Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 164: Press Meet (3)

Chapter 164: Press Meet (3)

"Wilson," that reporter wasn’t fazed and told his name, "I don’t know if there are studies, but fifty years ago the Brunton Family lost everything and almost liquidised their company and now the Brunton family is one of the richest family in the world. How did they achieve it if not by exploiting Esteria and their people? "

Talia couldn’t believe what she is hearing. Her grandfather didn’t give up when the odds were against him, was wise in his investments, had a little luck and rose to the place he is now with the help of other hardworking people who supported him. He raised more people from poverty than the government in the past years. How is that exploiting?

" By working hard, Mr. Wilson. With the help of the hardworkers who stood by my grandfather and helped him build this company. The same ones who are reaping their hardwork now in the form of wealth. If we are talking about the conditions fifty years back, Esteria was in economic depression and the GDP per capita was merely around three hundred dollars. And now Esteria is one of the richest nations in the world with a median income one of the best in the world. Recent studies made in A Country has explained in detail, the contribution of Northern Star in growing Esteria into a developed nation. Even now, Northern Star pays sixty percentage as income tax. A quarter of the gross income of Esteria through taxes comes from Northern Star groups alone. How is Northern Star exploiting Esteria?"

" But if we nationalise Northern Star, we will get hundred percentage of the profit and we can use it for the further development of Esteria!" the reporter still insisted.

Talia didn’t know what to say to that guy who thinks he could just grab someone else’s legacy to share with someone who doesn’t know the value of it. For her grandfather, Northern Star is not just a company. Some of the shareholders hold the same view as him too. It was the tree he planted along with his wife. The tree that helped a lot of people. The tree that reminds him of his late wife. How can someone be allowed to dig it out and take it away from him to be planted somewhere else? Will they love the tree as much as her grandfather?

Will a tree survive if it is dug out from one place and get planted at another place? No!

If they change the administration of Northern Star, everything will change. The salary of the staff will reduce to government standards and this will reduce the enthusiasm of the staff and workers. Without enthusiasm, the production will decrease and with reduced production, the profits will fall. To combat the fall in profit, the prices of commodities will go up causing inflation and in the end, the economy will fall.

It is inevitable.

"Mr. Wilson, speaking of using the funds for the welfare of the common people... When will the High Council stop accepting grants from the tax payer funds and let the Parliament use that funds for the welfare of the common people? The Duchy of Oakley stopped accepting grants for decades. When will the rest follow? In the latest budget briefing, the Finance Minister announced almost forty percentage of the tax payer funds as grants for the Nobles. That is forty percentage of money that is supposed to be used for the welfare of the Nation that is diverted to the pockets of individuals! " Talia asked with a smirk. She was entirely enraged.

She noticed all the reporters checking the phone at the same time and her phone blinked the same time with some notifications too. But she decided to ignore it for now.

" Stop deflecting! Miss Brunton is speaking for herself here. I bet you can’t afford to lose your wealthy lifestyle. Not everyone, certainly not the workers of the Northern Star feels the same way!" That reporter still pushed on.

Arthur looked at Talia to see if she was stressed. Usually going to and forth with a reporter won’t do any good, but he needed it now. Talia is speaking what the workers in Northern Star are felling right now with the news about the nationalisation. But the media supporting the Council makes it seem like the people who want the nationalisation is the majority which is a blatant lie.

She is going in the right direction talking against the council. With the negative sentiments against the Council rising, the common people will need a strong advocate to speak against the Council. Who in Esteria is qualified other than the only granddaughter of Jerome Brunton?

" My wealthy lifestyle?" Talia let out a small laugh, "I won’t comment on that, Mr. Wilson. I pretty much lived on my own these past ten years. But about the other thing, Where are the poll results, Mr. Wilson? How much percentage of staff working in Northern Star want the company to be nationalised? I wonder if what’s going on in Esteria a democratic process decided by the people or tyranny mandated by a bunch of people lining their pockets by scooping out from people’s taxes? Why do the Council need to nationalise Northern Star?

