Chapter 74 You... altered the will...
"Besides this money," Xie Tang's voice was calm, but trembled slightly, "Did Grandpa... leave any messages for me?"
Qin Ruhai fell silent.
Xie Tang waited a moment, her eyes welling up with tears, "He left so suddenly, I didn't even get to say goodbye properly one last time. When I saw him again, he was lying in a cold coffin..."
Her grandfather's loving face appeared in her mind. No matter how naughty or disobedient she was, or even when she was looked down upon by some members of the family as a girl, her grandfather's eyes never diminished in love and pride.
Tears welled up in my eyes without warning, blurring my vision.
Qin Ruhai let out a long, heavy sigh, as if squeezed from the depths of his lungs.
He slowly took out a piece of letter paper with yellowed edges and deep creases, and handed it over.
Xie Tang accepted it with trembling hands.
The familiar, graceful handwriting instantly caught my eye—it was my grandfather's own handwriting!
This thin sheet of paper now weighs more than a thousand pounds, carrying the past buried by time.
"This is..." Qin Ruhai's voice rang out with difficulty, "This is the last will your grandfather made six months before he passed away. Those who witnessed it at the time included Uncle Chu, lawyer Kang Wen, and Luo Yanfang, a veteran of Cisco."
He paused, then continued, "In his will... he specified that all of his Cisco Group shares, totaling 43%, would be transferred to you unconditionally after his death."
43%! Control of the Cisco Group!
Xie Tang felt a "boom" in his mind, as if something had exploded.
She looked up at Qin Ruhai, speechless with shock.
This is hundreds or thousands of times more impactful than the 100 million trust!
She instantly understood the deeper meaning behind her grandfather's decision to wait until she was thirty to use the trust—that was just "pocket money," this was the real "crown"!
“You were too young then,” Qin Ruhai’s voice lowered, with an almost repentant tone, “Your grandfather’s health was sometimes good and sometimes bad. This will was his final arrangement.”
"Grandpa..." Xie Tang's voice was dry and tight. The immense wealth brought not joy, but a deeper pain and urgency. "How... exactly did he... pass away?"
More than cold, hard numbers, she craved a truth that had been far too long overdue.
Another long, deathly silence followed.
Qin Ruhai's head drooped almost to his chest, and his shoulders were slumped.
Just as Xie Tang thought he would never answer, and stood up dejectedly to leave—
"……sorry."
A heavy, hoarse apology, as if squeezed out with all its might, rang out in the silence.
Xie Tang turned around, her emotions, suppressed for too long, erupting like a volcano with its fuse lit: "I'm sorry? I'm sorry for what?"
Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a cold, sharp edge, "Am I sorry for all these years of ignoring and treating me coldly? Or am I sorry for hiding this thing that Grandpa truly left me, this thing that belongs to me?"
"...They all..." Qin Ruhai raised his head, his face ashen, his eyes bloodshot, filled with pain and a despair on the verge of collapse. "Your grandfather was... angered to death by me."
Xie Tang felt as if he had been kicked hard in the chest. His vision went black instantly, a sharp ringing sound rang in his ears, and he almost lost his balance.
Despite having vague suspicions beforehand, the brutal impact of hearing the truth from Qin Ruhai's own mouth was still so intense that it felt like her internal organs were being twisted in agony, making it hard to breathe.
"When I found out about the will..." Qin Ruhai's voice was broken, "I... I was furious! Jealousy clouded my judgment! I rushed up to him and demanded to know why?"
"Why should we give everything to a brat like you? Why can't you see me?"
"I was so focused on venting my anger that I didn't pay any attention to his expression. We were arguing so fiercely that the world was in chaos, and then suddenly... he clutched his chest and collapsed..."
"Myocardial infarction... He's already been taken to the hospital, already..."
He could no longer speak, and covered his face with his hands in anguish, his shoulders shaking violently as he let out a suppressed, wounded, wild howl.
A suffocating silence once again enveloped the entire space.
Xie Tang felt as if he were in an ice cave, his blood freezing.
So it turns out... behind that sudden and terrible news was such a deplorable truth!
It was this man she called her father who, with his rage and jealousy, personally pushed her grandfather to his death!
And yet, he himself... became the fuse that ignited this tragedy?
This is the root of his hatred for her over the years.
"Oh……"
A cold laugh, filled with endless mockery and sorrow, was squeezed out from between Xie Tang's teeth, "Then... do you feel guilty?"
Qin Ruhai slowly lowered his hand, staring blankly into the void. "Guilt? I live in hell every day! I want to make the company bigger and stronger, I want to prove to him... prove he was wrong! Prove I can do it! Prove I'm no worse than the successor he chose!"
His voice suddenly rose, filled with hysterical resentment, then quickly faded, leaving only endless despair, "...But I failed, utterly and completely. He...he really didn't misjudge me. I'm just a piece of trash..."
Extreme pain and belated, futile regret completely broke this once seemingly tough man, leaving him hunched over like a frail old man.
Looking at him like this, Xie Tang felt a surge of overwhelming hatred in her heart, but also a trace of indescribable, cold sadness.
She took a deep breath, compressing all her emotions into the sharpest question: "So, you're telling me all this now because you want to give me back the shares that Grandpa left me?"
A sarcastic smile played on her lips. "I don't believe you're that kind."
“Believe it or not…” Qin Ruhai raised his head, his cloudy eyes flashing with pleading, “I’m sincere! I want to give it back to you! A-Tang… I’ve failed so badly, I can’t hold on anymore… Of all my children, only you… only you truly have the ability, the courage… to shoulder such a great responsibility! And you have the Chu family as your backing…”
"You want me to save Cisco?" Xie Tang seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, his eyes growing even colder. "You want me to come back and clean up your mess? Clean up the mess you dragged down?"
