Chapter 551 - The Kingstons’ Compromise
Chapter 551: The Kingstons’ Compromise
Seeing his grandfather looking at him, Marc could acutely sense that Lance had already made up his mind. He felt his heart sinking.
“No, Grandpa! You can’t do this! I’m your grandson, and you’ve treated me the best since I was a kid. Moreover, you’ve even decided to groom me to become the next helmsman of the family. How can you give me up now? Besides, if you really hand me over to them, the Kingstons’ pride will really be trampled on!” Marc desperately tried to dissuade his grandfather.
If even his grandfather gave up on him, he would end up miserable once he was in Lucas’s hands.
“Shut up!” Lance hollered furiously, “Now that things have come to this, do you still have the cheek to say such things? Everything that happened today was caused by you! If it wasn’t for you, how could the Kingstons have ended up in such a state today?”
He was really enraged at this moment.
In the beginning, the Kingstons had indeed taken on Hutton’s task to destroy Lucas and the Stardust Corporation’s Orange County branch within a month.
Given the Kingstons’ status and connections in San Francisco, it would have taken less than a month for the Stardust Corporation’s Orange County branch to collapse if they had taken things one step at a time and dealt major blows to the Stardust Corporation through business tactics, just like how they had previously secretly warned those enterprises in San Francisco to terminate their contracts with the Stardust Corporation.
But Marc, his most valued and smartest grandson, had hated how slow they had been progressing, and he couldn’t wait to destroy the reputation of Lucas and the Stardust Corporation’s Orange County branch. So he had come up with the idea of using Lucas’s mother-in-law, Karen, as a catalyst for their plan.
And just as Marc had expected, Karen had indeed played quite a significant role, as she had sparked a tremendous uproar on the internet within a day. Just as they wished, Lucas’s and the Stardust Corporation’s reputation had sunk to rock bottom.
But Lucas’s revenge on the Kingstons had also been much more intense than they had expected.
Not only had he barged into the Kingston manor on his own, but he had also gotten the help of so many top families, who had joined hands to back him up and declare war on the Kingstons. In fact, Lucas’s strength was so intimidating that the top expert of the Kingstons had been finished off in seconds!
All of this had foiled Lance and Marc’s original plan!
Even their lives were in Lucas’s hands at this moment.
If Marc had listened to him instead of being a smart aleck, none of this would have happened!
Lance was now boiling with fury and put all the blame on Marc, completely forgetting that he had actually given silent consent to Marc’s plans.
Seeing that his grandfather had really flown into a rage, Marc was frightened and terrified, so much so that he immediately fell to the ground and pleaded in agony, “Grandpa, I’m indeed to blame for what happened! I shouldn’t have been so eager for quick success. I… I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of myself and been a smart aleck! Grandpa, just save me one more time. If even you give up on me and hand me over, the only outcome I’ll face is death!”
Lance clenched his teeth forcefully and ignored the pleading gaze of despair in his grandson’s eyes. He made his mind up and said relentlessly, “Since you also know that you’ve made a mistake, you should know the consequences that you have to bear. Go!”
He looked at his grandson, who was once his most favored heir and the one he had the highest hopes for. “From now on, Marc Kingston is no longer a descendant of the Kingstons!”
Lance surprisingly expelled Marc from the Kingston family and even disowned him!
His actions completely caught all the Kingstons off guard!
Marc had a superior status in the family, and his authority was second only to Lance, the helmsman. At the same time, he was also the chosen successor of Lance. Yet he was now getting expelled!
Countless gazes were on Marc’s face.
Marc felt as though he had been struck by a thunderbolt that suddenly split his body and caused him to freeze on the spot while his head began buzzing.
His grandfather had really given up on him, not giving him the slightest chance at all!
Even if he didn’t end up dying at Lucas’s hands, he had been disowned by the Kingstons and lost everything he once had!
“No, no! Grandpa, you can’t be so cruel to me! Everything I’ve done is for the Kingstons! You know very well that it’s true, Grandpa! I’ve done so much for the family. Why are you driving me out, and on what grounds are you expelling me from the family?!” Marc roared furiously while feeling incredibly flustered too.
He moved forward on his knees and hugged Lance’s leg tightly while pleading in misery, “Grandpa, just give me one more chance! Don’t throw me out!”
“Go away! You are no longer my grandson!” Lance ruthlessly kicked Marc, who was hugging his thigh, away.
He gritted his teeth with bloodshot eyes and said to Lucas, “I’ll hand Marc over to you as you wish!
“You can take him away, but the other matters must be put to rest! The Coles, the Parkers, and the Hales declared war on me just now, so I hope that this matter stops here. From now on, we’re even! Let’s not bring this up again!
“Let’s all take a step back each and compromise. This is my bottom line. If you don’t agree, we can just fight to the death, and none of you will benefit from this!”
Lance was actually taking a gamble and banking on Lucas being a man of his word.
In his opinion, the Kingstons had already suffered defeat today and lost everything they had, including their pride. He couldn’t stop Lucas from taking Marc away forcefully either.
Even if Lucas wanted to really destroy the Kingstons, they simply couldn’t do anything to stop him.
Therefore, he hoped that Lucas could keep his promise and take Marc away while leaving the rest of them alone.
Lucas looked at the old man in front of him, who seemed extremely nervous and was about to go all out. He simply said nonchalantly, “Okay, I agree.”
He had no intention of completely destroying the Kingstons today, nor did he want the Coles, the Parkers, and the others to fight the Kingstons head-on just for the sake of helping him.
The Coles, the Parkers, the Hales, and even the members of Little Atlantis City all had good intentions to help him, so he didn’t want them to waste their energy on this pointless fight.
Marc was currently in great despair.
He had now been abandoned by the Kingstons. Although he was looking at his former family members with a pleading gaze in his eyes, none of them were willing to take another glance at him.
At this moment, a tall and cold figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
Towering over Marc, Lucas looked down at him and questioned coldly, “Where is Karen Turner’s corpse?”