Ch. 191..200

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 181

Michael’s expression darkened, but he maintained a poker face when he chased Stanley out of the house. “It’s getting late. You should get going now!”

The Imperial wasn’t too far away from the military compound, and so Stanley would be able to get home by taking a bus.

Michael checked his reflection in the mirror when he walked into the house while mumbling to himself, “Illegitimate daughter, my foot…”

The character Michael was playing had fallen into a desperate situation in the show, so he deliberately left the stubble along his jaw without shaving it off just to make himself look haggard. Therefore, in comparison, he could tell the vast contrast when he returned home to see his young and delicate ‘child bride’, who looked as pretty as a flower…

Upon entering the house, he saw Sophia studying in silence, but she was frowning deeply. She was scribbling across the paper, as though calculating something, whereas Nathan was sitting beside her while doing his homework in a serious manner.

She had a pair of earphones on, and her laptop was turned on too. She was playing the lecture from the Further Mathematics class.

Lately, there had been a rise in live broadcast. Even Bayside University lecturers would do some live broadcast to give lectures when they had the time. Sophia had been watching these live broadcasts and online tutorials at home for the past few days to make up for the lessons she missed.

Seeing as Sophia was studying so seriously, Michael didn’t want to bother her.

Suddenly, the phone Sophia left by the bed rang, but she didn’t hear it. Nathan heard the ringtone, and so he turned around to check. Coincidentally, he saw Michael sneaking in to take Sophia’s phone away. Nevertheless, Nathan remained silent, and he continued with his homework, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Michael took the phone away to answer it outside of the room. He glanced at the caller ID on the screen. Richard Harper.

Why is this fellow calling again?

After answering the phone call, Michael kept quiet while waiting for Richard to speak.

Richard did not say anything because he was too ashamed to speak to Sophia. They were in a stalemate for more than ten seconds, but Richard broke the silence in the end.

“Sophia, thank you for helping with this issue. It looks like there’s hope for my sister. Director Jenkins has also agreed to work with us. However, we have to pay a huge price. He wants the Harpers’ ancestral home. Sophia, you know how important the Harpers’ ancestral home is for us. Mother almost fainted after learning that we are losing our ancestral home. Therefore, Sophia, if you can, please get the ancestral home back for me, can you? I am sure you can. As long as you put in more effort when you’re with Joel. As long as he says the word, anything is possible. But you shouldn’t worry and don’t feel pressured because I don’t mind such things. No matter what happens, you are still the purest girl in my heart. Once my sister’s affairs are in order and we get our ancestral home back, I’ll take you to meet my mother officially. Although she is unhappy that you didn’t manage to preserve the Harpers’ ancestral home, she will have nothing to say as long as you are able to get us the ancestral home back. Sophia, if it bothers you, you can undergo hymen repair surgery in the future.”

Michael listened to Richard’s entire monologue. He even left the phone on speaker mode when he was having dinner. Michael paid close attention throughout the phone call, and so everyone heard Richard’s affectionate but despicable confession to Sophia.

During dinnertime, Sophia felt utterly embarrassed. She kept her head bowed while she had her meal as she listened to Richard’s pretentious monologue from the other end of the phone call. Richard claimed that he wouldn’t despise Sophia for sleeping with Joel, but later, he explained that he would be more than happy to send her to the most high-end center for the best hymen repair surgery. The next thing she knew, he was claiming that he looked forward to their perfect future while suddenly remarking how cruel reality was. Hence, he requested Sophia to work harder in order to have Joel’s ear by getting in bed with him.

Richard spoke for an entire twenty minutes before hanging up on the phone call.

After dinner, Michael returned to the room. Then, he typed and printed out some of the classic phrases Richard mentioned over the phone call. He made a mini drama script out of it, and he acted it out with Sophia while searching for his inspiration to act like a playboy.

Coincidentally, he had accepted a role as a guest star in a movie to play the character of the female protagonist’s playboy ex-boyfriend.

Sophia sat still and acted as his prop.

Michael got into character while arranging his expression. His eyes were darting around, and he seemed distracted. In fact, he looked especially guilty, but his eyebrows were slightly raised, which gave him an air of superiority. Despite his guilty conscience, Michael made it seem as if he felt he was innocent. He forced a trace of heartfelt affection across his face, but he just couldn’t hide the greed and hypocrisy overflowing from his soul.

“Oh, Sophia!” he repeated Richard’s lines. He placed a hand on Sophia’s shoulder while gazing into her eyes affectionately, and the depth of his feelings looked more like he was doing charity—he looked as if he was facing a stray dog. It was obvious that he did not like it, but he went against his wishes by throwing the stray dog a bone. “Sophia, thank you for helping with this issue.”

Sophia regarded Michael while blinking a few times. She continued observing his performance.

Michael is undeniably one of Cethos’ best actors. He matches the image I had in my mind of Richard when I heard him over the phone earlier. He looks so engrossed, and he is presenting Richard’s despicable side of a true scum.

Michael continued with his lines, as if he was possessed by a playboy. “It looks like there’s hope for my sister. Director Jenkins has also agreed to work with us… You have to understand that your sacrifice now is for our future. Sophia, I will not detest you for your actions. You can undergo a hymen repair surgery in the future. Although we can’t have a marriage certificate, we can go abroad. I can organize a grand wedding for you at a place where nobody knows us, and I will make you the most beautiful bride on earth.”

During Richard’s phone call earlier, Sophia held back her laughter throughout the ordeal. Nevertheless, she couldn’t endure it now, and she finally burst out laughing. “Pfft…”

It was not that she wanted to laugh, but Michael looked too cute. He was wearing the frog pajama, which was vibrantly green. He even imitated Nathan by putting on his hoodie while expressing the hypocritical and insincere affection. The contrast made him look absolutely adorable.

Nevertheless, Michael was still acting out the role of a playboy, and he felt as if he had found the feeling of it. His expression remained unmoved despite Sophia’s countless bursts of laughter.

Sophia kept giggling. Suddenly, Michael wrapped his arms around her abruptly, and he sealed his lips against hers. He drowned her laughter with a deep kiss, and she was caught off guard. She felt her head spinning with the kiss. After catching her breath, she finally caught up to Michael’s pace and rhythm.

What should I do? I can feel myself falling for him…

Nathan glanced at the two of them kissing, and he turned his back to them in silence to continue with his homework.

After a few days, Sophia started preparing to return to the university for the final exams. The weather was getting colder, and it had started snowing. The snow made the world appear exceptionally loveable. Sophia sat by the floor-to-ceiling glass window while staring at the snowy scenery outside. It was already mid-winter and chilly outside, but the room was still warm and toasty, like spring. It was as if they were two different worlds.

In the past, Sophia was scared of snowing because winter was too cold. There were no heaters in the university hostel, and so students who had the choice would return home for winter. Hence, she would be the only one left in the hostel while she trembled in cold.

After breakfast, the snow stopped, and the ground was already covered with a thick layer of snow. The family of three left the house to enjoy the snow.

Michael didn’t have to film today, whereas Sophia felt better too. With winter and snow, they were just in time to enjoy the scenery.

“Dear, where are we going to enjoy the snow?” Sophia asked curiously while looking out of the window.

Michael flashed her a mysterious smile, and the car sped off in the direction of Riverdale.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 182

Entering the place where she once lived, Sophia fell deep into her thoughts. I was born in the suburbs of Riverdale. Later on, I was accepted into Riverdale High School. I had lived in Riverdale for eighteen years, but after Joe took me away, I’d never returned here.

I have too many things buried here…

Without realizing, the car came to a stop. The car door opened, and Nathan was the first to jump out of the car. His anti-skid lined boots made small footprints all over the snow-covered ground. Once he got out of the car, he immediately saw a grand house, and so his eyes popped wide open in surprise.

Sophia got out of the car behind Michael. He held her pink gloved-hand in his large warm palm. With her small hand in his, he took a couple of steps forward.

Similarly, Sophia immediately saw the grand house in front of her. She scanned her surroundings, and she realized that she was standing near a bus station. The bus station was named after this large mansion—Harper’s Mansion.

“Isn’t this the Harpers’ house?”

The Harper’s Mansion was extremely recognizable because it had an elegant and classic Cethosian garden. It preserved its style from two hundred years ago. Although the mansion had been constantly renovated and had expanded over the years, its architecture style had never changed. The main architecture structure of the building maintained its appearance from when it was built, and so it could be considered as a cultural relic.

Why is he taking me here to the Harper’s Mansion for no good reason?

Upon seeing the Harper’s Mansion, Sophia recalled some bad memories. Once upon a time, when I was out of options and came to the Harpers for help, Richard refused to see me. I couldn’t even enter the mansion. They beat me up before tossing me out.

At that time, if Richard had been willing to trust me, even a little, my life might have changed.

However, if Richard had been willing to help me at that time, I might not have been able to meet Michael.

Maybe the first half of my life was painful and full of suffering because I was gathering my luck to meet Michael.

Michael stood behind her, and he suddenly patted her shoulder. “The Harpers sold the Harper’s Mansion to get Kayla out of jail. It belongs to you now.”

Sophia stared at him in utter shock.

They actually sold the Harper’s Mansion? But this isn’t any ordinary mansion! It’s almost like a folk garden or even a cultural relic. It has exceptional research value, and this has always been the pride of the Harper Family! They put this above their lives, so how could they possibly sell it off so easily? But if Michael said it, the credibility is 100%. After all, he is the person who bought Ido’s Imperial Diamond Ring casually. Does that mean that the Harper’s Mansion belongs to me now?

Michael held onto her small hand while speaking to her, “Let’s go and have a look inside. The snow scenery inside is wonderful.”

They walked into the courtyard of the Harper’s Mansion. Sophia was still in a daze, and she just couldn’t digest the reality.

The majority of Harper’s Mansion was constructed based on classical styles—whitewashed walls topped with grey roof tiles and red fences. The Harper Family had been in the construction business for generations. Their ancestors were Cethosian merchants, and so their accommodation preserved a strong influence of the ancient style. There were miniature hills and streams in the garden, accompanied with countless trees and flowers that made up the garden architecture. There were pavilions, terraces, open halls, miniature bridges, and streams too. There were seven to eight courtyards in total, and each had its unique poetic charm.

Michael led Sophia through several archways and parlors. They enjoyed the scenery inside while strolling in the mansion. Although it was already winter, the scenery looked even better here. The snow was dazzling white, and it gave off an inexplicable feel against the white walls and grey roof tiles.

Sophia was already feeling much calmer revisiting the Harper’s Mansion. I recall my first time coming here. Richard brought me over, and I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights while simultaneously feeling out of place. I kept making mistakes, and everybody mocked me and laughed at me. It was also during that time that I realized the gap between Richard and me.

In school, he was a straight-A student, and so was I. We wore the same uniforms, and we had the same textbooks. The only difference we had were our scores.

However, outside school, he was the eldest son of Riverdale’s well known Harper Family, whereas I was a nobody.

The Harper’s Mansion had everything in it; even Michael clucked his tongue as he was impressed by the architecture. The Harpers are skillful in construction. I wonder how many generations put in effort for this garden. Well, I’ve decided to forgive the Harpers for 10 minutes for the sake of this garden.

The family of three strolled around the place as though they were having fun in a park. Nathan found this fascinating. He had been living in an old castle abroad since he was a child, but the castle had a European style. Therefore, this was this first time looking at a building with such an antique design. Furthermore, it was different from the ancient Imperial Palace nearby their house, and so he couldn’t help but wander around the mansion.

Hale and Gary followed them from behind. Hale was holding an SLR camera to take photos for them.

After wandering around a few gardens, they already took more than a hundred pictures.

Sophia was holding onto her SLR camera as well. She realized that she was talented in taking photos because each shot seemed even better than the one before.

In the end, they arrived at the building the Harpers used to stay in. It was a restored Western building. However, it didn’t feel out of place when put together with the other buildings within the mansion. On the contrary, it gave off a unique style.

The Harper Family had shifted away in a rush. The garden was now filled with Michael’s subordinates, who were busy cleaning and checking the inventory.

Sophia stood at the best viewpoint within the Harper’s Mansion, where one could observe the entire mansion by opening the windows. This was once Kayla’s room.

From that angle, the Harper’s Mansion had a completely different look. In fact, it seemed like a piece of jade that people just wouldn’t forget after taking a glance.

Why did Michael buy such a large place?

Doesn’t he have enough houses? He has a Villa No.1 and Villa No.8 in The Imperial. Aren’t those enough for him?

“Dear, why did you buy this place?”

Michael was feeling warm from all the walking, and so he took off his scarf. “No specific purpose. It just looks nice,” he answered.

Sophia was rendered speechless. However, it is undeniable that the gardens are exceptionally beautiful…

Then, Michael added, “This is your mansion now. You can do whatever you want with it.”

Such an aggressive billionaire!

The price of this mansion must be higher than Ido’s Imperial Diamond Ring. The important thing is that with such a large mansion and space, it has immeasurable value for collection and research. It’s a good idea to keep it while its value grows.

“Rent it out! 1 million per year!” Sophia decided abruptly.

Michael lovingly caressed her head, which was covered with a furry cap. He responded to her, “Sure. I’ll get a tenant for you.”

Michael’s social circle consisted of the rich and powerful. Therefore, it wasn’t an uphill task to contact someone who could afford to rent the place.

Sophia was blushing slightly, and she seemed slightly embarrassed. I have been married to Michael for such a long time, but I haven’t slept with him. He has given me a house and a ring. I’ll have a guilty conscience if I continue to refrain from sleeping with him.

I think it’s best to sleep with him as soon as possible even though he likes to have relations with men…

She thought of Joel, Harry, and Daniel. She thought of the large group of gay friends Michael had queueing up in front of her, and her eyes became dull again.

I suddenly feel so cheap. I can’t believe I can accept a man like that!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 183

Michael is a good man, but how do I judge if he is truly a good person or if he is just acting? He is one of the best actors in the country, after all. He can easily act and pretend to suit his needs.

However, isn’t Michael doing exceedingly well for faking his love? I merely mentioned in passing that I liked the Eternal Love, but he was attentive enough to pick up on that. Then, he purchased the Eternal Love for me.

I’m sure that he bought the Harper’s Mansion not simply because of how beautiful it looks. He bought it for me. He knew about the hurt the Harper Family has inflicted upon me, and he wanted to vent my frustration on my behalf while helping me grow my personal savings…

Sophia had always been wary, and she constantly reminded herself not to fall for Michael. Otherwise, she might repeat the same mistake. However, it wouldn’t be called a heart if one could guard it forever.

How I wish that time could freeze now forever. I’d like to be in this moment with such a unique atmosphere forever. That would be more than enough for me. It would be enough…

After visiting the Harper’s Mansion, the family of three left for the next destination, Audistin.

Audistin was a chain brand—its Health Club was still the most popular because Daniel was in it.

People spread word about Daniel and his abilities, making him seem almost God-like. He was rumored to be the only disciple of the Master of Reverie Temple. Some people even went so far as to refer to him as a reincarnation of a celestial being. In reality, he was just a swindler who was defrauding the rich and famous.

After the family of three entered from the back entrance into Audistin, Sophia went to the bathroom, whereas Michael brought Nathan to meet Daniel.

After using the washroom, Sophia took a walk in the club’s main hall. This Health Club’s businesses were slightly more complex. They offered services such as acupuncture, aromatherapy spa, facial and body sculpting, chiropractic, essential oil back massage, Tarot card reading, fortune telling via examining bone structure, fortune telling via analyzing names, physiognomy and divination, marriage analysis, geomancy, and even the art of fertility.

The main hall paid homage to the God of Wealth, Goddess of Mercy for child-bearing, Jesus, and the Lucky Cat.

Rich people emphasized more on preserving health nowadays. This was especially true during winter because it was the best period to detox. Hence, there was an exceptionally large crowd in the club.

Many people made appointments with Daniel for fortune telling, and so there was already a long queue. However, the crowd had no choice but to wait for a while when they learned that Daniel was carrying out physiognomy for Taylor Murray.

Sophia entered Daniel’s lounge. Once she opened the door, she saw the mahjong table already laid out, and four people sat at the table—Michael, Stanley, Harry, and Daniel. On the other side, Nathan was engrossed in playing games on the laptop.

“Two Stones!”

“Score, haha!”

“Pay up, pay up!”

The queue outside is getting longer, and here they are, playing mahjong!

Stanley had a cigarette between his lips, and he beckoned to Sophia. “Come, Sophie. Let’s play mahjong!”

Sophia caught a whiff of tobacco smoke before she could get any closer. She scowled and grabbed Nathan before walking out of the lounge.

Daniel was picking a mahjong tile when he spoke, “Sophie, go ahead and have fun! Everything is free-of-charge.”

Michael was also busy picking a mahjong tile. “Chica, your body has just recovered. Have a back massage or something. I will be waiting for you here.”

Stanley burst out laughing. “Haha, Uncle Michael, why are you addressing Sophie with such a suggestive nickname?!”

Harry commented, “Kids should smoke less!”

Sophia blushed deeply, and she took Nathan away. Michael was having fun with a table full of his gay friends, and so it would be inappropriate for her to stay. Hence, she had no choice but to leave. Sophia had an Audistin card, and so she ordered for a massage. Meanwhile, Nathan kept close to her; he tagged along wherever she went with his laptop.

After the massage, Sophia felt utterly relaxed. She checked the time, and she noted that it would be time for a meal soon after a footbath session, and she could then grab something to eat. However, she saw someone she was least expecting in the main hall.

The Harpers were here. Mr. and Mrs. Harper, Richard, and Xyla.

Kayla was there too.

Kayla was suspected of hiring hoodlums to r*pe Director Jenkins’ daughter in the hotel. However, due to insufficient proof, coupled with the fact that she was a minor with mental illness, her capable team of lawyers managed to get her released.

After the series of incidents, Kayla appeared especially haggard. Initially, her birthday banquet was almost close to perfect. Her three idols showed up, and many people were jealous of her since she seemed to have snagged Joel. Nevertheless, everything was ruined at the last critical moment.

I have always felt that it wasn’t my fault. In fact, it was Sophia’s fault. If it weren’t for her, I would have still been the honorable princess, and I would have most probably ended up with Joel.

But what about now? My reputation is ruined, and I almost lost my innocence. Although the Harpers tried savaging my reputation through public relations, this incident will forever haunt me like a stain.

This was all thanks to Sophia. She is the source of all my unhappiness!

She is the perpetrator. Nevertheless, she even got into bed with Joel somehow, and she even dared to try to join the Harper Family!

Who does she think she is?

Hence, when Sophia showed up in Audistin all of a sudden, Kayla almost couldn’t hold back her urge to charge forward to kill her!

The entire Harper Family wasn’t surprised when they saw Sophia because Richard mentioned to her over the phone that they would be meeting Daniel Levine for fortune telling. He was actually hinting her to meet him here.

True enough, she is here for another chance encounter!

However, Sophia was truly oblivious to the fact that the Harpers would show up here today. Michael was the one who answered Richard’s call, and he even jotted down notes and wrote a play from the phone conversation. Michael had been using it every day to figure out how to play the role of a playboy at home.

Although Sophia did recall hearing those lines, she was mainly focused on Michael’s handsome face. Therefore, she did not know that the Harpers would be here today.

Mrs. Harper snorted in disdain when she saw Sophia. Contempt flashed across her eyes.

How dare she have the audacity to grab my son’s attention when she didn’t even complete the task at hand! It’s her honor to get a glimpse of my breathtakingly handsome son!

“Sophia!” Richard, who was sitting on a chair in the rest area, stood up abruptly while looking delighted. He was about to approach Sophia when Xyla reminded him just in time, “Richard, take note of your status.”

Xyla and Richard had a discussion before coming over. Richard officially voiced out to Xyla, explaining that he wanted to accept Sophia because she managed to get Kayla out of prison. Besides, Sophia managed to bed Joel, and so she would be able to benefit the Harpers.

Xyla almost lost her mind to anger, but she agreed anyway. She acted as if she understood the importance of the cause while accepting the fact that she was about to share a husband with Sophia.

Richard was extremely moved that Xyla was so considerate and kind. He even promised her that he would love her more than he did Sophia. In fact, he would take Sophia to tie her tubes while promising Xyla that Sophia would never affect her position as his legal wife.

How could Xyla possibly accept sharing her husband? She wanted nothing more than to murder Sophia!

She claimed that she would stop pestering Richard, but now, she has basically announced to the world that she’s competing with me for Richard’s attention and the position in his heart!

If I trust her, I might not even know what hit me after she snatched my husband away right under my nose.

As a woman, I have a sixth sense by nature. Since I was able to snatch Richard away from Sophia previously, it means that someone else may snatch him away from me too.

I will never let that happen!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 184

However, she could not show her anger because she needed to pretend that she was an understanding wife, who understood the larger scheme of things so that Richard would not find her annoying. I have to find a way to push Sophia away from Richard. However, at the current moment, she has made such a huge contribution to the Harper Family. Therefore, I can’t be obvious with my motives.

“Richard, this is Audistin, which means that Joel’s acquaintances or subordinates might be here. If you casually approach Sophia, what will happen if he finds out?”

Richard stopped dead in his tracks. Upon recalling the fact that his woman slept with another man for his sake, he couldn’t help but blame himself while being riddled with guilt.

However, whenever he reminded himself that she did this for their future, it instantly eased up his guilt.

Xyla was extremely resentful when she noticed how eager he was to chat with Sophia. Nevertheless, she pretended to be understanding and gracious. “Richard, why don’t I help to look out for the two of you?”

His eyes sparkled when he heard that and shot her a grateful look. “Xyla, you are the best!”

They both casually walked toward Sophia.

As Sophia was just done with her footbath and back massage with essential oil, she was about to take Nathan to meet Michael. They should be done with their game of mahjong, I hope.

However, she had barely taken a few steps when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. “Sophia!”

She frowned deeply. What is wrong with Richard? Why is he throwing himself at me? Why is he doing that while claiming that I’m the one trying to get closer to the Harper Family?

In order to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, she feigned that she did not hear him and never bothered to acknowledge him. Instead, she led Nathan into a room and closed the door, effectively closing the door in Richard’s face.

Richard knocked on the door a few times. He noticed that the door was locked and a thought struck him. Sophia now belongs to Joel exclusively, so no one else can have her. That’s the reason why she can’t be in contact with me.

He left with regrets.

Sophia became the owner of the Harper’s Mansion today, so she was in a rather good mood and decided to forgive the Harpers for 12 hours. Little did she know that behind her back, the dramatic Harpers had already written her as the protagonist in their imaginary life-and-death epic drama.

Michael was still playing mahjong while the clients waiting outside were becoming impatient. Daniel had a cigarette between his lips when he played mahjong, wearing an annoyed expression when his assistant entered to urge him several times. Finally, he unwillingly left his lounge to work.

Sophia was obviously the replacement since there were only three players.

Unfortunately, she stared at the mahjong tile on the table with a dazed expression, seemingly not to have learned such a high-end game. She fumbled for the longest time, but she was still clueless. Stanley even mocked her. “Sophie, you usually look intelligent, but why are you stupid at such important times like this? You can’t even play mahjong!”

Michael picked up a tile while quietly stubbing the cigarette between Stanley’s lips. “Kids shouldn’t smoke!”

Sophia, who was sitting across Michael, was staring at her mahjong tiles intently. Her pink and adorable face looked extremely cute, especially with her current expression.

I want to pinch her cheeks badly!

Suppressing his urge to pinch her, he commented, “Chica, if you can’t play the game, you will be played. Why don’t you observe Daniel when he helps the Harpers with their fortune telling?!”

Is Daniel predicting the Harper Family’s fortune for them? That’s great!

Sophia put down her mahjong tiles and walked out to Daniel’s ‘office’, pretending to be someone who served tea and brought a few cups of floral tea.

Daniel’s office was filled with a pleasant scent that reminded her of a refreshing breeze—the decorations were simple with a few famous calligraphy and paintings on the wall while the incense, which was lit, on the black table somehow made people relaxed.

He wore a mandarin jacket, which seemed dated, and had a string of prayer beads in his left hand while a cross hung on his chest. The table in the middle was for the Daoist Three Pure Ones whereas the one on the right was to worship the God of Wealth and the Lucky Cat was hanging on the left wall. The room was a mix-and-match; neither was it Oriental nor was it Western. It was obvious that he was a swindler, but people just seemed to believe him.

While wearing an unreadable expression on his face, he pretended to examine the Harper Family’s horoscope as the Harpers waited anxiously at the side.

Sophia entered Daniel’s office with the tea, placing a cup of it in front of everyone in an orderly manner.

Richard’s knotted brows relaxed upon seeing her entering the room and his eyes twinkled with a smile. Mrs. Harper also saw Sophia, but the former merely cocked a brow and it was impossible to tell whether she was delighted or angry.

No wonder we were able to quickly secure an appointment when we were trying to schedule for one with Daniel. Considering that there are many people trying to reserve an appointment slot with Daniel, it’s almost impossible to see him in person if we had scheduled it within these few days. However, when we tried to book an appointment two days ago, Daniel informed us to come today. It looks like Sophia is working here as a server and has pulled some strings for us.

On one hand, Mrs. Harper felt that it was only natural for Sophia to serve the Harpers. On the other hand, she figured that since Sophia had slept with Joel, she could be entangled with Daniel too. A loose woman like Sophia will never join the Harper Family. Well, unless she is able to connect Kayla with the Fletchers. If she is able to marry into the Fletcher Family, I might consider giving Sophia a chance.

Sophia stood at the side in silence after serving tea while observing how Daniel was able to fool the entire Harper Family.

