With a sigh, James remarked, "The truth is, things are there for a reason. It's useless to feel anxious
and scared. Besides, all you can do is endure it until the very end. Endure the blows. Endure
everyone's expectations. Endure whatever you have to endure."
Jacob lowered his head to the ground. He was unsure if he had heard of that too many times already.
Although he had already heard of this a lot of times, he still could not live a good life, could he?
"Uncle, why do I feel that living is exhausting?"
Jacob shifted the topic. Before they knew it, it had returned to that troublesome question again.
Yes, he indeed felt exhausted. His faith, which had supported him for a long time, seemed to be on the
brink of collapse, and it was only a matter of time before that happened.
"Well, isn't this the life we love?" James narrowed his eyes and answered. With Jacob's ability, he
should have already known the answer to that.
Although James' response was only to help Jacob be reassured, he was willing to say it out. After all,
Jacob was the last and the only family he had in the world.
"Uncle, what will you do if the person you love the most betrays you?" Jacob asked with bloodshot
eyes.
His voice was low and calm when he spoke, but it made James extremely astonished.
"What do you mean, Jacob?" James asked with his lips trembling. He seemed to be a little afraid of
something.
With an inexplicable expression on his face, Jacob looked at James and answered, "It's nothing, Uncle.
Just forget what I said just now."
Jacob stood up and went upstairs. At that moment, he felt disappointed in his uncle. Until now, James
was still hiding it from him.
Well, if James remained silent, they would be the same as before. However, once he said it out loud,
they would not be able to go back to the way it was. If that happened, Jacob would be inevitably sad.
The bottom line was not saying it. Even if the truth was unbearable, they had no choice but to go
through with it.
Jacob remained prostrated on the ground with reverence, looking for his holy path.
When Jacob was gone, James' eyelids could not stop twitching. He knew that Jacob had already
known it. After all, his nephew was no longer a child, and it could be seen from the way he handled
things.
James was at a loss. There were some things that he had already buried in his memory that he dug
open now.
If Jacob figured out what he really was in the family, he would know that there was no need for him to
stay. How James wished he could keep the secret longer!
He had kept the secret for a long time that he, himself, almost believed that everything in front of him
was real.
James gazed at the table full of dishes that had been left untouched. All of a sudden, he burst into
tears. Little did he know, Jacob was looking at him from a distance. He had not really left. He was
gazing from upstairs with his heart pounding in his chest. It turned out that everything was true.
Jacob's mind was in a mess as he stared at James in silence.
It was so strange of him to feel this way. To be honest, he had never felt this before. Not only that, but
this strange feeling was enveloped by a sense of familiarity. For some reason, Jacob felt that a big
hand was tightly clutching his heart.
Things had been hidden for as long as Jacob could remember. Even so, no secrets could be forever
buried. However, it did not mean that he would be able to accept it when the time came.
Not long after, Jacob went back to his bedroom. He did not sleep. Instead, he lay wide-awake on his
bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time. He was intelligent, wasn't he? Why could he not figure it
out if he got the inheritance from his mother or father?
He did not answer himself. These past few days, he had felt an intense longing for Sara. But now, he
could not feel anything.
Jacob had no idea how long it would take until this strange feeling finally became familiar. Ironically, it
only took a moment for a familiar feeling to be strange.
Jacob had traversed his own path alone for a long time. As he walked along the way, his path, which
had always been barren and desolate, grew weeds. Sometimes, he would meet a person who turned
out to be gentle and kind. Then, that person would share his stories along the way.
In their stories, Jacob was always a side character, an unimportant and indispensable person. This
made Jacob feel pathetic and sad. After all, he was only an ordinary person. He was not so different
from others.
Meanwhile, James had been in a daze for quite some time as he returned to his room to look for
something. Finally, he found it. It was a photo from the past. It was a picture of three people who looked
so beautiful and happy.
The next day, Jacob got up early and left. He did not even eat breakfast at home. Instead, he went
straight to Sara's company.
No matter what, he had to talk to her personally. There was no way he could solve their problem hastily
and alone. For him, this matter was a big deal. If she still refused to forgive him, everything he had
done would be in vain.
Jacob was leaning against the car nervously. He had been waiting for Sara for over two hours. He had
arrived there at 7 o'clock. It was now 9 o'clock in the morning, yet he still had not seen her.
His heart sank. Women are not the only ones who get discouraged. Men feel it too, but they do not
want to admit they do.
Feeling disheartened, Jacob decided to get into the car. Suddenly, he felt an urge to smoke. He was
the type of person who smoked whenever he got upset. This bad habit of his could never be changed.
Jacob had encountered too many troubles. But for him, at least it was real.
When James woke up in the morning, he decided to invite Jacob for breakfast. To his dismay, his
nephew was not at home.
It seemed that Jacob had already figured it out. Truth be told, James had suspected all along it that
Jacob had known about it from the very start. Jacob had been silent about it, while James was afraid to
bring it up.
At the thought of this, James felt appalled. He had always appreciated Jacob's resourcefulness.
However, he never once thought that Jacob would use it on him one day.
This was probably James' karma. Unable to do anything, he decided to go to the company.
From this day onwards, his life, which had been plain and boring for so long, would go back to the way
it was when it was full of ups and downs. Although he was aware that a storm would come sooner or
later, James did not expect that it would come this soon.
As he sat in his office, he reached out his phone and called "Generalist".
He calmly asked "Generalist" about a lot of things, hoping for a helpful answer. Although "Generalist"
was famous for knowing everything, there were still things that he did not know about.
Sadly, James did not get the answer he wanted and got an answer about something unimportant
instead.
At 9 a.m., there was a sudden uproar in the media.
Photos of Jacob and Alice naked together got leaked. Everyone in the company was talking about it. To
make things worse, the headline was deliberately made to be eye-catching.
"The secrets of the CEO of the Shi Group..."
As soon as James saw it, he immediately knew that it was a trap set by Alice. Jacob had told James
about it before. James had always known that Alice was not a woman to mess with. However, he never
expected that she would go this far.
Once a man entangles with a woman, never in his life can he get rid of her no matter how hard he tries.
James knew this better than anyone else.
Well, he had gone through the same thing, so he knew what it felt to be in Jacob's position. At the
thought of this, his head throbbed in pain. He could not bear what was happening anymore. Everyone
knew about it. Dealing with public relations now was useless.
At that moment, Jacob was nowhere to be found, yet James was afraid to call him. With what Jacob
had said last night, James had finally come to a realization.
Everyone in the company was talking about it, even the board of directors. Not only were they anxious,
but they were also alarmed by it. The impact of this matter on the company was not less than that of an
explosion.
The CEO was the image of the company. If he was perverted and scandalous, what more would others
perceive of the company?
In the meeting room, the board members gathered nervously. The atmosphere was somber, and it
seemed as though they were getting ready to force Jacob to abdicate. They had endured for so long.
Finally, Jacob made a blunder. How could the directors miss such a good opportunity?
Jacob could act cocky in the remaining days he had, but the final decision rested in the hands of the
directors. Even if James was there, his presence meant nothing to them.
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