She refused decisively, "Impossible! You've been 'holding' my shares on my behalf for so many years, why not just buy them from me at market price? Then we'll call it even!"
She deliberately emphasized the words "holding on behalf of someone else".
"Ah Tang!" Qin Ruhai's voice was filled with desperate pleading, "This company is your grandfather's life's work! Can you bear to watch it... watch it rot away and be completely destroyed in my hands?"
His response was Xie Tang's resolute turning away, without the slightest hesitation.
She showed no mercy whatsoever to this so-called father.
All of this is his own fault!
After the overwhelming flood of information, a deeper question arose in Xie Tang's mind.
She stopped in her tracks, not turning around, her voice icy as she spoke behind her: "Why did Grandpa leave such a large amount of shares to me, who was so young, back then?"
This is illogical.
Qin Ruhai seemed to have all his strength drained away, collapsing onto the sofa. His voice drifted out weakly: "He...he told me...that I...'have big ideas but a stubborn personality, and mediocre talent. If the company were handed over to me, it would surely decline'..."
He laughed self-deprecatingly, his voice filled with bitterness. "He said he saw resilience and potential in you."
"He said you resembled him, like him when he was young. Even though you were a girl, he was determined to nurture you and train you to be his successor. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see that day..."
Grandpa's profound expectations and trust...
Xie Tang closed her eyes, and hot tears finally slid silently down her cold cheeks.
She suddenly opened her eyes, a cold glint flashing in them, and turned to stare intently at Qin Ruhai: "Since the will clearly states that the shares are for me, and that I should hold them myself after I turn twenty-one..."
She deliberately emphasized the age point, "So why are these shares still in your hands after all these years? Don't the other shareholders have any questions? Or is it..."
"You weren't a 'nominee' at all? You... altered the will!"
Qin Ruhai trembled, his last defenses pierced by the question.
He lowered his head dejectedly, not daring to look Xie Tang in the eye. His voice was barely audible, yet every word struck Xie Tang's heart like a heavy hammer: "It was me... I managed to persuade Attorney Kang and Uncle Luo. Together, we changed some things to... make them more favorable to me..."
As expected! It was falsification! It was blatant misappropriation!
Xie Tang felt a rush of blood to the top of his head, and his teeth clenched so tightly they made a grinding sound.
This man's despicable nature far exceeded her imagination!
Qin Ruhai was immersed in immense regret and self-loathing: "I... I thought I could, but I dragged myself and the entire Cisco system into an abyss. It got worse year by year, and last year we couldn't hold on any longer. We had nowhere else to turn but to the Chu family..."
Xie Tang forced herself to calm down and continued to press, "How much does my mother... know about these things?"
"She probably knew about the trust, but perhaps she didn't tell you because she didn't want you to bear this pressure too early..."
"So, the marriage alliance with the Chu family..." Xie Tang's heart sank, "is also part of this 'deal'?"
She was almost certain.
"Yes." Qin Ruhai's voice was barely audible. "This marriage was the condition for the Chu family to help Cisco, and the person personally designated by Old Master Chu could only be you..."
Suppressing her turbulent emotions and doubts, Xie Tang finally asked the question she most wanted answered, "Besides these, did Grandpa leave me any other words? Anything... anything..."
Qin Ruhai remained silent for a long time, seemingly searching his memory with difficulty.
Finally, he spoke slowly, in a tone almost mimicking that of Old Master Chu from years ago: "Uncle Chu once mentioned that after your grandfather did the Chu family a great favor, he joked with your grandfather:
"Since A-Tang likes A-Song so much, why don't our two families arrange a marriage? When they grow up, A-Song can marry A-Tang..."
"Old-fashioned! What era are we living in that we still have this kind of arranged marriage! Ah Tang really likes Ah Song. It's just a childhood friendship. If they're truly meant to be, they'll naturally become a couple. But if they're not, forcing them together through marriage will only harm both children!"
"My daughter doesn't need to marry someone rich and powerful, but he must truly love and cherish her! I must live well so I can be the one to choose her in the future!"
As he imitated Xie Tang's grandfather, Qin Ruhai's tone even carried a hint of the smugness that Xie Tang's grandfather possessed.
"However... I trust Ah Tang's judgment of people! That girl is shrewd!"
Listening to these vivid words, relayed by Qin Ruhai and belonging to her grandfather, Xie Tang felt as if her heart was being tightly gripped by a warm yet bittersweet hand.
Grandpa's bright smile, hearty laughter, and trusting gaze seem to be right before my eyes.
Takeover of Cisco?
This thought did not stir any ripples in her mind at this moment; there was only a deep blankness.
What surged forth was an endless, deep-seated regret.
I regret never being able to hear my grandfather affectionately call me "A-Tang" again, I regret never being able to hold his arm and listen to him tell me funny stories about the army, I regret why I went to my maternal grandfather's house far away during that long summer before my grandfather passed away...
Just one step away, and it will be a final farewell.
Grandpa's kind face, his hearty laughter, and the powerful expectations etched on the pages of his final will...
The image of Qin Ruhai, with his tearful, pitiful yet hateful face, clashed wildly in her mind.
Anger, grief, and an overwhelming sense of regret... threatened to tear her apart.
The heavy office door closed silently behind Xie Tang, shutting out the suffocating regret and lies inside.
The air conditioning in the corridor blew on her sweaty back, sending a chill down her spine.
She didn't leave immediately; instead, she leaned against the cold wall, tilted her head back slightly, and closed her eyes tightly, trying to forcefully suppress her surging emotions.
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