After going through the entire Harper Family’s horoscope, he glanced at Kayla’s horoscope again before frowning deeply and pretended while gesturing with his fingers.

He counted with his fingers for almost thirty minutes and the Harper Family remained silent throughout the entire time. This is a familiar situation.

When Joe brought Sophia to see Daniel years ago, he gestured and counted with his fingertips for a few minutes. In the end, Daniel predicted that Sophia would bring death to the entire Edwards Family.

After what seemed like eternity, he finally broke the silence while shaking his head. “Out of the five elements, your daughter lacks gold, which explains why she has been ‘absorbing gold’. The older she gets, the more she will absorb. Gold represents fortune and wealth. Therefore, Mr. Harper, you have been recently short of ‘gold’ because your daughter has absorbed all of it.”

The Harper Family looked horrified when they heard that, looking as if everything had finally made sense. It is true that Kayla has been spending a lot of the Harper Family’s money lately. She made a mess in school and even caused trouble in Audistin. The Harpers have spent almost nine figures to sort out her affairs.

We have spent a large sum for her charity banquet, but she did not appreciate that. On the contrary, we even lost the Harper’s Mansion—and that in itself is an astronomical figure! Master Levine sees through everything as a bystander. His explanation is like a wake-up call! He is a true master!

Kayla stared at her palms as the color rapidly drained from her face. It turns out that my life lacks gold, which is why the Harpers are going through so much hardship! How is this possible? This is all Sophia’s evil scheme!

She was blinded by anger and slammed the table before abruptly standing up to point at Sophia, who was standing beside Daniel, screaming, “It is indeed all because of you, you btch! You must be having an affair with this quack and told him to speak ill of me, didn’t you? You, btch! I’ll kill you!”

Richard immediately pushed her down onto the chair while viciously threatening her, “Do you still think you haven’t caused enough trouble?”

Mr. Harper immediately apologized to Daniel in a hurry, “I am so sorry, Master Levine. My daughter is immature, so, please don’t take it to heart. Do continue; please continue, hehe—”

Daniel had a frosty expression with his handsome face being upset. “Mr. Harper, if you think that my fortune telling is inaccurate, you are free to leave.”

The Harpers immediately panicked when they realized that Daniel was fuming. We can’t afford to offend Daniel Levine!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 185

Mr Harper immediately apologized when he saw that Daniel was angry, “Who doesn’t know about the great Master Levine? My daughter is young and has been frightened, so her mental state isn’t steady lately. Please don’t take her words to heart!”

Daniel’s mood became a little better.

On the sidelines, Sophia sneakily laughed. Half of Kayla’s words are right. Daniel is really just a quack, but how did she arrive at the conclusion that I’m having an affair with him?

When Kayla saw that Sophia was laughing sneakily with a proud face, a raging anger suddenly burst out of her—she wanted to rush over and kill her!

He further explained, “Your daughter lacks the element of metal, so it’s impossible to change her fate. Now, I have three methods for you to consider.”

The entire Harper Family quickly raised their ears to listen.

He continued speaking, “The first method is to abandon your daughter. You must sever all ties with her and let her destroy herself. From now on, you must not interfere with anything that involves her.”

Everyone in the Harper Family looked at each other. Abandon the daughter? How is this possible?

Kayla’s face suddenly paled out of the fear that her parents would believe the quack and throw her out of the family.

Upon seeing the way the Harpers reacted, Daniel knew that it wasn’t a viable method, so he smiled and recommended a second option. “Mr. Harper, your daughter is destined to eat away at your wealth. If you don’t marry your daughter off and let her ruin another family, you will continue to lose your wealth in the end!”

Everyone in the Harper Family was even more frustrated. How can we marry her off when her reputation is terrible lately? Even though we’ve covered all the scandals up, rumors about her mental illness have still leaked out. Who will be willing to marry an insane person?

Mr. Harper was getting anxious as he hurriedly urged Daniel. “Master Levine, don’t keep us waiting anymore. Please tell us if there is another way!”

Danial pretended to meditate for a long time before responding, “Naturally, there is a third method!” He then pulled out a world map and explained, “The world consists of five continents. Corresponding with the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, Asia is earth, Europe is fire, Africa is metal, America is wood, and Oceania is water. Among them, Africa is metal. Therefore, you need to send your daughter to Africa for a year or two so that the lack of metal in her life force can be naturally mended.”

Once that was said, Sophia and everyone in the Harper Family was shocked.

The five continents that correspond with metal, wood, water, fire and earth… Who invented this theory?!

She was left in awe as she had a deeper understanding of Daniel’s ability to spew nonsense. Will anyone believe in this kind of nonsense? There are really people who believe in it!

Mr. Harper patted his thigh and fiercely shook Daniel’s hand. “Master Levine, you are really our savior. We initially planned to send Kayla to Africa for a few months! I can’t believe our thoughts are the same as yours!”

They wanted to project a good image for Kayla—and the best way would be through charity, a donation to the School of Hope, volunteer as a teacher in the underdeveloped mountain areas, or head to Africa as a volunteer.

They had already signed Kayla up for a volunteer project in Africa. The living conditions there were very difficult, so they planned to send her over for a few months to suffer. After her return, they would send a draft of her speech for a few days to public relations to clear her image.

At that moment, she was exasperated to the point where she wanted to cry. She initially threatened her family with suicide when they wanted to send her over to Africa. Just when she was about to change their mind, Daniel’s words today only made her travel to Africa inevitable, whether she liked it or not.

The Harpers grabbed Daniel’s hand and thanked him while paying him millions of ‘introduction fee’. When he was about to leave, Kayla’s eyes revealed that she couldn’t wait to kill him and Sophia. This must be part of Sophia’s scheme! She planned all of this with Daniel!

The moment they left the Harper Family, Daniel had a look at the message that was sent to his cellphone. The millions that the Harpers paid him had already been transferred into his bank account, so he put his phone away contentedly while calling Sophia, “Mrs. Fletcher—”

“Hmph!” She grunted because she couldn’t get the issue about her reputation out of her chest.

As soon as she exited the room, she found Michael. He was already done with his game of mahjong and now waited for her in the lounge with Nathan. When Michael saw her coming out, he said to her with consideration, “You’re done?”

She nodded her head as she felt good watching Daniel mess around with the Harpers. Not only did they lose their beloved house, but they were also sending their daughter to Africa as a volunteer. She took the initiative to approach him and ask, “Hubby, what are we having tonight?”

Michael naturally grabbed her shoulders. “What do you want to eat?”

Sophia thought about it. “I want to eat hot pot! Lamb with hot pot is the best thing to have during winter!”

He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Let’s go.”

Michael held Nathan with one hand and Sophia with the other as they walked out.

After that, he called Hale to make a reservation at the restaurant. Even though Nathan was stoic, it was obvious that he was happy as he gently hopped around when he walked. After all, he was merely a kid, so it was hard for him to conceal his happiness on his face, no matter how cold he usually looked.

The family of three drove to the restaurant to eat. On the way there, she excitedly thought about what she wanted to do with the Harper’s Mansion in the future. Michael already had his phone with him, so he sent the pictures that they took today to his Messenger.

Therefore, his gay friends were able to see his daily interaction with his wife again. Back then, he would send pictures of his son from time to time, but now, he keeps flashing pictures of his wife for no reason. He has finally become insane.

When Sophia took a look at her Messenger, she saw that he had posted a bunch of pictures of the three of them in the Harper’s Mansion, as if they were strolling around the park.

She quietly gave it a like.

The family of three were having a good time, but on the other side, the same cannot be said of the Harper Family.

They had already moved into the copycat real estate that they developed—The Luxurious 16—but the new house was not as good as the Harper’s Mansion. Back then, Kayla had the best room in the entire mansion and she even had a little traditional wooden building all to herself, but she had nothing at that moment. The best room in the house had been given to Richard and Xyla as their matrimonial room. Moreover, her family was still trying to send her to Africa.

Kayla had smashed all the antiques and vases in the house, leaving Mr. Harper with no choice but give his beloved daughter a slap. Finally, she stopped.

She felt that she had lost everything the moment her father slapped her. It’s all because of Sophia! If it isn’t for her, I will not have fallen to this point! Sophia Edwards!

Richard’s recent family affairs gave him a headache. Once he was done with a pile of work, he thought about Sophia, so he quickly gave her a call.

It was only in that moment that he knew how to appreciate her. When he reflected on the days that they were together, she always seemed strong and independent. She always took care of him and he did not need to worry about anything else whenever he was with her because she would never cause trouble for him. If only Kayla and Xyla were as thoughtful as her.

Sophia had thrown her phone aside and took a bath after returning home. Therefore, his phone call was answered by Michael again.

As soon as the call was connected, Richard’s emotional voice came through. “Sophia, thank you so much for today. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have been able to meet Master Levine so soon… My parents are very satisfied with you, but my sister is in trouble now. What my mother meant was that if you can manipulate your connection with Joel to help Kayla or any bachelorette in the Harper Family to hook up with the Fletchers… In that case, my family’s position will be strengthened and your position in the family will also be even higher. Maybe my mother can even allow you to bear my son. In the future, our son will be able to inherit a part of the Harper Family’s fortune.”

Michael was rendered speechless as he listened to Richard’s words.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 186

Michael resisted from laughing as he stoically hung up on the phone.

Nathan wore a pair of frog pajamas while playing games in his room. After logging into his ‘NateHiro’ character, he went around to defeat monsters.

Michael had also changed into his frog pajamas as he leaned on the door frame, looking at him. “Darling, are you playing games?”

Nathan ignored him.

Then, Michael returned to his room and grabbed his laptop before placing it next to Nathan’s laptop. “I really want to play games with you. What game are you playing? Can you teach me how to play it?”

Nathan thought about it for a while before answering him, “I’m playing the ‘Swordsman Game’.”

Michael smiled. “Oh gosh, I’ve already installed it on my laptop, but I can’t figure out how to play it. Can you teach me how to log into the game?”

Nathan glanced at him before placing his fingers on his laptop keyboard and began to register the latter’s details in the game.

After Sophia was done with her bath, she saw that the father and son were already playing games. Nathan was impressively helping Michael’s character in the game.

It was obvious to her that Michael was still a novice at the game—he was so new that his character had to die a few times while he fought the little monsters in Novice Village. Even though Nathan looked impatient with him, the latter was still his father, so he suppressed his frustrations and helped him through a few rounds.

“Darling, hubby, are you playing games too? Wait for me. I also want to join!”

She quickly logged into her new character before locating Michael and Nathan’s location in the game; the family of three were now a team to fight monsters.

She still dare not log into her main character because Sirius233 was still Scary Phoenix’s b*tch.

Michael didn’t seem to have played a game before, which explained his clumsiness. He took ages to kill a monster and his skill level was close to zero. She continued to help him to fight monsters while sighing in her heart, It looks like my idol is not completely perfect. There will always be something that he isn’t good at, like playing games.

The family of three were in the midst of playing games together when Hale entered to look for Michael. The moment Hale opened the door, he saw three frogs huddled together and playing games.

When he saw Sophia being proud of herself for helping a novice like Michael defeat monsters, he felt that it was impossible for her to ever escape Michael’s grasp.

The phrase ‘being played into someone’s hands’ can probably be used to describe Sophia and Michael… Other families spend their time together playing house whereas this family bonds by playing games.

Michael played for a while before following Hale to talk about business.

“Boss, according to reliable sources, Phantom Wolf has already entered Cethos, and he is now planning to cause trouble.” Hale’s expression was serious even though he was facing a massive frog.

Michael silently removed the hood and read his report with a dark face.

Phantom Wolf was the codename for the leader of an international terrorist organization. The ZF Organization had no name with members around the world, causing lots of terrorist attacks. Many world leaders were frustrated because of them, so lots of countries formed an alliance to catch those international criminals, but there hadn’t been a successful way to capture their leader.

The organization had existed for almost a century with a horrifying background and Phantom Wolf was their leader’s codename. Every decade or so, Phantom Wolf would appear in Cethos. Although he was driven out of the country each time he showed up, he seemed to have a special connection with the land.

The last time he came was two years ago when Michael laid a trap to capture him. Even though he was severely injured, he still managed to escape in the end.

He had discovered Phantom Wolf’s whereabouts not too long ago and deployed a lot of men to capture the man, but he still managed to escape the carefully planned trap. No one even knew what Phantom Wolf looked like.

Michael’s men only managed to catch a photo of Phantom Wolf’s back—the man was treacherous and cunning, so it was the only picture they had after a long period of investigation.

He looked at Phantom Wolf in the picture. Phantom Wolf was a man who wore a baseball, but only his back was seen. Even though his face was obscured, every inch of his body was oozing a dangerous aura.

“Phantom Wolf…” Michael called his name out as a sense of hatred filled him. My sister and my brother-in-law died in his hands!

When he was done with his business, he returned to the room and saw that Sophia and Nathan were asleep after they finished playing their game. The sight of two frogs—one big and one small—leaning against each other was exceptionally sweet.

Michael tilted his head to admire their sleeping position and gently closed the door a while later.

The moment he closed the door, Sophia immediately opened her eyes and thought about a particular serious question while staring at her fingers. Why don’t I choose a perfect day to sleep with Michael? It feels so exciting and embarrassing that I’m about to sleep with my idol.

All she could think about was the dirty pictures that he sent her, making her so excited that she couldn’t sleep.

However, whenever she thought about his gay friends, she felt defeated again.

I must not like Michael because he is simply oxic! Not only is he the dream of 2 billion girls in the world, but I have rivals in the form of 2 billion young men! Why do I have to face many rivals just to like this man? Not only are girls my rivals, but boys as well!

The next day, she woke up earlier and went to school with Nathan.

After a snowfall, it had turned Bayside University into an exceptionally beautiful campus, as if it was coated with silver and snow. The janitor had already cleared out the snow to make a path.

Sophia sent Nathan to the School of Computer Science and met Stanley on the way there. As the weather was cold as of late, he did not dare to ride his motorbike; therefore, he drove here in a second-hand car that he bought from a car dealership. He then parked his car in the campus’s parking lot among the other luxurious cars.

“Sophia! You finally decided to come to class!” He instantly touched her fluffy knitted hat.

Before she could even respond, Nathan answered, “Get your hands off her!”

Stanley also rubbed his tiny head before dragging him to his classroom. “Sophia, you can head off now. I’ll help to take care Nathan for you.”

Upon seeing them leaving, she walked toward her classroom.

On the way there, she felt that everyone looked at her with a strange expression.

What is it again?

Sophia was confused. She never thought that Kayla would dare to get her involved in what happened at the Harper Family’s banquet the last time. If Kayla didn’t, Sophia intended to slowly kill her, but if she did, the latter could immediately end her. I merely asked for a normal leave from the university. Do they have to look at me like that?

Then, a familiar face was walking in front of her.

“Meow!”

Sarah was a new friend whom Sophia met during military training. After she returned from school, they would both occasionally catch a meal together. Both their names started with an ‘S’, so they felt closer to each other. She was one of Sophia’s few friends and even gave a nickname to the latter.

“Sofie!” Sarah called out upon seeing Sophia and greeted her happily. “Are you feeling better? You look even prettier after being gone for a month.”

Sarah was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but her family had built their wealth from scratch, so she did not have the arrogance of an elite, which made it easier for her to talk to anyone.

After exchanging greetings, they grabbed each other’s shoulders and walked toward their class. “Wow, I didn’t attend that banquet because I didn’t receive any invitation. You’re so brilliant, considering you actually talked to all three idols at the same time. You even wore your idol’s dress and ring. You’re so awesome!”

Sophia asked curiously, “Why do I feel that everybody is looking at me with a strange expression?”

Sarah sighed. “Lately, I don’t know which brain-dead magazine company has decided to spew nonsense again. Here, look at this.”

She had bought a magazine from a newsstand on her way to campus. On the magazine cover was a picture of Stanley devouring a plate of pudding with ferocity. It seemed to be taken at the Harper Family’s banquet.

The title of the magazine read, ‘The Dream to Marry Into A Rich Family Gone. Ex-Girlfriend of the Young Master of Harper Group Obsessed With a Loser Gamer!’

Sophia was rendered speechless.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 187

Sophia flipped open the magazine and found the article that discredited her.

All of the pictures published in the article were ugly photos of Stanley eating. They described him as a local boy who was from a village in the city and an idiot who knew nothing but playing games. The magazine even compared him to Richard’s picture.

Richard’s clear picture was perfectly edited and whereas Stanley’s picture was taken from the side. The magazine never even edited his photo, so his pimples were very obvious. When both pictures were being compared with each other, the difference was abundantly clear.

As she read through the article, she suddenly felt a little sorry for herself. ‘Girl from a village in the city dreams of being a rich person, but she failed to hook up with the Young Master of the Harper Group, shattering her dreams. Therefore, she could only settle for a poor and yokel gamer who only knows how to play games. Even the car and outfit she wore to a banquet were all rented.’

‘Even though she was able to wear her idol’s dress, she still needed to return it afterward. She was still a peasant once she removed the skirt. The agony of a shattered rich dream! In the end, her ex-boyfriend was with the perfect girl from a family of the same status as him while she was left with her full-time job. When she returned home, she could only eat instant noodles with the gamer, who has a face full of acne. The two of them even had to share a cooked radish together.’

When Sophia had finished reading the article, she was in a bad mood as she couldn’t help but feel sorry for her ‘devastating loss’.

Sarah comforted her, “This magazine is intentionally discrediting you after being bribed by the Harpers. It has gone off the shelves of every newsstand on campus. Don’t be sad since it’s all nonsense. At least your Stan is still a handsome man!”

As they walked forward, they saw a boy walking toward them in a coquettish manner while swaying his waist—it was obviously Sean.

He wore a red winter suit with a white hat that only revealed his tiny face, making him look like a pretty girl.

The three of them walked together while discussing the earlier article in the magazine. When Sean saw Stanley’s ‘beautiful photos’ in the magazine, the corners of his lips seemed to twitch, but he said nothing in the end.

On the other hand, Sarah couldn’t stop complaining about the magazine. “Bah! What kind of a sh*tty magazine is this? What nonsense are they writing about? Look at how they describe you in this article! The girls in our class are now saying things behind your back, such as how you have failed to hook up with a rich family or how a peasant like you is trying to work up the social ladder. They are just jealous! Let me tell you a secret—lots of boys in our class know that I have a good relationship with you, so they have secretly asked me for your contact number!”

The three of them chatted their way to class.

Once class was finished, Sophia snuck to the library to read some books. However, on the way there, she ran into people who seemed to point their finger at her while some of them even spoke loudly, as if they wanted her to hear what they said.

“That is Sophia. Oh dear, she failed to marry into a rich family. That’s such a pity for her!”

“If I am her, I won’t even dare to show my face in Bayside University. It’s too embarrassing!”

“You are right and she even found herself such a sh*tty boyfriend. She must have felt jealous in her heart, seeing how glamorous her ex-boyfriend is now.”

However, she walked past them as though she couldn’t hear what they said.

She could not be bothered on what others thought of her because she was focused on her exam preparations. She heard that after Michael left the army to pursue his studies in Bayside University at that time, he received yearly scholarships. I need to emulate my idol!

A few days after she returned to school, it was time for exams. Bayside University was rather efficient in marking their papers as the turnover rate was fast—on the evening of the exam itself, students would be able to check their results for a specific course through the school’s website.

All the students sat for two exams for professional courses on the first day. On that night itself, the class monitor announced the results for the two exams via their Messenger group.

The moment the results were released, the Messenger group became lively. ‘Sophia is so brilliant. She has missed a month of class yet she still managed to obtain good results. For both courses, she received 98 out of 100 each!’

‘She is so brilliant! It looks like we have no chance for the scholarship!’

When Juliette saw the messages in the group, she hesitated for a while before sending Sophia’s results to Kayla in the end.

Kayla violently smashed her laptop as soon as she saw Sophia’s results.

She lived a miserable life this semester since Sophia had ruined both her life and studies. Therefore, she lacked the mood to study, causing her to fail both exams today.

Moreover, everyone else in her family did not do well in the exams—even Xyla didn’t receive a satisfactory result for today’s two exams as she had barely passed and the scores for her specialized subjects were even worse.

Richard had been busy with the company affairs, so he missed a lot of classes, causing his results to barely hover above the passing grade.

Kayla had received zero credits for her military trailing and now failed two important courses, so she was practically never going to graduate from school. How could she be in a good mood?

How can a btch like her obtain good grades? Never mind first place in class! Why should she deserve these high grades? I had purposely asked the magazine to release this article at the end of the semester and intentionally asked every newsstand in school to sell this magazine, so that I can let everyone in school know how miserable and shameless Sophia is! I want everyone to know that she is just a delusional btch! I want everyone to despise and look down on her. I want everyone to mock her on her face so that she won’t be able to sleep at night while secretly crying. That way, she won’t be able to attend classes during the day! I want her to lose her focus on her studies so that she will get zero marks for her final exams without even passing one subject. I want her to be out of Bayside University in shame! However, this b*tch’s skin isn’t as thin as I expected. I can’t believe she can still remain unperturbed and obtain good grades even when everyone is mocking her on her face!

Coupled with her discontent toward the new house, she began to smash everything out of anger again.

“Urgh, you are all against me! I hate you! I hate you all!”

After smashing everything for half a day, she held her knees and curled up in a corner while silently crying. No one came to care for her now that almost everyone in the family had abandoned her, making her feel as if the whole world had given up on her. It’s all because of Sophia!

Kayla cried for a while before suddenly rising to her full height and wiped her tears before sending Juliette a voice message. After she sent it, she let out a menacing laugh. If I’m going to fail, let’s all fail together!

Since it was merely the first semester, there weren’t many subjects that needed revision. Therefore, Sophia only needed to sit for 6 exams, which took her 3 days to settle.

It was time for the last exam on the afternoon of the third day—the most important degree course. If she were to fail this subject, it would directly affect her credits and by then, it was possible that she wouldn’t be able to receive her degree certificate four years later. Therefore, everyone tried their best to focus and work hard to achieve the highest grades possible.

Sophia had also taken the exam very seriously, so she arrived at the examination room earlier. After she revised for a while, she took the opportunity to head to the restroom before the start of exams.

Juliette saw that Sophia had left a stack of draft papers on her seat. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she blocked the surveillance camera on the wall with her body and secretly flipped open the draft papers before tearing a corner from a page. She placed it inside her clothes and pretended that nothing had happened.

The exam soon started. As soon as the teachers revealed the questions, only the rustling sound of pens being scribbled on paper was heard in the examination room.

Sophia was focused on answering the questions as she did her calculations on her draft paper and could have filled up an entire piece in merely a few minutes.

Quinton Clark was the invigilator and meticulously checked on everyone’s situation as he walked past the many candidates. Occasionally, he would peer at everyone’s answers.

Only half of the time had passed and she was already done with all of the questions. However, as she was still unable to hand in her answers, she flipped through her paper and checked the answers for every question.

He peeked at her paper from behind, seemingly satisfied as he nodded his head.

However, when he glanced at Juliette, who was sitting behind her, he noticed that she hadn’t answered the questions even though half of the time had passed. There was even a big question at the end, which she left blank.

He felt that her behavior was a little strange, so he paid more attention to her.

After a few glances, Professor Clark finally noticed that there was something weird with her actions. Then, he quickly went over and saw the corner of a crumpled draft paper pressed under her elbow. She took a look at the contents on the draft paper before starting to write rapidly!

“Juliette, what are you doing?”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 188

Professor Clark roared.

Juliette was so scared that she started to tremble and quickly hid the note, which was in her elbow, behind her back immediately. She looked up at Professor Clark with a pale face and answered as her eyes darted around, “N-Nothing…”

The students, who were busy answering the exam questions, raised their heads and looked at Juliette and Professor Clark.

He was furious as he repeated his words. “I saw everything. What is in your hand? Take it out!”

Professor Clark was usually very gentle, so it was the first time that the students saw him in such fury. What does Juliette have in her hand? Everybody looked at the hand which was behind her back.

Juliette continued to shake her head. “Nothing. There is honestly nothing.” Her entire body trembled in fear when she answered. She gritted her teeth while tears rolled down her cheeks.

Sophia turned to glance at them, but she seemed indifferent. Then, she returned to her questions.

Professor Clark suddenly charged at Juliette and grabbed a piece of paper from her hand—it was the corner of a piece of rough paper. Scrawled across the piece of paper were the answers to a few major questions, multiple-choice questions, and objective questions. She’s cheating!

He stared at the piece of paper in disbelief and crushed it on the spot while questioning her, “Juliette Sanders, do you know that this is considered cheating? Who gave you this piece of paper?”

Everybody realized with a start, I can’t believe someone is cheating! Isn’t she aware of the consequences of cheating in Bayside University? She will receive zero marks for all her subjects! She would also be suspended for one semester and repeat the year! Even if she receives her graduation certificate four years later, she won’t receive the degree certificate! More importantly, she wouldn’t be allowed to sit for the postgraduate entrance exam!

Everybody wanted to know which two unlucky b*stards had the guts to cheat in Bayside University’s final exam.

Juliette shook her head as tears continued to stream uncontrollably. However, she stuck to her story. “I wrote this and I didn’t cheat!”

Professor Clark compared the handwriting on the slip of paper to the notes in Juliette’s notebook. Who will deliberately tear a corner off a piece of draft paper for the answer before copying it slowly onto the exam paper? Besides, the handwriting is different!

Juliette’s handwriting was elegant and cursive whereas the one on the answer sheet was narrow and beautiful. He flipped through Juliette’s notebook, but he couldn’t find one with a torn corner. Someone had obviously passed her the slip of paper! “I am asking you for the last time. Who handed you this piece of paper?”

