Ch. 1121..1130

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1121

Anna Yard had a pleasant smile on her face as she gently patted Anne’s hand. “My dear child, if you and Cooper are truly in love, he would not think so little of you!”

Anne tugged at her aunt’s sleeve and said coquettishly, “Please just give me some of the shares, Aunt Anna. I’m only asking for 2% of the shares—it’s not much at all! Even the cat has 1%!”

To one side, Callum and Cade began to sputter before Anna could answer. The bodyguards had already relayed to them the details of Anne’s exchange with Sophia at the hospital from the day before.

It was amusing how an outsider had more perspective on this matter than Anne did.

How could they give out shares in Ronney Group so easily to anybody who asked?

After all, they had risked their own lives for every single one of these shares, and they had painted their hands crimson with the blood of countless others to get to where they were today, so why should they give any part of it to Anne just because she asked?

The law was clear when it stated that only a human could be a shareholder, so it wasn’t as though General could enjoy shareholder rights even if it had 1% of the shares in the conglomerate. At the end of the day, it was merely a cat, and whatever shares it held would automatically belong to Anna.

Anna knew she could not afford to be blunt now and ruin her relationship with Anne because they were related after all. Therefore, she patted the girl’s hand once more as she tried to dissuade her. “My dear, we can’t just give out the shares on a whim. If you really want to have shares in the company, you’ll have to buy them off the stock market.”

Ronney Group was a listed company, so it made sense for Anna to redirect her niece toward the idea of purchasing the stocks instead of asking outright for them.

Anne bit her lip at the prospect of this. She knew buying shares off the stock market required the kind of money that she simply did not have at the moment.

She was only an artist, and how many artists could say that they had made it big in the industry? It wasn’t as though Anne was poor, but next to the Yards, she was as good as broke.

Growing desperate, Anne pressed on, “Aunt Anna—”

If Anna had grown impatient and tired of her niece’s whining, she didn’t show it. Instead, she gently pried Anne’s grip away from her sleeve and said affably, “I’m sorry, dear, but I really have to go and attend to a couple of things. We’ll talk later.”

With that, the older woman hurried off with both her sons in her wake.

Anne stomped in frustration, but she knew there was nothing more she could do other than wait until later before she could resume the conversation with her aunt.

She had to become a shareholder because it was the only way for her to become a true young lady of the Yard family, and once she succeeded, Cooper would surely ask for her hand in marriage. She couldn’t wait to see Sophia eat her own words!

By then, she would make sure to rub it in Sophia’s face.

How dare an illegitimate daughter be so bold to have talked down to her? Anne ought to teach her a lesson!

Bayside City was beginning to see cooler temperatures now that it was September, and the weather had finally turned cool enough for Anna to begin property-hunting.

Given the importance of the matter, she had personally taken on the task of surveying properties in the city. After all, her final choice would end up as the location for Ronney Group’s branch in this country.

There were only a handful of renowned metaphysics grandmasters in Bayside City, and Anna had invited one of them to come along with her as she visited the properties.

Presently, Daniel Levine was making quite an impression on the passers-by as he arrived at the scene on a hoverboard. He looked ethereal in his robes, the sleeves of which were flapping in the cool breeze, and his long, ebony hair had been pulled back into a neat ponytail.

He had recently been meditating on Reverie Mountain before Anna had called upon him for his expertise. Only important clients like her could make him step away from meditation, otherwise he would never descend the mountain.

“Master Levine, I see you’ve decided to leave your sword behind today,” Anna teased upon seeing him.

Daniel braked, then stepped down from the hoverboard. He seemed to float with every step as he made his way toward Anna, his loafers silent against the ground. “The traffic has made it impractical for me to fly here on my sword,” he said with deadpan humor.

After he was done introducing his apprentice to Anna and her company, he went with them to view the properties.

Anna had managed to get a hold of the best real estate agent to come property-hunting with her, and it was through the recommendations of the agent that Anna had decided on the one that stood before them now. The building was nestled near Third Avenue amidst the bustling hub of the city. She thought it would be perfect as an office building for Ronney Group.

However, having appraised the building upon their arrival, Daniel pointed out disagreeably, “The location is not auspicious as it faces away from the dragon’s vein, and neither the lighting nor the airflow is ideal. In the long run, it can be destructive for your business. No good fortune can come from buying this property.”

Since Master Levine disapproved, Anna could only take his advice and give up on this building. Now that she had taken a second look at the building, she realized that it had looked better in pictures than it did in real life. Neither the lighting nor the location was as ideal as she had thought.

Anna turned her gaze away from the building. However, just as she was about to leave, she noticed another building up ahead. She found that all aspects of the building, be it the nearby traffic condition, appearance, lighting, or location, were very much to her liking.

As if hearing her thoughts, Daniel nodded with approval. “The developers had me take a look at this building when it was being constructed and it is quite good in terms of geomancy. If you were to choose that location, it would undoubtedly be very auspicious for your business.”

At this, Anna began inquiring about the office building, and it turned out that the real estate agent was familiar with it. “That’s the headquarters for Mitchell Energy and Technology. Cooper Mitchell is the director.”

“Really?” Anna couldn’t help but feel surprised at the mention of Cooper Mitchell.

While she had only ever encountered Cooper once, she had to admit that the man had left quite an impression. In fact, it had only been a couple of days ago when Anne had thrown a tantrum and coerced Anna into sending out a dinner invitation to him on her behalf.

Unexpectedly, Cooper had turned down her good graces.

It seemed as if he was far more aloof than that affable daughter of his.

But Anna had taken a liking to the surrounding topography, and seeing as it was unlikely for Cooper to give up his territory, she decided that she would take a look at the building next to his instead.

After all, there were still a couple of buildings nearby that she could get her hands on.

Presently, she gestured to the said buildings as she turned to ask the agent, “How about those ones over there? Who are the owners?”

“All of those buildings are owned by Cooper Mitchell. His daughter’s store is on the lower floor of this building, so he bought up all the other buildings nearby. They’re all registered under his daughter and granddaughter,” the agent answered dutifully.

Anna’s eyes widened in surprise.

It seemed as if Cooper Mitchell very much adored his daughter even though she was an illegitimate child.

At this point, the agent couldn’t resist the temptation to gossip. “The love he has for his daughter is incomparable, and I don’t think anyone else would disagree with me on that. Our agency handled all the transactions for these buildings. Mr. Cooper wanted to see more of his daughter, so he moved his headquarters into the floors above her shop. He has also bought up nearly all the other shop lots.”

Now that the agent mentioned it, Anna was beginning to recall that she had been here before this. Sophia’s pet accessories store was indeed nearby, and there was also a pet shop next to it where Anna had once sent General for grooming.

With her interest piqued, Anna suggested keenly, “Why don’t you help me ask Mr. Cooper if he would be interested in selling the buildings? The price wouldn’t be a problem for us, and there would surely be a handsome commission if the sale goes through.”

Each of the buildings were worth billions, and even if the commission was only a small percentage of the proceeds, it would still be a windfall. The agent perked up at the thought of this and promised Anna that he would extend the offer to Cooper.

The surrounding area was ideal in terms of geomancy, and with nearby affordable public transportation, the location was perfectly suitable for an establishment that was as esteemed as Ronney Group. Anna was certain that the buildings would be a good investment, and she was more than willing to invest in a few of them, if not all.

While Anna was engaged in a fervent discussion with the agent, Daniel lifted his gaze toward the nearby Dragon Eye Tower.

Sophia had been the one to persuade Linus into purchasing the building with her, which explained why the Dragon Eye Tower was in such close proximity to her shop.

Daniel wondered wistfully if Alice Michel was here.

There had been a time when he wanted to go searching for her in Northern Europe, but unfortunately, his hands had been tied.

He knew Alice would never leave everything behind just so she could be with him, and there was no way he could abandon the Levines. More to the point, his entire family was devoted to practicing traditional metaphysics, and they would never welcome a woman who was an outsider.

Indeed, it was better to forget that he had ever encountered the woman of his dreams than to hold on to the false hope that they could ever be together in this lifetime.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1122

Daniel turned back and continued to look at the buildings with Anna, who was looking for a private residence. Little did he know that when he turned around, an exquisite Dragon Eye sports car would pull up to the Michel Group’s building.

After Michel Group entered the Cethosian market, their various products were gradually being introduced to consumers. Because Michel was a legendary dragon in the West, everyone had taken to calling Michel Group’s products Dragon Eye mobile phones, Dragon Eye sports cars and Dragon Eye computers. This was why the building was referred to as the Dragon Eye Tower.

At this moment, a Caucasian woman with a sexy figure stepped out of the Dragon Eye sports car. She had luscious blonde hair and she wore a pair of sunglasses which diminished her sharpness. Trailing behind her was a mixed-race little boy with black hair.