What happened to the previous companies the Council nationalised? Walsh Dairy, Herman Investments, Maddock Energy... Should I go on? Every one of those companies was doing well on its own and the Council not heeding my grandfather’s advice, decided to nationalise. What happened to those companies? Those new appointees with degrees bought with taxpayer money, got the job only by nepotism and coercion and bankrupted the companies. There was even a commission set to investigate why those companies failed. Everyone knows the horrible thing that happened with Mr. Horatio Walsh when he saw his company, he built from scratch, getting liquidated in front of his eyes. The other nationalised companies had to be privatised once again to make sure they don’t fail. Should such fate befall Northern Star? Did you think people forget about those companies?

The recent polls conducted by various organisations reveal that the happiness index of people working in Northern Star is the highest in the entire world. Throughout the world, many graduates wish to get a job in Northern Star. This is what my grandfather envisioned. A place where everyone works happily. I will not wish for it to change anytime soon. Northern Star will always look for the welfare of its own staff first and foremost. Those who share the same vision as my grandfather can stay in the company. Others may feel free to leave! Northern Star rose from the dust in the past and I have faith that it will do so in the future too based on the same principles that it was built up before," Talia pointed at another reporter raising his hand for a question. She didn’t want to speak further. For some reason, she had grown used to this confrontation but felt like it won’t fare well if she picks a fight with a reporter.

She already might have ran her mouth too much.

She used her peripheral vision to check Mr. Ed. She thought he’d be angry but it seemed like that he wasn’t bothered by what she did.

Is this really okay? She wondered.

"Is the Duke of Oakley sick? Is that why you wanted to visit him? Was Prince Edward the one who broke the news to you? If so, why did you refuse to return to Esteria back then?" the other reporter asked and Talia was stunned.

Wasn’t this a secret?

"I’m not commenting -" Talia tried to point at another reporter, but the other reporter she pointed threw a question that made Talia’s head spin.

"There’s been an article just published in Daily Post that the Duke of Oakley is sick and there is even a picture of him in a wheelchair. Did you know about it or is this the first time you’re hearing about it?"

Talia felt her heart skip a beat and she turned to her right to see Arthur and Arthur just looked back at her plainly making her feel sick in the stomach.

Has grandpa’s condition worsened? Did the doctor lie to me?

There were other questions asked at her, but Arthur took control of the reporters and tried to end the press meet but no one was willing to leave.

Talia didn’t even feel the hundreds of flashes on her and tried to hold her phone but oddly it slipped from her fingers. Even her finger didn’t have the strength and without knowing, her eyes had clouded and she couldn’t see anything in front of her clearly.

"Talia... Talia..."

She could hear Arthur’s voice from the side and she could vaguely see that he was trying to give her a glass of water but she didn’t want to look at him.

Why didn’t he tell me anything?

Not letting the tears fall out, she pulled in the tears with great difficulty and looked at Mr. Ed who showed her the article.

She couldn’t make out the words clearly as her eyes first darted to the picture. Her tears didn’t disappear but hanged at the rim of her eye making it hard for her to see. It seemed like the picture was taken from a drone without anyone’s knowledge and it was a little grainy.

It was their garden and her Grandpa with a pale face and with his eyes surrounded with dark circles and his lips chapped, was sitting in a wheelchair pushed by a young woman; probably a nurse, with Sebastian walking beside.

Her Grandpa was looking at the grass below with both his arms on the armrest of the wheelchair and his palms were loosely hanging down as if he didn’t even have the strength to hold on to the armrest. There was a blanket covering his legs and he seemed like he was out of it as his eyes seemed empty. The tailored suit he wears seemed two sizes too big. It seems like he had lost a lot of weight.

How? I spoke to him days ago and he didn’t look this bad!

As she felt like she’d die of erratic heartbeat, Mr. Ed oped up a bottle in front of her and poured her some water to drink. Talia accepted the water and as she drank the water, her mind got cleared a bit and she got reminded of the place she is current in.

She didn’t even see Arthur to her right with a disappointed face retracting his hand holding a glass of water.

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