Chapter 9
The call was from Chase Kidd, Allen’s friend from university.
Allen Gray was Autumn’s younger brother, who had just graduated from university that very day.
He and Chase co-founded a gaming company called Infinity Studios.
Back when Darius moved abroad, he left the two siblings ten million dollars and a property.
Allen had chosen the money, and that became the startup capital for their company.
Upon hearing the news, Autumn immediately said, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
Olivia drove her to the hospital.
When they arrived, Autumn asked Olivia to wait in the car, then hurried off toward the hospital room.
Just as she reached the door, she heard Allen coldly say, “Why did you call her?”
Autumn stopped in her tracks and did not enter.
Through the narrow gap of the door, she could see Allen lying in bed.
Allen was in his early 20s, but after years of entrepreneurship, he had matured considerably, carrying a vibe somewhere between boy and man.
His face was a little pale, but he still looked spirited, so that reassured Autumn somewhat.
Upon seeing Allen’s frosty expression, Chase said in confusion, “She’s your sister. If I don’t tell her about your condition, who else should I tell?”
Allen’s voice turned even colder. “My business has nothing to do with her.”
The bewildered Chase asked, “What? Why do you hate your sister so much? I think she’s pretty alright.”
Not wanting to talk about the past, Allen snapped, “If you want to keep yapping, get out.”
“Alright, fine. Rest up, Your Highness. I’m leaving.”
As Chase left, he muttered, “I’d kill to have a sister like her…”
Seeing Chase approaching the door, Autumn quickly stepped aside.
The moment Chase saw her after opening the door, Autumn gave him a look.
Chase caught on immediately and pretended not to see her, quietly closing the door behind him.
In the hallway, Autumn took out a bank card from her bag and got straight to the point. “Here’s ten million. Keep it for emergencies. Just don’t tell Allen it’s from me.”
After Lugi-X was developed, Olivia bought out its rights from Autumn with 20 million dollars.
All that money was part of Autumn’s personal assets.
Since she wasn’t a big spender and her salary as a secretary at Westgate Group covered her daily expenses, she had barely touched that money.
Chase was stunned by Autumn casually handing him a “small” fortune.
“Autumn, I only asked you to come see Allen, not to give us money…” Chase trailed off as he felt guilty.
Sensing his guilt, Autumn merely said, “You don’t have to be so polite with me. Just take it.”
Even with the initial capital from Darius, developing a large-scale game like the one Allen was working on required way more than just ten million.
Allen was great at game development, but to keep the company afloat, he had to deal with investors, and drinking was part of that world.
Autumn had always thought Allen could handle it, so she didn’t expect he’d end up in the hospital over it.
Since Chase was fully aware of Autumn and Allen’s complicated relationship, he wouldn’t call out of the blue like this unless Allen was seriously ill. But since that wasn’t the case, it had to be about money.
It wasn’t easy for young men to swallow their pride and ask for help.
So, before Chase could refuse again, Autumn stuffed the card into his hand.
He stared at the card. After hearing Autumn’s words of reassurance and seeing the genuine concern in her eyes, Chase felt a lump in his throat.
They’d met an investor that day, who had said that he would invest one million dollars if they drank a bottle of liquor.
Allen drank it all without hesitation.
Having worked all day, Allen had barely eaten anything and essentially consumed the liquor on an empty stomach, causing him to vomit midway through.
Unable to bear seeing Allen like this, Chase suggested that they just give up, but Allen stayed stubborn. For that one million dollars, he endured the burning pain in his stomach and kept going.
Yet, after finishing the entire bottle, the investor went back on his word.
He even mocked them, saying young people were easy to fool and had no real talent for making a decent game, his insults ruthless.
If they hadn’t been so short on funds, who would’ve tolerated such humiliation?
Left with no other choice, Chase could only call Autumn in the end.
He knew Autumn was married to none other than Damien, the legendary CEO of Caldwell Group, worth hundreds of billions.
If they could just get Damien to invest tens of millions, they’d be fine.
However, with how strained the siblings’ relationship was, there was no way Allen would ask Damien for help.
Chase wasn’t as stubborn as Allen. As such, he had secretly tried contacting Caldwell Group, using the fact that Damien was Allen’s brother-in-law to get them to hear him out.
In the end, he did get to meet Damien in person and gave a one-minute pitch about their upcoming AAA game that incorporated traditional culture.
He had believed they were close to securing an investment until he was thrown out by security, which stunned him.
What shocked him even more was that Caldwell Group later invested in their competitor.
That was like getting slapped in the face.
Chase didn’t dare ask about Autumn’s relationship with Damien.
Instead, he said tactfully, “Autumn, I won’t keep you in suspense. The reason Allen and I have been going all out is that our company’s core tech team was poached by our competitor.
“Our company took a huge hit, and we’re on the verge of collapse. So, this ten million means everything to us. Without it, we’d be done for.”
Though he’d made it sound dire, Chase didn’t sound defeated. In fact, he seemed even more fired up.
“You’re now a major shareholder, Autumn. When the game launches and we make money, we’ll pay you dividends!”
He and Allen, fueled by their frustration, were determined to finish the game and prove themselves to everyone.
“You can tell me all of that in the future. For now, just focus on what you need to do.”
Autumn wasn’t able to deal with their business competitors.
All she could do was everything within her power—the rest was up to them.
As Chase felt the genuine warmth and care from Autumn, the humiliation from earlier that night began to melt away.
Once he was feeling more grounded, he asked, “Won’t you go in and see him?”
Autumn shook her head, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. “He doesn’t want to see me, so I won’t go in.”
Chase could tell Autumn was sad, but he was just an outsider—he couldn’t do or say anything even if he wanted to.
Autumn patted him on the shoulder. “Take care of Allen for me. And if anything happens, just come to me. You should go back in now.”
Chase murmured a response before going back inside.
He still had to find a way to explain the ten million to Allen. Luckily, that wouldn’t be too hard.
Soon after Chase left, Autumn unexpectedly ran into Britney Caldwell, Damien’s younger sister.
Autumn couldn’t help but frown.
Britney was the same age as Allen. With loving parents and a protective older brother, she’d been pampered all her life.
Naturally, she relied heavily on Damien.
When Autumn became her sister-in-law, Britney saw it as her stealing her brother away.
And like Linda, Britney had always looked down on Autumn. Hence, she was always rude to Autumn whenever they met.
Autumn had always kept her distance and didn’t want to run into her, so she planned to take a detour to avoid her.
Alas, Britney had clearly spotted her long ago. She walked straight over to block Autumn’s path.
Autumn had no choice but to stop.
Britney scanned her from head to toe, eyes full of undisguised disdain. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at home taking care of my brother?”
Everyone in the Caldwell family believed that taking care of Damien should be Autumn’s top priority since Damien was way out of her league, and that her own personal matters had to take a backseat.
Back then, when Autumn’s care and attention were fully invested in Damien, she’d tried her best to be a good wife, to win over his family’s approval and affection.
Even when she was wronged, she’d just take it and suppress her frustration.
Since making a scene would only make things worse and she had never liked conflict anyway, she was used to enduring the Caldwells’ criticism.
But now that they were in the process of divorce, there was no need to play along or please anyone anymore.
Autumn said calmly, “I had something to do here.”
There was no need for further explanation.
“What could be more important than taking care of my brother?” Britney eyed her suspiciously before asking, “Wait… Don’t tell me you’re pregnant?”