Juliette lowered her head in silence for a while as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Suddenly, she pointed at Sophia, who was sitting in front of her, and answered softly, “I-It’s… Sophia!”

There was an uproar and everybody looked at Sophia, who was seated in front of her. Professor Clark marched toward Sophia. Then, he picked up her notebook to check—true enough, her handwriting was narrow and beautiful. Furthermore, there was a missing corner in one of her notebook pages. He flattened the piece of paper, which was cramped with answers, against the torn page in Sophia’s notebook. Upon comparing them, they matched like a jigsaw puzzle. This is from Sophia’s notebook!

Sophia was still engrossed in checking her formula when she was accused of something that she did not do. Therefore, she turned to glance at Juliette while maintaining a blank expression.

Juliette lowered her head since she did not have the courage to meet Sophia’s gaze. Professor Clark regarded Juliette before glancing at Sophia, quivering with fury. “You two, come to my office now!”

Sophia did not utter a word as she stood up while placing her draft paper, which showed her working, and test paper separately on the table, according to the requirements of handing in the examination paper. After that she packed her admission ID, ID card, and everything else before walking out. Juliette followed her closely from behind.

Professor Clark furiously collected their exam papers. Then, he called for an inspection teacher to enter and invigilate the exam before entering his office with a stern face.

Sophia and Juliette did not speak to each other in the office. One of them was guilty and kept her head bowed whereas the other had an open expression, as if she had nothing to hide. Professor Clark glared at both of them with gleaming eyes once he entered his office. He slammed his palm on his office desk while thundering, “You two better give me an explanation. What is going on? Don’t you both usually perform quite well? What made you do such a thing?”

Juliette burst into tears and explained while shaking uncontrollably, “It’s my entire fault. I did not study well. Miss Edwards is kind enough to help me. Since it is my fault, please punish me if you have to!” Nevertheless, once someone was caught cheating, it did not matter who was actually cheating because the person who aided them would have their grades nullified for that semester and also wouldn’t receive their degree certificate.

Sophia answered openly and truthfully, “I don’t know what happened. I did not pass the exam answers to anyone. My conscience is clear.” She seemed relaxed with her hands in the pockets of her down jacket, looking as if she wouldn’t accept defeat until the end.

Professor Clark glared at them and he lost his patience. “You two, wait for me here. I will head to the surveillance room now to check on the surveillance tape. I’ll see how you plan to get out of this!”

Juliette lowered her head as her gaze followed him. She knew that it was useless even if he checked the surveillance tape because she had prepared beforehand by practicing Sophia’s narrow and beautiful handwriting and tearing a piece of her draft paper.

The surveillance camera was behind them in the exam venue. As Juliette sat behind Sophia, it would not be able to capture all of her movements. As long as she was adamant with her answers while maintaining reticence, Sophia would not be able to escape from being charged with assisting to cheat.

Professor Clark left his office and the door closed with a loud bang, leaving them as the only ones in the office. After a long pause, Sophia finally broke the silence. “Spill, what happened? There are no surveillance cameras in the office.”

Juliette remained silent; she did not have the courage to answer Sophia.

Seeing this, Sophia threatened her, “Why don’t I expose the incident of you placing a nail in my shoe during our military training?”

There was a loud thud before Juliette kneeled down in front of Sophia and kowtowed twice at her. “Sophia, I know that I have wronged you. I will drop out of Bayside University! I am sorry. I am so sorry!”

She regarded Juliette, who was kneeling on the ground, but there was no pity in her gaze. “What is it this time? Is your mom sick again?”

Juliette remained silent for a long time before speaking again, “Previously, my mom had her surgery after receiving a sum of money from the Harpers and it was successful. However, someone from their unit had framed my dad for an embezzlement case. My dad will be released as long as the Harpers say the word…”

“Haha.” Sophia burst out laughing. “Are you saying that the Harper Family came looking for you again to frame me?”

Juliette did not dare to answer, but continued to kowtow to Sophia. “Sophia, I am sorry to have wronged you. You have such good results, so I am sure you will be able to graduate. I am so sorry. I am truly sorry!”

After a pause, Sophia suddenly took her phone out of her pocket. She pressed a button before Juliette’s voice rang from her phone. “However, someone from their unit had framed my dad for an embezzlement case. My dad will be released as long as the Harpers say the word.”

Juliette stared in disbelief at the phone in her hand. No wonder she has kept her hands in her pockets all this while. It turns out that she has been recording our conversation with her phone.

Sophia stared at her with a blank expression. “Stop pretending. I have recorded everything.”

After the initial shock, Juliette was emboldened and smiled sadly. “That is right, Sophia. The Harper Family has threatened me. However, didn’t we agree that you’ll give me the answers since I didn’t study well? You willingly did this.

No matter what happens, you can’t escape from being charged with assisting to cheat during an exam. Sophia, I have wronged you. I shouldn’t have allowed you to pass me those answers. I have dragged you into receiving this punishment. I am sorry. I am so sorry.”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 189

Ever since the incident in the military training, although Sophia was still close to Juliette on the surface since they always discussed problems that they faced in lectures and went to the library to revise together, she knew that if the latter had plotted against her the first time, she could do it again for the second time—and maybe even the third time.

Hence, she was not afraid at all when she saw Juliette’s determined expression in accusing her.

In the worst case scenario, she could return home and please her idol husband. Then, she could change her results anytime she liked.

However, the door was suddenly opened at that moment. Professor Clark, who was supposed to head to the surveillance office to take the surveillance tapes, stood there and looked at Juliette in disappointment. “Juliette, you’ve disappointed me!”

Sophia was not surprised to see Professor Clark’s sudden appearance. Even though he said that he was about to head to the surveillance room, there were no footsteps once he walked out, so it was rather obvious that he was eavesdropping at the door.

Juliette was too nervous to notice it, but she had been paying close attention all along.

Professor Clark’s appearance had immensely shocked Juliette. She immediately broke into tears after quickly assessing the situation. “I’m so sorry, sir. I’ve disappointed you! I shouldn’t have asked Sophia to pass the answers to me. It’s all my fault! I’ve dragged her down, but if you want to punish someone, just punish me! This has nothing to do with her! She is just being extremely kind. Her results are very good, so please don’t punish her!”

Although she kept insisting that Professor Clark should punish her alone, she was accusing Sophia with every word of hers. If the charges were confirmed, Sophia would also be unable to escape from the inevitable outcome of failing to obtain her degree.

Not only was she unable to obtain her degree, but the charge would be added to her personal profile and forever become a smear in her life. No other universities would dare to allow her to enroll and she would no longer have any chances of obtaining a degree. In fact, her personal profile would be referred to by educational institutions all around the world, so it would be arduous for her to enter the universities abroad as well.

Upon looking at Juliette’s behavior before and after he returned, Professor Clark’s anger was suddenly appeased. Leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms in front of his chest, he smiled instead. “Fine, I’ll do as you wish. Since your usual performance is stellar, Miss Edwards, you’ll only be lightly punished and your case will not be made public. I’ll merely give Miss Edwards some counselling sessions. Her grades will remain the same and won’t be entered into the system. As for you, Miss Sanders, all your results will be null and void and you’ll have to retake all the modules. Apart from that, your attempt to cheat in the exam will be filed in your personal profile and you won’t be able to get your degree in the end. What do you think?”

Juliette raised her head and looked at him in shock. She probably did not expect that he would be openly biased. “Sir, you—”

“Thank you, sir!” Sophia jubilantly responded. “Juliette, thank you for pleading on my behalf as well! If there are no other matters, I’ll take my leave now.”

Professor Clark nodded seriously. “Have a great winter break, Miss Edwards. Your results are quite good this time; remember not to slack too much during the break!”

However, Juliette couldn’t agree to the outcome—she suddenly ran to Sophia and pulled her back, not allowing her to leave. “Professor, you can’t be that biased. She has to be punished for this as well!”

At that point, she could no longer be bothered to keep up with the appearance. If she did not complete the task that Kayla gave to her, not only would her future be ruined, but her entire family would be destroyed as well. Hence, no matter what, she had to drag Sophia down with her.

Sophia was exasperated when she saw Juliette grabbing her hands and said coldly, “Let me go!”

However, she refused to comply and grabbed Sophia even tighter instead. “Professor Clark, if you insist on helping Sophia, I’ll make a big fuss out of this so that everyone knows that you are siding her.”

Professor Clark was speechless upon hearing that, but Sophia suddenly said with a cold tone, “Since that’s the case, why don’t we look for a professional authority to confirm the handwritings? It’s impossible for two people to have the exact same handwriting!”

Juliette froze upon hearing that.

Sophia pushed her aside coldly. “If it’s not enough to identify the handwritings, we can also check for the fingerprints on the paper. If I’ve indeed written on it, my fingerprints will definitely be on it. If not, it shows that you are merely slandering me!”

She had been intelligent from the beginning up until the current moment—she did not touch the paper, so it would only contain Juliette and Professor Clark’s fingerprints.

Juliette turned paler.

However, Sophia took a few steps forward and looked at her threateningly. “How’s that? Is the fuss big enough for you now?”

Juliette no longer had any words to say and hopelessly sat on the ground while bursting into tears.

Sophia didn’t even glance at her and picked up her bag before saying ‘thank you’ to Professor Clark and quickly leaving. Since she had already completed all of her questions, she regarded it as handing in her papers earlier.

As soon as she left, Juliette suddenly crawled to hug Professor Clark’s thighs as she kneeled on the ground. “Professor Clark, please don’t punish me! I’m also being forced to do it! All the questions were done by me. I didn’t cheat in the exam! Please help me, sir!”

Upon hearing that, Professor Clark’s stance softened and he sighed.

On the other hand, Kayla had also finished her last paper and did not hand it in until the last possible moment. She hadn’t even completed the final question, which consisted of half of the marks, so her results would be disastrous in the end. It could be said that she no longer had any chance of graduating.

However, as soon as she remembered that Sophia would fail in her results or that she might even be expelled by the university due to cheating in exams, she immediately cheered up.

After she submitted her paper, there weren’t many people left on the first floor. Then, she entered the restroom alone.

As soon as she entered, Gemma had suddenly appeared from nowhere and placed a board in front of the bathroom, which read, ‘In Maintenance. Please do not enter’.

The lights immediately dimmed as soon as Kayla entered the bathroom.

The skies had darkened rather early since it was winter. On top of that, they were on the first floor, so the lighting wasn’t quite good and made the bathroom quite dark. She could barely make her way around the area.

“Ugh!” Kayla yelled as she opened one of the cubicle doors. However, as soon as she opened it, a foot stepped on her back.

Thud!

She was kicked into the cubicle before her face was immediately buried in the toilet bowl.

“Aaaaah—”

Her shrill scream was interrupted as a cloth was forcefully stuffed into her mouth. A reeking smell immediately entered her mouth.

Before she could take the cloth out of her mouth, she immediately received a rain of punches and kicks. Suddenly, a leg stepped on her joints and forcefully broke her leg.

The cloth had muted her screams. She was in so much pain that she rolled around on the ground and cried, but the punches that fell on her never seemed to stop.

Using the weak, natural light that shone from outside, she finally saw the culprit who attacked her.

Her eyes immediately widened. Sophia! It’s her!

At that moment, Kayla finally confirmed that the person who broke her leg in the military training was, without a doubt, Sophia.

It was the second time. Just when her injuries had finally recovered, her leg was broken for the second time.

“Sob, sob.” With wide and round eyes, she struggled like a dying dog. However, in such a small space, she had no power to rebel as she was no match for Sophia.

Sophia’s cold voice sounded in her ears. “How about this, Miss Harper? How do you feel about someone breaking your leg?”

“Ugh—” Kayla flailed around as her hands tried to grab her surroundings.

Gemma suddenly knocked on the door—it was a sign of someone else approaching the restroom. Sophia retreated quickly, but before she left, she stepped on Kayla’s leg once more. The pain immediately caused Kayla to yell out in anguish.

When she crawled out of the cubicle and removed the cloth in her mouth that was used to wipe the toilet bowl, the lights in the washroom had been restored, but Sophia was nowhere to be seen. The windows of the restroom were also wide open.

Hugging her leg that had been broken, Kayla wriggled like a dog on the floor and screamed louder than someone who was being tortured.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 190

Someone finally heard Kayla’s agonizing screams and took her to the hospital. The poor thing had her legs broken again—her face was swollen and her front teeth were broken due to the beating.

On the other side, Sophia gladly carried her bag and went to pick Nathan up. She saw Quinton Clark when she was on the way there, so she casually greeted him. “Professor Clark, you seemed to be done with invigilating the examination.”

Quinton replied, “Yeah, I need to work overtime to mark the exam papers. I’ll try to finalize the results by tonight.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor Clark.” She meekly bowed to him before walking away briskly.

His eyes were unfathomable as he looked at her back view disappearing in the distance. I was told earlier that Kayla’s legs were broken by someone…

After the exam, she was in a great mood and went home happily.

Michael will probably be at home tonight. Maybe I shall sleep with him tonight! Today is still a safe day for me! She had made up her mind to sleep with him tonight!

However, the moment she opened the front door, she saw Michael heading upstairs while grabbing two eels in his hands.

He wore an apron, looking as if he was about to cook something in the kitchen and the two eels in his hands looked hideous. She was frightened at the sight and her face instantly paled.

Upon seeing that she had returned, he was delighted. He put the two eels into the aquarium and uttered, “Chica, you are back. Come and have a look! I’ve caught another two eels; they are thick and long!”

With his gloves on, he looked at his eels in pleasure. Sophia had completed her exams today, so he decided to kill two eels as a celebration. As the eels in the aquarium have been all caught and slaughtered, he personally went to the pond, where the eels were reared in, and caught two of the thickest eels to replace the ones that had been killed.

However, he never expected that it would give her the fright of her life.

“How are your exams?” he asked as he removed his apron and gloves.

Due to the fright, she remained quiet for a moment before she answered, “It’s good. It’s really great.”

I suddenly don’t wish to sleep with Michael. He’s a psycho! Who knows if he will take out some psychotic toy halfway through the lovemaking? I’ve decided to delay this for a little longer. I’m still young—just a kid—and lovemaking is still too early for me. I’ll wait for another three or five years. I hope that I’m able to delay it until then.

While Sophia lived in fear of the eels, the situation in the Harper Family was as gloomy as usual.

The sophomores also had their final examinations today. Right after Richard exited the exam hall, he was informed that his sister had been beaten up and her legs were broken before dashing to the hospital in worry.

Kayla’s injuries sustained from the second beating were even worse than the last time—not only her legs were broken, but her teeth were shattered and even her face was swollen from the beating.

Upon seeing him, she became hysterical. “Richard, it was Sophia who beat me! It was her! She was also the person who broke my legs in the barrack! It was her! It was her!”

He was unconvinced. “It’s impossible that it was Sophia who did all this. She even specially invited the three idols to your banquet to introduce them to you! It’s obvious that she treats you well!”

She scoffed, knowing that he wouldn’t believe her. “Richard, it was really her. You need to trust me. She found out about it! She discovered that I was the person who hired someone to break her legs twice!”

“It was you who did it?”

Richard recalled about the incidents that happened years ago. Before he had dated Sophia, her legs had already been broken once.

She was still a freshman in high school when her legs were broken by someone for no reason. At that time, she had no money to treat the injuries and delaying treatment would cause permanent disability. It was him who paid for her medical bills and searched for the best orthopedic student. He even helped her to return to school as quickly as possible so as not to affect her studies.

Sophia and Richard were in a relationship after that incident.

He repeated his question in disbelief. “Kayla, don’t lie to me. Was it really you who did that?”

Kayla didn’t feel that she had done anything wrong and, instead, regretted the action that incidentally led Sophia to be together with him. “I initially attempted her to warn her not to be delusional and dream about dating you. Unexpectedly, the incident where her legs were broken brought you two together.”

“You—” He was at a loss for adjectives to describe his sister. How could she do such a thing?

Nevertheless, since plenty of her dark secrets had been revealed, she did not mind revealing two more. “The second time was when she came to my place to seek help after being expelled from school. I thought that she was disgusting, so I had someone break her legs and throw her out like trash. I even hired two gangsters to rape her, but she unexpectedly managed to escape. She even managed to get someone to treat her legs.”

So much has actually happened without my knowledge! Daniel is right—this sister of mine is simply here to make my life a living hell! Richard peered at his sister with an expression that he never had before.

“Let’s do the math—I broke her legs twice, but she broke my legs once in the barrack and this is the second time. She’s seeking revenge! Do you believe me now? My legs were broken by that b*tch!” Kayla had a scowl on her face with protruding green veins as she coldly looked at Richard.

Richard couldn’t believe that the unreasonable lady in front of him was actually his sister. How many evil deeds has she done?

“You—” He pointed at her with trembling fingers and finally lost his temper. “What exactly do you want? You are really making the lives of the Harper Family difficult! Have you counted how many times our Harper Family has helped to clean up the mess you made and deal with the consequences of the problems you have caused? Master Levine was right—you only bring misfortune to the Harper Family. You’re a jinx!”

With that, Richard dashed out of the room in rage. Xyla, who remained silent at one side, chased after him in worry and consoled, “Richard, don’t be mad. Kayla is stubborn, so that’s just how she speaks. Everything will be alright once she is more mature.”

He sat on a bench in the hospital, feeling exhausted as he rubbed the middle of his brows and looked at her accompanying him. Feeling a little comforted, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and uttered, “Thank you, Xyla. If only Kayla has half of your thoughtfulness, there wouldn’t have been so many issues to deal with.”

She leaned in his embrace happily, hoping that the moment would last forever.

However, since Sophia had returned, Xyla knew that he would be snatched from her if she didn’t strive harder for him. I must stay strong and hold my ground!

“Richard, the misunderstandings that Sophia and Kayla have are getting deeper. Now that she has broken Kayla’s legs, I’m afraid Mrs. Harper won’t be able to tolerate her if she finds out about this.”

The mention of the incident gave him a headache. Why will Sophia suddenly take action on Kayla? My mother just had a slight change in her impression of Sophia, so if she’s willing to try harder, she’d be able to make my family like her even more!

“Sigh…” He let out a sigh and gave Sophia a call. I need to ask her myself what exactly happened.

Xyla leaned in his arms and eavesdropped on his call to Sophia.

The call was connected and Sophia’s voice was heard. “Hello, Zane. What’s the matter?”

Upon hearing Sophia’s nonchalant voice, Xyla gritted her teeth in anger inwardly, wishing that she could fly to the other side of the call through the telephone signal and strangle that b*tch to death.

Richard gulped before he asked, “Sophia, Kayla was beaten up today. She said that it was you—”

“What? Your sister is beaten up? Oh my, how could this have happened? This is scary… I’m sorry. The food is here. I’m hanging up now.”

A beep was then heard.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 191

The call was cut. Richard stood there stiffly with the phone for ages, despite no other sound coming from it, before finally putting it down.

“Perhaps it really isn’t Sophia who did it. She had just done a great deed for the Harpers. If she really wanted to do something to Kayla, she wouldn’t have helped out there,” Xyla said none too sincerely.

At that train of thought, Richard nodded in agreement. Kayla’s preconceptions of Sophia were already rooted deep into her. It wasn’t her first time lying about her. There was a high chance that things were actually like that this time. What if she had broken her own leg? Even when she caught a cold at home, Kayla still had to insist that Sophia put a curse on her. Besides, the police had come over to investigate earlier. They had checked the CCTVs nearby, and there was no proof that it was Sophia’s doing.

“Richard, relax. I’ll smooth things over with your mother. I won’t let her have the wrong idea about Sophia.”

Seeing how responsible Xyla was, Richard kissed her forehead with his emotions running high. “Xyla, your presence in my life is truly the best gift that the heavens have blessed me with.”

At number 8, The Imperial, Sophia hung up her call with Richard. A plate of braised eel with the most appetizing aroma was already placed before her. Everyone was leaping for the chance to try the dish; after all, a man that had the hearts of millions of girls in his hands had cooked his signature dish for her for the first time. The moment the dish hit the table, Sophia immediately reached out to take a piece. He was indeed an expert on eel! Even the eel dish he made was extraordinarily delicious!

At this moment, Michael Fletcher carried Nathan—who was still in the middle of eating—out of the dining room and closed the door. When he came back, he brought a bottle of red wine with him. He then lit some candles.

Nathan immediately became mutinous from being locked out of the room. When he sat down again, Michael gracefully spread his napkin. “What’s your schedule for the next few days like now that you’ve finished your exams?”

“The campus winter basketball tournament will be held these few days. I’m a member of the university’s women’s basketball team, even if I’m just a substitute. There’s still a good chance that I’ll need to step up to the field.” Sophia’s words were unclear as she ate. She had signed up for numerous clubs and societies in order to avoid Michael back then; in fact, she had forgotten exactly how many she had put her name down for. At any rate, the basketball club had come knocking on her door to get her to play.

Michael nodded. “I see. It’s better to work on all different aspects of yourself. Girls should exercise more too. You’ll only be able to become stronger if you do a bit of exercise or dabble in some sports.”

Sophia nodded fervently. Michael took a sip of wine and then wiped his mouth. “Do you want me to root for you during the tournament?”

Sophia hastily flapped her hands. “No, no need for that. Hubby, you’re even busier with work. There’s a good chance I won’t be needed on the court anyway!” If Michael came to the tournament to cheer her on personally, her identity would most likely be blown in a flash. It would be better to keep things low-key.

Due to her exams the past few days, Sophia hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. On this day, however, she was freed from her torment and was able to eat such delicious food. It was even her first time eating an Adonis’s cooking. This was most likely the only time she would get to do it in her lifetime. She loved the dish so much that she was close to licking the plate clean.

Michael, on the other hand, ate at a slower pace with graceful bites. As he ate, he openly studied his dainty wife sitting across him. She was soft and adorable, making everyone feel like they couldn’t help but shower her with affection, but she looked so tiny. She really looked rather child-like. A thought suddenly struck him. “Who phoned you just now?” he asked.

Sophia took a bite of the pork ribs that Michael had marinated with his signature sauce before answering. “I broke my ex’s sister’s leg, and he called me to ask if I was the one who did it. Of course I answered that I didn’t do it!”

Michael laughed. What a frank girl!

Kayla’s parents had caught wind of Kayla’s broken leg in the end, but Xyla’s silver tongue worked its magic to sway them. It was so effective that Mrs. Harper believed that Kayla was lying about Sophia. And now, none of the Harpers believed Kayla’s words. Ever since Madam Harper arranged a few medical workers to come care for her daughter, she hadn’t visited her once. Kayla was so mad that she went on a hunger strike, but even though she had stopped eating, none of the Harpers came to see her. One, the Harpers had a huge wreck to handle, and secondly, the Harpers had been gradually losing their trust in Kayla. They wanted to teach her a lesson so that she wouldn’t ever dare to brazenly do as she wanted while being lavished with the Harpers’ adoration.

Xyla was the only one who still came to see Kayla every day. “Kayla, I know that you’re upset now that no one believes you, but I do. Still, that wretched Sophia is really impressive for having tricked both Richard and your parents into turning their backs on you. I spoke up for you yesterday, but Richard snapped at me. They were even talking about letting that little shrew into the company as an intern…” Xyla wiped her tears as she spoke.

Kayla had been on her hunger strike for a day already, neither eating nor drinking. Having heard Xyla’s words, her eyes reddened out of sheer hatred. She couldn’t contain her tears as she gritted her teeth. “As long as I’m still here, that wretch had better not think about taking a step into the Harper Family!”

Xyla covertly watched Kayla’s expression as she continued to wipe her tears. “What else can we do now? The entire family’s dancing in her palm from her lies now. No matter what we say, no one’s going to listen,” she said with fake concern.

Kayla gave a cold chuckle. “I can’t move due to my broken leg, but when I can finally leave this place, I will kill that b*tch!”

“Huh?” Xyla seemed to have been shocked by this. She quickly advised Kayla against it. “Kayla, don’t do something stupid. Listen to me and rest well so that you can recover. When you’re better, let’s expose that wretch’s true face together!”

Kayla still stood her ground. “Don’t talk me out of this. I must find the most efficient assassin to slice that b*tch up into a million pieces!”

Hire an assassin? Shock and doubt alternated in Xyla’s eyes, as though two thoughts were battling with them. She hastily continued to advise Kayla, “Kayla, please don’t do such a stupid thing. That’s against the law!”

Now that things had come to this, Kayla didn’t care whether she was breaking the law or not. All she wanted was for Sophia Edwards to die, and she was willing to pay any price for that. Kayla really couldn’t take it anymore, irritated from having listened to Xyla trying to talk her out of her plans for ages. She pushed the mini folding table over. “Get out of my sight!”

Xyla seemed to have been deeply aggrieved by that as she got up to leave, but she quickly returned and closed the door. She was silent for a while, as though she had been mustering her courage, before she spoke up. “Kayla, since I cannot talk you out of this, then the only thing I can do is to help you!” Then, she fished out a name card from her bag. Printed on it was the name Lone Wolf Media Co. Ltd, and its general manager’s contact details. There was a QR code on the back of the card. She handed the card to Kayla and said in a hushed tone, “This is the name card for someone who’s part of an international terrorist group. They also take money for hits on people. They’re even willing to kill political guests and royalty, and they’ve never failed their missions. Have you heard of the Phantom Wolf?”

Kayla’s eyes lit up in an instant, and Xyla continued to say, “If you really want to kill Sophia, look for them. As long as they’re the ones doing it, they definitely won’t fail.” She paused, hesitating. “But Kayla, you’ve got to think things over carefully. Everyone in that organization is a seasoned, bloodthirsty killer. Their boss, the Phantom Wolf, is on the wanted lists of several dozen countries. If you decide to hire them, their fees will be exorbitant!”