“Mommy, are we going to meet with Daddy later?” Casper yawned and asked Alice.

Alice’s expression was unreadable behind the glasses as she replied, “No, we’ll go have fun after Mommy’s work is done.” After a year and a half, Alice had come to inspect the sales of Dragon Eye mobile phones in Cethos, so she brought Casper along to visit.

Saddened by the knowledge that he would not be able to meet his father, Casper pouted. “Then can I go see him myself? Just for a little while.”

Alice did not answer and proceeded to bring a reluctant Casper into the Michel Group’s office. Nowadays, when it came to business affairs, she would bring Casper along as often as she could. She wanted to expose him to the Michel Group’s business earlier so that he could better manage their affairs in the future.

Meanwhile, Daniel was following Anna and the agent around to look for properties. Naturally, Anna’s private residence had to be the best of the best. Any house that was outside of Third Avenue or had less than three hundred square feet was not considered.

The agent drove them around slowly, traveling from Third Avenue to the ancient Imperial Palace. Choosing a house was a long process, especially for a major client like Anna. She had been wandering around for several days now, but she had not found any houses that she liked. The agent had shown her the best houses of Bayside City, but there were still none to her liking. Even the ancient Imperial Palace did not catch her attention as the area was actually inferior to her place in Ronney City.

These few days, Daniel wandered around with her so much that his head spun, but for the sake of money, he continued to follow her. After all, it was only a half day’s work. Every day from two to six in the afternoon, he would just have to give a few comments to be able to walk away with several millions.

On one of the afternoons, Daniel, who had been following Anna around for nearly half a day, saw that it was already six o’clock, so he asked the driver to divert back to The Imperial so that he could get off work and go home.

Sitting in the car, Anna watched as Daniel walked into The Imperial, and her eyes lit up. “Are there any houses for sale in that neighborhood?”

The agent followed the direction of her finger and saw that the neighborhood she was staring at was The Imperial! It was one of Bayside City’s best neighborhoods—the transportation, land prices, and room for appreciation was top-notch here, and it was actually befitting of Anna’s status.

The agent awkwardly answered, “That’s The Imperial. As for houses for sale… The thing is…”

This agency was the finest in Bayside City, and this agent was the best in the company. He had countless resources and would not accept any business outside of Third Avenue. Moreover, he knew the owner of The Imperial. There were only a few villas in there, but they were priceless and not for sale. Previously, many people had enquired about it, and someone had even offered to pay more than thirty million, but even then, they did not manage to secure a place there.

Anna said imposingly, “As long as there are houses for sale in that neighborhood, I want it. I’ll take as many as I can; money is not a problem.”

What a wilful tyrant! The agent agreed right away. “I’ll try.”

Even though he knew he was going to be rejected again, he still had to pluck up the courage to ask. After sending Anna back, the agent immediately called Sophia. As Bayside City’s most intrepid real estate agent, his client resources were superb. He was acquainted with the owner of The Imperial, so he was well aware of the situation inside.

There were only a few houses in that neighborhood and most of them were occupied. Only two were empty, of which one was Daniel’s, but he stayed at Reverie Mountain most of the time. Thus, it was mostly vacant and the agent had tried asking him about it before, but he refused to sell it. The other house was Sophia’s Villa No. 1. It might be hard to believe, but Sophia had recently started to rare pigs in the villa.

“Hey, Mr. Clarke. You’re here.” Sophia warmly invited the agent into her house. She had worked with Mr. Clarke for many years, so she trusted his business insight very much. Real estates or shop lots recommended by Mr. Clarke were of great potential, and the prices would often skyrocket in a short time. It had gotten to the point where Sophia had left a credit card in his possession along with the password. If there were any promising real estate or shop lots, Mr. Clarke just had to swipe the card to make a purchase on her behalf, and Sophia would only need to pay the taxes.

At present, Mr. Clarke and Sophia were talking about Bayside City’s real estate for a while before he finally voiced his actual reason for coming. “Someone wants to buy Villa No. 1.”

Sophia was troubled. “It’s not for sale.”

Carmen had just gotten home from kindergarten, and she was hurrying off to Villa No. 1 to retrieve her piglet. Lately, the piglet was being raised in Villa No. 1 during the day and was only brought back at night. Their place was quickly turning into a pigsty.

Mr. Clarke knew that this would be the outcome, but he fought on and said, “The price is not an issue. Name your price and I won’t even try to bargain with you.”

Unwilling to sell off the house for the time being, Sophia refused. Meanwhile, Cooper found out that Carmen had returned and was coming downstairs to look for her when he saw that there was someone in their home. He asked, “Who is it?”

Sophia replied loudly, “It’s Mr. Clarke from the real estate agency. Someone wants to buy our pigsty, so Mr. Clarke came here to talk about it.”

For a moment, Mr. Clarke was at a loss for words. He then hurriedly said, “The buyer has an impressive background. She’s the director of Ronney Group—Mrs. Anna Yard—so her status is undoubtedly high. She saw the houses here and was determined to own one, so she asked me to make some enquiries. If she became your neighbor, it would definitely be good for your collaboration with Ronney Group.”

Upon hearing that the buyer was Anna, Cooper froze for a moment, then answered for Sophia, “We’re not selling.”

When Sophia got to know that it was Anna, she refused as well. If Anna moved in, Anne would be able to come and go as she liked. They must be using the excuse of buying a house to create opportunities for Anne to pursue Cooper. Ugh, in your dreams!

It seemed that they had really underestimated Anne’s importance to Anna, but there was nothing Sophia could do. Even if Anna came to personally beg them, Sophia would never marry her father off for glory!

Although he was rejected, the agent still dropped by Sophia’s house nearly every day to try his luck. Not only did he want Villa No. 1, but he also wanted the office buildings that Cooper had bought for Sophia. Mr. Clarke was well aware of Sophia’s family’s situation. She was the one that made decisions when it came to Michael and Cooper’s properties, so he just had to bother her.

Eventually, Michael also got to know that Anna wanted to buy Villa No. 1 and the office buildings. Why does Anna keep targeting Cooper’s properties? Does she have any ulterior motives? Is it possible that Anna wants to set up a honey-trap for my young father-in-law?

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1123

After being turned away by Sophia and Cooper, Mr. Clarke went to look for Michael, who expressed his regrets, because his father-in-law had the last say in their household. Plus, his status in the family was getting lower and lower. If his father-in-law did not want to sell it, he could not do anything about it.

Moreover, Villa No. 1 was being used to rare pigs lately. If they sold it, where were they supposed to raise the pigs?

Were they supposed to raise it on their balcony?

Carmen wanted to raise the pig in her bedroom, but Michael did not want his darling sleeping in a pigsty.

When Anna learnt about Cooper’s attitude regarding her interest, she was a little surprised.

The amount she offered would make anyone intrigued. It had far exceeded the value of their house, and yet they would not sell it?

She had her eyes on the house and the office buildings, so she was going to get it!

Anna was ready to take action on her own, so she planned to meet with Cooper to negotiate. She asked her secretary to set up a business appointment with Cooper to discuss about Ronney Group’s support of Mitchell International Energy and Technology. She thought that Cooper would be willing to meet with her since it was about money, so she did not expect it when Cooper promptly replied with, ‘Appointment declined.’

However, Anna did not give up. She made another appointment, this time in Louis’s name, promising that it had nothing to do with Anne, but Cooper came back with the same two words: ‘Appointment declined.’

On her third try, Anna invited Cooper to attend a private reception, only to be met with the same cold answer: ‘Appointment declined.’

Seeing that playing nice did not work, she decided it was time to do things the hard way.

And so, Anna pressured Cooper’s business partners to withdraw their capital, which caused a group of them to break off ties with him. She thought that Cooper would relent, but she did not expect that he would be completely unperturbed. While the group of collaborators had left, there were many others who came rushing forward.

“This is outrageous!” Anna viciously threw the information about Cooper that she had in her hands to the ground.

Cooper is so stubborn!

It was really rare to find someone who would reject her, let alone someone she could not do anything about!

It had been a long time since she last lost her temper over someone!

Callum slowly picked up the materials that Anna had thrown away which contained all the information she had found about Cooper.

Thirty years ago, Cooper Mitchell was a genius who had created one legend after another. However, he was killed in an accident twenty years ago. Several years ago, he suddenly came back from the dead and gave up on Mitchell Group. Instead, he established his own business and founded Mitchell International Energy and Technology, which rose rapidly within a short period of time, proving that the old legend had returned.

Nobody knew where Cooper had gone when he faked his death. Even Anna got nothing from her investigations, but there were rumors that he was in Africa digging for black coal.

Besides, he was a mysterious person to say the least. Very few media could photograph him as he kept a very low profile and rarely appeared in public. The Yard family had sent people to watch The Imperial for ten days, but they never once saw Cooper come out.

Callum joked, “Quite the homebody, this guy is!”

