Heartstrings on Fire (Agnes and Jared)

Chapter 863

Ryder's voice was cold as ice. "Mom, you're right, I've always been competing with Uncle Jared. I didn't

want to fall too far behind because he was the prodigy in your eyes. No matter how hard I tried, I was

always in his shadow. Has anyone ever truly cared about how I felt? I like Agnes, and I don't know if it's

love, or because of Uncle Jared's influence, or maybe it's both. But now, she's the one I want to fight

for, the one I want to win over. It doesn't matter if she doesn't love me. As long as she's by my side, I'll

find a way to make her fall for me. If you really want to treat me and Uncle Jared equally, you and

Grandpa should stay out of it. This is a battle between me and him."

Alyssa was stunned into silence. Her fingers clenched tight, her temples throbbed with tension.

Ryder said it didn't matter if Agnes didn't love him, as long as she was by his side.

It was like a curse.

Hadn't Alyssa herself fallen for such an illusion once? Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

She had thought it didn't matter that Michael Albert didn't love her; she just had to bind him to her side

by any means, showing him her whole heart.

She had believed that one day he would come to love her, but fate had slapped her hard in the face.

And now, Ryder was echoing her own words from back then. It was like reliving a nightmare. Her worst

fears were coming true.

Ryder was truly her son, even his thoughts mirrored hers, but it was that same obsession that had

tormented her all her life. She couldn't let her son walk down that same painful path.

"Fine, let's not talk about Agnes for now," Alyssa said. "Tell me, what's going on with the company?"

Ryder's expression shifted slightly.

"Don't think I don't know what you've been stirring up in the Tim Group lately. Buying people's loyalty,

inciting the board to re-elect a new chairman—what are you after?"

"Now that I'm one of the top three directors in the company, I have that right," Ryder stated.

"Do you want to be chairman yourself? How can you do this to your uncle?"

"If Uncle Jared lets me oust him so easily, then it proves that Grandpa's decision to hand over the Tim

Group to him was not wise." His tone was nonchalant.

"I won't allow it. You cannot challenge your uncle's authority. The Tim Group is his empire, built from

the ground up. Do you really think you could have gotten half the shares if he hadn't indulged you? Do

you know what state the Tim Group was in when Grandpa handed it over to him, and what it has

become under your uncle's relentless work? Aren't you ashamed of what you're doing now?"

"Like I said, if Uncle Jared can really be ousted by me, then he might as well step down sooner rather

than later."

Alyssa felt a pang in her heart. She truly had never understood her son. He was now so cold, so

determined, so ambitious. He was causing turmoil in the Tim Group. She didn't even dare to think

about his endgame. In fact, she was afraid to.

Ryder was already the general manager of the Thomas Group, and now a major shareholder of the

Tim Group. What exactly did he want to do?

Ryder didn't seem to want to elaborate. "I have to get back to the office. There's a meeting I need to

attend." With that, Ryder turned and left, leaving silence—and the scent of brewing conflict—in his

wake.