A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

"Is she out of her mind?" Zelda snapped, her voice sharp with irritation. "It's not like she's ever given us a dime, but she's throwing all that cash at those damn employees? Has she gone completely crazy?"

"That's a ridiculous amount," Lisette muttered, frowning. "Do you think she's trying to buy their loyalty or something? Maybe she's planning to take over the whole company!"

At Lisette's words, Horatio and the others shot each other uneasy glances, suspicion flickering across their faces.

"That's exactly what she's after!" Zelda spat, practically grinding her teeth. "I knew she was up to something when she took over. She's just playing nice for now, keeping you all around until she's won everyone over, and then-bam!—she'll toss you all out on the street."

The thought made Zelda's expression darken even more. She turned to Monty. "This is all your fault. You were an idiot to hand her the company! She doesn't care about us. She only wants the money. That's all she's ever cared about."

"She's always been nothing but trouble, did you forget? She'll ruin us. She always does!"

Zelda hurled one insult after another, her anger boiling over.

Monty scowled, rubbing at his temples. After a moment, he pulled out his phone, clearly intending to call Calliope.

He honestly didn't know if she was really after the company, or if this was all just paranoia. Either way, the whole situation was giving him a headache.

The phone rang only once before Calliope picked up.

"Callie," Monty said, not bothering with pleasantries, "I saw you sent out bonuses to everyone at the office. Don't you think that was a bit much? It's not really appropriate, is it?"

"If you've got that kind of money to give away, maybe you should think about helping us out instead. The Jewell family isn't exactly rolling in dough these days, you know that as well as anyone."noveldrama

Calliope was silent.

Monty plowed on. "Look, are you just trying to win everyone over so you can take the Jewell Group for yourself?"

"You promised we'd all keep our jobs. We had an agreement. If you go back on your word now, isn't that a bit much? Callie, I really think you should reconsider. This isn't right. If you're planning to take over the company, don't think we'll just stand by and let it happen."

He kept grumbling into the phone, his tone equal parts pleading and accusatory.

It was clear Calliope understood the subtext: in the Jewell family's eyes, her money was their money, and she was supposed to spend it on them, not on things they didn't approve of. They were scared she'd take over the Jewell Group for good, and now they were panicking.

Calliope almost laughed. The idea that she wanted the Jewell Group was absurd. She'd only stuck around out of respect for her grandfather, but now that even he

said not to worry about it, she honestly couldn't care less.

She'd been planning to hand the whole mess back to them anyway. The company was already on life support; she'd just been trying to keep it from flatlining out of a sense of duty. Now she was selling off her shares and getting ready to walk away for good. Soon, she'd be free of the Jewell Group, and whatever happened next wouldn't be her problem.

"Relax," Calliope said coolly. "I don't want the Jewell Group."

"But honestly, you all should probably start learning how to actually run a company. Because once I'm gone, the real question isn't whether I'll take it from you, it's whether you'll lose it to someone else, or just go bankrupt on your own."