Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 1170

Richard was finally swayed. "Fine, we'll do it your way.

But you need to put more pressure on the Abbott family. We funded their entire empire. Now that we're staring down the barrel of a gun, shouldn't they be pitching in?"

The Abbott family had been nobodies until Jocelyn married into the Lance family and systematically elevated her relatives.

"I've already spoken with them. But my nephew was implicated in that Aethelgard Airways scandal, so they're bleeding cash right now.

Don't worry, I gave them an ultimatum. They have to wire us at least a million dollars, or I'm cutting ties with them forever."

Richard rubbed his balding head, visibly stressed. Once a comfortably overweight man used to endless luxury, the recent crisis had caused him to shed a noticeable amount of weight.

Deep down, a bitter regret gnawed at him. If he had known life would become this chaotic, he never would have gotten involved with Jocelyn.

Grace Valerius had been incredibly competent. She had been a corporate titan and a master at navigating elite social circles.

But back then, Richard had been deeply jealous of her success, entirely blind to the agonizing effort she put into maintaining their empire. To satisfy his bruised ego, he had sought out Jocelyn's submissive validation.

Looking back, he realized Grace had shielded him from the cutthroat business world, leaving him with too much free time to indulge in his petty insecurities.

When Jocelyn took her place, he finally got the worship and fawning admiration he craved. But in exchange, the brutal realities of the world crashed down directly onto his shoulders, with no one left to run interference for him.

Ultimately, his aging father had been forced to come out of retirement just to keep the family from sinking...

Now, drowning in insurmountable problems, he had to endure Jocelyn's constant, grating complaints.

Shaking off the ghosts of his past, Richard refocused on the present.

"What about Seraphina's side?"

Mentioning her daughter-in-law only fueled Jocelyn's irritation. "Don't even start. She told me Miles is running the Quinn Group now, and he absolutely refuses to release any funds to help us.

She went back to try and squeeze something out of them, but I doubt she'll get a single dime.

How could a grandson ever take care of her better than her own son?"

"Exactly. God knows what the old bat is thinking. I heard that after securing the company for Miles, she actually moved back into the main Quinn estate."

Moved back in? A dark, calculating thought suddenly sparked in Jocelyn's mind.

"Say that old woman suddenly died," Jocelyn murmured. "Do you think Sebastian could take the power back?"

Richard shot her an annoyed look. "That's their family drama. Why are you so obsessed with their internal gossip?

We are facing a life-and-death crisis, and you're worried about Quinn family politics?"

"How is it not related? Think about it, Richard. Out of the entire younger generation, the only two heirs are Miles and Seraphina."

Richard rolled his eyes. "So what? You think they're going to hand the Quinn empire over to Seraphina?"