At this moment, Cade came up with an idea. “It seems that Cooper has no flaws, so we could take action against his daughter. If we mess with his daughter, Cooper will definitely agree to meet with us.”

Cooper was unusually cold, but his daughter was extremely warm-hearted. Once Anna calmed down, she ordered Callum to contact Sophia to discuss the house. She was willing to cooperate and take less profits in their future business deals for the sake of the house.

When Anne heard that Anna had been trying to get a meeting with Cooper recently, she got the impression that Anna wanted to talk to him about his marriage with her. She got even more excited when she heard that Callum was going to meet with Sophia because she assumed that Anna had sent Callum to pressure Sophia!

Later on, she found out where they were meeting and had gone there in advance to wait for Sophia.

With her invincible cousin with her, what would Sophia, that worthless b*stard, dare to say?

After all, she was still working together with Callum. If she dared to refuse them, Callum would definitely cut ties with her at once. By then, she would be the one suffering the loss.

Meanwhile, Sophia was getting annoyed with the agent who was pestering her everyday. On top of that, she received a dinner invitation from Callum saying that he wanted to talk about the house, but she knew that buying their house was just a front to help Anne pursue her father.

It’s fine, she thought. She could clarify things with them today so that they would not harass her again in the future!

They were going to meet at Crimson House Restaurant, so Sophia went there a little earlier after she got off work. She was prepared to eat something so that she would have enough strength for her fight with Callum. To her surprise, she found Anne already sitting inside waiting for her when she walked into the restaurant.

How predictable.

All that talk about buying houses and giving up parts of the business profit was just bullsh*t. They just wanted to give Anne a chance to win Cooper over!

The Yard family was really doing anything they could to get Cooper!

So what if they had money?

The Yard family was rich, but Sophia’s family had mines. Moreover, they were diamond mines and rare metal mines, so they were not inferior to the Yards at all!

Sophia strode over with her head held high.

“Sophia!”

As soon as she saw her, Anne called out to her, her eyes full of delight. Then, in a stepmotherly voice, she said, “Oh, I bet you didn’t see this coming, did you? Aunt Anna loves me so much that she is personally helping me with the marriage. Today, Callum asked to meet with you to talk about my marriage with your father. I hope you won’t stop us, otherwise—” She slammed the table as she said this. “Otherwise, I’ll ask Callum to stop his cooperation with you so that you’ll suffer a great loss! Your brand is nothing without Ronney Group. I’m advising you, stop criticizing my marriage with your father. You’re not worthy!”

Before Sophia could speak, Anne continued coldly, “And don’t make unwarranted assumptions about the Yard family’s matters and judge us based on your malicious thoughts. You’re no match for us!”

Whew!

It had only been a few days. What exactly happened?

Where did Anne find the courage to speak to her like that?

Sophia sat down slowly and put her bag away, her assistant and bodyguard standing to one side. Curiously, she asked, “Hey, look who’s talking big? You’ve gotten the shares, I assume?”

Anne answered proudly, “I’ll get the shares sooner or later. Aunt Anna is now busying herself with my marriage and it’s obvious that she still loves me. She’s not the heartless tyrant you claim her to be! I’ll have you know that I’m Aunt Anna’s favorite niece!”

Haha!

Sophia was skeptical of Anne’s words.

Could Anna be so stupid?

If Anna was this stupid, it seemed that Sophia needed to reevaluate her.

However, Anna’s behavior had been rather contradictory lately. She was constantly eyeing Cooper’s properties, acting as if she would not rest until she got them.

There were so many neighborhoods and office buildings in Bayside City, so why would she keep targeting theirs?

Cooper’s office buildings and The Imperial’s Villa No. 1 were worth several billions. If Anna really found a chance for Anne to buy the house, would it not get a lot of people involved? In addition, Anna had been attacking Mitchell International Energy and Technology for the past few days. She must have done it to force Cooper to marry Anne.

Sophia could not think of any reason other than that she was trying to find opportunities for Anne.

If Anna continued to spend so much money on helping Anne get Cooper without batting an eyelid, then it would make sense for them to give Anne the shares.

This is strange…

Seeing that Sophia was deep in thought, Anne assumed that she had subdued her, so she smacked the table and said, “Have I made myself clear? Be more respectful to me in the future, otherwise I’ll ask Callum to terminate your cooperation agreement!”

Sophia looked up at her, but before she could say anything, she saw Callum walking toward them, so she hurriedly asked her assistant to bring out the documents.

“Mr. Callum, you came at the right time. I’d like to talk to you about the termination of our contract.”

When she spoke, she looked at Anne, who appeared very haughty at this moment.

“It seems that Ronney Group… is out of my league.”

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1124

Callum was sent here by Anna today to talk to Sophia about buying their house, but he did not expect that Sophia would present him with a one-sided contract termination as soon as he arrived.

“This is the termination agreement. Take a look. If you’re not satisfied with the terms, we can talk about it now. You can ask for as much money as you want, as I have plenty.”

She threw down a pen, and it was placed on the table together with the agreement. “Just fill in the amount that you want.”

Upon seeing this, Callum frowned.

Aren’t we just buying your house? Why do I sense some kind of deep hatred? Is it really necessary?

Baffled, Callum opened his mouth to speak. “This—”

“Sophia!”

Callum did not know why Anne was here, and he was even more puzzled when Anne suddenly slammed the table and shouted at Sophia. “Don’t be shameless! Ronney Group only cooperated with you because we think highly of you. Who do you think you are? You’re a bstard, so you don’t even have the right to cooperate with the Yard family in the first place! And yet you have the nerve to terminate the contract? A bstard is a b*stard; you’ll never amount to anything!”

In Anne’s opinion, the Yard family was the most powerful existence in the world. It was one’s blessings to be able to work with Ronney Group; in fact, it was the chance of a lifetime.

Not only did Sophia not kneel down to thank the Lord, but she even dared to terminate the contract!

Callum’s face paled.

Why is Anne here? This fool!

Sophia was so mad that a bitter laugh escaped her. Looking at Callum, she tried to be as kind as she possibly could. “Mr. Callum, I’m sorry. I’m a b*stard child, so working together has indeed been an insult to you and the Yard family’s reputation. Sign this and stamp here while you’re at it. Shae, bring the ink pad.”

Shae came over and with a thud, an ink pad was thrown onto the table.

Callum started, “Is this—”

He just wanted to buy a house, not terminate the contract with Sophia!

Through their cooperation recently, their first few products had been selling well abroad. What is this?

But it seemed like it was not his turn to speak, because Anne had snatched the agreement over and was tearing it up.

“You can forget about terminating the contract. Ronney Group gave you a chance because we think that you’re worthy. Do you think that you can terminate the contract just because you want to? Do you even have the right to bring it up? Even if the contract were to be terminated, it would be Ronney Group kicking you out instead!”

Callum was dumbstruck.

He knew that Anne was foolish, but he did not expect her foolishness to reach this extent.

Sophia flashed him a treacherous smile, seeming as if she had something up her sleeves, before saying, “It’s okay, Mr. Callum. We can produce another copy of the agreement even though this one’s destroyed. Name your price. It doesn’t matter how much it is and just give me a number. I’ll fork out the amount right now.”

With that, she tossed out a stack of post-dated checks. “Fill in the amount as you like. I’m just a lowly b*stard with nothing else to offer other than some stinking money.”

Callum hastily said, “No, it’s fine. Today, I—”

For some reason, Sophia suddenly became angry. She slammed the table and stood up with lightning speed. “Callum Yard, I only cooperated with you out of respect for the Yard family. If I didn’t respect you, you’d be nothing. You have no say in the termination of this contract! If you don’t agree to this, I’ll make sure Ronney Group leaves Bayside City! Trying to be ostentatious with me by flaunting your has-been royalty? In ancient times, the fall of the Yard family would make all of you social pariahs and slaves for generations after. If it weren’t for the revolutionary liberation that was achieved my grandfather’s generation, you wouldn’t even be able to get an ID card now!”

Callum stared blankly at her, suddenly feeling trapped.

In his eyes, Sophia was a young and adorable mixed-race girl, but just now, he could feel the air of arrogance bursting out of her. It was the kind of aura that came from her core, evil and cold, and it was nothing at all like her appearance.

It was obvious that she was furious.

She said that she would make Ronney Group leave Bayside City, and there was no doubt that she was completely capable of doing so. After all, Ronney Group was the outsider here, and they had no power in someone else’s territory.

Sophia, on the other hand, was the leader in this area. Her father was a Mitchell, while her husband was a Fletcher. She had a great influence in Cethos, and she even had Asco International—a mighty Cethosian business. Furthermore, the Winston family also showed her respect, and the industry she created had an influence in Cethos unlike any other. If she were to lose her temper, then her statements would not just be petty talk.

Seeing that Sophia dared to speak to her cousin in such a manner, Anne’s anger grew.

