Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent) novel Chapter 500

Mr. Brown meant well. He was worried that if Clayton suddenly changed his mind and refused to marry Alicia, Alicia would become isolated within White Corporation. After all, many of the senior and mid-level executives only felt secure because Clayton was still around.

If Clayton chose to leave White Corporation or decided not to marry Alicia, unrest would ripple through the ranks. They trusted the old man and Clayton’s abilities, but their faith did not extend to Alicia.

Part of it was simply prejudice: Alicia was just a young woman who, even as the heir, had grown up away from the White family’s inner circle and hadn’t been molded within its system.

More than that, they doubted her competence.

Years ago, Alicia’s name had been linked to scandal after scandal with Vincent and Tyrone, and both Mina and Jade had worked tirelessly to spread rumors about her. They painted Alicia as someone who’d clawed her way up by relying on men, a woman with no real skills of her own.

How could someone like that possibly hold together the entire White Corporation?

So even though Alicia knew Mr. Brown was acting out of concern, his words left a bitter taste. It was painfully obvious that he, too, doubted her abilities.

“Mr. Brown, marriage should be a matter of free will,” Alicia replied gently. “Clayton has to want this for himself.”

Still, she knew that if Clayton left White Corporation, chaos would follow. The company would be thrown into a storm of infighting.

She needed to be prepared for that possibility.

“You must do everything in your power to hold on to Clayton,” Mr. Brown reminded her, his tone grave. “This is a critical time. If you lose Clayton’s support, and the senior staff turn their backs on you, Jade and Brandon will be back in an instant.”

After all, Brandon was Reginald’s blood. Even with a will in place, the executives would put their own interests first and might well rally around Brandon to seize control.

Alicia nodded heavily, but her mind was already racing, searching for ways to keep the situation under control.

…

At the hotel.

Jade sat on the couch, nervously waiting for the phone to ring. “Dad, this is our last shot. If we can get Clayton to leave White Corporation and call off the wedding with Alicia, there’s no way Alicia will command any real loyalty. Once Clayton’s out of the picture, we can lobby the executives. As long as we get the majority, you’ll be back in charge.”

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