Chapter 1108 - 515: Returning from the Grand Dream (5) (Second Update)_2

Chapter 1108: Chapter 515: Returning from the Grand Dream (5) (Second Update)_2

She glanced at the people in the courtyard and picked out an older person who seemed to be an old friend of Mrs. Wright and the York Family.

She walked over, greeted him with a smile, and then pretended to be someone fascinated by the legend of York Bank, striking up a casual conversation.

"May I ask your surname? Are you a relative or friend of Mrs. Wright’s family, or a relative or friend of Mr. York’s?"

The man was quite old, looking around sixty or seventy, his hair and beard all white, but his skin was still rosy, making him look vigorous for his age.

Seeing a pretty girl like Lawrence Winters take the initiative to talk to him, he was delighted and said with a smile, "I’m an old friend of the York Family. I watched Isaac grow up. Alas..."

As he sighed, the smile faded from his face, replaced by a look of regret.

Lawrence blinked and followed with a sigh. "Yes, it really is such a pity. Mr. York died so young, and under such circumstances... it’s really... sigh... But heaven is capricious, and a person’s fortunes can change overnight. A human life, you really can’t say..."

As she lamented like this, the old man felt the same way, nodded, and said, "That’s exactly right. Isaac was such a good child when he was little. Back then the York Family had three branches. Isaac’s father was only from the second branch, not the eldest son, and not the youngest son who was doted on by his parents, just the middle child in an awkward position."

"After Isaac graduated from college and went to work at York Bank, he was basically just working for his uncle. He didn’t earn much at all each month."

"Who could have imagined that in just a few years, he would somehow come up with a huge sum of money, buy up ninety percent of York Bank’s shares, and in one leap become the man in charge of York Bank?"

Lawrence put on a surprised expression and lowered her voice. "How much money was that? Enough to acquire ninety percent of the shares?!"

"I think it was close to four hundred million. It was that money that allowed York Bank to pay off its debts and still have half left over to keep the bank going. If it hadn’t been for that money, York Bank would’ve gone under long ago. How could it have today’s glory?"

"But so what if it’s glorious? The money’s still there, but he’s gone, leaving it all to his wife..."

The old man shook his head and wagged it regretfully, as if he felt Isaac York really wasn’t worth it.

Lawrence ignored the old man’s disparaging tone toward women and asked curiously, "At that time he hadn’t been working long, right? Where did he get the money from? Without collateral, who would give him such a loan?"

The old man shook his head. "That I don’t know. In any case, he got his hands on a large sum, and not only bought ninety percent of York Bank’s shares, solving York’s immediate crisis, but also became chairman of the board, president, and CEO of York Bank. He was really a rising star back then. Many wealthy Chinese tycoons had high hopes for him and wanted to marry their daughters to him."

"He then picked and chose for several years before finally marrying a daughter of the Wright Clan who had just returned from Europe. See, that’s Mrs. Wright over there."

Lawrence let out a soft "Eh?" and said in a low voice, "So it wasn’t the Wright Clan who helped him through that crisis?"

"Of course not. Back then the Wright Clan was just doing some small business, nowhere near York’s scale. Even if they sold off the entire Wright enterprise, it would only have been a few tens of millions. How could they have helped York pay off its debts?"

"Then why did he choose Mrs. Wright?"

"I heard Mrs. Wright looks quite a bit like his first love..." the old man said dismissively. "Men always have a bit of a thing about their first love."

"...His first love? Have you ever seen her?"

"No, but I heard she was very pretty. Unfortunately she died not long after they broke up, which is quite pitiful too..."

"She died not long after they broke up? How long was that, do you remember?" Lawrence was close to the truth now. Though she was anxious inside, her tone remained calm and unhurried, only showing a gossipy curiosity, never letting anyone detect the urgency under her voice.

"It really wasn’t long..." The old man frowned slightly, the wrinkles beginning to show on his rosy, plump face. "It seems it was just after Isaac managed to get that money, right? I only found out about this because the York Family was a mess internally at the time, everyone fighting over the inheritance. One of Isaac’s cousins brought it up, saying he was heartless and ungrateful, that the woman who’d been with him for over ten years and had even borne him a child had gone missing, and he didn’t bother to look for her at all. It really chilled people’s hearts."

Lawrence’s heart suddenly sank.

"...Mr. York’s first love had a child for him?! What about the child? His girlfriend went missing—what happened to the child?" Lawrence’s tone was a bit urgent now.

The old man gave her a strange look and said, "That child died too... They say when that woman disappeared, the child was still very young, not even a year old. With no one to look after it, the child literally starved to death. I think that’s what’s truly chilling."