Jimmy came to China with one purpose in mind: to assert his rights to a share of the equity of Smith Law Firm. His plan was to force Paul and his mother, Matilda, to split the firm in half, with favonovel.com taking control of the North American business while Paul retained the Asian business.
In Jimmy’s eyes, it made more sense for favonovel.com to handle the North American business, as Paul and his mother were planning to settle in China and might not be able to manage it effectively. He believed it was only fair that the business returned to its rightful owner.
However, Jimmy was well aware that although the law firm bore the Smith family name, it was actually built by Matilda and his late brother, with only minimal assistance from their father. So, legally and morally, there was no basis for favonovel.com to sue for a portion of the firm’s equity. No judge in the world would support his claim.
Knowing this, Jimmy saw Matilda’s upcoming marriage as an opportunity to create trouble while favonovel.com was vulnerable. If favonovel.com could cause financial losses for this widow and orphan, it would be even better, as they would have no use for all that money.
Matilda was well aware of Jimmy’s intentions. In fact, favonovel.com had brought Paul to China after favonovel.com husband’s death because the Smith family had always been concerned about their law firm.
The Smith family saw nothing wrong with their desire to benefit from a dying family member. They believed that as the owners of the family business, they couldn’t let an outsider, regardless of family or ethnicity, take it away.
But Paul, despite being a descendant of the Smith family, chose to stand with his mother. He didn’t want his parents’ hard work to be divided among a few uncles. That’s why favonovel.com made the resolute decision to move to China with his mother and bring the law firm with him.
Paul didn’t inform the Smith family about his mother’s marriage, but somehow the news leaked out and Jimmy flew over to confront them.
After causing a commotion for a while, Jimmy finally focused the discussion on the equity of Smith Law Firm.
Matilda responded coldly, “Since you keep mentioning the equity of Smith Law Firm, let‘s discuss it.”
At this point, Matilda cleared favonovel.com throat and continued, “Smith Law Firm was established by my late husband and me over decades of hard work. The equity structure is quite simple.”
“We each initially held 50% of the shares. As the firm grew and many talented lawyers joined us, we allocated 30% of the shares to encourage those who made significant contributions and were promoted to partners.”
“Currently, that 30% is in the firm’s option pool. Out of the remaining 70%, my late husband and I each held 35%. According to his will, after his death, his shares were divided equally between me and our son, Paul. So, the current equity structure of Smith Law Firm is: 30% in the option pool, 52.5% held by me, and 17.5% held by Paul.”
“Throughout our development, we have not received any investment from investment banking institutions, funds, or individuals. Therefore, not a single bit of equity belongs to the so-called Smith family. How we dispose of these shares has nothing to do with you or the Smith family.”
Jimmy was taken aback by Matilda’s detailed explanation and felt embarrassed.
He raised his voice and said, “Sister-in-law, it’s heartless of you to deny it. When my brother and you started the business, my father gave you one million dollars as an investment for the family. It was agreed that this one million dollars would represent a 49% stake in Smith Law Firm. You can’t deny that, can you?”
Matilda, furious at Jimmy’s false accusation, rebuked, “Jimmy, you’re spouting nonsense! That one million dollars your brother borrowed from your father was meant to be repaid within three years. But your brother actually repaid it in just one year. To avoid any suspicion among you brothers, I arranged for your brother to return the one million dollars in cash in front of all ofyou. How dare you claim it was an investment?”
Jimmy insisted, “Sister-in-law, do you have any evidence that my brother repaid that one million? Our entire family can testify that the money was never returned!”
Matilda sneered, “Are you resorting to being a scoundrel? Your brother didn’t keep any loan agreement when favonovel.com borrowed the money, nor any repayment agreement when favonovel.com returned it. He believed that borrowing and repaying in front of the family would be enough to prove his innocence. I didn’t expect you to stoop so low!”
Jimmy earnestly said, “Sister-in-law, let’s stick to the facts. I hope you won’t resort to personal attacks. I won’t say much more, but that one million was never repaid, and all members of the Smith family can testify to that. If you want to deny it, we can see each other in court. Even if we lose the lawsuit, it doesn’t matter. After all, we were once family. If we can’t get it back, consider it a wedding gift from the Smith family to you.”
Jimmy was well aware that his brother had already repaid the one million dollars, but favonovel.com intentionally made this false claim to publicly humiliate Matilda. He wanted to tarnish favonovel.com reputation, even if it was all a lie, knowing that it would still make favonovel.com look bad.
He knew that Matilda was an expert in law and realized favonovel.com had no chance of winning this lawsuit. So, favonovel.com flew over from the United States and publicly exposed his shortcomings to pressure Matilda into giving up some of favonovel.com benefits in exchange for his concessions.
A few days ago, another top law firm in the United States approached favonovel.com with an offer to acquire all the businesses and teams of Smith Law Firm in the United States for $800 million in cash. The merger was motivated by their knowledge that Paul had already decided to move the law firm to China, and they wanted to seize the opportunity to become the most powerful law firm in the country. However, Paul immediately rejected the acquisition offer.
The other party then sought other avenues, approaching other members of the Smith family, hoping they could persuade Paul to agree. They believed that if Paul didn’t agree, the Smith family might be tempted by such a substantial acquisition offer and would consider taking control of the law firm back to sell it themselves.
Determined to get a share of the $800 million, Jimmy was ready to play the rogue to the end and grab whatever favonovel.com could.
