The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot-Chapter 78: The Next CEO

Evelyn’s heart stilled, a cold dread creeping through her veins at the news. Panic surged through her, the vivid image of Gracia’s situation in the hospital, the last thing the doctor said that night before she fell unconscious, everything flooded her mind.

"Mr. Wright is in a serious condition, Evelyn," Annabelle added, ending the call with Sophia. Her voice was barely above a whisper but it was enough to bring Evelyn back to reality.

Evelyn quickly stood up and said, "Let’s go!" Annabelle nodded, placing a few notes on the table, she rushed out of the cafe with Evelyn before hopping into her car.

John frowned to see the same woman who had been causing quite a scene around his boss and madam, but when Evelyn urged to him drive, he quickly started the engine.

"Take us to Dorwin Hospital, John. Asap!" Evelyn shared the location Elias had sent before calling out Zevian to inform him about the situation. Her mind would be a little less messy if he were beside her.

"First, we will be moving him to a different hospital," Evelyn said after a small pause, determined to save him. Even if she didn’t need to care about William anymore, somewhere her heart wasn’t yet ready to completely treat him as a stranger. And that’s how this shitty relationship has always been, though they both had hurt each other many times, they couldn’t stop themselves from going back to the other person.

It took an almost hour to drive back to the main Vespera city and John took a shortcut to reach the hospital that was in the center of the city. Evelyn and Annabelle quickly rushed to emergency to find Elias waiting for them.

"Sis!" Elias rushed to his Evelyn, hugging her tightly. Breaking the hug, he took them to the operating rooms where Sophia was already waiting for them.

"Anna!" Sophia got up from the bench, tears trickling down her face. Annabelle walked to her only to see the subtle lift of her curves. Before she could wonder further, her sweet mother hugged her tightly, breaking into cries in her arms.

Annabelle with a scowl patted her back, realizing she was acting because of Elias and of course, a few board directors who had come to see their dear friend also boss. "What did you do?" She asked in a low voice, her grip tightening on Sophia’s arm.

"Just what needs to be done to keep me on the race," Sophia replied, her voice filled with malice. "You are just an elephant in this chess game, Annabelle. While he is the king that will get me the head of your new friend." She added, her eyes moving to Evelyn who had been staring at her all the time.

"What exactly happened?" Evelyn asked, turning to Elias. He seemed to have been doing well after hearing Annabelle’s pregnancy so she was sure it must be something related to the care he was receiving from Sophia and her little minion doctors.

"They had some fight because of Annabelle and her pregnancy. Dad got tired and went to rest. Mom decided to go apologize and found him collapsed on the floor." Elias explained, recalling how his mother had shrieked and called for help. With a sigh, he added, "The argument must have taken a toll on him."

Evelyn’s eyes blazed as they fixed on Sophia beside Annabelle. This woman could even go to the lengths of hurting her husband. Greed must have gotten pretty glued in her mind. She thought, her frustration visible in the way she clutched her fists.

"He cannot handle company matters anymore, Mrs. Wright. I think you should quicken the process of selecting a new CEO, we all will be here to help you out." One of the directors mumbled, and Evelyn was quite sure he was called here by none other than Sophia. The other directors seemed to agree with it, and their eyes fixed on Evelyn as she was the one being a prick in their way.

"Since Annabelle is the first daughter, she should be taking Mr. Wright’s position. That is what even her grandmother had left in the will," One of the directors said, going back to the day William had a stroke. According to the will, Charlotte’s granddaughter would take the position and since Annabelle was the real daughter in the world’s eyes, everyone believed she should take over the company.

"Let Elias be the CEO," Evelyn suggested, her words catching everyone off guard in the room. Even Sophia who had been acting like a crying mess blinked in confusion, not expecting this stubborn woman to give so easily.

Evelyn sighed as the directors started arguing about it, and she couldn’t expose Sophia and Annabelle now as that would only decrease their trust in the Wright family. And, it only made sense for Elias to take over the company since he was the only heir left, who shared William’s blood unlike her and Annabelle.

"Sis, you know-"

"For now, please!" Evelyn tried to convince her brother, pleading with him to cooperate so she could move William out of there. If she gave what Sophia had been trying to claim all these years, William would at least not have to go through this shit.

