Chapter 542 - Counterattack

Rainy season arrived, the weather in early December was always full of chill.

Two men were seen standing in the corner of the hospital courtyard. Chris closed the front of his coat tightly. After lighting a cigarette, he looked up at the not so warm sun in the sky. "Are you troubled by Lilia's situation?"

"No," The man replied indifferently.

Hearing his voice, Chris retracted his gaze. He shifted his gaze to look at the side of Jean's cold, sneering face.

"I heard that you temporarily appointed Kenny as the acting general manager of your company last night, is that true? Is it because Lilia's situation is worrying and you are planning to relinquish your responsibilities as company leader in order to stay with her for a while?"

Chris didn't know how it felt to be a husband who was worried about his wife.

However, he could still empathize with his friend. Because if something happened to his little girl, Chris wouldn't want to leave her side and used his power to stay with her.

This kind of strong emotion couldn't be formed overnight.

Especially if they were men with superior backgrounds and were notoriously cold in nature. Once they fell in love, they would love their person to death.

So when he heard about the internal change within Jean's company, it was very easy for Chris to conclude what Jean wanted.

He instinctively understood Lilia's current physical condition as something that would certainly make Jean put the empire he had built aside in order to take care of her.

Currently, Jean was holding half a cigarette. He stared at the red flames from his cigarette butt and his tone was calm as he said, "I will stay with her and I will not give up my responsibilities."

"Why don't you let Kenny act as acting general manager…"

Before Chris finished speaking, the man's lips slowly exhaled a mist. He narrowed his eyes and looked forward. "I will not let anyone take advantage of my personal problem."

After he finished speaking, he lifted his thin lips and made a sharp curve.

Chris raised his eyebrows and whispered while smoking a cigarette, "Are you planning on getting your opponent to think that you will temporarily withdraw and attack him all of a sudden?"

The man turned his head and calmly looked at him with cold eyes. Jean didn't answer, and this was enough of a nod to answer Chris' question.

Seeing this, Chris suddenly let out a sigh of relief. "Damn, I thought you really planned to give up your job and take care of your beautiful wife. I didn't think you were preparing an attack."

BZZTT!

Chris wanted to say a few more words, but the cell phone in his pocket rang.

He looked on the screen and laughed when he saw the name. He then joked when he picked it up, "Didn't you say there was an event today? Why did you call me back?"

From the other line, Alex's tone was a little anxious. "Come to the emergency room, Tom is poisoned!"

Chris was stunned. "What did you say?!"

Poisoned?

However, Alex didn't have time to answer and hung up on him.

Chris puffed his brows and looked at Jean who was looking into his eyes. He flicked the cigarette butt in his hand and pulled him away. "Hurry, we have to go to the emergency room! Alex said Tom was poisoned!"

That one kid was causing trouble again!

...

Five minutes later, Chris was standing at the door of the emergency room. He saw Tom's pale cheeks on the hospital bed then stared at him blankly.

'This is so bad, he can't take it anymore!' He thought, feeling worried.

He turned his body and looked at Alex and stared at him. "Are you going to the event?"

Alex frowned sharply as he answered, "Well, when the press conference was about to start, I got a call from him. Tom was babbling incoherently when he spoke to me. I don't know how much alcohol he had drunk. He kept screaming that he was going to die. Because of that, I was forced to temporarily postpone the press conference for my new collection and went straight to the Wibowo family residence. When I got there, Tom was unconscious and I rushed him to the hospital."

He also remembered that there were five or six empty bottles of foreign-made wine scattered randomly on the coffee table in the living room.

Chris snorted. "Why doesn't he drink himself to death? This one kid is definitely addicted to alcohol but he's embarrassed to ask for help! Now he's even troubling us all!"

He almost died of fear when he heard the call from Alex earlier. He really cursed Tom for not asking for help and decided to become an addict.

Alex looked into the emergency room again, then lifted his glasses from the bridge of his nose irritatedly. "My press conference will be continued soon, so I'll leave the matter here to you because I have to hurry back."

He was about to turn around and left, but after only two steps, he stood still and looked back. "Jean, did you know that Lilia turned down the only invitation to become a brand ambassador for the Van brand on a global scale?"

The man had no expression on his face as he replied, "Just follow her decision."

Alex couldn't say anything in reply. He only took a sharp, eager breath about to spat out a few words. But he didn't have much time, so he just turned his head and left.

It would be more appropriate for him to personally ask Lilia about this.

Jean really didn't hesitate when it came to Lilia!

Alex believed that if Lilia wanted a star one day, Jean would build a rocket for her and take her around the universe!

A man who loved his wife this much was really something!

...

Chris looked at Alex's figure slowly disappearing. His thin lips moved and he finally turned his head to look at the emergency room. The man then sighed with a grim face.

"Is he still thinking about Sasha? Does he think drinking alcohol can get rid of his past? Is he planning to drink his sorrow to death?"

Jean stood in the corridor with his arms crossed, his cold eyes were fixed on Tom behind the curtain. 

"I don't think there's anything wrong with him when I parted with him last night. Is that kid too depressed lately? We're also very busy and we don't have time to accompany him."

Chris was indeed a good friend. Although he didn't have much time, he couldn't ignore Tom's problem without taking action.

But what did Chris hear next?

Jean said lightly, "I'll leave him to you, I'm not free."

Chris suddenly looked to the side, squinted at the line of his indifferent face and understood clearly. "Our brother is sick so you have to stay with me, okay?"

He wouldn't let Jean ditch this shared responsibility.

The man calmly said, "If he can't understand our concerns, there's no point for us to try."

Chris wanted to say something but he stopped himself. He wanted to argue but he couldn't come up with any reason.

"He may not have stepped out of the shadow of his past. Maybe he still feels cheated and betrayed and his heart can't stand it all."

Jean's view of the problem made Chris think that what he said made sense. He put his hand around his chest and looked at Tom's miserable figure. "Then what do you think we should do? We can't let him waste his life like this."

"... Even though it's time for him to take over the Wibowo family."

Hearing that sentence, Chris suddenly glanced at Jean without a smile. "Jean, have you thought of a solution? Is this the same as Sasha's case? You know the engagement was wrong and you still let him open his eyes to reality and man up in such a way. Do you want to raise wolves or sheep?"

"It doesn't matter if it's wolves or herding sheep, he should know that apart from eating, drinking and having fun, there is a lot that awaits him in the future. His dependence on alcohol will be his final test. If he fails, his family is better off throwing him away."

Chris's face changed slightly. He stared at the man's expression with a deep frown, as if baffled by how serious and cold Jean looked. It seemed like the guy didn't joke with his words.

He thought that it was time for Tom to grow up.