“Sophia, how dare you use that tone with Callum? You… Do you know who he is?”

However, Sophia, who had sat back down, seemed as if she could not be bothered to answer. She had already put on her sunglasses, just wanting to get the termination over with. The large frames of the glasses nearly covered up half of her face. Her blue eyes were like those of a predator’s, lying in the dark as she fixed Callum with a cold gaze, making him feel a chill down his spine.

What an imposing manner this little girl has.

Callum had only seen such dominance on one other woman before, and that woman was none other than his mother—Anna Yard.

Callum gave a slight shudder, but his face was ice-cold. He said to his cousin, “Anne, stand down.”

Despite that, Anne refused to back down. Her face was flushed with anger as she stomped her foot. “Callum, didn’t you hear the way she spoke to you? She’s too audacious, and she even threatened you! We must teach her a good lesson!”

Sophia suddenly piped up, “Do you think I don’t know what the Yard family is playing at? The Yard family originated from the Lombardi River, then founded the Lombardi Dynasty thousands of years ago, but was evicted from Cethos seven hundred years ago because the last emperor was fatuous and immoral. According to the change in laws, royals like the Yard family who have been dethroned will be considered outcasts for generations to come. You’ll always be the lowest of the low, doing inferior work and possessing a status that’s worse than that of a pig’s. Even if the Yard family established Ronney Group and managed to make a name for themselves, in Cethos, you all aren’t the strongest. Globally, you’re not even worth mentioning. Heh, if it wasn’t for my grandpa’s kindness which led to him interceding on behalf of the Yard family and covering this up, the Yard family would still be nailed firmly onto the pillar of shame now. You would’ve been a national sinner for eternity!”

Callum’s face was ashened, and he was too shocked to speak.

Sophia then lifted her sunglasses and sneered, “What’s the problem? You don’t want to accept defeat? Believe it or not, tomorrow I’ll make sure the Yard family ends up in the high school modern history textbook next semester. I’ll even turn you into a subject in the college entrance examination. I’ll let all of Cethos know what the Yard family did back then!”

“How dare you—”

Callum shot Sophia a fierce glare.

The Yard family was glad that they did not make it into the history textbooks for various reasons. If they did, the entire country would learn about what they had done. At that moment, they would really be nailed to history’s pillar of shame, unable to get down. Naturally, the younger generations were the ones who had to take the blame for what their predecessors had done.

Every Cethosian would be criticizing and judging the Yard family.

When the time came, Ronney Group could forget about developing their business in Cethos.

Anne was enraged. She once again slammed her hand down on the table and yelled, “Then what are you? You’re just a b*stard, and yet you dare to speak to us like that? The Yard family is the proudest and most powerful family in the world! Where do you think you come from? You want us to be in modern history textbooks? Who do you think you are? Whether or not we’re in the books is not up to you to decide!”

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1125

Callum was glaring at Sophia, but he abruptly retracted his gaze. This was his first time seeing that she could be so vicious. He restrained his emotions before barking at Anne, “Stand down!”

His tone was stern and harsh, making Anne realize that Callum was truly angry now. She pursed her lips and said nothing else, but she felt wronged, so her eyes became red-rimmed as tears began to roll down.

This b*stard Sophia; she thinks too highly of herself. Callum will definitely teach her a lesson! She stared ferociously at Sophia, waiting for Callum to make her pay for her actions.

To her surprise, Callum’s cold demeanor from earlier vanished. He smiled and sat down, pushing away the stack of checks before saying, “Sophia, there’s no need to be so angry! Come, have some tea. This is a special Imperial drink that the Yard family has been drinking for generations. I brought it here today especially for you!” He set down his royal tea set, then had a waiter bring water over before he began brewing the tea for Sophia.

Sophia’s expression, however, was still cold and emotionless. Her huge sunglasses concealed the fierce glint in her blue eyes. “Slap her before you say anything more,” she demanded coolly.

Callum stopped brewing the tea and looked up at Sophia. Undoubtedly, he knew who she had meant by ‘her’. Sophia wants to slap Anne? And she wants me, her cousin, to do it?

No matter how foolish Anne was, she was still a part of the Yard family. Slapping her would be a slap to his face!

Callum hesitated. “That’s not a good idea…”

The corners of Sophia’s lips curled up slightly as she turned her head toward Anne. Behind her, Dimon’s hand shot out to slap Anne across her small delicate face. The guy struck with no regard for gender, causing Anne’s nose to bleed on the spot.

At once, the whole place fell silent. Upon seeing this, Callum’s mouth twitched. No one had dared to slap a member of the Yard family before, much less in front of him!

For several seconds, Anne was stunned. She was dizzy from the slap, and her mind was blank. It took a while for her to come back to her senses, and that was when she let out an ear-splitting scream. It was a good thing they were in a private booth, so not many people were around; otherwise, it would have caused a huge commotion.

“You… How dare you hit me?! Sobs… Callum, she hit me! She hit me!”

In an instant, Callum’s face turned sullen. Although he reckoned she deserved the beating, and he could not deny wanting to give her one himself, him doing it would have a completely different connotation as opposed to someone else hitting her.

The atmosphere tensed all of a sudden, and Callum’s men started to act. They reached into their suits, seemingly drawing guns, but as soon as their hands moved, those few burly bodyguards grunted and fell to the ground, sprawling out on their backs.

At this moment, Callum was on high alert as cold sweat beaded his forehead. His men had fallen so suddenly! And without any resistance too!

Anne was terrified as well. At this point, Callum withdrew his kind smile and said gloomily, “Miss Edwards, it seems like you’re shedding all pretenses of cordiality here.”

Sophia coldly lifted her sunglasses and retorted, “Aren’t you guys the one doing that? I’m sorry, but I’m just a b*stard, so Ronney Group’s completely out of my league.” She pushed the checks back to him. “Sign them. Then, give me a number and I’ll pay. What I have is money, nothing else.”

However, Callum refused to sign it. Veins bulging on his forehead, he fixed her with a frosty stare. “Miss Edwards, do you think you’re capable of going against the Ronney Group?”

Sophia remained indifferent and expressionless. “I may not have the courage or ability to go against the Ronney Group, but to stop the Ronney Group from operating in Bayside City and to turn the Yard Family into a topic in modern history textbooks so that you’d all be attacked? That’s something I’m capable of. The Yard family has backed me into a corner, so don’t blame me.” She then gave the checks a hard tap with her fair hands and said only one word: “Sign.”

Callum glared stonily at her for ten seconds or so before he finally reached out to take hold of the pen, and began to write. His delicate fingernails were coated in transparent nail polish, and it was obvious that he kept them well-maintained. At this moment, his flawless hand was trembling slightly as he held the pen and wrote a ‘0’.

“You’re really something. I don’t want the compensation. Miss Edwards, you’re on your own now.” As he said this, he was gritting his teeth.

Remaining silent, Sophia tossed out the termination agreement and said, “Sign.”

Callum roughly glanced through the agreement, which mostly explained the terms of the termination. Pourl’s side promised to pay for all the losses, on the condition that they terminated their contract with the Yard family.

Callum then signed it with shaking hands. For the second time in his life, he was being greatly humiliated. The last time was when he nearly fell to his death but was caught by his relatives from the branch family.

After she affixed her signature, Sophia gave him the other copy to sign. She had already written her own name, so all that was required now was Callum’s signature.

After all was done, she took back her own copy curtly. While putting it away, she said, “Oh, and there’s no way I’m selling my house to you. My dad doesn’t like Anne, so stop throwing away your money to create opportunities for her to pursue him. Even if you manage to buy the house next to mine, you’d be dreaming if you think that that’s going to help her get a glimpse of my dad! Your family even pressured his investors to force him to marry her. You guys are really something. You’re really overestimating your capabilities, you know? Stay away from my dad. If this happens again… the Yard Family can look forward to becoming a test question in the college entrance examinations next year!”

Listening to her speak, Callum found it all to be very unreal. Does Sophia think that Anna is buying her house to give Anne opportunities to meet Cooper?

Anna had only pressured Mitchell International because she felt like her authority was being provoked, so she wanted to show her strength. After all, she had been ignored three times in a row; even the most unfeeling person would throw a temper. But, from Sophia’s point of view, they were doing all this just to force Cooper to marry Anne.

He was about to refute her claims, but Anne unexpectedly rushed forward like a little beast and cried while jumping around, “You b*stard! Cooper and I really love each other, so don’t even think about breaking us up! Don’t you dare think about it! I will marry Cooper!”

To her dismay, Sophia’s bodyguards blocked her, and Dimon nonchalantly pushed her to the ground.

