Chapter 454: Purge

After leaving the Wiltonshire building, Margaret, for the first time, rode in the same car as her two younger brothers. But even two minutes after the limousine had driven off, the atmosphere inside remained extraordinarily oppressive. Everyone was silent, unwilling to speak, staring gloomily out the windows.

Until the youngest among them, Rogelio, asked in a puzzled tone: "I'm curious, why did Father summon Dwight Payton at a time like this?"

"You still call him Father? He may not even see us as his children anymore."

Cleo Wiltonshire sneered: "That Mr. Payton has been of great help to that bastard, giving him full support. Today, it seems, is his harvest time."

Margaret sighed softly. Just as she was about to say something, her cell phone rang. Instead of answering, she pointed to a small table nearby, where the water in a glass suddenly rose up, quickly forming the shape of a head before them.

"Charlie!"

Margaret snorted, her eyes full of strong displeasure: "I thought your phone was unreachable."

"Actually, I really didn't want to return your call, Margaret. Don't you have any idea what's happening inside the Wiltonshire Group now?"

The 'head' replied in an equally blunt tone: "Purge, sweep! Those are the only words I can think of now. Your father showed no mercy, sending out 345 dismissal letters and transfer orders in less than an hour."

"That's just what I know, folks. There might be more beyond this."

Margaret's breathing grew heavy, and her hands clenched again.

How could she not know the situation inside the company? At this very moment, many of her direct subordinates and several high-level managers close to her had been purged by Consueli. Some were kicked out outright, others transferred to idle posts.

Consueli's methods were domineering, decisive, ruthless, and brutal, leaving no room for mercy.

"That's why I called you, Charlie! Are you and the Council of Elders just going to let him act arbitrarily? The Wiltonshire family has lost its balance—is that what you want to see?"

"I know, of course I know. No one inside the family wants to see this—"

"But the reality is, the company's board of directors and HR department are as good as useless!"

Margaret said bitterly: "You chose to side with him."

"Only some of us."

The 'head' shook slightly: "He used the positions you vacated to buy off some of them. And then, strangely and incredibly, several elders from the radical faction also stood by him this time."

"The radical faction?" Margaret frowned, puzzled.

"Those led by Harry, who should have been supporters of Philip I. Can you imagine? A bunch of bloodline supremacists, extremely xenophobic, dreaming of restoring the glory of the Hohenstaufen family, actually aligning with Consueli."

The people in the limousine looked at each other in bewilderment; this truly defied their understanding.

"I don't know why, or maybe they see the future in Andrew Lee Wiltonshire? There's indeed such a trend within the family now. If they can secure the loyalty of the 'Blood-Eyed Angel' Roberta Yvonne, then our family will be glorious for the next few hundred years. Not like now, where we have to pin the burden of the family's survival on our ancestor."

"Consueli has already submitted a proposal to the Council of Elders to elevate Andrew's succession order to first place. It has received support from many; I can't stop it."

"Also, after Philip I signed that treaty, Consueli already controls at least 42% of the group's shares. As long as he gets some of us elders on his side, he can firmly control the company's operations. So, take care of yourselves, everyone."

"My friends and I don't want to see you fall. But for now, aside from some financial help within our means, we can't give you more support. After leaving the Wiltonshire Group, you haven't lost everything, have you?"

When the 'head' turned back into water and flowed into the glass, the car fell silent again.

After pondering for a long time, Margaret looked up at her two younger brothers: "We need to save ourselves, my foolish brothers. In the war six months from now, we must defeat Consueli no matter what! If possible, it's best to let him rest forever in the family cemetery. This is a life-and-death war; I hope you will join hands with me and give it our all!"

Cleo remained sullen and silent, while Rogelio frowned: "Is it necessary to go that far? I think if we sincerely apologize, Father might not forgive us, but he won't go so far as to destroy us."

"Give up your illusions, idiot!"

Cleo sneered: "The old man can't do much to me, but there's still Andrew. Are you sure our nephew won't blow our heads off for his mother and grandmother?"

Seeing Rogelio choked up and silent, Cleo turned to his sister: "So what do you think we should do first, oh clever Margaret?"

"First, we need to give them something to do, so they can't keep growing stronger in the next six months."

Margaret spoke cautiously as she thought: "I happen to have some friends in the dark world who can help; they also need some resources from the light world."

"And the Dragon Witch Cult."

Cleo said solemnly: "Better not let their war stop. The Dragon Witch Cult is at a disadvantage; we need to find a way to give them some help."

...

When Li Mochen flew back to the Alliance Wing Fleet, he once again saw Mrs. Christie Blythe's owl. It brought him a property certificate issued by the Federal Court of America. Dozens of buildings and properties under the Benedict family name, along with shares in the Atlantic Intercontinental Bank, had all been transferred to Li Mochen.

Although Mrs. Blythe had shielded the Benedict family and Philip I's side, she was still quite fair in her dealings.

This time, the New Continent Magic Association was responsible for recalling and destroying various property certificates of the Benedict family, while insiders within the government directly modified the property documents.

Several relevant government agencies then established a series of documents from top to bottom to prove that these assets belonged to him, so there was no need for property gift taxes or anything.

They even fabricated a non-existent lawsuit, with the verdict being that the Benedict family, due to breaching commercial contracts, had caused Li Mochen huge economic losses and needed to compensate the plaintiff with all their assets in Atlanta and Macon, as well as the Atlantic Intercontinental Bank. This completely eliminated future risks, preventing the Benedict family from trying to reclaim their assets through litigation. Li Mochen only needed to pay a few million gold shields to the court as a handling fee if such a situation actually arose.

Then, before Li Mochen could get used to the fact that he had stepped into the ranks of America's top richest, he received a huge sum of money from Michelle Medici. The total was 4.5 billion gold shields, the proceeds from selling the captured ships.

Although it was gray income that couldn't be used for legitimate purposes, the influx of this money greatly lifted Li Mochen's spirits.