Goodbye My Arrogant Ex (Marguerite and Leonard) novel Chapter 133

Aaron’s voice rang out in a harsh reprimand. As the eldest son, he’d always seen himself as second-in-command in this family—right after their grandmother. In his mind, everyone else should fall in line and listen to him, no exceptions.

But ever since he and Leonard were young, their grandmother had been skeptical about Aaron and his brother’s father. She never really believed they had what it took to run the family business. To make matters worse, the two brothers could barely get along, which left their grandmother constantly anxious and exasperated.

Over time, though, Leonard grew into his own. Their grandmother soon saw that he had real potential, someone she could finally trust to manage the family’s affairs.

“Aaron, everything I have today, I earned,” Leonard said coldly, his expression stone-like. “None of this was handed to me out of charity.”

“If you’re so convinced you can run the company, I’ll hand it over to you right now,” Leonard continued, his voice icy. “But you’re just afraid that the moment it lands in your hands, you’ll drop the ball.”

Aaron was struck speechless. He couldn’t deny it—years ago, when he served as chairman, a disastrous project under his watch turned the whole board against him. The directors even threatened their grandmother: keep Aaron in charge, and they’d all pull out their investments. No one saw that coming, least of all her. She spent sleepless nights, torn over what to do.

With no other choice, she returned to the company herself, rolling up her sleeves to stabilize things. Only then did the business find its footing again.

“That’s enough,” their grandmother cut in, her tone sharp. “If you two came here just to fight, then you can leave. From now on, don’t bother coming back for my birthday!”

She looked between them, disappointment etched deep in her features. “You’re family. You’re supposed to be closest to one another. Why does every visit end in an argument? Can’t you give me even a day’s peace?”

But after everything that had happened, Leonard showed them no mercy. He’d cut off Hans’s access to the company funds; now, every penny Hans spent had to go through official channels, and half the time, his requests were rejected. It drove him mad.

Yet their grandmother had stopped involving herself in company matters. She no longer had the energy to keep up.

In her youth, she’d built the Murphy family from the ground up, raising two children on her own while running the business. She was a true matriarch, a woman who’d fought for everything they had.

But after all those years pouring her life into work, she’d never given herself a break. Now, her health was failing, and she no longer had the strength to carry the family the way she once did.