Chapter 234: Chapter 234: The Dividend Agreement

“But it inherently belongs to you…” Ethan Caldwell could not help but sigh: “It is not a matter of whether you should accept it or not, because it has belonged to you from the very beginning, Jules. Sooner or later, it will be transferred under your name anyway.”

“Then what if I was not the way I am now in the beginning?”

“Hmm?”

Julian buried his face into the man’s sturdy chest, greedily inhaling the faint masculine scent mingled with the familiar smell of body wash. The warm temperature transferring from the other’s body made him feel incredibly safe. His voice was muffled through the thin fabric of the pajamas, sounding somewhat deep and carrying a hint of probing: “I mean, what if I were truly the person you had initially imagined me to be? A useless, cowardly fool who could not accomplish a single thing and only knew how to rely on others. Would you still dare to personally transfer these crucial shares to me? I am guessing you would never do such a thing, because if you dared to do so, there is a high probability that this entire massive amount of shares would fall straight into the hands of the greedy members of the Sterling family.”

“Mhm.” The man fell silent for a moment before speaking up, having absolutely no intention of denying this logical deduction. His large hand, with its thin calluses, continued to slowly stroke down Julian’s spine, carrying a sense of pampering and coaxing: “Therefore, right now, what you are receiving is something you completely deserve, Jules. I can see your relentless effort. All the astonishing changes up until this very moment have come from you yourself, and no one can snatch away that effort, so just feel free to accept it comfortably.”

Julian blinked softly, seemingly still unwilling to drop this topic, and he continued to ask: “Then what if I was still as weak and incompetent as I was in the beginning, entirely unable to protect myself? How would you handle these shares then?”

The hand that was caressing Julian’s back paused for a slight beat, and Ethan Caldwell’s voice became incredibly serious: “I certainly would not be able to transfer the ownership to your name in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, but all the annual dividends generated from those shares would be converted into cash and transferred directly into your personal bank account, guaranteeing that you would never have to worry about money for the rest of your life.”

“Then let us just do it exactly that way.” Upon hearing this, Julian decisively made his decision. He lifted his head from the man’s broad chest, his clear eyes looking straight at Ethan: “You can continue to hold the shares under your name, and you can keep the executive power to manage this company and develop it further. Just transferring the annual profit margins to me will be more than enough.”

The corners of Ethan Caldwell’s lips curled up slightly, forming a rare smile. He reached out and gently pinched the tip of Julian’s nose: “You are truly smart, Jules, not wanting to shoulder the heavy burden and pressure of managing a company, yet still wanting the money to steadily flow right into your own pockets.”

“That is me.” Julian tilted his chin up, the corners of his mouth curving to paint a very smug smile, heavily carrying his characteristic arrogant demeanor. However, that smile did not last for long before it suddenly vanished. He retracted his playful facade and became completely serious. He looked deeply into the man’s pitch-black eyes, slowly enunciating every single word: “I am not joking around. If you truly feel guilty toward me, then just transferring the annual dividend money is more than enough. I absolutely will not accept these shares, nor do I have any desire to step foot into Caldwell Empire to work, having to face endlessly prolonged meetings or dealing with terribly complex contracts. The only reason I agreed to take charge of this current collaborative project is simply because the actions of the Sterling family were an eyesore to me, and I wanted to teach them a harsh lesson. I do not know where I will end up in the distant future, but right now, I just want a life of ultimate freedom, completely untethered and unbound by anything whatsoever.”

Deep within the very bottom of his heart, the dark shadows of the past were always ever-present. A lifetime once severely constrained by the ruthless and cruel cycle of power, completely entangled by filthy money, had caused Julian to feel excessively exhausted and utterly terrified. He had spent countless sleepless nights staying awake just to ponder this matter over thoroughly and carefully.

Objectively speaking, the invitation to join Caldwell Empire was indeed an incredibly enticing offer that countless people out there deeply yearned for. If Julian were simply an ordinary wage earner, desperately struggling to find a precious opportunity to change his fate, he would undoubtedly be more than willing to nod his head and go to work at Caldwell Empire, stepping up the corporate ladder one level at a time to reach a higher position. But the current circumstances were entirely different now. This man standing right in front of him was tolerantly reaching out his hand, directly offering Julian a colossal sum of money without demanding a single condition in return. Having secured this remarkably solid financial foundation, that exhausting whirlpool of making a living and paying for daily necessities would no longer be a heavy burden crushing down on his shoulders every single day.

Julian thought to himself, perhaps he truly ought to seize this golden opportunity to devote all of his energy into fulfilling the unfinished dreams that he still held on to.

Those pure and unadulterated dreams about art, about those vibrantly colorful paintings that he had yearned for every single night in his previous life, but due to the harsh coercion of his circumstances, he could never manage to lay his hands upon them. This time around, he wanted to live entirely for himself.

Seeing the firm determination shining brightly in the depths of the young man’s eyes, Ethan Caldwell gave a slight nod, his tone carrying a sense of yielding and indulgent compromise: “Alright, since you have thought about it so thoroughly, I will respect your decision. I will instruct the secretary to calculate and transfer the entire sum of the dividend money corresponding to this portion of the shares into your bank account. That amount of money will also include all the accumulated funds from the past several years, not missing a single penny.”

“Huh?” Julian immediately furrowed his brows, clearly displaying his disagreement: “What do the past few years have to do with me anyway? Ethan Caldwell, you need to understand clearly that this was originally the painstaking asset that your mother left behind exclusively for you. I will only accept the profit margins from this current year and the years following this one, treating it as an investment fund that you have set aside for me. As for the previously accumulated money, you should just keep it and use it for your own business endeavors. Generously transferring absolutely everything over to me like this, are you planning to completely empty out your own pockets? If the company happens to encounter any unexpected difficulties, what will you use to compensate for the losses, and will you still have enough money left to continue providing for me?”

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