At once, Kayla let out the most cold-blooded, harsh laugh. “Even if what they want is my life, I will give it to them!”

Xyla left shortly after she finished giving her advice to Kayla. When she reached the hospital’s entrance, she found Richard waiting for her. “Richard, I talked with Kayla for what seems like forever, and she’s finally agreed to eat!” Xyla zoomed toward Richard like a pure and innocent little pixie.

“Xyla, thank you!”

Meanwhile, Kayla scarfed down a large quantity of food in her room to bring her energy levels up. Once she was done, she logged into her Messenger account and scanned the QR code on the back of the calling card.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 192

Bayside University’s winter basketball tournament was about to begin. It was merely one of the many sports under Bayside University’s sports festival during the winter. It was held after final exams every year, and it would go on for a few days. All the students were free to join.

Sophia represented the School of Economics and Business Administration in the women’s basketball lineup, but since she was just a substitute player, it was unknown if she would even need to make an appearance at the court. Hardly anyone watched women’s basketball. After all, the guys looked hotter playing basketball.

With the cold and snow outside, the indoor basketball court was warm like a spring day. Sophia changed into her sports attire in the changing rooms and coiled her hair close to her head. She looked as though she was a capable player. The other players on the team had their boyfriends to whisk them here and there and to help carry their bags and such; only Sophia was alone. She watched as everyone had their boyfriends escort them while she was the only one left out. Her heart felt hollow.

She wondered what Michael was currently doing. He probably was filming something. He had been busy recently with filming Doctor Invincible on top of some cameo appearance in another show. He would need to be away for a few days. Marrying him meant that she was fated to never have a campus romance.

The tournament hadn’t started yet when the audience began to trickle into the stands. In the desolated stadium, the players’ family members far outnumbered the actual audience numbers. Sophia sat alone in a corner, fiddling with her phone.

She refreshed her social media feeds again and again before finally catching sight of the latest status that Michael posted. He even uploaded a selfie with it too. It was a picture of him during the filming of Doctor Invincible. He was dressed in a raggedy costume, with scraggly facial hair. After they were done with his special effects makeup, he looked like a middle-aged man who was down on his luck. If he were out by the streets, no one would have been able to recognize him as a dreamboat who was desired by millions of girls.

When Richard entered the stadium, he immediately caught sight of Sophia in the small crowd. While everyone had brought their family with them, she was alone. He quirked an eyebrow in joy. “Sophia.”

Sophia looked up to see that Richard had come with Xyla. They were even holding hands. Her brows knitted together. Why was this pair of clowns here?

Xyla’s heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment when she saw Sophia’s frown. She tightened her grip on Richard’s hand. “Sophia, we’re here to cheer you on!”

Sophia snorted. Rather than rooting for her, they were here just to rub their affection for each other in her face.

“Right, thanks,” she replied. She didn’t want to say another word to them so that she wouldn’t end up causing unnecessary misunderstandings. After all, the Harper Family were a bunch of skilled actors.

Richard raised a well-groomed eyebrow. He pumped his fist in Sophia’s direction before going off to find a seat with Xyla. Once they found their seats, they sat down and began to get their hands all over each other, as though they were deliberately playing it up for others to see.

Xyla was absolutely pleased. Regardless of how staunchly Sophia stood her ground, Sophia was still just an unwanted, meddling third wheel who wouldn’t be able to face the light of day. Now that things had come to this, Sophia had to be absolutely gutted, yet unable to express it outwardly.

Sophia bent over and re-tightened her shoelaces. She could be sent to the court at any moment. All of a sudden, she saw a line of people march out with a gigantic, ostentatious light-up board. There were two words blazing at a blinding brightness on it: Sophia Edwards.

Sophia wasn’t sure what to say.

Stanley Fletcher had brought the guys in her class as well as the e-sports club to bring that light-up board. Each of them had a little flag, and they made their entry with all the discipline and poise that they had gained from all the marching they did during their military training. As they marched, they yelled.

“Sophia, you can do it!”

“Sophia will win!”

“Sophia, Sophia, cut right through! Sophia, Sophia, you’re the best!”

Nathan walked at the rear of the line, waving a little flag with a whistle in his mouth. Each time he took a step, he would blow on it. Hale and Gary followed behind him, the two of them carting a brilliant red banner with the words ‘Sophia, You Can Do It!’ printed on it.

Everyone in the stadium froze.

Sophia facepalmed. How she wished she could change her name.

Stanley and the Sophia support squad sat down in the stands. The squad had around twenty to thirty people. When they were marching earlier, they seemed like a huge crowd due to the emptiness of the venue. Stanley led the squad by roaring valiantly at the top of his lungs. “Sophia, do your best!”

The rest of the squad followed his lead. “Do your best! Do your best!”

Hale had a mask on; only his eyes could be seen.

He didn’t have the guts to face others like this.

After a brief moment of silence, everyone began to smile in realization. While they had been pointing out Sophia’s solitary presence, they now suddenly remembered that she had a boyfriend.

Molly Lawson was one of the main players on the School of Economics’ women’s basketball team. She approached Sophia. “Sophia, you’re up next in a bit!”

Molly’s grandfather was a general, and her father was a famed national basketball player. She may not be a professional athlete, but the natural skill she possessed was terrifying. With her on the court, their school would have an extremely high chance of seizing victory.

Sophia was taken by surprise. “I thought I’m a substitute?”

“One of the sophomores couldn’t make it at the last minute, and the other substitute caught a cold today. She’s not in the best shape,” Molly answered. “Besides… your boyfriend and Nate are watching in the stands. If you don’t play, you’ll be wasting their support for you!”

Sophia didn’t dare to turn her head and look at Stanley and the rest of the support squad. She simply steeled herself and agreed to get on the court.

With a blow of the whistle, the match started. They were up against the School of Foreign Languages. Their women’s basketball team was strong, primarily because of their foreign students. They had two tall ones, both of them being close to 180 cm. It was evident that they had the physical advantage, but the School of Economics wasn’t to be underestimated. Just Molly alone was already enough to level the playing field, and the others were also strong players in their own rights. Sophia had come out on top during her military training, and the others weren’t ordinary athletes either.

Molly got the ball the moment the match started. She was immediately blocked off by the two foreign students.

“Sophia!” She passed the ball to Sophia, who caught the ball nimbly and surely before darting out like a rabbit to dribble. With a perfectly executed three-step travel, she shot the ball.

“ho!”

“Yes!”

Sophia’s support squad was instantly whipped into a frenzy and they leaped up to whoop loudly, their whistles and cheers reverberating throughout the stadium.

Richard’s line of sight was obstructed by the wave of people who had suddenly stood up in front of him; the back of Stanley’s head had taken the place of Sophia’s figure from Richard’s point of view.

“You there in front, sit down!” he protested.

Stanley was cheering enthusiastically. He hadn’t heard Richard’s complaints at all.

Despite calling out to him a few more times, Richard’s words were futile. Anger surged up within him. In a few steps, he was in front of Stanley. “Hey you, you’re blocking my view!”

Stanley gave him a once-over. “I’m blocking your view? Sorry about that. You should change seats yourself!”

“You—” Richard was furious, but he didn’t want to get into a lengthy debate with Stanley.

Who did he think he was? He was just a fat gamer, a loser, a country bumpkin from a third-rate town!

Sophia was merely using him as a front by being together with Stanley. The one she loved was him, Richard Harper!

Richard changed his seat, but in an instant, Stanley brought the support squad to squeeze themselves in front of him. They even raised the light-up board high, deliberating obstructing his view.

Richard knew that Stanley was doing this on purpose. He was pursuing her, but Sophia only thought of him as a front.

What use was this little petty action?

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 193

Regardless of how loudly he screamed for her, it wasn’t any more use than if he had just sat down and kept quiet. Sophia wouldn’t even look his way once anyway.

Sophia indeed wouldn’t give Stanley an extra look. It’s just way too embarrassing! Just what was that cheer?

Stanley waved his flag like a madman while yelling, “Sophia, Sophia, cut right through! Sophia, Sophia, you’re the best!”

Sophia gave Stanley a baleful glare as she went after the ball. Just that glare alone made Richard’s mind fill in many of the blanks.

As expected, all Stanley could draw to himself was Sophia’s ire no matter how hard he worked, for Sophia only loved Richard!

Richard and Xyla then left.

The match continued. Sophia performed extremely well on the court. She had been on the main team of her high school’s women’s basketball team. Right now, her skills were just as polished as ever as she dribbled and dunked with practiced ease. Her jumps were extraordinary, and even her three-pointers were executed easily.

The School of Economics’ points skyrocketed under these circumstances.

This match was more or less in the bag, so Sophia relaxed greatly. She sneaked a glance at the stands from time to time. The cold and distant Nathan was also waving his flag madly to root for her. Her friends Sarah and Sean had also come.

While the support squad that Stanley had formed was a little cringey, they were still here to cheer for her. She would have to treat everyone to a round of barbeque once the match was over.

A heated gaze inside the stadium landed on her. She swept her eyes over the stands and noticed a chubby, middle-aged man sitting in a corner. He had a dirty cap on his head and a grey scarf around his neck, beard white and face fleshy. He looked so average. Mixed in with the rest of the crowd, no one would notice him.

Sophia thought the man’s appearance familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she had seen him before. She retracted her gaze and returned to play seriously.

The match ended with a blow of the whistle and the points were tallied up. The School of Economics won by 30:11.

Sophia’s support squad surged up to her, encircling her and handing her towels and water. Sophia wiped her sweat with a towel and chugged some water before patting Nathan on the head. She then looked up to look at where the middle-aged man had been sitting before, but his seat was empty now.

The man had left. All she could see was a departing figure.

That man’s figure and gaze were oh so familiar.

All of a sudden, a thought struck Sophia hard and she whipped her phone out to look for the selfie that Michael had posted earlier—wasn’t his get-up exactly the same as that middle-aged man’s outfit?

That was Michael Fletcher!

Sophia stood there stiffly with her phone in hand as though she had been struck by lightning. She thought back on that middle-aged man’s rotund face. There was a whole world of difference between that fleshy face and Michael’s gorgeous one.

That man truly had no qualms about throwing off his lordly image.

“Sophia, come on. Let’s all go out for some food,” Stanley suggested due to their victory.

Sophia thought about it for a bit before declining. “Sorry, no thanks. It’s getting dark. I should be going home for dinner.”

Stanley stopped her. “Hey, Sophia, I’ll be on the field the day after tomorrow at 3 p.m. The match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management. Remember to swing by!”

“We’ll see.”

Everyone went back home. After changing out of her clothes, Sophia and Nathan charged for the university gates to the old parking spot. Just as expected, she saw a car parked in a small alley. Gary and Hale were already there waiting for her.

“Missus, Little Master, please get in.”

Sophia caught sight of the middle-aged man from earlier when she opened the door. He was sitting inside the car. Nathan was clearly frightened by this and he looked at Sophia in confusion. Did a thief get inside the car?

Sophia brought Nathan into the vehicle.

The middle-aged man began to take off his makeup when the car started. He plucked his cap off, and when he put a hand to his face, it was clear that it was synthetic wax for makeup use. It was all over his hand once he swiped at his face. When he was done, a handsome face was revealed to Sophia’s eyes. It truly was Michael.

Nathan was dumbstruck, fear all over his face. Michael patted the boy’s head and smiled. “What? Don’t you recognize your dad?”

Even Sophia couldn’t recognize him, never mind Nathan. Who would have thought that Michael would have been able to distance himself this greatly from his usual princely image?

She really hadn’t thought that Michael would show up on campus. Did he rush over from his film shoot to watch her match? Even if he did, it would take time for him to get to campus from the film site.

Sophia’s mind began to pull itself in different directions.

Dinner was already on the dining table when they returned. Michael stepped into the dining room after he had completely removed his makeup. He was still as jaw-droppingly handsome as ever.

When Michael finished his makeup removal, Nathan was the only one sitting quietly at the dining table, waiting for dinner to start. Sophia’s entire body was covered in a layer of smelly sweat from all her exercise earlier; she was still in the middle of blow-drying her hair after her shower. Nathan was gaming on her phone. He raised his head to look in Michael’s direction, that earlier fear during their trip home still in his eyes. He most likely still hadn’t recovered from Michael’s earlier get-up.

Michael lowered his head to look at Nathan, who was dressed in a frog onesie. With his hood up, only his face was exposed to the air, a little face that was seemingly carved from marble with a pair of big eyes decorating it. Michael thought the boy an angel, and he couldn’t stop himself from ruffling Nathan’s hair.

“Son, were you a good boy today?”

Nathan snorted and ignored him, continuing to play his game with his head lowered.

All of a sudden, Sophia’s phone rang. It was a phone call from someone marked as ‘Ex’. Michael seated himself after picking it up. As he waited for Sophia to come to the dining room, he pricked up his ears to listen to what this piece of work had to say.

“Sophia, I heard that your school’s women’s basketball team won their match. Congratulations, you did very well today. What was Stanley’s deal? I know that he’s always clinging to you. If you find it inconvenient to get rid of him, then allow me to do so. I certainly will not let him get in the way of our feelings for each other. That’s right, Sophia. My school will be up against the School of Computer Science at 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow in Basketball Court 3. I’m one of the players on our school’s main basketball team. I’ll be on the court then. You have to come see me. How I miss those days from years past. Those days when we’d play basketball, go jogging, and circle the lake on campus while memorizing terms and phrases for classes. I’d even send you to the library on the back of my bicycle to…”

Richard went on for a while before he eventually said, “Sophia, I miss you.”

Michael did not say a word throughout the one-sided conversation while the phone was on speaker mode. Before he could finish listening to the other man’s rambling, the phone automatically switched itself off from its lack of battery.

Sophia soon came down. Both father and son had already changed into their pajamas, which were a matching set of frog onesies—a large one and a small one. Sophia, however, wore a rabbit onesie that was pink, with a pair of ears stitched onto the hoodie.

After plugging in Sophia’s phone to recharge, Nathan bolted upstairs with pattering steps. He soon came downstairs again, having changed into a pink rabbit onesie that matched Sophia’s. He sat next to her and tilted his head to look at her, as though he was seeking her approval.

“Good boy!” Sophia patted his head. Nathan basked in the touch, but he didn’t forget to shoot a condescending look at Michael in his bright green clothes.

“Heh.” Michael gave a cold chuckle.

You sneaky kid, my methods for stealing Sophia’s affections will definitely scare the wits out of you!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 194

The family of three began their dinner. As they ate, Michael couldn’t resist asking her about the match earlier. “You liked basketball in high school?”

Sophia scratched her head sheepishly. “I was point guard on the girls’ basketball team then.”

The girls’ basketball team at Riverdale High School had never been strong during her time there. They would always get trounced in inter-school competitions. It wasn’t until Sophia joined the team that they began to seem less pathetic. At the very least, they weren’t the bottom of the barrel anymore.

Michael didn’t ask her who she played with back then. Who hadn’t accidentally fed a delusional person in their youth? Who could guarantee that they hadn’t fallen for a jerk or two when they were younger?

Michael sneakily glanced at his tiny wife eating heartily before smiling mysteriously.

Two days later, the basketball match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management was officially held. Compared to the women’s basketball match that no one cared about, the audience numbers here were clearly greater. Although the match would start at three in the afternoon, the audience had filled all the seats by two. To top it off, it was the final round of the men’s basketball tournament in the winter sports festival on this day. The teams that would be stepping to the court later were the strongest out of over ten elimination matches. These were the strongest teams other than the School of Athletics anyway.

Other than students from both schools, scores of fangirls filled the stands.

The School of Financial Management’s team had Richard Harper. With his status as a top student and the scion of the Harper Family, he was truly a man out of fantasy. Despite being engaged, that didn’t dampen his fangirls’ passionate support toward him. His fans were a wall that took up around a quarter of the stands. The School of Financial Management was filled with lots of good-looking and rich guys, so they had especially many female fans.

At any rate, the School of Computer Science had a paltry number of fans; true indeed, the rich would go for luxury while the losers would go for computers. The School of Financial Management had scores of hot guys, while the School of Computer Science was filled with gamer geeks and losers. The number of girls in their school wasn’t enough to even form a bare-bones cheerleading team.

Fortunately for them, they had Stanley Fletcher in their ranks and was able to draw some fangirls over. They modified the light-up board that they had used for Sophia a few days ago by swapping the name out, and it was now a board for Stanley.

The competitors did their warm-ups on the court prior to the start of the match. These attractive basketball players shuttled back and forth across the court, their youthfulness shining through the spray of their sweat. Just these warm-up exercises alone was enough to make one’s blood heat up, especially when Richard Harper on the School of Financial Management’s main basketball team. He was immediately showered with enthusiastic cheers from the fangirls.

Richard found Xyla in the stands with a casual scan of the crowd. Xyla wasn’t screaming madly or cheering like the rest of the fangirls. She simply sat there sweetly, but she was even prettier than anyone else.

Richard sent a flying kiss to Xyla and she shyly accepted it. The crowd of girls were jealous and mutinous, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Richard’s gaze continued to rove over the crowd. However, he couldn’t find Sophia. Had she been delayed by something?

Meanwhile, Sophia had been about to take Nathan home to sit by the heater and eat ice cream when Stanley stopped them by the classroom door.

“Sophia, didn’t you say that you’re going to watch my match today? How could you go back on your word?”

Sophia took Nathan’s hand and side-stepped Stanley in his athletic wear. “I’m not going to watch you duke it out with a piece of crap.”

Anger surged up in Stanley, and he grabbed Nathan before making a break for it with the boy in his arms. “I’ll make you come to the match!”

Sophia was forced to chase after him in fury. Stanley only returned Nathan once she had entered the basketball stadium. “You’re not allowed to leave. If you do, I’ll get my uncle to fire you!” he threatened.

Sophia looked for seats while she carried Nathan, but the stands were filled, and she had no idea where all these people came from.

“Sophia, here! Over here!”

The members of the e-sports club waved at Sophia. As Stanley’s loyal fans, they had come way earlier to the stands to snag the best seats.

Sophia took Nathan’s hand in hers and sat down. These were indeed the best seats.

Richard spotted Sophia in an instant. Knowing that she had come to cheer for him, he smiled at her knowingly.

Sophia had only casually looked at the court when she caught sight of Richard making eyes at her. She was so disgusted that she wanted to leave, but Nathan seemed to be very interested in this; he was watching seriously while draped over the bars by the front of their seats.

The match was about to start. The two teams were about to face each other. Both Stanley and Richard stood across each other as players on the main teams, with the mid-court line separating them. Stanley spun the ball in his hand as he eyed Richard across him.

This guy reeked through his wealth. Stanley truly had no idea how Sophia fell for him back then.

Richard also absolutely couldn’t stand the sight of Stanley. He sized the other man up with a condescending gaze. Noting the sportswear and shoes that were from some third-rate manufacturer that he wore and the air that a fat nerd would have oozing from him, Richard wondered how did such a loser have the courage to cling to Sophia?

Richard finally declared, “If I win today, you will leave her.” He said that with absolute seriousness as he looked at Stanley.

Stanley acted as though he had heard the joke of the century. “Fine, but if I win, you will not show yourself in front of her again.”

The verbal duel between Sophia’s ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend was clearly drawing attention.

They locked eyes the moment they finished their speeches. With their showdown done, they looked at Sophia in the stands at the same time for some reason.

Sophia met their gazes as well as the surrounding audience’s gazes. For a moment, she was uncomfortable. No words came to her, and the atmosphere was a little tense.

Sophia was suddenly worried for Stanley. She wasn’t sure whether this gamer nerd knew his way around a basketball, but she knew about Richard’s basketball skills. After all, they had played together for two years starting from her first year in high school.

The match began at last. With a blow of his whistle, the referee tossed the ball.

The School of Financial Management immediately gained control of the ball the moment the ball left the referee’s hands. A few long passes later, the ball was in Richard’s hands. He did a three-step, his strong and tall figure charging up to the basket and shooting the ball with a clean shot. The whistle blew again, signalling that the School of Financial Management had gained two points.

Applause resounded throughout the stadium. Richard high-fived his teammates in delight and raised an eyebrow at Stanley on purpose. He was extremely pleased.

The match continued. Stanley immediately snatched the ball after the ball was tossed a second time. A few long passes later, he did a beautiful clean shot that scored three points. The School of Computer Science now had three points to their name.

Stanley gave Richard the finger.

The audience cheered. Nathan also blew on his whistle with all that he could give.

Sophia wasn’t worked up at all, for she didn’t know that she was the main object of these two men’s spat. She had no idea where her ‘current’ boyfriend’s immense hatred for her ex came from. Did he hold a huge grudge because the Harpers had thrown money at magazines on purpose and had him portrayed as a loser whose only skill was playing video games?

She had to admit that the match was absolutely a treat to watch. Never mind those two players who were currently duking it out like their life was depending on it; the two basketball teams represented the cream of the crop of Bayside University’s non-career sports teams. Their members had been carefully selected. The match was intense, with the lead in points flip-flopping; neither team would give up.

The entire stadium was filled to the brim. The stands were filled, and even the seats at the back as well as the corridors were filled with people. They had all come to witness the duel between Bayside University’s top two basketball teams.

Sophia’s heart kept racing. She just had the feeling that something big was about to happen. The last time her heart had pounded like this was when Michael descended and caught that groper at the cinema.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 195

The announcer was very professional as he rattled off his commentary. “Number 5 of the School of Financial Management, Richard Harper, has taken the ball. Oh, it’s in! A perfect dunk with a three-step! Number 5’s jumping skills are jaw-dropping!

The School of Computer Science is now behind by two points. We can see that they’ve begun upping the ante. Look at Number 7 now. Number 7, Stanley Fletcher has gotten the ball and shot a five-pointer! And the ball’s in! The School of Computer Science has taken the lead by a point for now!”

The commentator got even more excited. “Number 5 has possession of the ball. Number 7 is dogging him relentlessly. Oh, he nearly got it. The ball is still with Number 5. Keep it up, number 5! And Number 5 got rudely cut off by Number 7 while he’s about to dunk. That’s truly tragic!”

Sophia watched the tense tug-of-war between both teams, her heart slowly lightening as she did. Who would have thought that Stanley really had it in him? He was going toe-to-toe with Richard!

The half-time break began with a blow of the referee’s whistle. Both teams retreated from the court. The score was currently 23:20, with the School of Computer Science behind by three points. However, they would soon be able to make up for it later after the break.

Stanley had only just stepped off the court when Nathan came zooming down to him with some water. The boy’s usual aloofness was nowhere to be seen. Right now, he was rather warm and receptive.

“Hey, Nate!” Stanley’s hands were dirty, so he didn’t move to pat the boy. He simply took the bottle from Nathan and took a few sips before calling over his teammates to discuss strategy. All of a sudden, one of the players came hobbling over.

“Captain, sorry about this, but my leg’s injured. I’ll need to go to the infirmary.”

Stanley eyed the player’s red and throbbing ankle. “Go ahead.”

The player hobbled off with someone helping him. Stanley’s bag suddenly vibrated in his bag, indicating he had been Venmo-ed a huge sum of money.

Now that they were down a player, Stanley needed to hurry up and find a replacement. When he checked, however, he found out that none of the three substitutes were there for some reason. After some asking around, Stanley found out that the substitute players had left earlier due to emergencies. One of them had stated that his girlfriend was throwing another fit, while another said that his father was in an accident. The last one had a sudden case of appendicitis and was currently undergoing surgery in hospital.

Seeing how his own team only had four players, Stanley hastily phoned everywhere looking for replacements. “Hi, where are you, Sandy? What? You’re back in your hometown and are currently lying on your bed?”

He tried his luck with another person. “Rooster, where you at? Wait, what? Why are you at a motel during the day? And in some rural area too?”

“Hey, Mitch…”

He still wasn’t able to find anyone after a round of phone calls. If they hadn’t returned to their hometowns, they were out having fun during their vacation. Stanley had no other choice left. He had to go to the audience stands and just grab someone. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to play with just the four of them.

“Stanley, what’s up?” Sophia asked when she realized that something was off.

Stanley explained the situation briefly as he went hunting for potential players. Sophia reflexively glanced at Richard to see that he was resting off to the side, slender fingers wrapped around his phone as he flashed a smile that screamed that victory was in his hands.

Something seemed to click for her.

Right then, Stanley’s phone rang. He pulled it out to see that it was a name that he never expected to see. He accepted the call and left with a frown on his face.

Meanwhile, Richard put down his phone after he had transferred the money. Now that Stanley’s team had too few players, Richard was going to watch just how they would be able to continue. The School of Computer Science was lacking in everything except for their abundance in losers, especially those who lacked money. The School of Financial Management, on the other hand, still wouldn’t be lacking in hot guys and money even if everything else was taken away.

Richard took a sip of water and looked at Xyla in the stands before flicking his gaze over to Sophia, who was currently looking in the entrance’s direction.

Oh no. Her heart was racing again. She just had the feeling that something was about to happen!

The match was about to resume when Stanley quickly returned. He seemed to have found replacements, for trailing behind him were two men clad in down jackets. Stanley was grinning as he called those two in.

Sophia looked at the men before him in curiosity. She couldn’t help but be dumbstruck when she caught a good look at their faces. Wait, isn’t that Michael and his gay friend, Harry Winston? she thought.