"Yes, Eli should take over it." Annabelle also supported Evelyn’s decision, understanding what was going through her mind.

Sophia’s face instantly brightened in glee, but she quickly hid it with a soft sniffle. Her eyes moved to the director who had brought up this topic earlier who quickly understood his job.

"She is right! Ms. Annabelle has been in lots of scandals recently and it will anger the shareholders." He stated the facts that no one could deny. Sophia heaved a sigh inwardly, feeling fortunate that all the things that had worked wrong for her were now aligning like favors.

When the old directors reluctantly agreed, the director was overjoyed and said, "I will go arrange the meeting immediately with other board directors. We can release a press note once Mr. Wright’s health recovers." Smiling in Sophia’s direction, he quickly left the corridor.

"Just until he recovers, Eli. Let’s try to keep it safe until he is healthy enough to handle it himself," Evelyn coaxed her brother, rubbing his back gently. If William loved anything after Gracia was the company his father had started and he had made it reach skies in the past few decades. And seeing it crumble would only hurt the old man.

Elias sighed and nodded, relieved that at least Evelyn would here to handle things for him. As long as she was by his side, he was sure they could together save their father’s company.

"Now that you got what you want, let the old man live!" Annabelle grumbled to Sophia, who was amused to see her feelings for her dear father.

"It’s quite new to see you getting attached to him," Sophia murmured before taking out her phone to text the doctor to keep William alive. If Evelyn had decided to cause a ruckus, she had planned to send her husband to his lover, the last move she had been plotting all these years to take over the company.

Just then, Zevian arrived with his assistant Brandon, followed by Damien. Sophia felt a chill run down her spine as a team of specialists, who more seemed like doctors rushed behind the two formidable men.

"They are the doctors from Berina Hospital," Zevian said to Evelyn who had requested to find the best heart specialists in their city. Berina hospital was known for handling the world’s most critical cases and fortunately her husband had enough connection to ask for a quick help.

"We already have sufficient doctors here," Sophia interrupted, taking a step forward.

"Shut your mouth if you don’t want me to tear your secrets apart." Evelyn glowered, her cold glare making Sophia’s confidence crumble. Her eyes instantly moved to her son, squinting and she took a step back, as she couldn’t afford to mess up when they were just a press release away from owning the company.

"Please take care of him," Evelyn bowed to the doctors who nodded and quickly rushed inside, with the help of the chairman of this hospital.

Zevian wrapped his hand around Evelyn’s shoulder who held onto his arm, finding that support she needed the most right now. Rubbing it gently, he murmured, "He will be fine, don’t worry."

Evelyn nodded, heaving a small sigh. She had no clue what she was doing or why she was even helping the man she had planned to ruin a few months ago. Her revenge, her thirst to take over the company, everything seemed to have crumbled at the revelation and she knew, this would be the last help she will be doing for this family.

After a few long hours, William was moved to a VVIP ward, with doctors assuring Evelyn that he was perfectly fine. It all seemed like Sophia just wanted to create a scene and scare everyone, which worked well.

"I will go and talk about his transfer to Berina," Zevian said, patting Evelyn’s shoulder who stood at a distance from William’s bed. Sophia had taken a seat beside him with Elias behind her, while Annabelle stood at the side, scowling at Sophia.

It took another long hour for William to finally wake up, but still under the sedatives.

"Honey!" Sophia got up from her chair, instantly moving closer to William who barely acknowledged. His blurry eyes caught a glimpse of someone standing afar, and he lifted his hand, asking to come closer.

Annabelle thinking he was looking for his sweet daughter pointed at herself but to everyone’s surprise, William shook his head, pointing at Evelyn.

Evelyn felt her heart race as it had been the first time he had ever called for her, almost a few years maybe. Holding her breath, she moved closer and Elias forced his mom to step back, giving his sister the space to sit beside their father’s bed.

Swallowing her surprise, Evelyn stepped closer, her heart pounding as she sat beside him. William weakly removed his oxygen mask, prompting Evelyn to scold him gently, "You need to keep that on."

He shook his head, his voice raspy but determined. "Take over the company. Be the CEO of Wright Constructions."