chapter1149

The plan to intercept and steal Stella's order was, of course, carried out in secret.

Stella understood exactly what was happening, but outsiders remained in the dark. Israel certainly wasn't foolish enough to let the whole world know what was going on. N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on Find~Novel.net

Jonathan rubbed his tired brow, sighing. "When Father and I heard that Stella's company ran into trouble, we assumed it was her competitors pulling strings behind the scenes."

Success attracts envy.

Stella had been acquiring shares and holding onto founder's equity-naturally, plenty of people were eager to see her stumble.

Jonathan had always known trouble would catch up with Stella's company sooner or later.

So when he saw the reports in the news, he wasn't surprised, nor did he have any intention of stepping in to help. After all, this was just another test she'd have to face.

But what Jonathan hadn't expected was that Israel would end up being the one going head-to-head with Stella.

Coleman frowned. "Jon, we can't just let Israel's company go under like this. Isn't there something we can do to save it, or at least..." He paused, searching for the right words. "Make Stella give back what she took."

Jonathan shot him a sideways glance. "If you managed to get your hands on a prize that big, would you willingly give it up?"

Sometimes Jonathan wondered if his two younger brothers could be any more na?ve.

On the one hand, they assumed Stella had ulterior motives for returning to the Williams family. On the other, they demanded-bold as brass that she hand over her spoils.

Coleman persisted. "Jon, it's obvious Israel's company was being targeted for a while. If you look at the timing, Stella must've started setting this up the moment she returned to the family. Otherwise, even if Israel got caught in a trap, it shouldn't have collapsed this quickly." s

He paused, his eyes growing dark and thoughtful.

"She's new to all of this-there's no way she could pull something like this off alone. I'm starting to suspect she has someone backing her. And the money she used? I'd bet it came from that person, too."

Coleman's instincts were sharp.

Standing off to the side, Israel couldn't hold back any longer. "You think Neville or Haynes teamed up to help Stella?"

Coleman shook his head. "I can't rule

it out, but it doesn't feel like their style. Whoever's behind this is cunning really cunning. They played along, acted like they were falling into our trap, let Stella send uga

all kinds of smoke screens, and even fed us fake confidential documents. We got played, plain and simple. Neville and Haynes wouldn't have gone that far."

s

Jonathan's gaze sharpened. "Why don't you think Stella was the mastermind herself?"

This time, Israel cut in directly. "You really think Stella has the brains for that?"

Jonathan ignored him, looking instead to Coleman. He'd already given up hope on Israel seeing reason.

Coleman said, "It's not that Stella isn't smart enough it's just that she isn't that devious. Schemes like this aren't for everyone. Look at Leonard's twisted tricks- the three of us wouldn't come up with half of what he's done."

Israel muttered, "Pointing fingers now won't change anything. Jon, you have to talk to Father ask him to help me. If I lose my company, I'll lose my voice in the Williams Group for good."

P.n

But Jonathan only shook his head. "Israel, this is a mess you started yourself. Not even Father can fix it for you now. There's no glory in defeat only lessons to be learned Unless Stella suddenly loses her mind, she's never going to give up such a huge advantage. Especially when..." s