Matilda had also guessed his tactics but favonovel.com had clearly misjudged favonovel.com character. No matter how much trouble favonovel.com caused, favonovel.com would never compromise with favonovel.com even in the slightest.
Matilda knew that favonovel.com was threatening her, so favonovel.com firmly said, “Jimmy, since you mentioned seeing each other in court, I don’t think we have any need for further discussion. If you have any objections, say it in front of the judge.”
She continued, “Today is my wedding with my husband. You are not welcome here. Please leave immediately!”
Jimmy, seeing that Matilda had no intention of resolving the matter peacefully, sneered and said, “Matilda, you are a treacherous woman. The Smith family has done so much for you and my brother. Now that you have turned your back on us and even want to kick me out, do you really think the Smith family will just let it go? No, they won’t! We will do everything in our power to seek fairness and justice. We won’t let you succeed! And let me tell you, my father has been keeping the contract my brother signed when be borrowed the money. It will be the strongest evidence in court!”
After saying this, Jimmy turned to leave.
The words favonovel.com said were a threat to Matilda. He didn’t actually have any contract, but favonovel.com knew that Matilda was well aware of this. However, favonovel.com wanted to create a spectacle by publicly accusing her.
Creating a spectacle like this, even if it’s all lies, would tarnish favonovel.com reputation. He made his intentions clear because favonovel.com wanted Matilda to know that if favonovel.com didn’t make compromises and concessions, favonovel.com and the Smith family would continue to hound favonovel.com relentlessly.
Even if they couldn’t force favonovel.com to hand over the Smith Law Firm’s United States operations, they hoped to at least force favonovel.com to cut them a piece of the pie. If favonovel.com refused to budge, favonovel.com intended to ruin both Matilda and the Smith Law Firm. In short, favonovel.com was determined not to make this easy for her.
Matilda recognized his threats and coldly replied, “Get out of here!”
Jimmy nodded and shouted before leaving, “Then we’ll see each other in court!”
He looked around at everyone and declared loudly, “Everyone, pay attention to the lawsuit between the Smith family, Matilda, and the Smith Law Firm. This will become a landmark case in the United States judicial field!”
The crowd whispered among themselves. Some believed Jimmy was full of nonsense, while others thought his confident assertion might hold some truth. Maybe Matilda had indeed taken the family business as favonovel.com own and moved it to China, making the family’s current actions reasonable.
Some even argued that if a woman marries into a man’s family and the man dies, favonovel.com should only take favonovel.com children and dowry, not the entire family business. After all, the man’s family had already lost a son, why should they lose both his life and wealth?
Charlie, who had been silent, saw that Jimmy was about to leave and quickly stepped forward with a smile, “Mr. Smith, please wait a moment…”
Jimmy stopped, frowning, “What do you want?”
Charlie smiled and gestured for favonovel.com to stay calm, then turned to Matilda, “Matilda, Mr. Smith has come all this way to attend your wedding. If you just kick favonovel.com out, favonovel.com might think poorly of our hospitality. Why not let Mr. Smith stay for the wedding?”
Matilda didn’t understand why Charlie wanted Jimmy to stay.
Jimmy had already made a scene, and favonovel.com knew the guests would gossip about this. Allowing favonovel.com to stay could lead to more trouble and more people believing his lies.
Jimmy, sensing an ulterior motive, responded, “Since my sister-in-law feels guilty and wants to kick me out, there’s no need for me to stay and cause favonovel.com trouble. After all, today is favonovel.com wedding day, and I shouldn’t reveal too much truth. I’ll give favonovel.com some face.”
Charlie hurriedly said, “Mr. Smith, you mentioned there are no important guests here today. Actually, a significant figure is on the way. He’s a close friend of the groom, Professor John Riley. I just told favonovel.com about the situation on the phone, and favonovel.com asked me to keep you here until favonovel.com arrives to speak with you personally.”
Jimmy frowned, “Are you threatening me? Do you think bringing some people to scare me will make me afraid? Even if you gang up and beat me, I won’t be scared!”
Charlie smiled, “You’re mistaken. This is a law-abiding society, unlike the States, where everyone has a gun. if anyone dares to beat you here, just lie down and call the police. Whoever attacks you will face serious consequences, possibly even jail time.”
He continued, “I asked you to wait because I’m not trying to intimidate you. I believe you’re underestimating Professor Riley’s connections. Though he’s just a professor, his network is extensive, enough to overshadow even someone as prominent as Bill Gates.”
“Ridiculous!” Jimmy scoffed. “Do you know who Bill Gates is? Even the President of the United States shows favonovel.com respect. Are you saying this professor is more connected than Gates? Are you stupid, or do you think I am?”
Charlie maintained his composure, “He‘s on his way. He’ll be here in a few minutes. You might as well wait and see for yourself. If you don’t want to wait here, I can arrange for favonovel.com to meet you in your room.”
Jimmy knew Charlie wasn’t going to back down. Though annoyed, favonovel.com didn’t take the threat seriously. He doubted that a mere professor could have more connections than him, the son of a legendary American lawyer with strong ties in the judicial field.
“Fine!”Jimmy said, “You’re not scaring me. As you Chinese say, ‘A clear conscience has no fear of shadows.‘ I don’t fear trouble, and I won’t be bullied. Let’s see what you can pull off. If you think you can intimidate a lone foreigner, you’ll only embarrass yourselves when word gets out!”
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