The Transmigrated Professor

Now that I had finished dealing with Heron, Liliana was left. I didn’t know much about Liliana and her relationship with Izzy, but there was one thing I can use to my advantage.
Her declining position among the executives of the Aurum Guild.

I left Heron’s floor and arrived at the third floor, where Liliana’s office and living quarters were. 
Liliana’s floor was quite luxurious, to put it mildly. Various sculptures and jewelled ornaments decorated the entire corridor. I peeked inside one of the rooms, only to find dozens of sparkling dresses displayed inside. Another room was filled with purses, while a third displayed footwear.

‘Wow! Liliana is quite materialistic, isn’t she?’

Though, seeing this only helped me become confident in executing the plan I had in mind.

Liliana’s office door was almost as grand as Heron’s. Intricate designs adorned its surface, made by fusing the wood with molten gold.
Even someone with no class like me could see how refined and elegant her taste was.

Today was the second time I knocked on such exquisite doors.

“Who is it this time?” A cranky voice came from behind the door. As I took a step inside, a strong scent drifted past my nose. Its owner was sitting on a throne that looked like something Queen Cleopatra would sit on while ordering her subjects.

“It’s you!” A frown appeared on Liliana's face when she saw who had entered her office. “Are you here to apologise?”

“Apologise? Why would I be here to apologise to you?” I asked her in confusion, as I took a seat opposite her.

“Such a shameless child. Didn’t you lie to me in the garden? Apologise for lying to your mother.” Seeing her display such arrogance on that stupid throne left me speechless for a moment.

“Wow, a bystander would think that you are graciously forgiving me for some heinous crime I had committed against you.”

“Lying to your mother is a crime.”

“You were going to hit Izzy just for wearing jeans to a party.”

Liliana slammed her knuckle on her desk. “Do you think any respectable family would accept her if she keeps behaving like the vulgar little thing she is?”

“Are you actually going to get her engaged?” I looked at her in shock.

“Of course, not right now.” Liliana scoffed at me. I sighed in relief, but her next words repulsed me to the core. “I will get her engaged when she Awakens. Nobody is gonna take a useless girl, much less an indecent little thing like Isabella.”

She noticed my gaze toward her. “What? I have started losing my influence among the board members. The best that girl can do for me is to help me make ties with another well-reputed Guild and increase my influence.”

I had so many things I wanted to say to this woman, but I remembered how Liliana treated Izzy during the banquet.
I am sure any criticism I give to the woman in front of me, she would take it with a grain of salt.
Not to mention, if I anger her, she might refuse to let go of Izzy. 

‘I can’t let her stay with this family when they are fated to be executed.’

“You do realise whatever you are planning is bound to fail, right?” I revealed it to her.

“Fail? Why would it?” Suspicious eyes glared in my direction.

“Don’t you know how bad the rumours are about the Guild? People are saying we might be associated with the Chaos Alliance!”

“Those are just rumours.” Liliana became defensive. “The Aurum Guild is still powerful.”

‘Hmm. Judging from her reaction, it seems she has thought about this too. I just need to push her a bit…’

“That doesn’t change the rumours floating around. No smart Guild would make ties with you under such conditions.” I expressed my opinion. “It will be a while before the rumours go away, so you definitely won’t be able to use Izzy as a card at the moment.”

“I suppose you are going somewhere with this? Cause I doubt you came here just to piss me off.” I could see Liliana's eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

“I want you to give up your parental rights for Izzy.” I told her my aim.

A scoff escaped Liliana's lips. “What? Are you stupid? Even if, as you pointed out, I won’t be able to use Isabella immediately, she is still someone I can use in the future. Why in the world would I give up my authority on her.”

“Because I can do something for you, that can be of immediate help.” I threw the bait in.

“You? The legitimate son of the Laxon family who failed in securing his position as the heir?" Liliana scoffed at my offer. "Tell me, my useless son, what can you do for this darling mother of yours?"

“Aren’t you and Edward in a power dispute, currently?” I set my plan into action, ignoring her stinging remarks.

Liliana again stomped her fist on her desk. “Don’t mention that cur to me. Just because Heron has his back, he thinks he’s such a big shot. Going about doing anything he wants. I tell you, once I get my hands on the documents of his illegal businesses, I am going to expose him to the world and then drag him to his knees.” 

“Don’t you both own about 18% of the shares of the company? I can sell you the 6% of the shares that I own. Wouldn’t that give you an edge over Edward?”

Liliana’s greedy eyes pondered over my offer. “24% of the Aurum Guild’s shares. That would make me the second-largest shareholder after Heron.”

“And you would have more rights on the decisions made about the Guild as well.” I completed her thought.

“Do you only just want me to sign over my parental rights for this? You would be giving up your stake in one of the biggest Guilds on the Human Continent!” Liliana stared at me as if she couldn't believe how stupid I would be to do that.

“Yes. That is enough for me.” Anyway, once the Guild is ruined, those shares will be useless. It will be best to take convert them into cash right now, when the Guild stock price is still high.

Once the transactions were completed on both sides, I stood up. As I was about to leave, Liliana called out to me, “If only you were this smart before. The Guild would have been in your hands and not Edward’s.”

I decided to not pay attention to her last remark.

When I left the room, another surprising guest was waiting for me.

“Izzy! Why are you here?” 

“I heard you were visiting Mother.” Despite her determined face, her eyes were full of sadness. “When you said, you will take me away, I didn’t realise you would do it so quickly.”

“I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have discussed it with you beforehand!”

“That’s okay!” Izzy eyes were looking down at the floor.

She didn't want her brother to see the tears that were forming in her eyes. Honestly, she wasn’t sad about the fact that Ray had acted without telling her. She was sad that her mother so quickly signed over her rights as a parent, just to get some stupid stocks. It just made it clear what Liliana actually thought of her children.

When Ray first offered to take her in, she felt the slightest bit conflicted. No matter how bad of a mother she was, she was still her mother. She didn't want to cut ties with her family. But this made it clear to her. Liliana never thought of her as family.

“Seeing how quickly you cut off all ties with the family, did you come to the party today for this reason?” Izzy asked me, shaking off her disappointment.

“I did!” I confirmed her thoughts.

“Does this have something to do with those rumours about the Guild?” Izzy asked me.

“Izzy, you are still young. You don’t need to know about this.”

“I am not a kid, you know!”

“I am not saying this because you are too young to handle the information. I am saying this because as a minor, you have a chance to get away from matters involving adults. You won't be held responsible if you are oblivious to these matters.”

“But I don’t want to get away from it.” Desperation and determination shone in her eyes. 

“Then please wait until I am strong enough to protect you from it.” 

Izzy decided to back off for now.

“It’s late. Let’s go to sleep for now and talk tomorrow.”