The Hidden Heir: From Rags To Riches

they panic

At the number one hospital in Clearwater City...

Ethan quickly rushed over to room 608.

"Ethan, how could you not be aware of such a big thing that happened in the family? Where did you even go during this time?" Helen stood up and scolded him.

"Look, everything that happened to our family was because you offended someone!" Helen stated with resentment and continued blaming everything on Ethan.

Despite receiving that barrage of words, Ethan remained silent as he simply looked towards the hospital bed. Lying on the bed was his father-in-law, William. Wearing a worried expression, his entire face was filled with bruises while his hands were wrapped in gauze.

Sophia sat next to the bed with a haggard look on her face, looking as if her soul had been sucked away from her body.

"Father-in-law, Sophia, where are you hurt?" Ethan asked with an anxious tone.

"It's just some superficial wounds. Nothing too serious," William replied.

Sophia said, "I'm fine. Dad argued with the workers and got beaten up. It's a relief to hear that he managed to come out with only some bruises here and there."

Although Ethan's heart fumed with rage, he calmed himself down before asking, "What exactly happened at the factory today?"

Sophia did not want to talk about it and simply let out a heavy sigh.

"Today, Sophia's father went to the factory to settle some matters. I don't know how Derek got all the creditor's rights of the factory and even became the biggest creditor, but Derek incited the workers to dismantle all the equipment in the factory. Sophia's father went up to speak with them but was then injured by two of the workers," Helen slowly said. "Sophia and I went over to question Derek, but he still continued to ridicule and mock us. Now, all the equipment in the factory has been forcefully removed by them."

"Not only is the factory finished, but our house will also be demolished soon!" Helen exclaimed in agitation as she was clearly perturbed by the turn of events. "They are so ruthless! Ethan, you are the one who caused our family to suffer!"

At that moment, Ethan's eyes revealed a cold light. It was very obvious that Derek had come prepared to act with malice towards him and his family. Not only did he destroy the jewelry factory where Sophia's family came from, but he also sealed off the house they lived in.

This time, it seemed that Derek wanted to force Sophia and her family into a corner.

"The creditors of the house and the factory are all in Derek's hands now. He said that he wanted you and Sophia to divorce. I have already agreed. If you still have any shame, please hurry up and sign it now," Helen said mercilessly.

"Forget it!" William, who was lying on the bed, exclaimed in a deep voice. "Helen, everything happened because of me. I'm the one who is not capable of supporting this family. Stop blaming everything on him."

"My third brother's son did all these things to make a joke out of our family," William said slowly. "This time, I will listen to my daughter. If worst comes to worst, we will give the house and factory up to him and move out of Clearwater City. At the very least, we won't have to see their faces anymore then."

At this moment, Helen also sunk into a deep silence.

"Oh, the whole family is here. Ethan, you piece of trash, you finally dare to show your face?"

Suddenly, a mocking voice came from outside the room.

Derek had finally come. Dressed in a fancy suit with a pair of sunglasses, he had two bodyguards follow him from behind.

"What did you think about my suggestion? Fifth Aunt, Fifth Uncle?" Derek purposefully drew his words out longer to further provoke them.

"You know, I'm doing this out of kindness for your family. Look at what kind of trash Ethan is. He doesn't dare to show his face even after such a big incident happened in the factory," Derek said with a pompous expression. "If I hadn't rushed to the rescue in time today, Fifth Uncle, don't you think those workers would have beaten you to death?"

"Shut up! All these things happened because of you. Don't pretend to be the one disgusted here, you hypocrite!" Sophia shouted angrily, disturbed by Derek's words.

No one could bear to look at Derek's cunning expression.

"You really don't know how to appreciate one's kindness," Derek sighed. "I was kind enough to help Fifth Uncle collect all his debts outside. Isn't this my way of protecting him? If someone else decided to deal with his debts, Fifth Uncle would have probably been eaten alive by them!"

"I'm also trying to help you," Derek said in a gentle voice. "Sophia, rest assured. You don't have to worry about not being able to find a home. I'm acquainted with the third brother of the Lewis Family, and he has always been thinking about you. I will be willing to be the matchmaker for the two of you."

"Get the hell out of my sight!" Sophia said as her body trembled in utmost fury — unable to bear such humiliation.

"Out of your sight?" Derek laughed. "Fifth Uncle, don't say that I didn't give your family a chance. All of you should know how to cherish such kindness. Since none of you do, I will be releasing the creditor's rights tomorrow. By then, not only will your family lose everything, but you'll even be constantly pestered by the loan sharks."

"What nonsense are you talking about? All our debts should be settled after my dad mortgages the jewelry factory and the house. What other debts do we even have then?" Sophia questioned.

"You are far too naive," Derek said as he revealed a proud smile. "All the equipment in that lousy jewelry processing factory is broken and isn't even worth up to a single cent. It will definitely not be enough to pay off your debts. In addition, you still have to account for the rental of the site. If you don't settle it properly, Fifth Uncle might even be accused of contract fraud and imprisoned."

"You!" Sophia bit her lips tightly as she emitted a menacing killing intent.