“Ah.” Sophia stood up and glanced at Callum; her blue eyes were filled with contempt and mockery. “Did your family think that just because I sought cooperation with you, I’ll have to involve my dad in a marriage of convenience? How shameless! Besides, could my dad ever be attracted to this kind of trash? After you pursued my nephew, you pursued my brother, and now you’re pursuing my dad. Do you think that my family is here for you to pick on? It’s no wonder the Yard Family is in the luxury products business. After dabbling in luxuries for so long, you people sure know how to blow your own trumpet and think that you’re above everyone else!”

When Callum heard this, he knew immediately that it was all a huge misunderstanding. We just want to buy Cooper’s house! How did it become a matter of forcing Cooper into marriage? How did Anne’s delusions turn into the Yard Family’s complacency?

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1126

But right now, there was no way to explain this misunderstanding.

Callum did not feel like explaining either, so he simply called out, “What about my people? Aren’t you going to clean up this mess?”

Sophia did not turn back. “Your people tried to pull guns on us, and it triggered my mechanical bodyguard’s defense system. It calculated and analyzed that you might do something to me, so it released electronic bullets. They’ve just fainted, so they’ll wake up after ten minutes. By the way, I’ve spoken to the real estate agent. As one of Bayside City’s top real estate agents, he respects me and has agreed that he will no longer work with the Yard Family in the future!”

With that, she disappeared.

Callum sat back in his seat and looked at the termination agreement as he began to contemplate his life.

He just wanted to buy a nice house to live in. I really just want to buy a house!

He had no interest in her dad whatsoever!

No interest in her nephew or her brother either!

Anne, on the other hand, was sobbing. She grabbed onto Callum’s pants and cried, “Callum, you have to help me! Cooper and I are truly in love…”

Callum did not speak. His expression was indifferent and dejected, and they sat like that for ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, his people woke up at almost the same time. They drew their guns and started to make a fuss.

“Protect the young master!”

“What happened just now?”

Upon seeing this, Callum stood up swiftly and kicked away Anne, who was still grabbing onto his thigh, before hurrying off.

It would be a waste of time to exchange any more words with this idiot!

Anne cried her heart out as she chased after Callum; even her high heels had broken. When she came out of Crimson House, she did not expect to see that Callum’s car was long gone, leaving her alone by the road.

Anne carried on crying, feeling extremely desolate. She stood on the side of the road and wept for quite some time. Usually, her clothing, accommodation, and transport were handled by an assistant or a nanny, so now, she didn’t even know how to hail a taxi!

Meanwhile, in the presidential suite of a six-star hotel, Anna was looking at Callum with disbelief. “Did she really say that?”

Callum nodded. “Yes.”

Anna had sent Callum to persuade Sophia, so she was surprised when Callum brought back a termination agreement with a look of frustration!

This was the first time in history that somebody had rejected the Yard Family.

That girl has such nerves! She even wants to make the Yard Family a test question in next year’s college entrance exams?

Although it sounded trivial, if the Yard Family really became an examination topic, their actions from back then would be exposed, and they would be nailed onto Cethos’ pillar of shame for all of eternity.

The Yard Family had certainly been careless to have done such a thing. At the time, foreigners had come knocking on Cethos’ door, and countless people had died. The Yards were accountable for nearly half of those deaths, so it served them right that they were destroyed.

Later on, after their branch family took control, the Yard Family wanted to save face, so they fought with Cethos for a long time. In the end, Cethos used the inclusion of their deeds in history textbooks as a bargaining chip to force the Yard Family to withdraw from the United Nations.

Now, Anna had returned to negotiate, and she had contributed many cultural relics and investment projects. One of the conditions she proposed was to never talk about the Yard Family’s dark past. They also had to sincerely admit to their wrongdoings. The Fletcher Family did not want to retaliate with injustice, so they mediated and reached a preliminary agreement.

However, it was only preliminary. If anyone in Bayside City could not tolerate the Yard Family, it would only take a couple of minutes to kick them out. After all, they had no roots in Cethos.

It was no wonder that the agent, Mr. Clarke, had called just now to say that he would no longer be working with them.

Besides him, several of Bayside City’s top real estate agents had been given the notice to not work with the Yard Family too.

They were new to the area, and now, they could not even buy a decent house!

If her guess was right, Sophia was the one giving them notices behind the scenes.

She was Bayside City’s local tyrant after all. Her father was a Mitchell, her husband was a Fletcher, and she had incredibly strong connections in Bayside City.

After listening to the series of events, Anna was stunned for a long while. Then, she laughed helplessly.

This was all just a huge misunderstanding.

Thus far, she had asked to meet with Cooper a total of four times. The first time, she was indeed annoyed by Anne’s constant cries and complaints, so she invited Cooper out to talk about their marriage as her aunt. But of course, Cooper declined.

She did not care much about it but had invited him out of kinship.

As for the other three times, she had only done it for the house!

Inadvertently, she had stepped on the local tyrant’s tail.

As for Cade, he was a little frustrated. Initially, they had decided to work with Sophia because her luxury pet products had potential, she had the Fletcher family’s backing, and she was the local tyrant. At that time, the Yard Family had intentions of reconciling with the Fletcher Family as well. If they partnered with Sophia, it would help with the Yard Family’s arrival in Bayside City. Unfortunately, all was lost now.

Anna said nothing. Her young, well-maintained, and wrinkle-free hands were holding a cup of tea as she gazed thoughtfully out the window at Bayside City’s magnificent view.

“This matter needs to be further discussed.”

That night, Xena carried Anne, whose face was swollen from being beaten up, to Anna.

As soon as they got there, Anne grabbed Anna and cried, “Aunt Anna! You have to back me up! That b*astard wants to ruin my marriage with Cooper! Aunt Anna, you have to help me! My mom is going to kill me!”

Anna glanced at Anne, who was beaten up and swollen, but her eyes no longer held the love it used to.

What a useless person. She can never do anything right.

Xena was usually very gentle, but today, she was extremely harsh. She could only see red as she lashed out at Anne with a whip.

“What did I tell you in the first place? Have you forgotten everything?! You useless girl! Sooner or later, you’re going to get us all killed!”

Although Xena and Anna grew up in different environments, when the violence in them was evoked, they were equally vicious. With one whip, Anne’s skin was flayed, and her exquisite cloud brocade dress was torn open, exposing her battered flesh. A few whips later, her body became badly mangled.

Anne was crying so much that her voice had become hoarse, but she still did not know what she had done wrong.

All she wanted was to marry Cooper!

“Who told you to be so delusional? Who told you to disobey me? Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re a princess? You’re nothing!”

Once Xena started, there was no stopping her as she hit Anne until she was rolling on the ground. The bodyguard that was standing to one side did not look away, though he seemed completely oblivious to what was happening.

Meanwhile, Anna was intently studying the information in hand. It was as if she did not notice that someone was being beaten half to death in front of her.

Xena did not want to hit her only daughter either, but she had to do it today for Anna to see.

Previously, she and Louis had repeatedly urged Anne not to be carried away by her wishful thinking. Who knew that she would ask Anna for shares and even criticize Callum’s business?

They were twins, so how could Xena not know what kind of a person Anna was?

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1127

Ever since she was recognized by the family, Xena had never mentioned anything about money to Anna. Except for their family name, Xena dared not ask for anything else!

Since ancient times, all of the Yard superiors were twins. Now that Anna was the only high-ranking Yard, Xena’s identity as her twin was an extremely sensitive topic. This was because she too had reasonable rights to the Yard Family’s inheritance, but she knew that Anna would never give it to her. In fact, she was rather fearful of her sister’s existence. Her good behavior was the only reason she was still alive right now.

However, if she started to ask for shares and the rights to her inheritance, it would be a futile attempt as Anna would undoubtedly make Xena disappear without a word.

Therefore, Xena had to prove herself at all costs, even if it meant killing Anne today!

Standing before Anna, she lashed out viciously at Anne.

However, up until now, Anne still did not know why Xena was lashing out at her.

She just wanted to have a part of their shares. Was that so wrong?

She grew up pampered and spoiled, so she had never suffered this badly before!

All this while, she led a carefree life, and Xena had never so much as chastised her before. So why was she beating her now?!

Stubbornness overtook her, and Anne suddenly got up to grab the whip that had yet to lash out. As her entire body trembled with pain, she raged against Xena. “What’s so wrong with me wanting shares? Ronney Group is the Yard Family’s property, and I’m a part of the family. I too have inheritance rights! Why can’t I have some shares? Even that cat, General, has some shares! So, why can’t I have some? Why not? I’m obviously a direct descendant of the Yard Family, but Cooper’s b*stard daughter called me an outsider to my face, all because I have no shares! If I had some shares, Cooper would already be engaged to me! I can’t take it! I can’t! I want Ronney Group’s shares!”

At this moment, Callum came to give Anna some documents but had unexpectedly heard Anne’s words as soon as he walked into the office.

He shook his head and gave a low chuckle. She’s so silly that it’s pathetic!

He walked in and placed the stack of documents on Anna’s desk.