Why were they here? Where did they get the guts to come sauntering to this place? Weren’t they megastars? Weren’t they celebrities? Weren’t they supposed to have an entourage of bodyguards wherever they go? Weren’t they worried about the number of people here? What if the fans couldn’t control themselves from charging down and exposing them?

Still, those two megastars were just that gutsy. Not only had they sauntered in, they even hurried over to the changing rooms to change into the School of Computer Science’s basketball uniforms. Michael was Number 8 while Harry was Number 6. With Stanley being number 7, they formed a perfect trio.

Michael looked completely like a university student now that he was dressed in the sports uniform. He exuded a sunny and approachable aura, like a boy next door. There was no trace to be found of the majestic and blinding handsomeness that he had when the spotlights were trained on him. His bare face was bared to the world with no other adornments. There was even some scruff on his chin, as though it was the effect of makeup. With his unclean face, dirty sports uniform and the lack of spotlights around, he appeared to be simply a normal university student.

To top it off, his hair was currently a bright unnatural color. He looked absolutely the part of a young man who didn’t conform to mainstream trends.

Harry was also dressed in a sports uniform, dirt all over his face.

From the looks of things, these two megastars intended to step up to the court and play.

Sophia’s heart had hammered itself all the way up to her throat. Suddenly, she heard people begin to talk. “Hey look. Don’t those two look kinda like Taylor Murray and Ethan Winston?”

“Yeah, they look eerily alike!”

“But it seems that their auras can’t compare to the actual Taylor’s. Look how dirty his face looks. How would Taylor actually go around looking like that?”

Sophia hurriedly added herself to the discussion. “How can that guy be my bias? He just looks like him, that’s all. Both Taylor and Ethan are abroad filming anyway! I even saw him post on Twitter this morning that he was in Moscov having dinner.”

Everyone was drawn in and believed her words. How could those two megastars possibly be here?

It had to be some really strong lookalikes! They should hurry up and snap some pics to show off to all their social media followers!

Countless phones were whipped out as everyone aimed them at these two megastar ‘lookalikes’.

The two megastars swaggered onto the court just like that.

They were actors, and Oscar-winning ones to boot. They were the best when it came to acting and putting on a front. If they just stood a particular way and brushed on a little makeup, no one would suspect their true identities.

Richard was threatened by the sudden appearance of the School of Computer Science’s replacements. His instincts told him that these two replacements weren’t ordinary people. There was a high chance that they had been poached from the School of Athletics.

It wasn’t surprising to look for players outside of their own schools. Some of the players on the School of Financial Management’s team were from the School of Athletics.

Just where did those from the School of Computer Science find their extra players though? And why did they resemble two certain celebrities so much…

The match resumed with the whistle.

The battle in the second half was way more intense than it was in the first half. Both teams pulled out all the stops, entering a fierce battle right from the start. Sophia kept a hand on her thumping heart in the stands. She was so worked up that she nearly jumped from her seat like everyone else.

A star would never show all his cards. This was the true showdown between her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend! No, it was more precise to say that it was a showdown between her ex and her husband!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 196

Now that the School of Computer Science had another two players, they seemed very imposing when both teams took to the court. The commentator could barely keep up with the changing situations on the court. “And the newcomer to the School of Computer Science’s team, Number 8, has gone straight for the ball right from the get-go. He passed it to Number 7. Number 7 has passed it to Number 6. Number 6 has passed it back to Number 8 now. Number 8’s going straight for a slam dunk, and what a beautiful one it is!”

A minute hadn’t even gone by when Michael took the lead in offense and executed a perfect slam dunk and shocked the entire stadium; even the commentator was startled by this. “Looks like the School of Computer Science has been hiding their true colors all this while! They had been saving such strong players until the last moment!”

The match continued. The commentator was about to give himself a crick in the jaw. “We can now see that both teams are at a tie now. The financial management students have started an aggressive offense. Number 5 has snatched the ball. Whoa, Number 8 has the ball now. Number 8 passed it to Number 6. Number 6 is now going to shoot—and it’s in! The School of Computer Science has gotten another two points!”

“Number 5 has once again gained the ball. The ball is now with Number 8 and he’s passing it to Number 7. Number 7 has passed it to Number 8. A three-pointer now—and it’s in! It’s in! It’s actually in! What kind of monster is number 8?”

“Everyone, we can now see that there’s a growing gap in points. The School of Financial Management is now behind by eleven, no, thirteen points. Number 8 has gained another point!”

“There are only five minutes left till it’s the end. We can now see that the financial management students are behind by over a dozen points!”

Sophia watched slack-jawed at each beautiful three-point shoot, dunk and so on. Her eyes were filled with a light that they never had before. She never thought that he would also be so skilled at basketball on top of being a good actor. Was there anything else in this world that Michael Fletcher couldn’t do?

Sophia’s heart was racing in her chest again. She covered her chest with a hand but realized she had no way of calming it.

The moment the mysterious Number 8 took to the court, he instantly drew everyone’s attention with his uncanny resemblance to Taylor Murray. The crowd would burst into cheers each time he scored. Even Richard’s legion of fangirls had started batting for him.

Another wave of cheers sounded as Number 8 dunked with ferocity and scored another 2 points. Nathan applauded madly while he blew on his whistle. Sophia seemed to be dazed as she followed in the clapping, her eyes glued to Number 8’s figure.

All of a sudden, Number 8 turned his head back and glanced at Sophia. Crackling waves of energy seemingly shot out of his eyes. Sophia took it all in with her own widened ones. The moment they locked eyes, that intense energy seemingly traveled to her heart, and it began to beat even faster as though it had just gotten a shot of adrenaline to it. Her breathing had begun to quicken. The influx of blood had made her entire face and even her ears redden. She felt as though her eyes were about to become literal hearts. All she could see was a figure with boundless energy, and all her heart could accommodate was him.

Richard suddenly rushed up to block Michael, his hands scrabbling at him. Richard reached out to grab at Michael’s clothes and yanked his top up to reveal a flawless eight-pack. He hadn’t even managed to snatch the ball from Michael. Instantly, the screams of fangirls flooded the stadium.

Michael, meanwhile, had already dribbled the ball over to the three-point field goal and executed yet another flawless three-pointer.

Ah, her beautiful man was simply so hot! She couldn’t hold herself back at all! Sophia felt as though she was about to have a nosebleed.

While Sophia was still in her infatuated haze, the match ended. The points were tallied up after the whistle had been blown. In the end, with a score of 42:27, the School of Computer Science was crowned the champion of Bayside University’s men’s basketball tournament.

Stanley had no reservations as he showed Richard the finger.

Richard was so angry that his face turned purple. Without another word, he silently headed to the changing rooms to get out of his uniform.

Stanley joyously trotted off to receive the prize while Michael and Harry went straight for the changing rooms. The audience was still excitedly talking about the match after they left the stands.

Sophia and Nathan waited outside the changing rooms for ages before they saw Harry exit. Sophia was still extra awkward with Harry, but he was still Michael’s good friend, so it wouldn’t do for her to avoid greeting him after they had met. Thus, she smiled dumbly at him. It could be considered her greeting to him.

Harry left first. It took another long while before Michael emerged from the changing room.

He had had a wig on during the basketball match earlier, but he had now taken the wig off to reveal his actual hair. Sophia had no idea when he had shaved his head. He was dressed in a coat that was similar to Stanley’s, while a pair of clean, white sneakers were on his feet. He was so clean and spotless that every pore was seemingly glowing, just like a boy next door. He probably resembled the handsome boy that every girl had a soft spot for back in their student days.

“Hubby.” Sophia shyly trotted over and looked up at him.

Michael touched his closely cropped hair. “I shaved my head for the shoot. Does it look good on me?” he asked.

Sophia pressed her lips together and nodded. A handsome man would look good regardless of anything. He looked good while walking down the red carpet dressed in a tuxedo, and he also looked good while dressed in standard university student garb. At any rate, he was handsome!

Michael gazed at Sophia’s blushing little face and couldn’t resist from kissing her, sealing his lips against hers. They had only been apart for half a day, but he felt as if they had been separated for days on end. He pushed her toward the wall as he kissed her, and the two of them began a passionate and intense dance of tongues.

Sophia felt that she was close to being unable to breathe. All of her consciousness and ability to feel had been sucked away by Michael. She couldn’t last long at all with Michael in front of her; just a few rounds in, and she had already thrown in the towel and begged for mercy.

Her husband was just irresistible. She couldn’t stop herself at all! He managed to ensnare the hearts of millions of girls so easily, never mind Sophia’s own heart.

Nathan clutched the cleaned basketball while staring blankly at the two adults currently nibbling on each others’ lips by the wall.

The rest of the team had gone to pick up the prize. Only a few students from the School of Financial Management were still in the changing room or showering. However, there were still players filing out of the changing room, and they could immediately see the kissing couple. Since Michael’s back was turned toward them, all they could see was a hulking figure with a cropped haircut.

Michael and Stanley were uncle and nephew. They naturally would bear some familial resemblance. When paired with a similar haircut and general aura, everyone immediately thought that they were seeing Stanley smooching in the corner with Sophia as though there was no one around.

They instinctively decided against disturbing the pair.

Richard and Xyla soon made their appearances. Xyla was still soothing Richard, who looked glum. “Okay now, Richard. It was just a basketball match. It’s nothing to get upset over. It’s going to be the new year soon. Cheer up a bit!”

Richard’s heart warmed as he gazed at the girl who had been at his side all this while. Xyla had always been with him, in contrast to Sophia. It didn’t matter now that Sophia wasn’t with him anymore. She had been clapping along with everyone whenever the School of Computer Science scored a point earlier.

Richard’s eyes exuded anger at that thought, but then he caught sight of an unforgettable pair kissing each other when he turned around.

Isn’t that Sophia? And the man with the cropped hair is unmistakably Stanley! Fury crashed over Richard in an instant and he charged over like a spurned man.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 197

Curse it all! Even I had never gotten to kiss Sophia. How dare this loser touch my girl! Richard thought.

Much to his surprise, Xyla stopped him in the middle of his charge. “Richard, don’t! Don’t do it! Sophia is now dating Stanley. It’s not the time for us to tear her apart!”

Richard did his best to clamp down on the rage boiling inside. He felt as though his life was crumbling apart. He never expected his own woman would kiss another man in front of him! He felt absolutely betrayed in that instant.

Xyla eyed the furious Richard and Sophia, who had been ‘caught in the act’. Schadenfreude danced in her eyes.

Sophia, let’s just see how you’re going to seduce Richard in the future!

Sophia’s heart jumped in surprise when she caught sight of Richard glaring mutinously at her as she was kissing Michael passionately.

Oh, that look in his eyes! While she didn’t mind it, she had no interest in acting out a kiss in front of her ex-boyfriend. Besides, she was kissing Michael; it was better for this to be done at home behind closed doors.

She pushed Michael lightly. “Hubby, I’m hungry. Let’s go home.”

Michael pecked her on her lips lovingly. “Sure.”

That moment he lowered his head was practically a moment when he oozed pure handsomeness with nothing else; such perfectly defined lines with an extraordinary beauty and mysteriousness!

Sophia’s face burned. She then took Nathan’s hand and headed outside with Michael.

Richard followed them in displeasure. He watched on helplessly as Sophia and that loser ‘Stanley’ smiled and chatted before leaving right from his sight. ‘Stanley’ even had an arm wrapped around Sophia’s shoulders. The two of them were no different from any couple on campus. The only thing that differed was the little third wheel walking next to them.

Richard’s face turned purple from anger as he watched this ‘family of three’. The sense of betrayal he felt grew even more.

Xyla was revelling in all of this. She pulled on Richard’s arm and consoled him. “Richard, don’t be mad. Let’s all get along now. It’s lucky that you found out about her tendency to shift targets in time. It would have been a disaster if she had gotten into the Harper Family otherwise!”

“Heh.” Richard chuckled coldly and retracted his bone-chilling gaze. “I won’t tear her to pieces for now. Once we’ve made some inroads into the Fletchers…”

He would kick her ruthlessly to the side by then!

Sophia and Michael got into their car and returned home. She couldn’t resist pulling out her phone to see if her ex had sent some weird message to her again, for example, ‘Sophia, I never thought that you’re that kind of person.’ Or maybe it could be something like, ‘You’ve betrayed our love for each other!’

Unfortunately, there was nothing. On the contrary, Richard had sent this instead. ‘Sophia, I had miscalculated during today’s match. I hadn’t expected Stanley to be able to find some substitutes from outside his school. I won’t let you down next time.’

Huh? He actually isn’t interrogating me or ripping into me? Sophia had a vague idea of Richard’s scheming. They were probably waiting for her, ‘Joel’s mistress’, to whisper in Joel’s ear and figure out a way to marry Kayla Harper into the Fletchers.

When that happened, the Harpers and the Fletchers would be united. The Harpers would probably be sharpening their knives to slaughter the goose then.

It wasn’t like Richard hadn’t done anything like that before. In the past, she had stayed up overnight helping him with the homework that he hadn’t gotten right. She had then sacrificed her rest to help tutor him, but he ended up hooking up with Xyla the moment he got into university.

She knew exactly what her ex had in mind when he sent that!

She tossed her phone to the side and began to focus on Michael’s dashing good looks. Sometimes, the difference between people was even greater than the difference between a person and a piece of crap.

When they returned, Sophia hastily logged into the Bayside University forums. Just as she thought, others had posted pictures from the basketball match earlier. Michael had been the subject in all of the shots. There were a good number of high quality shots on the forums, which Sophia hastily saved.

Tch, just how did Michael maintain his good looks all these years? He was already in his thirties, yet that skin of his was exactly the same as a young lad in his late teens. It was so dewy that one could practically squeeze the moisture right out of it!

If only she could be like him when she got to her thirties; that would be great!

Sophia put on her glasses and drooled all over her husband’s otherworldly looks through her computer screen. Michael deliberately walked in front of her, clad in just a pair of boxers. She then immediately switched off her computer and pretended to study seriously. Her eyes followed that sturdy body for a long while until the bathroom door interrupted her line of sight. It was only then that she retracted her gaze, but her mind kept conjuring up weird thoughts, such as musings about what her future child with Michael would be named, and which kindergarten would the kid go to.

But at the thought that Michael had many gay friends, she felt that her existence was quite insignificant. She was a little deflated.

She was just a regular person. She wasn’t exactly rich, and it wasn’t like her face was absurdly beautiful or anything. There were many more ladies who were prettier and wealthier than she was, and Michael had been showbiz for years. The number of gorgeous women he had met had to outnumber all the meals she had eaten throughout her life. He was the crush of millions of girls worldwide, and the number of beautiful women throwing themselves at Michael could probably form a line that wrapped around the world several times over. What advantage did Sophia have to come up on top of all these millions of girls?

Perhaps Michael had married her for some other reason. At any rate, he hadn’t done it because he loved her.

She continued to be all wrapped up in her head. One moment she would be thinking of which kindergarten that their child would be sent to, and the next moment she would be wondering the type of men that Michael liked. All of this was done as she browsed the threads on the forums of course.

Many people were asking about Michael’s origins.

Hmph, if even I can’t get my hands on him, you guys can forget about it!

Sophia kept pasting the same reply on the posts. ‘This is my boyfriend. We’ve been in a steady relationship for five years. We’ll be marrying once I graduate.’

Meanwhile, Michael was bathing with Nathan in the bathroom. There were three bathtubs in there, with each person getting their own tub. Nathan’s tub was green, with two little toy frogs floating in the water in it.

Michael luxuriated in the bathwater; taking a bath after a basketball match was a great feeling. As he soaked in the bath, he said, “Son, you’re already five. Once it’s the new year, you’ll be six. If you round that up, you’ll be ten this coming year. Ten years old is already old enough to be a man. Don’t sleep with my wife from now on.”

“Find me a wife then. I’ll let you sleep with my wife,” Nathan said dully in his bath.

Michael laughed. “Son, you’ll have to sleep by yourself next year. Mom will be sleeping with me.”

Nathan didn’t speak up again. His dad must be thinking of taking the opportunity to shove a little sister into Sophia’s belly.

If Sophia really gave birth to a little sister, then he wouldn’t be the only baby of the family anymore. Nathan was a little saddened by the thought.

Sophia went to campus again the next day. Her school still had one more basketball match to go.

It had stopped snowing at last. The sun was finally out too. However, snow was still piled by the sides of the road. Sophia stepped into campus with her pink coat, a pink Santa hat perched on her head as well. When paired with her pink cheeks, she looked strikingly beautiful.

Nathan was also dressed in a pink coat with a pink hat on his side. He looked like a girl in his outfit. His face was freezing, and he didn’t know why Sophia thought that he would like this eye-watering pink; he was clearly a boy!

Still, he put up with it for the time being since Sophia liked the outfit. He’d embarrass himself with her for now. He was a little kid at any rate; the others wouldn’t make fun of a little kid.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 198

When Sophia reached the campus, she saw Sarah and Sean walking toward her. Almost every day, the duo came to the campus together because they seemed to be neighbors.

“Sofie, come and take a look at the latest magazine! There’s a surprise inside!”

Sarah brought Sophia to the campus’s most crowded newspaper stand. There, the magazines that defamed Stanley had been removed and were replaced by a new edition of esports magazines. Coincidentally, Stanley was on the covers too.

This time, the magazines were full of Stanley’s well-groomed photos instead of candid shots. As usual, Stanley was in his punk style. He looked attractive in the professionally shot and slightly edited photos.

When Sophia read the magazine while walking, she found that the whole magazine was talking about esports and Stanley’s interview even took up a lot of pages.

Oh dear. This guy is actually so capable, Sophia thought. Not only was he the worthiest esports player in Cethos, but he was also very famous in the international esports industry. Previously, he even led a team of Cethonian online gamers and defeated every foreign team in an international esports tournament, winning themselves the first place.

The British prince has asked for his guidance; the Swedish princess has tried courting him; the President has brought him on a state visit because he’s the most outstanding teen in Cethos…

“I’ve never thought that Stan is so talented!” Sarah exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Sophia also seemed to be impressed by Stanley because she had been regarding him as a nerd. It seemed like all the Fletchers were indeed extraordinary.

They walked to the basketball court while chatting.

After reaching the place and changing her clothes, Sophia began warming up and focused on the competition later.

The match was between the School of Economics and Business Administration and the School of Financial Management.

Since the School of Financial Management was full of rich, good-looking people, they had more fans in comparison to the School of Economics and Business Administration.

Richard was here too. When he reached the court, he walked to Sophia while smiling politely. “Sophia, I’m here to support you.”

He thought he was treating Sophia generously and kindly since he purposely didn’t bring Xyla along with him. In response, Sophia smiled, but she was cut short from her speech because somebody suddenly put his hand on her shoulder, and a deep voice could be heard behind her.

“Thank you!” Stanley showed up and held Sophia’s shoulder as he said mockingly, “Sophia has enough cheerleaders for today, so I don’t think she’ll need her ex. You’re an eyesore.”

His words made Sophia roll her eyes because she had no idea why Stanley kept treating her ex meanly.

For her, she had always chosen to ignore the Harpers to prevent them from having the idea that she wanted to rely on them.

In contrast to Richard, who was alone, there were a lot of men standing behind Stanley now. Aside from Nathan, Gary, and Hale, there were also a few men whom Sophia did not recognize, and even a few Caucasians.

“Sophia, come here! Let me introduce them to you.” Deliberately, Stanley started introducing his friends before Richard.

“Here’s my eldest disciple, Kevin. He’s the youngest prince of the British monarchy and the eighth in line to the throne.”

Then, he turned to another guy. “This is my second disciple, Wilhelm. He’s from the Swedish royal family.”

Pointing to yet another guy, he said, “He’s my friend, Shiloh, and he’s the heir of the largest tribe in Africa.”

As the humiliated Stanley was provoked, he asked his friends to come here to put Richard to shame.

Bayside University was never lacking international students because a lot of politicians and successful entrepreneurs sent their children here. Although Richard had thought about gaining their support, he had no ways to approach them.

Little did he know that Stanley could casually ask so many of them out.

It was also out of his expectation that Stanley was really famous by being an esports player. Esports did not only make him become famous worldwide and the worthiest gamer in Cethos, it also gave him the opportunity to know a lot of royalty and politicians.

Nonetheless, he was still a gamer no matter how arrogant he was!

Richard was quiet and his expression darkened.

Meanwhile, Stanley was glaring at him disdainfully.

Even though Nathan was in the gang, the average of their height was still around 180 cm. Hence, if they really went into a fight with Richard, they would undoubtedly be the winner because Richard was only by himself.

Sophia was the one who broke the tension. “Okay. Just go and find yourselves seats.”

Richard turned around and left with a foul expression. Then, Stanley was finally willing to bring his friends to look for seats.

During the match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management last time, they would have lost due to Richard’s tricks if Michael had not come to their rescue. Hence, Stanley brought his gang of friends over on this day to prevent the School of Economics and Business Administration from being fooled as well.

Aside from giving Sophia support, they were also here to stop those from the School of Financial Management from playing dirty tricks.

As giving out money had been the most common trick used by those from the School of Financial Management, the female basketball team had indeed used this trick on the School of Economics and Business Management before the match.

One day before the match, Sophia received an anonymous text message about giving her 100 thousand if she would quit the match. She just laughed it off.

On this day, the players from the School of Economics and Business Administration were in their best state and they were gaining points effortlessly. As their points kept going up, people from the School of Financial Management became anxious and kept sending out messages to them, offering them more money than before.

However, Stanley, who was in the spectators’ seat, suddenly shouted, “To the beautiful ladies in the School of Economics and Business Administration’s basketball team, let’s go for a meal once you all win! Just order anything you want because my friend will pay for the bill!”

At once, every girl around became excited, especially the girls from the School of Economics and Business Administration’s basketball team.

They did not care about what they would be eating; the key issue here was who they would be having dinner with.

As long as they could have dinner with their prince, money would not be an issue for them.

Hence, no matter how hard the School of Financial Management tried now, no people would accept their offer anymore.

The winner of the match was obvious now.

As Sophia’s opponents were too weak, she was running around and putting in goals without putting in much effort. She even wanted to yawn because her opponents simply couldn’t compare to her skills without the support of money they were given. Hence, she just let her other team members show off their skills, as a few princes were looking at them now.

When she looked at the spectators lazily, she suddenly found a man in a black down coat sitting in a corner. With a huge scarf around his neck, he was looking at Sophia smilingly.

Although he was wearing a black cap and had put his hair down to cover half of his face, Sophia still recognized him at a glance—Michael was here!

Hence, Sophia suddenly became competitive once again. She ran in front of her team and started snatching the ball and putting in goals. In the end, she even managed to make two consecutive three-pointers.

The match ended after the blow of a whistle. The School of Financial Management was totally defeated, making them go to the restroom in distress.

Nathan happily brought a bottle of water to Sophia after she had left the court. When Sophia was drinking the water, she kept sneaking glances at Michael’s direction and realized that he had disappeared.

Did he leave?

At once, Sophia became sad, and she even found the mineral water that she was drinking bitter.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 199

“Sophia!” Stanley suddenly called her. At this moment, he and his friends had already changed into sports attire and Stanley had a basketball in his hand. “We’re going to another place for a round of matches. Are you coming?”

As Sophia was still disappointed about Michael’s early departure, she was upset and was going to decline. However, little did she expect that a voice would suddenly ring behind her. “Of course. She’s going.”

In an instant, Sophia found that her world had become lively again. Hence, when she turned her head and looked at the man who had showed up, her eyes were literally sparkling.

She did not know when Michael went and changed into sports attire. He looked just like a student in the Bayside University in his recently done buzz cut. It was hard to accept that this lively and handsome guy was actually a 32-year-old man.

Stanley rubbed his own head that was in a buzz cut as well, then he looked at Michael’s as he mumbled, “Hmm, don’t we have the same hairstyle? Why does he look more handsome than me?”

Since Sophia’s idol was going, she would certainly go too!

Happily, she followed them to a rather deserted basketball court and started playing.

Although the court was full of young, energetic Bayside University students, the 32-year-old Michael did not stand out among them at all.

While they were playing, Sophia peeked at Michael and could not help but exclaim in her mind, How can his skin be so flawless? He looks so young and he doesn’t look his age at all! His performance also doesn’t make him look like a man in his thirties, let alone his skin condition. No wonder he was chosen to act as a handsome high school student in the movie. The role suits him perfectly! Ah! My idol!

Meanwhile, Gary and Hale quietly stood aside and watched them play. Nathan was sitting and waiting for them too.

During the interval, Sophia took a rest to drink some water. In the meantime, she did not forget to keep her eyes on her idol who was scoring goals too.

The more I look at him, the more handsome I find him to be!

“Hey! Sophia!” Stanley, who had left the court for some water, patted on Sophia’s shoulders forcefully. Then, he said with a disdainful look, “Is this your first time meeting men? You look so obsessed that you’re almost drooling! Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

Hurriedly, Sophia regained her calm composure.

Did I show my admiration so obviously just now? Somebody please tell me that I didn’t! If I really had shown it, wouldn’t Tay Tay have seen it too? It’s so embarrassing!

When Stanley finished drinking water and took out his phone to check the time, he saw an unknown number calling him.

Turning around, he picked up the call. “Hello? May I know who this is?”

On the other end of the phone, the man’s voice echoed as though he was in some enclosed space. “I’m Richard.”

Stanley laughed. “What’s up, Harps?”

Richard only said after snorting, “Stanley, I know that you’re in a relationship with Sophia now. However, I really pity you. Do you even know your girlfriend’s true colors?”

This piqued Stanley’s interests and he asked, “Oh? I don’t know. Can you tell me about it?”