This was a common method in the business industry. Taking the wealth and influence of Derek's family into account, they possessed countless ways of forcing a mere jewelry factory onto the verge of bankruptcy.

"Think carefully. Do you still not want to come and beg me?" Derek looked at this scene before him and felt extreme delight.

"Have you said enough? If so, then scram!"

Ethan looked at Derek expressionlessly.

"You worthless trash, how dare you tell me to get lost?" Derek's expression twisted as he looked at Ethan coldly.

Since Ethan had always been obedient in the Harrison Family, Derek never thought that he would ever dare to act tough in front of him today.

"How dare you!" Derek shouted as he burst into a sudden rage and sent his palm flying towards Ethan's face.

*Crack!*

At that instant, Ethan grabbed Derek by his wrist and twisted it without mercy.

"Huh? Aghhh!"

Caught off guard by Ethan's retaliation, Derek shrieked like a pig being slaughtered. As his sweat dripped down from his forehead, he stared at Ethan in utter disbelief.

Half-kneeling before Ethan, Derek trembled violently as the pain from his hand surged through his entire body.

Ethan then let out a cold snort before releasing his grasp of Derek's wrist.

*Crash!*

At that moment, Derek's body went completely limp as he fell onto the ground like a ragdoll. Despite being set free from Ethan's grasp, he could still feel the immense pain from his twitching hand.

"Ethan, you still dare to touch me?!" Derek shouted as he stared at Ethan with pure menace. "I will make you regret being born in this world!"

"Your family is finished! No one can help you anymore!"

Derek stood back up and said with a cold expression.

"I gave you a chance, yet you don't know how to cherish it. Now, you can only wait as your family gets destroyed!"

After Derek threatened them, he hurriedly left in a flustered and exasperated manner.

"Ethan, do you think this is a small matter? You still want to hit Derek!" Helen wailed in anguish. "What should we do now?! Our family will be finished all because of you!"

"You're too impulsive. Violence won't solve any problems," Sophia said slowly.

"I will handle this matter well, so you don't need to worry anymore," Ethan said plainly. "Derek will not be able to do anything to us."

"Huh? What can you even take care of?" Helen said with a cold smile. "What right do you have to..."

At that moment, Ethan swept his emotionless gaze towards Helen and silenced her words.

Meeting his gaze, Helen shivered and felt as if Ethan had become a completely different person. Having intended to scold him, she decided to stop instinctively.

Ethan then looked at Sophia with a trace of gentleness in his eyes.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine since I'm here."

Although Sophia did not understand what was going on, she nevertheless felt a great warmth in her heart. At this exact moment, she — for the first time — felt as if she could rely on him.

"Alright," she said and nodded in response.

...

At the same time, on the other end.

Harrison's Jewelry Group, Prestige Tower.

With more than twenty floors in the building, each floor currently bustled with people. As the employees dashed around the offices in a hurry, they carried anxious expressions on their faces as if something big had happened.

On the twenty-third floor, in the conference hall.

The Board of Directors of the Harrison Group held an emergency meeting.

In the conference hall, over twenty people were seated around the spacious conference table.

All the wealthy and powerful figures of the Harrison Family in Clearwater City were present.

"What's going on? Why is the corporation in such a mess?"

"Elder Brother, what's going on? I was just in the middle of playing golf before receiving several calls from our big clients, stating how they wanted to cancel the cooperation with our group!"

"With such a large commotion happening, did we somehow offend someone? Otherwise, there's no reason why our corporation would suddenly collapse in such a manner!"

As the heated discussion continued in the meeting room, all the shareholders revealed looks of anxiousness and seemed quite impatient.

*Cough! Cough!*

Suddenly, the leader of the Harrison Family and the director of the Harrison Group, James, coughed loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone, stop arguing. Let's talk business first. There will always be a way to solve such a problem."

At that moment, James revealed an ugly expression. Having been in charge of the Harrison Group for the past few years, the corporation had always been smooth sailing as it had never encountered such a dangerous situation before.

As the meeting room immediately quieted down, everyone gazed at James with worried expressions, waiting for him to speak.

"Director, the data you requested has been calculated."

At this time, a young female secretary wearing a pair of glasses walked in with a few important documents.

"Tell me, how many large clients and old customers have terminated their contract with us today?" James asked helplessly with a nervous expression as he did not know how many losses the company had suffered yet.

The secretary flipped open the documents and stated, "Director, according to the statistics, our Harrison Group's stocks have plummeted by more than 30% today and have already crashed. This caused the small shareholders to panic and request to withdraw their shares immediately."

"Furthermore, our jewelry sales channels in more than a dozen prefectural cities have all been cut off today. At the same time, we have also been forced to terminate all of our contracts."

"Aside from that, more than twenty famous companies related to the jewelry industry in the East Sea Province, including the Association of Jewelry Commerce and General Chamber of Commerce, have all jointly announced publicly that they will no longer cooperate with our Harrison's Jewelry Group..."

"Our group is currently facing a huge crisis of trust..."

The young female secretary's voice slowly faded away as she hesitated to speak any further. After all, how could she tell the people in front of her that the group was certainly finished…?