Meanwhile, Xena was stunned by Anne’s remarks.

She’s going to bring the whole family trouble!

“You vile creature! I’ll strangle you to death!”

Crazed by anger, Xena rushed forward and throttled Anne, leaving her no room for escape. She choked her until her eyes rolled back into her head.

Although Anne had been pampered and spoiled since young, she was only in her early twenties, so she was much stronger than Xena—who was in her forties—and managed to choke her mother in return.

At this moment, Anna lifted her gaze. Callum immediately understood and dragged apart the mother-daughter duo, who were still strangling each other.

The world turned quiet at once.

Anna silently read through the documents, flipping one page after another.

After all this time, she was still more used to reading stuff on paper.

The stack of documents contained all of Sophia’s personal information. They had found everything they could, including details that most people would not be able to find.

Previously, Anna had roughly looked up Sophia’s information, but it was not as detailed as this.

Sophia’s life before she was eighteen was terribly tragic. She worked hard and tried to change her life through studying, but she was ill-fated and had even been molested as a child.

After the age of eighteen, her destiny took a sudden change. She got into Bayside University, where she excelled in her academics and career. During her time in school, she founded Plum Technology Co. Ltd., which was the predecessor of Plum Technology Group Co. Ltd.

At Bayside University, she was known as the smartest and prettiest girl, as well as the model entrepreneur on campus. Besides that, she was the daughter of the Edwards Family and the Mitchell Family, and was also a member of the champion team of the Esports World Championship.

As Anna flipped through Sophia’s life history, a glimmer of awe shone in her eyes.

It was as if she was watching a seed in the desert desperately trying to survive even though everything was extremely dry. Using its last bit of strength, it rolled forward; it was as insignificant as a grain of dust, but it had an unyielding soul. Even amidst all the dust, it knew that it was unique. Even though everything seemed hopeless, it still carried hope.

Sophia knew that she was not insignificant, nor was she a grain of dust. Even when she was surrounded by dust, she kept her uniqueness.

Until one day, the light she was waiting for appeared, and she managed to find fertile soil and water. With their nourishment, she soon took root and grew into a towering tree with luxuriant leaves and roots that ran deep.

After reading Sophia’s information, Anna set down her glasses and was about to speak when Callum suddenly held up a picture and said, “Mom, look. The girl in this picture looks a lot like you.”

Anna studied the picture. Sophia was still young, around eighteen or nineteen years old, and she was dressed in Bayside University’s uniform. With pearly-white teeth and bright, black eyes, she bore some resemblance to a younger Anna.

But ten years had passed, so her appearance had changed drastically. She was still a mixed-race girl, but her face had undergone surgery because of the injury she suffered. After all these years, her face had begun to look more and more westernized, but one could still vaguely see her original features.

“There is indeed some resemblance.”

The world was big, so it was nothing too strange.

A thought began to form in Anna’s mind, and she wanted to talk about it with Callum, but at this moment, a bodyguard brought Xena in.

Xena sobbed miserably. “It’s all my fault. I’ve spoiled her too much since she was young, always giving her the best. Now she’s developed into a person that’s unaware of proprieties. Don’t take the child’s words to heart. I’ve already taught her a severe lesson. In the future, she won’t dare to have such silly notions anymore.”

Louis had come in as well, and his heart tightened when he heard what Xena had just said.

He did not want to see his own twin daughters destroy each other, and Xena never had any intentions of snatching anything from Anna anyway, so he hurried forward to mediate the situation.

After all, Anne had been hospitalized by her own mother, and Anna did not wish to pursue the matter for the time being.

Fidgeting, Louis said, “I heard that your business had fallen through, but it’s okay. I’ll go talk to Mikey.”

Anna did not want to continue cooperating with Sophia, but Sophia had gotten them stuck on square one. It was unfavorable for their development in Bayside City, so they did, in fact, need someone to act as a peacemaker.

Since Louis had volunteered, they decided to let him go.

Eventually, Louis met with Michael. They were having tea when Louis brought up the matter.

These days, Michael was busy with his own affairs, leaving home early and returning late, but he knew about the dispute between Anne and Sophia.

After the incident, Sophia’s cooperation with the Yard Family was completely wrecked. Sophia did not wish to have any contact with the Yards, but carrying on like this would not be good for either party. Therefore, Louis acting as a mediator was a way out of this mess for both parties.

Now that Anne was hospitalized from being beaten up, Sophia’s anger had slowly melted away, so she agreed to make a few calls. This led to several real estate agents contacting Anna to say that they would help her look for houses, but Cooper’s property was off-limits.

It went without saying that this misunderstanding would be impossible to resolve.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1128

Late at night, Sophia sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the scenery. With Bayside City’s landscape reflected in her eyes, she stayed silent and dazed as her mind drifted away.

It was already midnight when Michael, who was out filming, returned. He walked in to find Sophia curled up into a ball on the windowsill and still in a daze.

“What’s the matter? Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Michael whispered as he stepped forward to rub her hair.

Sophia’s chin lifted and motioned upstairs as she said, “My dad isn’t asleep yet, and neither is my brother.”

When Michael came back, he saw that the lights on the third floor were still on, and so were the ones in Villa No. 2. It seemed that the father and son were still awake, and Sophia could not sleep either.

“What happened? Can you tell me about it?” Michael sat across from her, taking her hands in his and kneading them. Her hands were soft and seemed boneless, but by touching them, he could feel the scars and calluses that used to be on those hands.

Sophia’s eyebrows sank. After a while, she said, “You’ve all been hiding it from me, but actually, I know everything… Anna’s my mom, isn’t she?”

Michael remained silent. All this while, he did not tell her because he was afraid that she would be hurt.

But ultimately, the truth could not be hidden from her.

Sophia gently leaned her head on Michael’s arms and continued, “In fact, I knew about it a long time ago. I knew that she was a pawn that Jordan had placed beside my dad. I knew… But I still wanted to get close to her; I thought that I could still salvage something.”

Hearing her words made Michael’s heart turn heavy.

Annabel Johnson no longer remembered Cooper, nor did she know about Sophia and her siblings, but Sophia and Cooper still knew her.

Sophia did not say anything more. She had destroyed her relationship with the Yard Family because she wanted to get rid of any remaining hope. Afterward, she would not have the chance to get close to Anna anymore. She would just have to treat it as if she never knew this woman.

However, she still reckoned Cooper did not deserve this.

Cooper had been missing her for more than twenty years, and yet this was the result he got.

Sophia had never felt the love of a mother before, and now she had lost it, but it did not feel like that great of a loss. Cooper, on the other hand, had loved her so much…

Michael hugged Sophia and said softly, “Have a good rest. Don’t think about it too much.”

Obediently, she leaned into his arms, immersing herself in the warmth that she had gotten so used to.

Even though she had lost her memory, she still remembered this warmth—the warmth that had appeared countless times in her dream. In fact, fragments of the past would occasionally appear in her mind, but they could not be captured clearly as they were always muddled and would disappear in an instant. However, she knew that those memories were related to Michael because she would always feel this familiar warmth—his warmth.

On Saturday, a neighbor at The Imperial had sent an invitation to Sophia in advance as they were going to have a birthday party.

Currently, Michael and Carmen were out filming ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’ and had yet to return. When Sophia went there the last time, it had caused so much trouble that it was nearly impossible to shoot the reality show. This time around, Michael did not bring Sophia along no matter what.

Previously, Sophia had followed him for two days. Now that she trusted Michael’s ability to take care of their daughter and to deal with problems, she decided that she did not need to follow along. After all, their daughter would not starve even if she went with him.

In the afternoon, Linus arrived all dressed-up, ready to bring Sophia over to the neighbor’s party.

“Linus, wait for me! I’ll be ready in a minute!”

Sophia had rushed back from the office to change her clothes, then hastily applied some makeup. She had been out for the whole day, so her makeup had worn off. She hurriedly retrieved her foundation to touch up her appearance.

“I’m not in a hurry. Take your time fixing your makeup.” Linus smiled and went to the living room where he sat and scrolled through his phone. Wagging its tail, Cash came over to him, and Linus patted the dog while he waited for Sophia. Meanwhile, Carmen’s chicken, which was wrapped in a golden diaper, strutted over.

The pig that was being raised in Villa No. 1, on the other hand, would only be released when Carmen returned.

Tsk. I wonder what weird creature Carmen will bring back this time.

Celine was chasing the chicken all over the house while Justin stood helplessly at the side.

Suddenly remembering something, Linus looked upstairs and asked, “Isn’t Dad going?”

While applying her makeup, Sophia answered, “Dad’s not going. He’s staying home, but I don’t know what for.”

Nowadays, Cooper would only show up during meal times.

Ding dong!

The doorbell rang. Maria went to check the surveillance video, then reported, “Madam, Young Master Linus, a beautiful lady is at the door, and she’s even carrying a cat.”