Being merciless, Richard exposed Sophia’s most embarrassing side without hesitation. “I’m afraid that you don’t know about this, but I’m the only man in Sophia’s heart because she’s even willing to get into Joel’s bed for me! How can you still accept such a woman?”

After a few seconds of silence, Stanley just laughed out loud. “Harps, I’m dying of laughter now. Hahahahaha!”

On the other end of the phone, Richard shook his head and felt amused. Stanley is really just a foolish man who only knows gaming.

“During the charity banquet at the Harpers, did you know why Joel showed up? He was only there because Sophia had asked him to! Then, why did you think that Joel would listen to her? It’s because they’re having an affair now!”

Stanley was highly amused at Michael’s delusion now, and he could not suppress his laughter. “Hahaha! Continue, please.”

Richard continued saying, “Even though she’s Joel’s mistress now, she still only thinks of me. The only reason she’s with Joel is because of me. I’ve promised to offer her a position in the Harper Group once I’ve gained enough power! What can you offer her then? You’re incomparable to me! Do you understand?!”

Richard was literally yelling now. Sophia could only belong to him!

Whenever he thought about her kissing Stanley, he could not hold back his fury; it was as though his precious treasure had been stolen.

That precious treasure of his was Sophia. Although he could leave her hanging when he was bored and only talked to her whenever he remembered her, he could not bear seeing other people casting their eyes on her! She only belonged to him!

Most importantly, he felt humiliated upon seeing other people cherishing his girlfriend whom he had abandoned. He felt as though his pride and dignity were trampled.

Meanwhile, Stanley was seemingly frightened by Richard’s words because he had been being silent on the other end of the phone. When Richard thought that Stanley was convinced, Stanley began howling in laughter. “Hahahaha! Are you trying to kill me with jokes so that you can get my game account?”

This made Richard feel helpless. Since he had revealed Sophia’s ugliest side, he had nothing else to tell Richard anymore. Hence, he reminded Stanley for the last time, “Similar to Joel, you’re also just a tool to Sophia. I’m the only man in her heart.”

This time, Stanley finally stopped laughing and asked seriously after taking a deep breath, “I’m just a nerd who only knows gaming. May I know which part of me that you think she can use, Mr. Harper?”

This made Richard become lost for words. In the end, he made up a perfect excuse. “Sophia is a girl who doesn’t like showing her weak side to people. That’s why she’s shy from letting people know that I’m the only man in her heart. No matter what, you’re just her tool and you can’t stop us from getting together!”

While holding back his laughter, Stanley continued asking, “Since Sophia has already slept with Joel, what advantages do you think you have in comparison to Joel? What is it that makes Sophia remain loyal to you?”

Again, Richard was lost for words because he had thought about this question too.

As Joel was going to be the youngest general in Cethos, what would happen if Sophia really chose Joel over him in the end?

Not willing to admit defeat, Richard roared, “She only loves me!”

All of a sudden, someone’s faint voice could be heard from the other end of the phone. “Where are you, Richard? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

Richard hurriedly ended the call.

After being hung up, Stanley finally understood why Sophia did not want to speak another word with this ex of hers—it was because she would die of laughter!

Sophia only has Richard in her heart? What nonsense! She’s totally charmed by Uncle Michael now!

After keeping his phone away, Stanley suddenly thought of Michael’s words. He said that Sophia is married, right? How is this possible? He must be lying to me. How could she possibly be married at such a young age? The reason he has told me this must be that he doesn’t wish to see me flirting with his son’s nanny.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 200

After resting for a while, Sophia continued playing basketball with Michael energetically.

When Michael did a perfect slam dunk, everyone in the court gasped and clapped.

Sophia was looking at Michael enviously because she wished to do a slam dunk too. Unfortunately, she was too short, and her hands could not even reach the hoop.

Suddenly, Michael walked to her as though he had read her mind. “Do you wish to do a slam dunk too?”

Sophia widened her eyes and nodded. Then, Michael passed her the basketball and walked forward, bending down to hold her up while holding her legs.

At once, Sophia felt herself leaving the ground and she could see the hoop right before her. However, when she lowered her gaze and saw Michael holding her, she blushed.

All the while keeping a hold on her, Michael said, “Go on.”

With a thumping heart, Sophia turned scarlet and did her ‘slam dunk’.

When the basketball hit the ground, Michael put Sophia down too.

Although Sophia was standing on the ground now, her mind was still a complete blank because her idol had been too charming. She could not think of anything else other than him now.

When Michael picked up the basketball and saw Nathan looking at him eagerly, he waved at him. In response, Nathan ran over and took the basketball without a word. Then, Michael held him up and let him do a slam dunk happily.

When Stanley looked at the happy trio, he suddenly had mixed feelings.

Can it be that Sophia is Uncle Michael’s wife? In the next instant, he dismissed this thought. How possibly would my wise Uncle Michael marry the silly Sophia? Tsk, tsk. Look at that girl. She’s almost drooling!

After playing a round of basketball, the group of people took their respective showers and changed back into their clothes, preparing to leave.

Stanley said, “Uncle Michael, I’m going to play games now. Bye!”

Then, he brought all his lackeys with him to play games whereas Sophia followed Michael home.

Michael somehow got a bicycle and stopped it before Sophia. “Hop on, chica.”

Looking at the bicycle, Sophia felt shy despite wanting to hop on. Nevertheless, how could she let her idol give her a ride in such cold weather?

Michael stopped the bicycle and smiled at her with his head tilted. “Just hop on. It’ll take you 30 minutes if you choose to walk out of the campus.”

With her head lowered, Sophia blushed and sat on the bicycle’s backseat quietly.

Then, Michael put his feet on the pedals and held the handlebar with his hands that were in a pair of warm gloves now. Turning his head, he told his young bride who was on the backseat, “Hold me tightly.”

Shyly, Sophia put her arms around his waist.

Oh gosh! I’m holding my idol’s waist now! He’s so strong and muscular. I can even feel his abs under his down coat!

They traveled across Bayside University on the bike. Sitting on a side, Sophia was leaning her head on Michael’s back to shield herself from the strong, cold wind. While listening to Michael’s even breathing, she really wished that time could stop at this moment.

Occasionally, there were other couples overtaking them on their bicycles, displaying their affection publicly too.

Ring…

Michael rang the bicycle bell. When the students on the road heard the sound, they made way for the bicycle, smiling when they saw the nice-looking couple.

At that moment, Sophia felt as if flowers were blossoming everywhere and the warm, spring breeze was surrounding her.

However, she seemed to have forgotten something.

Sophia only recalled what she had forgotten when Michael rode the bicycle to the campus entrance. “Oh no! We’ve forgotten Nate!”

Michael finally seemed to have remembered his son too. Hence, he hurriedly rode back and met Nathan and Gary halfway.

With a darkened expression, Nathan just ignored the couple and walked away.

This time, they really angered Nathan because he just shut himself in his own room upon reaching home. No matter how the couple coaxed him, he did not want to come out.

Standing at Nathan’s room door, Sophia was anxious. “What should we do? Nate seems to be very furious.”

However, Michael did not take this to heart and just smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll return to his usual self tomorrow. Just let him be alone now.” On the inside however, he was thinking, It’s good that he’s angry, because he won’t interrupt me anymore!

Michael took out the box of condoms that he had long prepared from the storeroom. He planned to use them later this night.

Happily, he brought the condoms back to the bedroom while thinking about the busy night that they would have later.

Upon opening the bedroom, he saw Sophia, who was just out from a bath, lying on the bed.

When Sophia peeked from the covers and saw the box of condoms, she felt her scalp tingling and she pulled the covers up again.

At first, Michael thought that Sophia was being shy, but little did he know that a boy would suddenly pop his head out from the covers!

With a pair of widened eyes, Nathan stared at Michael, who returned the stare. The both of them remained that way for some time.

Michael was irritated. Didn’t he just shut himself in the room? Why is he here now?!

As both of them did not speak a word after a while, Sophia hurriedly broke the tension by saying, “Hubby, Nate only wants to sleep with us because he says that it’s too cold to sleep alone.”

What nonsense! He’s just here to mess around!

Feeling helpless, Michael could only put that box of condoms back to its original place. When he returned, Nathan and Sophia had already fallen asleep.

Shaking his head, he walked toward them.

After looking at them closely, he found both of them really adorable.

Never mind. I won’t blame him for the sake of his cuteness.

Although the wonderful winter break had started, Sophia didn’t seem to be planning to take a break. Every day, she would either be preparing for her next semester’s courses, or she would be going to the gym, or playing games; all of her time was occupied.

Michael was also busy filming his part in the crew so that he could go home before New Year’s Eve.

Meanwhile, the Fletchers brought Nathan home with them. As Old Master Fletcher was really fond of Nathan, they would bring Nathan home for a few days every winter break.

This gave Sophia more free time because she did not need to take care of Nathan. Hence, she went to play games in the cybercafe every day after studying.

Recently, she had been logging in with her alternate account and she had not logged into her main account for a long time.

Ever since Nathan logged into her main account last time and messed everything up, she felt embarrassed to play with that account. This was because everyone in the same server was laughing at Sirius becoming Scary Phoenix’s ‘wife’.

Just when she was going to play with her alternate account, her ‘wife’, Call Me Taylor, told her happily, ‘Hubby, now that the Esports World Championship is approaching, a lot of skilled players in our server have formed teams to join. Are you participating too?’

The Esports World Championship? Sophia seemed to have heard of this championship before. Basically, it was an annual carnival for the worldwide nerds and it had been held for decades. Every year, more than a dozen of the famous online games could be found in the competition, including the ‘Swordsman Game’. Most importantly, it was the only Cethonian game that could be found in the competition.

Unfortunately, a foreign team won first place in the ‘Swordsman Game’ last year and the Cethonian team only got second place.

Hence, to erase this humiliation, highly-skilled Cethonian gamers had been recruited since the competition started this year.

Despite Sophia being not interested in this, Call Me Taylor kept prompting her to join. ‘Just join it, Hubby! Hurry up and sign up! I’d like to see my hubby become famous in the Aseanos region and the world!’

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 181

Michael’s expression darkened, but he maintained a poker face when he chased Stanley out of the house. “It’s getting late. You should get going now!”

The Imperial wasn’t too far away from the military compound, and so Stanley would be able to get home by taking a bus.

Michael checked his reflection in the mirror when he walked into the house while mumbling to himself, “Illegitimate daughter, my foot…”

The character Michael was playing had fallen into a desperate situation in the show, so he deliberately left the stubble along his jaw without shaving it off just to make himself look haggard. Therefore, in comparison, he could tell the vast contrast when he returned home to see his young and delicate ‘child bride’, who looked as pretty as a flower…

Upon entering the house, he saw Sophia studying in silence, but she was frowning deeply. She was scribbling across the paper, as though calculating something, whereas Nathan was sitting beside her while doing his homework in a serious manner.

She had a pair of earphones on, and her laptop was turned on too. She was playing the lecture from the Further Mathematics class.

Lately, there had been a rise in live broadcast. Even Bayside University lecturers would do some live broadcast to give lectures when they had the time. Sophia had been watching these live broadcasts and online tutorials at home for the past few days to make up for the lessons she missed.

Seeing as Sophia was studying so seriously, Michael didn’t want to bother her.

Suddenly, the phone Sophia left by the bed rang, but she didn’t hear it. Nathan heard the ringtone, and so he turned around to check. Coincidentally, he saw Michael sneaking in to take Sophia’s phone away. Nevertheless, Nathan remained silent, and he continued with his homework, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Michael took the phone away to answer it outside of the room. He glanced at the caller ID on the screen. Richard Harper.

Why is this fellow calling again?

After answering the phone call, Michael kept quiet while waiting for Richard to speak.

Richard did not say anything because he was too ashamed to speak to Sophia. They were in a stalemate for more than ten seconds, but Richard broke the silence in the end.

“Sophia, thank you for helping with this issue. It looks like there’s hope for my sister. Director Jenkins has also agreed to work with us. However, we have to pay a huge price. He wants the Harpers’ ancestral home. Sophia, you know how important the Harpers’ ancestral home is for us. Mother almost fainted after learning that we are losing our ancestral home. Therefore, Sophia, if you can, please get the ancestral home back for me, can you? I am sure you can. As long as you put in more effort when you’re with Joel. As long as he says the word, anything is possible. But you shouldn’t worry and don’t feel pressured because I don’t mind such things. No matter what happens, you are still the purest girl in my heart. Once my sister’s affairs are in order and we get our ancestral home back, I’ll take you to meet my mother officially. Although she is unhappy that you didn’t manage to preserve the Harpers’ ancestral home, she will have nothing to say as long as you are able to get us the ancestral home back. Sophia, if it bothers you, you can undergo hymen repair surgery in the future.”

Michael listened to Richard’s entire monologue. He even left the phone on speaker mode when he was having dinner. Michael paid close attention throughout the phone call, and so everyone heard Richard’s affectionate but despicable confession to Sophia.

During dinnertime, Sophia felt utterly embarrassed. She kept her head bowed while she had her meal as she listened to Richard’s pretentious monologue from the other end of the phone call. Richard claimed that he wouldn’t despise Sophia for sleeping with Joel, but later, he explained that he would be more than happy to send her to the most high-end center for the best hymen repair surgery. The next thing she knew, he was claiming that he looked forward to their perfect future while suddenly remarking how cruel reality was. Hence, he requested Sophia to work harder in order to have Joel’s ear by getting in bed with him.

Richard spoke for an entire twenty minutes before hanging up on the phone call.

After dinner, Michael returned to the room. Then, he typed and printed out some of the classic phrases Richard mentioned over the phone call. He made a mini drama script out of it, and he acted it out with Sophia while searching for his inspiration to act like a playboy.

Coincidentally, he had accepted a role as a guest star in a movie to play the character of the female protagonist’s playboy ex-boyfriend.

Sophia sat still and acted as his prop.

Michael got into character while arranging his expression. His eyes were darting around, and he seemed distracted. In fact, he looked especially guilty, but his eyebrows were slightly raised, which gave him an air of superiority. Despite his guilty conscience, Michael made it seem as if he felt he was innocent. He forced a trace of heartfelt affection across his face, but he just couldn’t hide the greed and hypocrisy overflowing from his soul.

“Oh, Sophia!” he repeated Richard’s lines. He placed a hand on Sophia’s shoulder while gazing into her eyes affectionately, and the depth of his feelings looked more like he was doing charity—he looked as if he was facing a stray dog. It was obvious that he did not like it, but he went against his wishes by throwing the stray dog a bone. “Sophia, thank you for helping with this issue.”

Sophia regarded Michael while blinking a few times. She continued observing his performance.

Michael is undeniably one of Cethos’ best actors. He matches the image I had in my mind of Richard when I heard him over the phone earlier. He looks so engrossed, and he is presenting Richard’s despicable side of a true scum.

Michael continued with his lines, as if he was possessed by a playboy. “It looks like there’s hope for my sister. Director Jenkins has also agreed to work with us… You have to understand that your sacrifice now is for our future. Sophia, I will not detest you for your actions. You can undergo a hymen repair surgery in the future. Although we can’t have a marriage certificate, we can go abroad. I can organize a grand wedding for you at a place where nobody knows us, and I will make you the most beautiful bride on earth.”

During Richard’s phone call earlier, Sophia held back her laughter throughout the ordeal. Nevertheless, she couldn’t endure it now, and she finally burst out laughing. “Pfft…”

It was not that she wanted to laugh, but Michael looked too cute. He was wearing the frog pajama, which was vibrantly green. He even imitated Nathan by putting on his hoodie while expressing the hypocritical and insincere affection. The contrast made him look absolutely adorable.

Nevertheless, Michael was still acting out the role of a playboy, and he felt as if he had found the feeling of it. His expression remained unmoved despite Sophia’s countless bursts of laughter.

Sophia kept giggling. Suddenly, Michael wrapped his arms around her abruptly, and he sealed his lips against hers. He drowned her laughter with a deep kiss, and she was caught off guard. She felt her head spinning with the kiss. After catching her breath, she finally caught up to Michael’s pace and rhythm.

What should I do? I can feel myself falling for him…

Nathan glanced at the two of them kissing, and he turned his back to them in silence to continue with his homework.

After a few days, Sophia started preparing to return to the university for the final exams. The weather was getting colder, and it had started snowing. The snow made the world appear exceptionally loveable. Sophia sat by the floor-to-ceiling glass window while staring at the snowy scenery outside. It was already mid-winter and chilly outside, but the room was still warm and toasty, like spring. It was as if they were two different worlds.

In the past, Sophia was scared of snowing because winter was too cold. There were no heaters in the university hostel, and so students who had the choice would return home for winter. Hence, she would be the only one left in the hostel while she trembled in cold.

After breakfast, the snow stopped, and the ground was already covered with a thick layer of snow. The family of three left the house to enjoy the snow.

Michael didn’t have to film today, whereas Sophia felt better too. With winter and snow, they were just in time to enjoy the scenery.

“Dear, where are we going to enjoy the snow?” Sophia asked curiously while looking out of the window.

Michael flashed her a mysterious smile, and the car sped off in the direction of Riverdale.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 182

Entering the place where she once lived, Sophia fell deep into her thoughts. I was born in the suburbs of Riverdale. Later on, I was accepted into Riverdale High School. I had lived in Riverdale for eighteen years, but after Joe took me away, I’d never returned here.

I have too many things buried here…

Without realizing, the car came to a stop. The car door opened, and Nathan was the first to jump out of the car. His anti-skid lined boots made small footprints all over the snow-covered ground. Once he got out of the car, he immediately saw a grand house, and so his eyes popped wide open in surprise.

Sophia got out of the car behind Michael. He held her pink gloved-hand in his large warm palm. With her small hand in his, he took a couple of steps forward.

Similarly, Sophia immediately saw the grand house in front of her. She scanned her surroundings, and she realized that she was standing near a bus station. The bus station was named after this large mansion—Harper’s Mansion.

“Isn’t this the Harpers’ house?”

The Harper’s Mansion was extremely recognizable because it had an elegant and classic Cethosian garden. It preserved its style from two hundred years ago. Although the mansion had been constantly renovated and had expanded over the years, its architecture style had never changed. The main architecture structure of the building maintained its appearance from when it was built, and so it could be considered as a cultural relic.

Why is he taking me here to the Harper’s Mansion for no good reason?

Upon seeing the Harper’s Mansion, Sophia recalled some bad memories. Once upon a time, when I was out of options and came to the Harpers for help, Richard refused to see me. I couldn’t even enter the mansion. They beat me up before tossing me out.

At that time, if Richard had been willing to trust me, even a little, my life might have changed.

However, if Richard had been willing to help me at that time, I might not have been able to meet Michael.

Maybe the first half of my life was painful and full of suffering because I was gathering my luck to meet Michael.

Michael stood behind her, and he suddenly patted her shoulder. “The Harpers sold the Harper’s Mansion to get Kayla out of jail. It belongs to you now.”

Sophia stared at him in utter shock.

They actually sold the Harper’s Mansion? But this isn’t any ordinary mansion! It’s almost like a folk garden or even a cultural relic. It has exceptional research value, and this has always been the pride of the Harper Family! They put this above their lives, so how could they possibly sell it off so easily? But if Michael said it, the credibility is 100%. After all, he is the person who bought Ido’s Imperial Diamond Ring casually. Does that mean that the Harper’s Mansion belongs to me now?

Michael held onto her small hand while speaking to her, “Let’s go and have a look inside. The snow scenery inside is wonderful.”

They walked into the courtyard of the Harper’s Mansion. Sophia was still in a daze, and she just couldn’t digest the reality.

The majority of Harper’s Mansion was constructed based on classical styles—whitewashed walls topped with grey roof tiles and red fences. The Harper Family had been in the construction business for generations. Their ancestors were Cethosian merchants, and so their accommodation preserved a strong influence of the ancient style. There were miniature hills and streams in the garden, accompanied with countless trees and flowers that made up the garden architecture. There were pavilions, terraces, open halls, miniature bridges, and streams too. There were seven to eight courtyards in total, and each had its unique poetic charm.

Michael led Sophia through several archways and parlors. They enjoyed the scenery inside while strolling in the mansion. Although it was already winter, the scenery looked even better here. The snow was dazzling white, and it gave off an inexplicable feel against the white walls and grey roof tiles.

Sophia was already feeling much calmer revisiting the Harper’s Mansion. I recall my first time coming here. Richard brought me over, and I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights while simultaneously feeling out of place. I kept making mistakes, and everybody mocked me and laughed at me. It was also during that time that I realized the gap between Richard and me.

In school, he was a straight-A student, and so was I. We wore the same uniforms, and we had the same textbooks. The only difference we had were our scores.

However, outside school, he was the eldest son of Riverdale’s well known Harper Family, whereas I was a nobody.

The Harper’s Mansion had everything in it; even Michael clucked his tongue as he was impressed by the architecture. The Harpers are skillful in construction. I wonder how many generations put in effort for this garden. Well, I’ve decided to forgive the Harpers for 10 minutes for the sake of this garden.

The family of three strolled around the place as though they were having fun in a park. Nathan found this fascinating. He had been living in an old castle abroad since he was a child, but the castle had a European style. Therefore, this was this first time looking at a building with such an antique design. Furthermore, it was different from the ancient Imperial Palace nearby their house, and so he couldn’t help but wander around the mansion.

Hale and Gary followed them from behind. Hale was holding an SLR camera to take photos for them.

After wandering around a few gardens, they already took more than a hundred pictures.

Sophia was holding onto her SLR camera as well. She realized that she was talented in taking photos because each shot seemed even better than the one before.

In the end, they arrived at the building the Harpers used to stay in. It was a restored Western building. However, it didn’t feel out of place when put together with the other buildings within the mansion. On the contrary, it gave off a unique style.

The Harper Family had shifted away in a rush. The garden was now filled with Michael’s subordinates, who were busy cleaning and checking the inventory.

Sophia stood at the best viewpoint within the Harper’s Mansion, where one could observe the entire mansion by opening the windows. This was once Kayla’s room.

From that angle, the Harper’s Mansion had a completely different look. In fact, it seemed like a piece of jade that people just wouldn’t forget after taking a glance.

Why did Michael buy such a large place?

Doesn’t he have enough houses? He has a Villa No.1 and Villa No.8 in The Imperial. Aren’t those enough for him?

“Dear, why did you buy this place?”

Michael was feeling warm from all the walking, and so he took off his scarf. “No specific purpose. It just looks nice,” he answered.

Sophia was rendered speechless. However, it is undeniable that the gardens are exceptionally beautiful…

Then, Michael added, “This is your mansion now. You can do whatever you want with it.”

Such an aggressive billionaire!

The price of this mansion must be higher than Ido’s Imperial Diamond Ring. The important thing is that with such a large mansion and space, it has immeasurable value for collection and research. It’s a good idea to keep it while its value grows.

“Rent it out! 1 million per year!” Sophia decided abruptly.

Michael lovingly caressed her head, which was covered with a furry cap. He responded to her, “Sure. I’ll get a tenant for you.”

Michael’s social circle consisted of the rich and powerful. Therefore, it wasn’t an uphill task to contact someone who could afford to rent the place.

Sophia was blushing slightly, and she seemed slightly embarrassed. I have been married to Michael for such a long time, but I haven’t slept with him. He has given me a house and a ring. I’ll have a guilty conscience if I continue to refrain from sleeping with him.

I think it’s best to sleep with him as soon as possible even though he likes to have relations with men…

She thought of Joel, Harry, and Daniel. She thought of the large group of gay friends Michael had queueing up in front of her, and her eyes became dull again.

I suddenly feel so cheap. I can’t believe I can accept a man like that!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 183

Michael is a good man, but how do I judge if he is truly a good person or if he is just acting? He is one of the best actors in the country, after all. He can easily act and pretend to suit his needs.

However, isn’t Michael doing exceedingly well for faking his love? I merely mentioned in passing that I liked the Eternal Love, but he was attentive enough to pick up on that. Then, he purchased the Eternal Love for me.

I’m sure that he bought the Harper’s Mansion not simply because of how beautiful it looks. He bought it for me. He knew about the hurt the Harper Family has inflicted upon me, and he wanted to vent my frustration on my behalf while helping me grow my personal savings…

Sophia had always been wary, and she constantly reminded herself not to fall for Michael. Otherwise, she might repeat the same mistake. However, it wouldn’t be called a heart if one could guard it forever.

How I wish that time could freeze now forever. I’d like to be in this moment with such a unique atmosphere forever. That would be more than enough for me. It would be enough…

After visiting the Harper’s Mansion, the family of three left for the next destination, Audistin.

Audistin was a chain brand—its Health Club was still the most popular because Daniel was in it.

People spread word about Daniel and his abilities, making him seem almost God-like. He was rumored to be the only disciple of the Master of Reverie Temple. Some people even went so far as to refer to him as a reincarnation of a celestial being. In reality, he was just a swindler who was defrauding the rich and famous.

After the family of three entered from the back entrance into Audistin, Sophia went to the bathroom, whereas Michael brought Nathan to meet Daniel.

After using the washroom, Sophia took a walk in the club’s main hall. This Health Club’s businesses were slightly more complex. They offered services such as acupuncture, aromatherapy spa, facial and body sculpting, chiropractic, essential oil back massage, Tarot card reading, fortune telling via examining bone structure, fortune telling via analyzing names, physiognomy and divination, marriage analysis, geomancy, and even the art of fertility.

The main hall paid homage to the God of Wealth, Goddess of Mercy for child-bearing, Jesus, and the Lucky Cat.

Rich people emphasized more on preserving health nowadays. This was especially true during winter because it was the best period to detox. Hence, there was an exceptionally large crowd in the club.

