“Father!”

“Uncle, why… why are you here?”

“Grandfather!”

Upon seeing this figure, Carlos and the rest of the Stones bowed and greeted him respectfully.

The person who came was none other than the Stones’ former helmsman, Maddy’s grandfather, and Carlos’s father, Geoffrey!

After hearing that the Stones were in trouble, Geoffrey had immediately rushed over, only to hear Carlos say that he was expelling Maddy out of the family and disowning her. He was instantly angered.

Some time ago, Carlos had taken a liking to Lucas and Jordan’s potential and strength, which made him believe that Lucas was the only one who could help the Stones achieve glory. Thus, he had immediately announced on the spot that he would step down and that Maddy would be the new helmsman.

But Maddy wasn’t interested in being the helmsman at all. She had refused repeatedly, so Geoffrey eventually let Carlos take over the position.

It was all because Carlos was Maddy’s father!

But it had only been about half a month, and Carlos was about to kick Maddy out of the family! Geoffrey obviously wouldn’t allow this!

“Carlos, you’ve really got some nerve. You want to kick my granddaughter out of the family without even asking for my opinion?” Geoffrey stared straight at Carlos with a sharp gaze, disappointment on his face.

Carlos hurriedly explained, “Father, I have no choice! You probably don’t know that this unfilial daughter has caused Mark Branson to die, provoking the Bransons. They’re furious and demanding that we give them an explanation!

“So, in order to prevent the Bransons from venting their anger on us, I have no choice but to expel her from the family and make her sever all ties with us!”

The rest of the Stones said one after another, “Yes, Uncle Geoffrey, please don’t intervene!”

“Yeah, Grandfather, just rest well at home and leave everything to Uncle Carlos!”

“Yes, let Carlos handle everything!”

“Please let Mr. Carlos handle this!”

…

The Stones were persuading Geoffrey one after another.

In their eyes, Carlos had already made the most beneficial decision for the family, and since Geoffrey had already stepped down, he should stop interfering with the family’s affairs, lest it result in further complications.

Seeing the Stones’ reactions, Geoffrey was almost speechless, and his heart tensed up.

He was already in his seventies, but he had always been the head of the family. He didn’t hand over his position to his son earlier, not because he couldn’t bear to let go of the power but because he knew that Carlos wasn’t qualified for the position at all.

If he hadn’t wanted to hand over the position of helmsman to Maddy, he would have never handed it to Carlos.

But Geoffrey didn’t expect Carlos to be so good at winning over the members of the family despite his lack of competency. In less than a month, he had actually managed to get so many of them on his side. They even began going against Geoffrey, the former helmsman who had worked so hard for the family for decades.

At this moment, Geoffrey felt extremely disappointed.

“Carlos, do you also think that I should no longer interfere with the affairs of the family?” Geoffrey looked at Carlos.

Carlos felt diffident for a while. He looked away from Geoffrey and stammered, “I… Uh, uh…”

“Answer me!” Geoffrey hollered furiously, his snowy white hair fluttering with his movements.

After hesitating for a while, Carlos finally gritted his teeth and raised his head to look at Geoffrey. He said, “Father, since you’ve given me the position of helmsman, let me be fully responsible for handling the affairs of the family! I can assure you that I will definitely develop the Stones well and bring our family to greater glory !”

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, it was clear what he meant.

Carlos hoped that Geoffrey could delegate his authority and stop interfering with his management of the family.

“Dad, how… how can you say that? Grandpa is the true pillar of the family!” Maddy couldn’t help saying. She felt really sad for Geoffrey.

“Shut up! Don’t forget that you’ve been kicked out of the Stone family, and you’re no longer my daughter. Stop calling me Dad!” Carlos shouted angrily in embarrassment because Maddy had exposed his thoughts.

Maddy bit her lip and didn’t speak again. But she looked at Carlos with clear disappointment in her eyes.

She could accept Carlos not wanting to acknowledge her as his daughter because she had caused trouble for the family. But Geoffrey had always been the anchor of the Stones, and he had done so much for the family. She couldn’t understand why Carlos would treat him like this.

A bitter smile appeared on Geoffrey’s face.

At this moment, the wrinkles on his face seemed much deeper than before, and his spine, which was originally straight, seemed to have lost the strength to keep his back straight and hunched a little. He seemed to have aged several years in an instant.

Geoffrey didn’t expect that he would encounter such a thing one day.

“Only now do I know that in your eyes, power and profit are more important than your daughter and father!

“Carlos, do you know why I stayed in the position of helmsman and didn’t hand it over to you all these years even though I’m already in my seventies?” Geoffrey asked bitterly.

Carlos had already gone all out, and he no longer wanted to pretend to be a dutiful son. He said bluntly, “Isn’t the reason obvious? It’s because you wanted to occupy the position of highest power, so you refused to hand your authority over to me!

“Father, there are some things I’ve been bottling up for years, and I’ve decided to tell you everything now!

“I’m your only son, so I naturally have to take over the position of helmsman. But you occupied it and refused to let go even though you’re in your seventies. You didn’t even announce to the public that I was the successor!

“You know what? Because of your actions, countless people in DC have mocked me. They called me an incompetent good-for-nothing who wasn’t good enough to be the helmsman. They said that that was the reason you looked down on me and refused to let me become the helmsman!

“Over the years, I’ve been ridiculed so much because of this, and it’s all your fault! At your age, most of the helmsmen in DC had already given up their positions and handed them to their successors more than ten years ago. But what about you? You refused to step down and insisted on holding power. Even the number of businesses you gave me authority over was pathetically low!

“Father, you’re already in your seventies. You should have allowed me to take over a decade ago so that you could enjoy life and do what you should!

“Now that you’ve finally given me the position, you still want to meddle with my decisions! Father, I’m the person who’s in charge of the family now, not you!”

Perhaps because he had been holding it in for too long, Carlos vented everything in one go without hesitation. The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. Toward the end, he even shouted.