A lady with a cat?

Linus glanced at the surveillance video and said solemnly, “It’s Anna and the Yard twins.”

Anna!

Sophia went to take a look and saw that it was indeed Anna and her sons. They were dressed in glamorous outfits and seemed to be here for a party. Their neighbor that was hosting the party had rather impressive connections, so it was not surprising that they had invited Anna.

However, Anne was not there, and neither was Jordan.

What are they doing here?

The last time they met, she had destroyed Callum’s dignity and had even threatened to make them a test question in the college entrance examination, so they must have come here today with ill intentions.

Linus said, “We’ll let them in first. Maria, bring them tea. Celie, catch that chicken. I’ll greet them; you go call Dad.”

Linus was also aware of Anna’s motives.

After all, she was his mother!

However…

Linus opened the door and greeted the Yards. “Well, if it isn’t the distinguished Yard Family! Mrs. Yard, Mr. Yard, please come in.”

Prior to this, Linus had never socialized much with the Yard Family. After all, the arts and science sectors rarely interacted with each other.

The Yard Family produced luxury goods, while the Michel family was involved in technology and the military, so they had very few chances to interact.

Anna glanced at Linus, and a smile appeared on her face. Linus Michel. She had been looking forward to meeting him for a long time now. She had long known that there was a gifted genius in the Michel family, but she did not expect that they would end up meeting in Cethos. They were in a hurry the last time they met, so they did not manage to exchange more than a few words.

Anna shook Linus’ hand, then asked, “Should I call you Mr. Michel or Mr. Mitchell?”

Linus gave her a warm smile. “Both are fine.”

He then invited them in. This was Anna’s first time in The Imperial, and she was satisfied with every house that she had seen thus far. She was pleased with them as she found that they were all fairly decent.

Having received the invitation to the party, she took this as an opportunity to explore the place. Usually, she would not be able to enter the neighborhood, so she could only glimpse at Villa No. 1 from afar, but even then, she found its appearance to be rather satisfactory.

Daniel’s traditional Garden Villa was exquisite, and Linus’ refreshing little cottage was lovely as well. Villa No. 8, on the other hand, gave off a different kind of imperiousness.

Anna and her sons seemed to really like their house, so Linus introduced it to them. “This is my sister’s house. I’m staying in Villa No. 2.”

They walked through the garden where two magnificent alpacas were being kept. Anna took one glance at the alpacas and said, “I heard that your African mine has recently produced a batch of good quality diamonds. It would be great if you could sell them to the Yard Family. You have mines, and we need diamonds, so how about we talk about it in detail?”

Sophia had always wanted to forge an alliance between Linus and the Yard Family for the diamond business, but because of the incident with Anne, that plan was shelved. After all, the quality of the diamonds that Linus’ mines produced was good, and they were suitable for jewelry-making, so they did not have to worry about sales.

However, Linus knew that Anna was just trying to gauge his position in the Michel Family.

Ever since the Michel Family got rid of the mole that the Yard Family planted, they had lost access to a lot of important information.

Linus was troubled. He did not want to go against Anna, but he did not want to get close to her either.

Hence, he answered, “Orders were placed for this batch as soon as they were produced. Mrs. Yard; I’m afraid you’re too late.”

Linus brought the three of them in and seated them in the living room; the chicken had already been caught. Meanwhile, Sophia was bringing Cooper downstairs.

Cooper saw Anna sitting in the living room when he was coming down, and Anna happened to look up at him at the same time.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1129

Prior to this, Anna and Cooper had only met briefly, and they had only spoken a few words to each other. But Cooper—a cold and indifferent man—had left a deep impression in Anna’s heart.

During their meeting this time, their eyes met when Cooper was coming down the stairs. Anna felt as if her eyes were locked onto his as something magical lingered in the air between them.

Sophia had destroyed Callum’s dignity and both parties had already torn up their cooperation agreement, so she was not sure what Anna was doing in her house. But since they were here, they might as well made things clear.

When Sophia talked to her dad or her brother, she spoke in a young, child-like voice. But, as soon as Anna and her sons walked in, her voice turned low and grave and was completely different from her usual tone. “Mrs. Yard, since you’re here, let’s clarify some matters.”

They were guests nonetheless, so Sophia politely greeted them and made sure they were all properly seated before she began clearing things up.

“First of all, I’m sorry for the disagreement between me and Mr. Callum the other day. Even though we can’t continue with the business, we can still be friends.” Sophia gave Callum a sincere apology, which he accepted with a nod.

After all, there were no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

That day, Sophia was indeed offended by Anne’s impertinent remarks. Being called a ‘b*tch’ had certainly touched a nerve.

Sophia continued, “As for the house, we currently don’t have any plans of selling it. We’re staying in Villa No. 1, so we’re not going to sell it off. Those office buildings are being used as well, so we have no plans to sell them for the time being. Also, my dad doesn’t plan to remarry.”

The last sentence was the most important point.

Cooper had no interest in Anne whatsoever, so there was no point in trying to win him over.

Callum shrugged at this. What a huge misunderstanding.

But, now that everything was over, he reckoned that it was better to just let it go and let it remain a misunderstanding. Anne had already been beaten into submission after all.

Anna was the one to respond. “That misunderstanding was a result of my incompetent teaching. It caused Anne to overstep, so I’d like to express my apologies.”

Anna was an arrogant person, but she was not blindly arrogant.

Although they were speaking in a friendly manner, Sophia did not want to say anything to Anna anymore. Before this, they still had a nodding acquaintance, but now, all they had were business exchanges.

Meanwhile, Cooper and Linus said nothing. Sophia was always the one dealing with the Yard Family anyway, so they rarely had any contact with the Yards.

Even if they had dealings, it would be back-and-forth fights that were carried out in secret.

Hugging General, Linus stroked the feline. Touching a cat with shares does feel different, he thought. Cooper, on the other hand, kept a stony expression on his face.

He was, however, looking at Anna the whole time.

This was his Anna after all!

But, he knew that she was not the same Anna she once was.

It did not matter whether or not she had lost her memory, or if she still remembered him—they could never return to the way they used to be.

Halfway through the conversation, Cooper suddenly got up and said, “You guys carry on.”

Frostily, he turned away. He did not utter a single word since he came down, and now he was leaving after just throwing out one sentence, which just went to prove how indifferent he was.

Is this the man from Bayside City that’s rumored to dote fiercely on his daughter? His character and appearance do not match that description at all! Cade spat in his mind.

Watching his retreating figure, Anna felt a bone-chilling sadness in the simple arc of his back.

What’s this man grieving about?

The three of them sat there for a brief period. After clarifying matters and talking a little about business, they got up to leave.

“Let’s go together.” Linus got up as well as they were headed to the neighbor’s house anyway.

Sophia had finished touching up her makeup, so she followed them out.

They then walked to the neighbor’s house together.

From the way they dressed to their nature, Callum and Cade were exactly the same. Unlike their father’s cold temperament, they were fresh and warm. Like two delicate little cherries, their faces were tender enough to pinch.

On the contrary, Sophia and her brother looked nothing alike!

Due to this, Callum was dubious. “Are you two really twins?”

Linus gently took Sophia’s hand, steadying her as she wobbled in her high heels. While doing so, he answered, “I look like our father while she looks like our mother.”

As he said this, Sophia glanced subconsciously toward Anna.

As mother and daughter, they certainly did look alike.

When they walked past Sophia’s Villa No. 1, the Yards could not help but peer inside.

Just by looking at its appearance, one could tell that it was a decent house. Sophia and her family had more than enough space in Villa No. 8, so it was truly a waste to leave this house empty! It was simply a waste of natural resources!

To their surprise, someone suddenly opened the door of the villa, and a pig joyfully scurried out.

They rear… pigs?!

Cade’s expression changed as he began to re-evaluate Sophia’s worth.

She’s actually raising pigs in Villa No. 1, the heart of Bayside City! What a wealthy woman!

By the time the neighbor’s party ended, it was already the wee hours of the morning. Yawning, Sophia went home with Linus, while the Yard Family left in their car.

Sitting in the car, Anna sensed a pair of eyes looking in her direction as they passed by Villa No. 8.

She looked up at the villa and saw that the window on the third floor was open, and a figure was just turning away.

Cooper…

Anna looked out the window until she could no longer see the villa.

After they got back to the hotel they were temporarily staying at, Anna quickly fell asleep.

She had not been asleep for long when a man came in from outside. Softly closing the door behind him, he walked into the bathroom to take a shower before changing into his pajamas and getting into Anna’s bed.

“Annie…”

Jordan slowly moved closer to her; his hands were outstretched as if he wanted to touch her.

His hand approached her, but eventually stopped and hung mid-air, not reaching out at last.

There was a distance between the two of them as they lay there in their clothes.