Many people made appointments with Daniel for fortune telling, and so there was already a long queue. However, the crowd had no choice but to wait for a while when they learned that Daniel was carrying out physiognomy for Taylor Murray.

Sophia entered Daniel’s lounge. Once she opened the door, she saw the mahjong table already laid out, and four people sat at the table—Michael, Stanley, Harry, and Daniel. On the other side, Nathan was engrossed in playing games on the laptop.

“Two Stones!”

“Score, haha!”

“Pay up, pay up!”

The queue outside is getting longer, and here they are, playing mahjong!

Stanley had a cigarette between his lips, and he beckoned to Sophia. “Come, Sophie. Let’s play mahjong!”

Sophia caught a whiff of tobacco smoke before she could get any closer. She scowled and grabbed Nathan before walking out of the lounge.

Daniel was picking a mahjong tile when he spoke, “Sophie, go ahead and have fun! Everything is free-of-charge.”

Michael was also busy picking a mahjong tile. “Chica, your body has just recovered. Have a back massage or something. I will be waiting for you here.”

Stanley burst out laughing. “Haha, Uncle Michael, why are you addressing Sophie with such a suggestive nickname?!”

Harry commented, “Kids should smoke less!”

Sophia blushed deeply, and she took Nathan away. Michael was having fun with a table full of his gay friends, and so it would be inappropriate for her to stay. Hence, she had no choice but to leave. Sophia had an Audistin card, and so she ordered for a massage. Meanwhile, Nathan kept close to her; he tagged along wherever she went with his laptop.

After the massage, Sophia felt utterly relaxed. She checked the time, and she noted that it would be time for a meal soon after a footbath session, and she could then grab something to eat. However, she saw someone she was least expecting in the main hall.

The Harpers were here. Mr. and Mrs. Harper, Richard, and Xyla.

Kayla was there too.

Kayla was suspected of hiring hoodlums to r*pe Director Jenkins’ daughter in the hotel. However, due to insufficient proof, coupled with the fact that she was a minor with mental illness, her capable team of lawyers managed to get her released.

After the series of incidents, Kayla appeared especially haggard. Initially, her birthday banquet was almost close to perfect. Her three idols showed up, and many people were jealous of her since she seemed to have snagged Joel. Nevertheless, everything was ruined at the last critical moment.

I have always felt that it wasn’t my fault. In fact, it was Sophia’s fault. If it weren’t for her, I would have still been the honorable princess, and I would have most probably ended up with Joel.

But what about now? My reputation is ruined, and I almost lost my innocence. Although the Harpers tried savaging my reputation through public relations, this incident will forever haunt me like a stain.

This was all thanks to Sophia. She is the source of all my unhappiness!

She is the perpetrator. Nevertheless, she even got into bed with Joel somehow, and she even dared to try to join the Harper Family!

Who does she think she is?

Hence, when Sophia showed up in Audistin all of a sudden, Kayla almost couldn’t hold back her urge to charge forward to kill her!

The entire Harper Family wasn’t surprised when they saw Sophia because Richard mentioned to her over the phone that they would be meeting Daniel Levine for fortune telling. He was actually hinting her to meet him here.

True enough, she is here for another chance encounter!

However, Sophia was truly oblivious to the fact that the Harpers would show up here today. Michael was the one who answered Richard’s call, and he even jotted down notes and wrote a play from the phone conversation. Michael had been using it every day to figure out how to play the role of a playboy at home.

Although Sophia did recall hearing those lines, she was mainly focused on Michael’s handsome face. Therefore, she did not know that the Harpers would be here today.

Mrs. Harper snorted in disdain when she saw Sophia. Contempt flashed across her eyes.

How dare she have the audacity to grab my son’s attention when she didn’t even complete the task at hand! It’s her honor to get a glimpse of my breathtakingly handsome son!

“Sophia!” Richard, who was sitting on a chair in the rest area, stood up abruptly while looking delighted. He was about to approach Sophia when Xyla reminded him just in time, “Richard, take note of your status.”

Xyla and Richard had a discussion before coming over. Richard officially voiced out to Xyla, explaining that he wanted to accept Sophia because she managed to get Kayla out of prison. Besides, Sophia managed to bed Joel, and so she would be able to benefit the Harpers.

Xyla almost lost her mind to anger, but she agreed anyway. She acted as if she understood the importance of the cause while accepting the fact that she was about to share a husband with Sophia.

Richard was extremely moved that Xyla was so considerate and kind. He even promised her that he would love her more than he did Sophia. In fact, he would take Sophia to tie her tubes while promising Xyla that Sophia would never affect her position as his legal wife.

How could Xyla possibly accept sharing her husband? She wanted nothing more than to murder Sophia!

She claimed that she would stop pestering Richard, but now, she has basically announced to the world that she’s competing with me for Richard’s attention and the position in his heart!

If I trust her, I might not even know what hit me after she snatched my husband away right under my nose.

As a woman, I have a sixth sense by nature. Since I was able to snatch Richard away from Sophia previously, it means that someone else may snatch him away from me too.

I will never let that happen!

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However, she could not show her anger because she needed to pretend that she was an understanding wife, who understood the larger scheme of things so that Richard would not find her annoying. I have to find a way to push Sophia away from Richard. However, at the current moment, she has made such a huge contribution to the Harper Family. Therefore, I can’t be obvious with my motives.

“Richard, this is Audistin, which means that Joel’s acquaintances or subordinates might be here. If you casually approach Sophia, what will happen if he finds out?”

Richard stopped dead in his tracks. Upon recalling the fact that his woman slept with another man for his sake, he couldn’t help but blame himself while being riddled with guilt.

However, whenever he reminded himself that she did this for their future, it instantly eased up his guilt.

Xyla was extremely resentful when she noticed how eager he was to chat with Sophia. Nevertheless, she pretended to be understanding and gracious. “Richard, why don’t I help to look out for the two of you?”

His eyes sparkled when he heard that and shot her a grateful look. “Xyla, you are the best!”

They both casually walked toward Sophia.

As Sophia was just done with her footbath and back massage with essential oil, she was about to take Nathan to meet Michael. They should be done with their game of mahjong, I hope.

However, she had barely taken a few steps when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. “Sophia!”

She frowned deeply. What is wrong with Richard? Why is he throwing himself at me? Why is he doing that while claiming that I’m the one trying to get closer to the Harper Family?

In order to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, she feigned that she did not hear him and never bothered to acknowledge him. Instead, she led Nathan into a room and closed the door, effectively closing the door in Richard’s face.

Richard knocked on the door a few times. He noticed that the door was locked and a thought struck him. Sophia now belongs to Joel exclusively, so no one else can have her. That’s the reason why she can’t be in contact with me.

He left with regrets.

Sophia became the owner of the Harper’s Mansion today, so she was in a rather good mood and decided to forgive the Harpers for 12 hours. Little did she know that behind her back, the dramatic Harpers had already written her as the protagonist in their imaginary life-and-death epic drama.

Michael was still playing mahjong while the clients waiting outside were becoming impatient. Daniel had a cigarette between his lips when he played mahjong, wearing an annoyed expression when his assistant entered to urge him several times. Finally, he unwillingly left his lounge to work.

Sophia was obviously the replacement since there were only three players.

Unfortunately, she stared at the mahjong tile on the table with a dazed expression, seemingly not to have learned such a high-end game. She fumbled for the longest time, but she was still clueless. Stanley even mocked her. “Sophie, you usually look intelligent, but why are you stupid at such important times like this? You can’t even play mahjong!”

Michael picked up a tile while quietly stubbing the cigarette between Stanley’s lips. “Kids shouldn’t smoke!”

Sophia, who was sitting across Michael, was staring at her mahjong tiles intently. Her pink and adorable face looked extremely cute, especially with her current expression.

I want to pinch her cheeks badly!

Suppressing his urge to pinch her, he commented, “Chica, if you can’t play the game, you will be played. Why don’t you observe Daniel when he helps the Harpers with their fortune telling?!”

Is Daniel predicting the Harper Family’s fortune for them? That’s great!

Sophia put down her mahjong tiles and walked out to Daniel’s ‘office’, pretending to be someone who served tea and brought a few cups of floral tea.

Daniel’s office was filled with a pleasant scent that reminded her of a refreshing breeze—the decorations were simple with a few famous calligraphy and paintings on the wall while the incense, which was lit, on the black table somehow made people relaxed.

He wore a mandarin jacket, which seemed dated, and had a string of prayer beads in his left hand while a cross hung on his chest. The table in the middle was for the Daoist Three Pure Ones whereas the one on the right was to worship the God of Wealth and the Lucky Cat was hanging on the left wall. The room was a mix-and-match; neither was it Oriental nor was it Western. It was obvious that he was a swindler, but people just seemed to believe him.

While wearing an unreadable expression on his face, he pretended to examine the Harper Family’s horoscope as the Harpers waited anxiously at the side.

Sophia entered Daniel’s office with the tea, placing a cup of it in front of everyone in an orderly manner.

Richard’s knotted brows relaxed upon seeing her entering the room and his eyes twinkled with a smile. Mrs. Harper also saw Sophia, but the former merely cocked a brow and it was impossible to tell whether she was delighted or angry.

No wonder we were able to quickly secure an appointment when we were trying to schedule for one with Daniel. Considering that there are many people trying to reserve an appointment slot with Daniel, it’s almost impossible to see him in person if we had scheduled it within these few days. However, when we tried to book an appointment two days ago, Daniel informed us to come today. It looks like Sophia is working here as a server and has pulled some strings for us.

On one hand, Mrs. Harper felt that it was only natural for Sophia to serve the Harpers. On the other hand, she figured that since Sophia had slept with Joel, she could be entangled with Daniel too. A loose woman like Sophia will never join the Harper Family. Well, unless she is able to connect Kayla with the Fletchers. If she is able to marry into the Fletcher Family, I might consider giving Sophia a chance.

Sophia stood at the side in silence after serving tea while observing how Daniel was able to fool the entire Harper Family.

After going through the entire Harper Family’s horoscope, he glanced at Kayla’s horoscope again before frowning deeply and pretended while gesturing with his fingers.

He counted with his fingers for almost thirty minutes and the Harper Family remained silent throughout the entire time. This is a familiar situation.

When Joe brought Sophia to see Daniel years ago, he gestured and counted with his fingertips for a few minutes. In the end, Daniel predicted that Sophia would bring death to the entire Edwards Family.

After what seemed like eternity, he finally broke the silence while shaking his head. “Out of the five elements, your daughter lacks gold, which explains why she has been ‘absorbing gold’. The older she gets, the more she will absorb. Gold represents fortune and wealth. Therefore, Mr. Harper, you have been recently short of ‘gold’ because your daughter has absorbed all of it.”

The Harper Family looked horrified when they heard that, looking as if everything had finally made sense. It is true that Kayla has been spending a lot of the Harper Family’s money lately. She made a mess in school and even caused trouble in Audistin. The Harpers have spent almost nine figures to sort out her affairs.

We have spent a large sum for her charity banquet, but she did not appreciate that. On the contrary, we even lost the Harper’s Mansion—and that in itself is an astronomical figure! Master Levine sees through everything as a bystander. His explanation is like a wake-up call! He is a true master!

Kayla stared at her palms as the color rapidly drained from her face. It turns out that my life lacks gold, which is why the Harpers are going through so much hardship! How is this possible? This is all Sophia’s evil scheme!

She was blinded by anger and slammed the table before abruptly standing up to point at Sophia, who was standing beside Daniel, screaming, “It is indeed all because of you, you btch! You must be having an affair with this quack and told him to speak ill of me, didn’t you? You, btch! I’ll kill you!”

Richard immediately pushed her down onto the chair while viciously threatening her, “Do you still think you haven’t caused enough trouble?”

Mr. Harper immediately apologized to Daniel in a hurry, “I am so sorry, Master Levine. My daughter is immature, so, please don’t take it to heart. Do continue; please continue, hehe—”

Daniel had a frosty expression with his handsome face being upset. “Mr. Harper, if you think that my fortune telling is inaccurate, you are free to leave.”

The Harpers immediately panicked when they realized that Daniel was fuming. We can’t afford to offend Daniel Levine!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 185

Mr Harper immediately apologized when he saw that Daniel was angry, “Who doesn’t know about the great Master Levine? My daughter is young and has been frightened, so her mental state isn’t steady lately. Please don’t take her words to heart!”

Daniel’s mood became a little better.

On the sidelines, Sophia sneakily laughed. Half of Kayla’s words are right. Daniel is really just a quack, but how did she arrive at the conclusion that I’m having an affair with him?

When Kayla saw that Sophia was laughing sneakily with a proud face, a raging anger suddenly burst out of her—she wanted to rush over and kill her!

He further explained, “Your daughter lacks the element of metal, so it’s impossible to change her fate. Now, I have three methods for you to consider.”

The entire Harper Family quickly raised their ears to listen.

He continued speaking, “The first method is to abandon your daughter. You must sever all ties with her and let her destroy herself. From now on, you must not interfere with anything that involves her.”

Everyone in the Harper Family looked at each other. Abandon the daughter? How is this possible?

Kayla’s face suddenly paled out of the fear that her parents would believe the quack and throw her out of the family.

Upon seeing the way the Harpers reacted, Daniel knew that it wasn’t a viable method, so he smiled and recommended a second option. “Mr. Harper, your daughter is destined to eat away at your wealth. If you don’t marry your daughter off and let her ruin another family, you will continue to lose your wealth in the end!”

Everyone in the Harper Family was even more frustrated. How can we marry her off when her reputation is terrible lately? Even though we’ve covered all the scandals up, rumors about her mental illness have still leaked out. Who will be willing to marry an insane person?

Mr. Harper was getting anxious as he hurriedly urged Daniel. “Master Levine, don’t keep us waiting anymore. Please tell us if there is another way!”

Danial pretended to meditate for a long time before responding, “Naturally, there is a third method!” He then pulled out a world map and explained, “The world consists of five continents. Corresponding with the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, Asia is earth, Europe is fire, Africa is metal, America is wood, and Oceania is water. Among them, Africa is metal. Therefore, you need to send your daughter to Africa for a year or two so that the lack of metal in her life force can be naturally mended.”

Once that was said, Sophia and everyone in the Harper Family was shocked.

The five continents that correspond with metal, wood, water, fire and earth… Who invented this theory?!

She was left in awe as she had a deeper understanding of Daniel’s ability to spew nonsense. Will anyone believe in this kind of nonsense? There are really people who believe in it!

Mr. Harper patted his thigh and fiercely shook Daniel’s hand. “Master Levine, you are really our savior. We initially planned to send Kayla to Africa for a few months! I can’t believe our thoughts are the same as yours!”

They wanted to project a good image for Kayla—and the best way would be through charity, a donation to the School of Hope, volunteer as a teacher in the underdeveloped mountain areas, or head to Africa as a volunteer.

They had already signed Kayla up for a volunteer project in Africa. The living conditions there were very difficult, so they planned to send her over for a few months to suffer. After her return, they would send a draft of her speech for a few days to public relations to clear her image.

At that moment, she was exasperated to the point where she wanted to cry. She initially threatened her family with suicide when they wanted to send her over to Africa. Just when she was about to change their mind, Daniel’s words today only made her travel to Africa inevitable, whether she liked it or not.

The Harpers grabbed Daniel’s hand and thanked him while paying him millions of ‘introduction fee’. When he was about to leave, Kayla’s eyes revealed that she couldn’t wait to kill him and Sophia. This must be part of Sophia’s scheme! She planned all of this with Daniel!

The moment they left the Harper Family, Daniel had a look at the message that was sent to his cellphone. The millions that the Harpers paid him had already been transferred into his bank account, so he put his phone away contentedly while calling Sophia, “Mrs. Fletcher—”

“Hmph!” She grunted because she couldn’t get the issue about her reputation out of her chest.

As soon as she exited the room, she found Michael. He was already done with his game of mahjong and now waited for her in the lounge with Nathan. When Michael saw her coming out, he said to her with consideration, “You’re done?”

She nodded her head as she felt good watching Daniel mess around with the Harpers. Not only did they lose their beloved house, but they were also sending their daughter to Africa as a volunteer. She took the initiative to approach him and ask, “Hubby, what are we having tonight?”

Michael naturally grabbed her shoulders. “What do you want to eat?”

Sophia thought about it. “I want to eat hot pot! Lamb with hot pot is the best thing to have during winter!”

He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Let’s go.”

Michael held Nathan with one hand and Sophia with the other as they walked out.

After that, he called Hale to make a reservation at the restaurant. Even though Nathan was stoic, it was obvious that he was happy as he gently hopped around when he walked. After all, he was merely a kid, so it was hard for him to conceal his happiness on his face, no matter how cold he usually looked.

The family of three drove to the restaurant to eat. On the way there, she excitedly thought about what she wanted to do with the Harper’s Mansion in the future. Michael already had his phone with him, so he sent the pictures that they took today to his Messenger.

Therefore, his gay friends were able to see his daily interaction with his wife again. Back then, he would send pictures of his son from time to time, but now, he keeps flashing pictures of his wife for no reason. He has finally become insane.

When Sophia took a look at her Messenger, she saw that he had posted a bunch of pictures of the three of them in the Harper’s Mansion, as if they were strolling around the park.

She quietly gave it a like.

The family of three were having a good time, but on the other side, the same cannot be said of the Harper Family.

They had already moved into the copycat real estate that they developed—The Luxurious 16—but the new house was not as good as the Harper’s Mansion. Back then, Kayla had the best room in the entire mansion and she even had a little traditional wooden building all to herself, but she had nothing at that moment. The best room in the house had been given to Richard and Xyla as their matrimonial room. Moreover, her family was still trying to send her to Africa.

Kayla had smashed all the antiques and vases in the house, leaving Mr. Harper with no choice but give his beloved daughter a slap. Finally, she stopped.

She felt that she had lost everything the moment her father slapped her. It’s all because of Sophia! If it isn’t for her, I will not have fallen to this point! Sophia Edwards!

Richard’s recent family affairs gave him a headache. Once he was done with a pile of work, he thought about Sophia, so he quickly gave her a call.

It was only in that moment that he knew how to appreciate her. When he reflected on the days that they were together, she always seemed strong and independent. She always took care of him and he did not need to worry about anything else whenever he was with her because she would never cause trouble for him. If only Kayla and Xyla were as thoughtful as her.

Sophia had thrown her phone aside and took a bath after returning home. Therefore, his phone call was answered by Michael again.

As soon as the call was connected, Richard’s emotional voice came through. “Sophia, thank you so much for today. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have been able to meet Master Levine so soon… My parents are very satisfied with you, but my sister is in trouble now. What my mother meant was that if you can manipulate your connection with Joel to help Kayla or any bachelorette in the Harper Family to hook up with the Fletchers… In that case, my family’s position will be strengthened and your position in the family will also be even higher. Maybe my mother can even allow you to bear my son. In the future, our son will be able to inherit a part of the Harper Family’s fortune.”

Michael was rendered speechless as he listened to Richard’s words.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 186

Michael resisted from laughing as he stoically hung up on the phone.

Nathan wore a pair of frog pajamas while playing games in his room. After logging into his ‘NateHiro’ character, he went around to defeat monsters.

Michael had also changed into his frog pajamas as he leaned on the door frame, looking at him. “Darling, are you playing games?”

Nathan ignored him.

Then, Michael returned to his room and grabbed his laptop before placing it next to Nathan’s laptop. “I really want to play games with you. What game are you playing? Can you teach me how to play it?”

Nathan thought about it for a while before answering him, “I’m playing the ‘Swordsman Game’.”

Michael smiled. “Oh gosh, I’ve already installed it on my laptop, but I can’t figure out how to play it. Can you teach me how to log into the game?”

Nathan glanced at him before placing his fingers on his laptop keyboard and began to register the latter’s details in the game.

After Sophia was done with her bath, she saw that the father and son were already playing games. Nathan was impressively helping Michael’s character in the game.

It was obvious to her that Michael was still a novice at the game—he was so new that his character had to die a few times while he fought the little monsters in Novice Village. Even though Nathan looked impatient with him, the latter was still his father, so he suppressed his frustrations and helped him through a few rounds.

“Darling, hubby, are you playing games too? Wait for me. I also want to join!”

She quickly logged into her new character before locating Michael and Nathan’s location in the game; the family of three were now a team to fight monsters.

She still dare not log into her main character because Sirius233 was still Scary Phoenix’s b*tch.

Michael didn’t seem to have played a game before, which explained his clumsiness. He took ages to kill a monster and his skill level was close to zero. She continued to help him to fight monsters while sighing in her heart, It looks like my idol is not completely perfect. There will always be something that he isn’t good at, like playing games.

The family of three were in the midst of playing games together when Hale entered to look for Michael. The moment Hale opened the door, he saw three frogs huddled together and playing games.

When he saw Sophia being proud of herself for helping a novice like Michael defeat monsters, he felt that it was impossible for her to ever escape Michael’s grasp.

The phrase ‘being played into someone’s hands’ can probably be used to describe Sophia and Michael… Other families spend their time together playing house whereas this family bonds by playing games.

Michael played for a while before following Hale to talk about business.

“Boss, according to reliable sources, Phantom Wolf has already entered Cethos, and he is now planning to cause trouble.” Hale’s expression was serious even though he was facing a massive frog.

Michael silently removed the hood and read his report with a dark face.

Phantom Wolf was the codename for the leader of an international terrorist organization. The ZF Organization had no name with members around the world, causing lots of terrorist attacks. Many world leaders were frustrated because of them, so lots of countries formed an alliance to catch those international criminals, but there hadn’t been a successful way to capture their leader.

The organization had existed for almost a century with a horrifying background and Phantom Wolf was their leader’s codename. Every decade or so, Phantom Wolf would appear in Cethos. Although he was driven out of the country each time he showed up, he seemed to have a special connection with the land.

The last time he came was two years ago when Michael laid a trap to capture him. Even though he was severely injured, he still managed to escape in the end.

He had discovered Phantom Wolf’s whereabouts not too long ago and deployed a lot of men to capture the man, but he still managed to escape the carefully planned trap. No one even knew what Phantom Wolf looked like.

Michael’s men only managed to catch a photo of Phantom Wolf’s back—the man was treacherous and cunning, so it was the only picture they had after a long period of investigation.

He looked at Phantom Wolf in the picture. Phantom Wolf was a man who wore a baseball, but only his back was seen. Even though his face was obscured, every inch of his body was oozing a dangerous aura.

“Phantom Wolf…” Michael called his name out as a sense of hatred filled him. My sister and my brother-in-law died in his hands!

When he was done with his business, he returned to the room and saw that Sophia and Nathan were asleep after they finished playing their game. The sight of two frogs—one big and one small—leaning against each other was exceptionally sweet.

Michael tilted his head to admire their sleeping position and gently closed the door a while later.

The moment he closed the door, Sophia immediately opened her eyes and thought about a particular serious question while staring at her fingers. Why don’t I choose a perfect day to sleep with Michael? It feels so exciting and embarrassing that I’m about to sleep with my idol.

All she could think about was the dirty pictures that he sent her, making her so excited that she couldn’t sleep.

However, whenever she thought about his gay friends, she felt defeated again.

I must not like Michael because he is simply oxic! Not only is he the dream of 2 billion girls in the world, but I have rivals in the form of 2 billion young men! Why do I have to face many rivals just to like this man? Not only are girls my rivals, but boys as well!

The next day, she woke up earlier and went to school with Nathan.

After a snowfall, it had turned Bayside University into an exceptionally beautiful campus, as if it was coated with silver and snow. The janitor had already cleared out the snow to make a path.

Sophia sent Nathan to the School of Computer Science and met Stanley on the way there. As the weather was cold as of late, he did not dare to ride his motorbike; therefore, he drove here in a second-hand car that he bought from a car dealership. He then parked his car in the campus’s parking lot among the other luxurious cars.

“Sophia! You finally decided to come to class!” He instantly touched her fluffy knitted hat.

Before she could even respond, Nathan answered, “Get your hands off her!”

Stanley also rubbed his tiny head before dragging him to his classroom. “Sophia, you can head off now. I’ll help to take care Nathan for you.”

Upon seeing them leaving, she walked toward her classroom.

On the way there, she felt that everyone looked at her with a strange expression.

What is it again?

Sophia was confused. She never thought that Kayla would dare to get her involved in what happened at the Harper Family’s banquet the last time. If Kayla didn’t, Sophia intended to slowly kill her, but if she did, the latter could immediately end her. I merely asked for a normal leave from the university. Do they have to look at me like that?

Then, a familiar face was walking in front of her.

“Meow!”

Sarah was a new friend whom Sophia met during military training. After she returned from school, they would both occasionally catch a meal together. Both their names started with an ‘S’, so they felt closer to each other. She was one of Sophia’s few friends and even gave a nickname to the latter.

“Sofie!” Sarah called out upon seeing Sophia and greeted her happily. “Are you feeling better? You look even prettier after being gone for a month.”

Sarah was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but her family had built their wealth from scratch, so she did not have the arrogance of an elite, which made it easier for her to talk to anyone.

After exchanging greetings, they grabbed each other’s shoulders and walked toward their class. “Wow, I didn’t attend that banquet because I didn’t receive any invitation. You’re so brilliant, considering you actually talked to all three idols at the same time. You even wore your idol’s dress and ring. You’re so awesome!”

Sophia asked curiously, “Why do I feel that everybody is looking at me with a strange expression?”

Sarah sighed. “Lately, I don’t know which brain-dead magazine company has decided to spew nonsense again. Here, look at this.”

