you thought no one would find out. But now the truth is out. And you still expect me to accept a small price?"

She shook her head slowly. "Fifty properties in New York. Thirty in the suburbs. That is the cost of your mistakes."

Victor’s jaw tightened. His pride as a Hawthorne clashed with the reality of Aurora’s words.

He knew she was not bluffing. If she decided to move against him, she could easily turn his enemies into her allies.

Isabella stood frozen, her mind racing, her face pale. She realized finally that no matter how much she tried to hide, Aurora had exposed her completely.

"Fine," Victor said, his voice low but steady. "I am ready."

The guests around the hall looked at one another in surprise.

The head of the Hawthorne family, who was known for his cold pride and his ruthless business sense, had just lowered his head before Aurora.

Aurora nodded calmly, her expression unchanged. Her eyes still carried that quiet sharpness that made everyone uneasy.

"That is good," she said softly. Then she added in a firmer voice, "But you should also add two percent of your company shares."

The room went dead silent again.

Isabella’s face turned white, then red with anger. She could not hold herself back this time and shouted,

"That is too much! You cannot take both properties and shares! Do you want to swallow us whole?"

Before she could say more, Aurora’s lips curved into a small smile. Her calm voice cut through Isabella’s anger like a blade.

"If you continue to intervene," Aurora said smoothly, "I will raise it to five percent."

Isabella froze on the spot. Her whole body trembled, and her teeth clenched so hard it was as if she would break them. She could not say a word anymore.

The truth was too clear. Two percent of Victor’s company shares was already enormous. Everyone knew the Hawthorne company was worth tens of billions.

Just two percent could bring annual dividends of nearly twenty million dollars.

Sometimes Victor himself doubled the shares in order to attract more investors, which meant that the person holding them would suddenly own four percent instead of two.

That would make the value close to one billion dollars.