He knew that Anna was not asleep, so he said softly to her, “Ryan and Henry are coming to Bayside City to pursue their PhDs.”

Upon hearing those two names, Anna’s eyes suddenly flew open, and a dark gleam flashed across her eyes.

Meanwhile, Carmen had returned, so Linus and Sophia went to the airport to fetch them.

As soon as the door to the aircraft cabin was opened and the stairs were lowered, Michael brought Carmen down with a scowl on his face.

Looking energetic as she was dressed in a pink dress with her hair up in pigtails, Carmen bounded happily toward Sophia and Linus. “Mommy, Uncle Linus!”

Feeling delighted, Sophia rushed forward to hug her daughter. She had only been gone for three days, but she had already grown cuter and was even more beautiful than before.

She was really a little baby that grew up feeding on cuteness!

After her little reunion, Sophia noticed Michael’s sour face, and she had a feeling that things did not go well.

The last time he came back, he had worn the same dark expression because Carmen had brought back a huge water buffalo, two goats, a chicken, and a pig.

This time… Oh, no!

They had gone to a village in the desert!

What animals were there in the desert?

Sophia did not have to guess as they would soon find out.

Dancing around with joy, Carmen beamed, “Mommy, I brought back a special product!”

Sophia’s scalp tingled as soon as she mentioned ‘special product’ because she was almost always referring to something that was alive.

Sure enough, in the next moment, a large camel could be seen coming down from the cargo hold.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 1130

Sophia and Linus simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air.

Carmen, however, was still prancing around with glee. “Camel! Big camel! A big, big camel!”

It certainly was… a huge camel.

No wonder Michael’s glowering.

“Let’s go home first,” Michael said, still scowling.

This time, no matter how they persuaded her, Carmen insisted on keeping the camel at home.

Michael was so worried that he was sure his hair was going to turn white.

Rearing a pig in Villa No. 1 was fine, but rearing a camel… That would be a pain in the *ss.

Raising a child was truly exhausting.

Thankfully, Linus had the idea of quietly donating the camel to the zoo. They could then tell Carmen that her grandpa had bought the zoo, so she could go there to visit the camels every day if she wanted to.

Michael really wanted to donate Sophia’s pair of alpacas as well, but the zoo seemed to be uninterested, and Sophia would certainly disagree, so he had no choice but to give up that notion.

Coincidentally, the giant pandas that Michael and Sophia adopted had been sent to Bayside City Zoo to be exhibited.

Michael had been one of the people in charge of making this happen. A year ago, he managed to establish a collaboration between Bayside City Zoo and Panda Foundation. Once the zoo was done with the renovations for the new panda pavilion, only then did Panda Foundation feel comfortable sending the two pandas to Bayside City to ‘work’.

Bayside City Zoo only had six pandas, so welcoming another two was not a big deal. Not to mention, Taylor—a man with extraordinary popularity—was one of the adopters of these two pandas, so it had caused quite a commotion throughout Bayside City. A grand opening ceremony was held, in which the president as well as Michael and Sophia, the two adopters, attended.

These two ‘working pandas’ were so popular that they nearly caught up to Michael’s popularity. On the first few days of their arrival, Bayside City’s panda pavilion was crowded daily. Everyone came to see the pandas, and the panda pavilion would receive tens of thousands of visitors in just half a day.

Upon the pandas’ arrival, Asco Pictures, a subsidiary of Asco International, announced that they would launch a series of film and television projects called ‘The Supreme Panda’, in which Michael’s two pandas would be used as prototypes for the production of an animated film that tells the story of a panda. They joined forces with Hollywood to create an international intellectual property that belonged to Cethos, so that it could be promoted to the world. Moreover, Taylor was responsible for the bilingual dubbing of the main characters in the movie.

Michael was kept busy as soon as he returned.

The panda pavilion was packed with visitors six days a week, closing for only one day a week to take a breather.

On one of their days off, Michael finally managed to go over with Carmen and Sophia to see the pandas.

The family of three entered the panda pavilion and watched them through the glass.

The two pandas were grown-ups, and they were extremely lazy. They would sleep in their luxurious two-hundred-square-feet bedroom where they would stay spread out in two large piles eating fresh bamboo that was shipped from out of state the night before. They paid no attention to the president, and they even dared to pee and poop in front of him.

It was usually hard for anyone to enter the pavilion, as there were tons of tourists every day—sometimes even hundreds of thousands. They would queue for hours, only to catch a glimpse of the pandas for several seconds. Michael’s relatives and friends heard that he was visiting today, so they hurried over to catch a free ride, which was why there were many people present at this moment. After all, no one could resist the charm of the national treasure!

Besides Michael and Justin’s families, there were also Harry’s family, Stanley and Sean’s family, Sam’s family, Hale’s family, Joel’s family, Casper and Alice, as well as other Mitchells and Fletchers.

Carmen went off with Lorelei & Co., who looked impressive in their matching uniforms. Nathan had brought Lorelei with him, and although she appeared cold, she was extremely clingy, following Nathan wherever he went.

Meanwhile, Sam and Nicole had brought the children from the orphanage to see the pandas.

Everyone brought a panda hat, and all the children had panda backpacks.

As they watched the pandas eating bamboo through the glass for nearly an hour, a silly smile surfaced on all their faces.

Michael looked at the pandas and sighed as he thought back to when he first adopted them. He was still filming ‘War Dragon’ then, and Sophia had joined the crew. After they were done filming, they went to visit the pandas.

When they adopted the pandas, one of them had just been born, and it had been a premature baby. It weighed only a few dozen grams and barely survived, but here it was, all grown up now.

Oh, how time flies…

He wrapped his arms around Sophia, who was beside him.

Times changed, but everything would be fine as long as the people next to him remained the same.

Although today was the pavilion’s off day, many people who had connections to Michael kept entering, and there were even some who still did not manage to get in.

Less than half an hour after they entered, a new wave of his acquaintances arrived.

This group of people, however, were being led in by a curator.

The two households met once again.

“You guys again!” Sophia was the first to exclaim.

The new arrivals were none other than the Yard Family!

Not only that, but Anne, who had just been discharged from the hospital, was among them.

When she came in and saw Sophia, her eyes lit up with delight as she searched the place for Cooper. Sophia hurriedly blocked her father from Anne’s view, but Cooper was so tall that anyone could catch a peep of him with just a glance.

Cooper, on the other hand, continued looking at the pandas, and he seemed oblivious to the Yard Family’s arrival.

“The Yards are here!” Stanley announced boisterously. Upon hearing this, the Fletchers stirred and eyed the Yard family, looking as if they were about to send out dozens of wolfdogs. The Yard Family felt pressured.

The atmosphere changed as soon as they arrived.

Anna shot a fierce glare toward Anne, who stood beside Xena, not daring to move or speak. Smiling pleasantly, Anna walked toward Sophia’s family and said, “What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you guys here.”

Seeing as how she had already made peace with the Yards, and Anne was not acting rashly, Sophia returned her kind smile. “It really is a coincidence. Mrs. Yard, you’re here to see the pandas too?”

Anna nodded. “I haven’t had the chance to see them, so I’ve come to meet them today. You don’t really see any pandas abroad.”

Judging from the way they were dressed, as well as the sneakers and baseball caps surrounded by pandas they had on, they looked as though they were indeed here to see the pandas.

Anna’s gaze, intentionally or otherwise, shifted toward Cooper, but he did not spare her a glance; his eyes were fixated on the pandas.

“Miss Beautiful, up, up!” As soon as Carmen saw Anna, she stretched her hands out and tiptoed, asking to be carried.

Anna bent down to carry Carmen, then continued to hold her as she talked to Linus.

When the Yard family arrived, there was a slight racket. But after a while, everyone went back to minding their own business.

Although their partnership had failed, it was only right for them to exchange a couple of words upon meeting.

Stanley stared at the Yards for a long time, then felt bored and walked away.

The pandas are more interesting than the Yards anyway!

Meanwhile, Sophia was surveying the Yard family. Quite a few of them had come today, including Anna and her sons, Xena and her daughter, and two young men that she had never seen before.

The two young men looked almost identical, and one could immediately tell that they were twins. They stood slightly taller than Callum and Cade, and both pairs of twins looked fairly similar, but the taller pair had on cold expressions and seemed reluctant to speak.

Are they Yards too? And they’re twins?

“Those are my brothers, Ryan and Henry Yard.”

Unbeknownst to Sophia, Cade had come to stand beside her. He kept his eyes focused on the pandas, and there was a cup of milk tea in his hand. Pinching the straw, he took a sip of his drink, then continued, “They’ve just arrived here, and are preparing to pursue their PhDs in Bayside City University. They’ll be taking over several of Bayside City’s market development projects, so you’d better be careful.”

Puzzled, Sophia turned to look at Cade, but he had already slipped away.

Be careful? Be careful of whom?