She had bought a magazine from a newsstand on her way to campus. On the magazine cover was a picture of Stanley devouring a plate of pudding with ferocity. It seemed to be taken at the Harper Family’s banquet.

The title of the magazine read, ‘The Dream to Marry Into A Rich Family Gone. Ex-Girlfriend of the Young Master of Harper Group Obsessed With a Loser Gamer!’

Sophia was rendered speechless.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 187

Sophia flipped open the magazine and found the article that discredited her.

All of the pictures published in the article were ugly photos of Stanley eating. They described him as a local boy who was from a village in the city and an idiot who knew nothing but playing games. The magazine even compared him to Richard’s picture.

Richard’s clear picture was perfectly edited and whereas Stanley’s picture was taken from the side. The magazine never even edited his photo, so his pimples were very obvious. When both pictures were being compared with each other, the difference was abundantly clear.

As she read through the article, she suddenly felt a little sorry for herself. ‘Girl from a village in the city dreams of being a rich person, but she failed to hook up with the Young Master of the Harper Group, shattering her dreams. Therefore, she could only settle for a poor and yokel gamer who only knows how to play games. Even the car and outfit she wore to a banquet were all rented.’

‘Even though she was able to wear her idol’s dress, she still needed to return it afterward. She was still a peasant once she removed the skirt. The agony of a shattered rich dream! In the end, her ex-boyfriend was with the perfect girl from a family of the same status as him while she was left with her full-time job. When she returned home, she could only eat instant noodles with the gamer, who has a face full of acne. The two of them even had to share a cooked radish together.’

When Sophia had finished reading the article, she was in a bad mood as she couldn’t help but feel sorry for her ‘devastating loss’.

Sarah comforted her, “This magazine is intentionally discrediting you after being bribed by the Harpers. It has gone off the shelves of every newsstand on campus. Don’t be sad since it’s all nonsense. At least your Stan is still a handsome man!”

As they walked forward, they saw a boy walking toward them in a coquettish manner while swaying his waist—it was obviously Sean.

He wore a red winter suit with a white hat that only revealed his tiny face, making him look like a pretty girl.

The three of them walked together while discussing the earlier article in the magazine. When Sean saw Stanley’s ‘beautiful photos’ in the magazine, the corners of his lips seemed to twitch, but he said nothing in the end.

On the other hand, Sarah couldn’t stop complaining about the magazine. “Bah! What kind of a sh*tty magazine is this? What nonsense are they writing about? Look at how they describe you in this article! The girls in our class are now saying things behind your back, such as how you have failed to hook up with a rich family or how a peasant like you is trying to work up the social ladder. They are just jealous! Let me tell you a secret—lots of boys in our class know that I have a good relationship with you, so they have secretly asked me for your contact number!”

The three of them chatted their way to class.

Once class was finished, Sophia snuck to the library to read some books. However, on the way there, she ran into people who seemed to point their finger at her while some of them even spoke loudly, as if they wanted her to hear what they said.

“That is Sophia. Oh dear, she failed to marry into a rich family. That’s such a pity for her!”

“If I am her, I won’t even dare to show my face in Bayside University. It’s too embarrassing!”

“You are right and she even found herself such a sh*tty boyfriend. She must have felt jealous in her heart, seeing how glamorous her ex-boyfriend is now.”

However, she walked past them as though she couldn’t hear what they said.

She could not be bothered on what others thought of her because she was focused on her exam preparations. She heard that after Michael left the army to pursue his studies in Bayside University at that time, he received yearly scholarships. I need to emulate my idol!

A few days after she returned to school, it was time for exams. Bayside University was rather efficient in marking their papers as the turnover rate was fast—on the evening of the exam itself, students would be able to check their results for a specific course through the school’s website.

All the students sat for two exams for professional courses on the first day. On that night itself, the class monitor announced the results for the two exams via their Messenger group.

The moment the results were released, the Messenger group became lively. ‘Sophia is so brilliant. She has missed a month of class yet she still managed to obtain good results. For both courses, she received 98 out of 100 each!’

‘She is so brilliant! It looks like we have no chance for the scholarship!’

When Juliette saw the messages in the group, she hesitated for a while before sending Sophia’s results to Kayla in the end.

Kayla violently smashed her laptop as soon as she saw Sophia’s results.

She lived a miserable life this semester since Sophia had ruined both her life and studies. Therefore, she lacked the mood to study, causing her to fail both exams today.

Moreover, everyone else in her family did not do well in the exams—even Xyla didn’t receive a satisfactory result for today’s two exams as she had barely passed and the scores for her specialized subjects were even worse.

Richard had been busy with the company affairs, so he missed a lot of classes, causing his results to barely hover above the passing grade.

Kayla had received zero credits for her military trailing and now failed two important courses, so she was practically never going to graduate from school. How could she be in a good mood?

How can a btch like her obtain good grades? Never mind first place in class! Why should she deserve these high grades? I had purposely asked the magazine to release this article at the end of the semester and intentionally asked every newsstand in school to sell this magazine, so that I can let everyone in school know how miserable and shameless Sophia is! I want everyone to know that she is just a delusional btch! I want everyone to despise and look down on her. I want everyone to mock her on her face so that she won’t be able to sleep at night while secretly crying. That way, she won’t be able to attend classes during the day! I want her to lose her focus on her studies so that she will get zero marks for her final exams without even passing one subject. I want her to be out of Bayside University in shame! However, this b*tch’s skin isn’t as thin as I expected. I can’t believe she can still remain unperturbed and obtain good grades even when everyone is mocking her on her face!

Coupled with her discontent toward the new house, she began to smash everything out of anger again.

“Urgh, you are all against me! I hate you! I hate you all!”

After smashing everything for half a day, she held her knees and curled up in a corner while silently crying. No one came to care for her now that almost everyone in the family had abandoned her, making her feel as if the whole world had given up on her. It’s all because of Sophia!

Kayla cried for a while before suddenly rising to her full height and wiped her tears before sending Juliette a voice message. After she sent it, she let out a menacing laugh. If I’m going to fail, let’s all fail together!

Since it was merely the first semester, there weren’t many subjects that needed revision. Therefore, Sophia only needed to sit for 6 exams, which took her 3 days to settle.

It was time for the last exam on the afternoon of the third day—the most important degree course. If she were to fail this subject, it would directly affect her credits and by then, it was possible that she wouldn’t be able to receive her degree certificate four years later. Therefore, everyone tried their best to focus and work hard to achieve the highest grades possible.

Sophia had also taken the exam very seriously, so she arrived at the examination room earlier. After she revised for a while, she took the opportunity to head to the restroom before the start of exams.

Juliette saw that Sophia had left a stack of draft papers on her seat. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she blocked the surveillance camera on the wall with her body and secretly flipped open the draft papers before tearing a corner from a page. She placed it inside her clothes and pretended that nothing had happened.

The exam soon started. As soon as the teachers revealed the questions, only the rustling sound of pens being scribbled on paper was heard in the examination room.

Sophia was focused on answering the questions as she did her calculations on her draft paper and could have filled up an entire piece in merely a few minutes.

Quinton Clark was the invigilator and meticulously checked on everyone’s situation as he walked past the many candidates. Occasionally, he would peer at everyone’s answers.

Only half of the time had passed and she was already done with all of the questions. However, as she was still unable to hand in her answers, she flipped through her paper and checked the answers for every question.

He peeked at her paper from behind, seemingly satisfied as he nodded his head.

However, when he glanced at Juliette, who was sitting behind her, he noticed that she hadn’t answered the questions even though half of the time had passed. There was even a big question at the end, which she left blank.

He felt that her behavior was a little strange, so he paid more attention to her.

After a few glances, Professor Clark finally noticed that there was something weird with her actions. Then, he quickly went over and saw the corner of a crumpled draft paper pressed under her elbow. She took a look at the contents on the draft paper before starting to write rapidly!

“Juliette, what are you doing?”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 188

Professor Clark roared.

Juliette was so scared that she started to tremble and quickly hid the note, which was in her elbow, behind her back immediately. She looked up at Professor Clark with a pale face and answered as her eyes darted around, “N-Nothing…”

The students, who were busy answering the exam questions, raised their heads and looked at Juliette and Professor Clark.

He was furious as he repeated his words. “I saw everything. What is in your hand? Take it out!”

Professor Clark was usually very gentle, so it was the first time that the students saw him in such fury. What does Juliette have in her hand? Everybody looked at the hand which was behind her back.

Juliette continued to shake her head. “Nothing. There is honestly nothing.” Her entire body trembled in fear when she answered. She gritted her teeth while tears rolled down her cheeks.

Sophia turned to glance at them, but she seemed indifferent. Then, she returned to her questions.

Professor Clark suddenly charged at Juliette and grabbed a piece of paper from her hand—it was the corner of a piece of rough paper. Scrawled across the piece of paper were the answers to a few major questions, multiple-choice questions, and objective questions. She’s cheating!

He stared at the piece of paper in disbelief and crushed it on the spot while questioning her, “Juliette Sanders, do you know that this is considered cheating? Who gave you this piece of paper?”

Everybody realized with a start, I can’t believe someone is cheating! Isn’t she aware of the consequences of cheating in Bayside University? She will receive zero marks for all her subjects! She would also be suspended for one semester and repeat the year! Even if she receives her graduation certificate four years later, she won’t receive the degree certificate! More importantly, she wouldn’t be allowed to sit for the postgraduate entrance exam!

Everybody wanted to know which two unlucky b*stards had the guts to cheat in Bayside University’s final exam.

Juliette shook her head as tears continued to stream uncontrollably. However, she stuck to her story. “I wrote this and I didn’t cheat!”

Professor Clark compared the handwriting on the slip of paper to the notes in Juliette’s notebook. Who will deliberately tear a corner off a piece of draft paper for the answer before copying it slowly onto the exam paper? Besides, the handwriting is different!

Juliette’s handwriting was elegant and cursive whereas the one on the answer sheet was narrow and beautiful. He flipped through Juliette’s notebook, but he couldn’t find one with a torn corner. Someone had obviously passed her the slip of paper! “I am asking you for the last time. Who handed you this piece of paper?”

Juliette lowered her head in silence for a while as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Suddenly, she pointed at Sophia, who was sitting in front of her, and answered softly, “I-It’s… Sophia!”

There was an uproar and everybody looked at Sophia, who was seated in front of her. Professor Clark marched toward Sophia. Then, he picked up her notebook to check—true enough, her handwriting was narrow and beautiful. Furthermore, there was a missing corner in one of her notebook pages. He flattened the piece of paper, which was cramped with answers, against the torn page in Sophia’s notebook. Upon comparing them, they matched like a jigsaw puzzle. This is from Sophia’s notebook!

Sophia was still engrossed in checking her formula when she was accused of something that she did not do. Therefore, she turned to glance at Juliette while maintaining a blank expression.

Juliette lowered her head since she did not have the courage to meet Sophia’s gaze. Professor Clark regarded Juliette before glancing at Sophia, quivering with fury. “You two, come to my office now!”

Sophia did not utter a word as she stood up while placing her draft paper, which showed her working, and test paper separately on the table, according to the requirements of handing in the examination paper. After that she packed her admission ID, ID card, and everything else before walking out. Juliette followed her closely from behind.

Professor Clark furiously collected their exam papers. Then, he called for an inspection teacher to enter and invigilate the exam before entering his office with a stern face.

Sophia and Juliette did not speak to each other in the office. One of them was guilty and kept her head bowed whereas the other had an open expression, as if she had nothing to hide. Professor Clark glared at both of them with gleaming eyes once he entered his office. He slammed his palm on his office desk while thundering, “You two better give me an explanation. What is going on? Don’t you both usually perform quite well? What made you do such a thing?”

Juliette burst into tears and explained while shaking uncontrollably, “It’s my entire fault. I did not study well. Miss Edwards is kind enough to help me. Since it is my fault, please punish me if you have to!” Nevertheless, once someone was caught cheating, it did not matter who was actually cheating because the person who aided them would have their grades nullified for that semester and also wouldn’t receive their degree certificate.

Sophia answered openly and truthfully, “I don’t know what happened. I did not pass the exam answers to anyone. My conscience is clear.” She seemed relaxed with her hands in the pockets of her down jacket, looking as if she wouldn’t accept defeat until the end.

Professor Clark glared at them and he lost his patience. “You two, wait for me here. I will head to the surveillance room now to check on the surveillance tape. I’ll see how you plan to get out of this!”

Juliette lowered her head as her gaze followed him. She knew that it was useless even if he checked the surveillance tape because she had prepared beforehand by practicing Sophia’s narrow and beautiful handwriting and tearing a piece of her draft paper.

The surveillance camera was behind them in the exam venue. As Juliette sat behind Sophia, it would not be able to capture all of her movements. As long as she was adamant with her answers while maintaining reticence, Sophia would not be able to escape from being charged with assisting to cheat.

Professor Clark left his office and the door closed with a loud bang, leaving them as the only ones in the office. After a long pause, Sophia finally broke the silence. “Spill, what happened? There are no surveillance cameras in the office.”

Juliette remained silent; she did not have the courage to answer Sophia.

Seeing this, Sophia threatened her, “Why don’t I expose the incident of you placing a nail in my shoe during our military training?”

There was a loud thud before Juliette kneeled down in front of Sophia and kowtowed twice at her. “Sophia, I know that I have wronged you. I will drop out of Bayside University! I am sorry. I am so sorry!”

She regarded Juliette, who was kneeling on the ground, but there was no pity in her gaze. “What is it this time? Is your mom sick again?”

Juliette remained silent for a long time before speaking again, “Previously, my mom had her surgery after receiving a sum of money from the Harpers and it was successful. However, someone from their unit had framed my dad for an embezzlement case. My dad will be released as long as the Harpers say the word…”

“Haha.” Sophia burst out laughing. “Are you saying that the Harper Family came looking for you again to frame me?”

Juliette did not dare to answer, but continued to kowtow to Sophia. “Sophia, I am sorry to have wronged you. You have such good results, so I am sure you will be able to graduate. I am so sorry. I am truly sorry!”

After a pause, Sophia suddenly took her phone out of her pocket. She pressed a button before Juliette’s voice rang from her phone. “However, someone from their unit had framed my dad for an embezzlement case. My dad will be released as long as the Harpers say the word.”

Juliette stared in disbelief at the phone in her hand. No wonder she has kept her hands in her pockets all this while. It turns out that she has been recording our conversation with her phone.

Sophia stared at her with a blank expression. “Stop pretending. I have recorded everything.”

After the initial shock, Juliette was emboldened and smiled sadly. “That is right, Sophia. The Harper Family has threatened me. However, didn’t we agree that you’ll give me the answers since I didn’t study well? You willingly did this.

No matter what happens, you can’t escape from being charged with assisting to cheat during an exam. Sophia, I have wronged you. I shouldn’t have allowed you to pass me those answers. I have dragged you into receiving this punishment. I am sorry. I am so sorry.”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 189

Ever since the incident in the military training, although Sophia was still close to Juliette on the surface since they always discussed problems that they faced in lectures and went to the library to revise together, she knew that if the latter had plotted against her the first time, she could do it again for the second time—and maybe even the third time.

Hence, she was not afraid at all when she saw Juliette’s determined expression in accusing her.

In the worst case scenario, she could return home and please her idol husband. Then, she could change her results anytime she liked.

However, the door was suddenly opened at that moment. Professor Clark, who was supposed to head to the surveillance office to take the surveillance tapes, stood there and looked at Juliette in disappointment. “Juliette, you’ve disappointed me!”

Sophia was not surprised to see Professor Clark’s sudden appearance. Even though he said that he was about to head to the surveillance room, there were no footsteps once he walked out, so it was rather obvious that he was eavesdropping at the door.

Juliette was too nervous to notice it, but she had been paying close attention all along.

Professor Clark’s appearance had immensely shocked Juliette. She immediately broke into tears after quickly assessing the situation. “I’m so sorry, sir. I’ve disappointed you! I shouldn’t have asked Sophia to pass the answers to me. It’s all my fault! I’ve dragged her down, but if you want to punish someone, just punish me! This has nothing to do with her! She is just being extremely kind. Her results are very good, so please don’t punish her!”

Although she kept insisting that Professor Clark should punish her alone, she was accusing Sophia with every word of hers. If the charges were confirmed, Sophia would also be unable to escape from the inevitable outcome of failing to obtain her degree.

Not only was she unable to obtain her degree, but the charge would be added to her personal profile and forever become a smear in her life. No other universities would dare to allow her to enroll and she would no longer have any chances of obtaining a degree. In fact, her personal profile would be referred to by educational institutions all around the world, so it would be arduous for her to enter the universities abroad as well.

Upon looking at Juliette’s behavior before and after he returned, Professor Clark’s anger was suddenly appeased. Leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms in front of his chest, he smiled instead. “Fine, I’ll do as you wish. Since your usual performance is stellar, Miss Edwards, you’ll only be lightly punished and your case will not be made public. I’ll merely give Miss Edwards some counselling sessions. Her grades will remain the same and won’t be entered into the system. As for you, Miss Sanders, all your results will be null and void and you’ll have to retake all the modules. Apart from that, your attempt to cheat in the exam will be filed in your personal profile and you won’t be able to get your degree in the end. What do you think?”

Juliette raised her head and looked at him in shock. She probably did not expect that he would be openly biased. “Sir, you—”

“Thank you, sir!” Sophia jubilantly responded. “Juliette, thank you for pleading on my behalf as well! If there are no other matters, I’ll take my leave now.”

Professor Clark nodded seriously. “Have a great winter break, Miss Edwards. Your results are quite good this time; remember not to slack too much during the break!”

However, Juliette couldn’t agree to the outcome—she suddenly ran to Sophia and pulled her back, not allowing her to leave. “Professor, you can’t be that biased. She has to be punished for this as well!”

At that point, she could no longer be bothered to keep up with the appearance. If she did not complete the task that Kayla gave to her, not only would her future be ruined, but her entire family would be destroyed as well. Hence, no matter what, she had to drag Sophia down with her.

Sophia was exasperated when she saw Juliette grabbing her hands and said coldly, “Let me go!”

However, she refused to comply and grabbed Sophia even tighter instead. “Professor Clark, if you insist on helping Sophia, I’ll make a big fuss out of this so that everyone knows that you are siding her.”

Professor Clark was speechless upon hearing that, but Sophia suddenly said with a cold tone, “Since that’s the case, why don’t we look for a professional authority to confirm the handwritings? It’s impossible for two people to have the exact same handwriting!”

Juliette froze upon hearing that.

Sophia pushed her aside coldly. “If it’s not enough to identify the handwritings, we can also check for the fingerprints on the paper. If I’ve indeed written on it, my fingerprints will definitely be on it. If not, it shows that you are merely slandering me!”

She had been intelligent from the beginning up until the current moment—she did not touch the paper, so it would only contain Juliette and Professor Clark’s fingerprints.

Juliette turned paler.

However, Sophia took a few steps forward and looked at her threateningly. “How’s that? Is the fuss big enough for you now?”

Juliette no longer had any words to say and hopelessly sat on the ground while bursting into tears.

Sophia didn’t even glance at her and picked up her bag before saying ‘thank you’ to Professor Clark and quickly leaving. Since she had already completed all of her questions, she regarded it as handing in her papers earlier.

As soon as she left, Juliette suddenly crawled to hug Professor Clark’s thighs as she kneeled on the ground. “Professor Clark, please don’t punish me! I’m also being forced to do it! All the questions were done by me. I didn’t cheat in the exam! Please help me, sir!”

Upon hearing that, Professor Clark’s stance softened and he sighed.

On the other hand, Kayla had also finished her last paper and did not hand it in until the last possible moment. She hadn’t even completed the final question, which consisted of half of the marks, so her results would be disastrous in the end. It could be said that she no longer had any chance of graduating.

However, as soon as she remembered that Sophia would fail in her results or that she might even be expelled by the university due to cheating in exams, she immediately cheered up.

After she submitted her paper, there weren’t many people left on the first floor. Then, she entered the restroom alone.

As soon as she entered, Gemma had suddenly appeared from nowhere and placed a board in front of the bathroom, which read, ‘In Maintenance. Please do not enter’.

The lights immediately dimmed as soon as Kayla entered the bathroom.

The skies had darkened rather early since it was winter. On top of that, they were on the first floor, so the lighting wasn’t quite good and made the bathroom quite dark. She could barely make her way around the area.

“Ugh!” Kayla yelled as she opened one of the cubicle doors. However, as soon as she opened it, a foot stepped on her back.

Thud!

She was kicked into the cubicle before her face was immediately buried in the toilet bowl.

“Aaaaah—”

Her shrill scream was interrupted as a cloth was forcefully stuffed into her mouth. A reeking smell immediately entered her mouth.

Before she could take the cloth out of her mouth, she immediately received a rain of punches and kicks. Suddenly, a leg stepped on her joints and forcefully broke her leg.

The cloth had muted her screams. She was in so much pain that she rolled around on the ground and cried, but the punches that fell on her never seemed to stop.

Using the weak, natural light that shone from outside, she finally saw the culprit who attacked her.

Her eyes immediately widened. Sophia! It’s her!

At that moment, Kayla finally confirmed that the person who broke her leg in the military training was, without a doubt, Sophia.

It was the second time. Just when her injuries had finally recovered, her leg was broken for the second time.

“Sob, sob.” With wide and round eyes, she struggled like a dying dog. However, in such a small space, she had no power to rebel as she was no match for Sophia.

Sophia’s cold voice sounded in her ears. “How about this, Miss Harper? How do you feel about someone breaking your leg?”

“Ugh—” Kayla flailed around as her hands tried to grab her surroundings.

Gemma suddenly knocked on the door—it was a sign of someone else approaching the restroom. Sophia retreated quickly, but before she left, she stepped on Kayla’s leg once more. The pain immediately caused Kayla to yell out in anguish.

When she crawled out of the cubicle and removed the cloth in her mouth that was used to wipe the toilet bowl, the lights in the washroom had been restored, but Sophia was nowhere to be seen. The windows of the restroom were also wide open.

Hugging her leg that had been broken, Kayla wriggled like a dog on the floor and screamed louder than someone who was being tortured.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 190

Someone finally heard Kayla’s agonizing screams and took her to the hospital. The poor thing had her legs broken again—her face was swollen and her front teeth were broken due to the beating.

On the other side, Sophia gladly carried her bag and went to pick Nathan up. She saw Quinton Clark when she was on the way there, so she casually greeted him. “Professor Clark, you seemed to be done with invigilating the examination.”

Quinton replied, “Yeah, I need to work overtime to mark the exam papers. I’ll try to finalize the results by tonight.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor Clark.” She meekly bowed to him before walking away briskly.

His eyes were unfathomable as he looked at her back view disappearing in the distance. I was told earlier that Kayla’s legs were broken by someone…

After the exam, she was in a great mood and went home happily.

Michael will probably be at home tonight. Maybe I shall sleep with him tonight! Today is still a safe day for me! She had made up her mind to sleep with him tonight!

However, the moment she opened the front door, she saw Michael heading upstairs while grabbing two eels in his hands.

He wore an apron, looking as if he was about to cook something in the kitchen and the two eels in his hands looked hideous. She was frightened at the sight and her face instantly paled.

Upon seeing that she had returned, he was delighted. He put the two eels into the aquarium and uttered, “Chica, you are back. Come and have a look! I’ve caught another two eels; they are thick and long!”

With his gloves on, he looked at his eels in pleasure. Sophia had completed her exams today, so he decided to kill two eels as a celebration. As the eels in the aquarium have been all caught and slaughtered, he personally went to the pond, where the eels were reared in, and caught two of the thickest eels to replace the ones that had been killed.

However, he never expected that it would give her the fright of her life.

“How are your exams?” he asked as he removed his apron and gloves.

Due to the fright, she remained quiet for a moment before she answered, “It’s good. It’s really great.”

I suddenly don’t wish to sleep with Michael. He’s a psycho! Who knows if he will take out some psychotic toy halfway through the lovemaking? I’ve decided to delay this for a little longer. I’m still young—just a kid—and lovemaking is still too early for me. I’ll wait for another three or five years. I hope that I’m able to delay it until then.

While Sophia lived in fear of the eels, the situation in the Harper Family was as gloomy as usual.

The sophomores also had their final examinations today. Right after Richard exited the exam hall, he was informed that his sister had been beaten up and her legs were broken before dashing to the hospital in worry.

Kayla’s injuries sustained from the second beating were even worse than the last time—not only her legs were broken, but her teeth were shattered and even her face was swollen from the beating.

Upon seeing him, she became hysterical. “Richard, it was Sophia who beat me! It was her! She was also the person who broke my legs in the barrack! It was her! It was her!”

He was unconvinced. “It’s impossible that it was Sophia who did all this. She even specially invited the three idols to your banquet to introduce them to you! It’s obvious that she treats you well!”

She scoffed, knowing that he wouldn’t believe her. “Richard, it was really her. You need to trust me. She found out about it! She discovered that I was the person who hired someone to break her legs twice!”

“It was you who did it?”

Richard recalled about the incidents that happened years ago. Before he had dated Sophia, her legs had already been broken once.

She was still a freshman in high school when her legs were broken by someone for no reason. At that time, she had no money to treat the injuries and delaying treatment would cause permanent disability. It was him who paid for her medical bills and searched for the best orthopedic student. He even helped her to return to school as quickly as possible so as not to affect her studies.

Sophia and Richard were in a relationship after that incident.

He repeated his question in disbelief. “Kayla, don’t lie to me. Was it really you who did that?”

Kayla didn’t feel that she had done anything wrong and, instead, regretted the action that incidentally led Sophia to be together with him. “I initially attempted her to warn her not to be delusional and dream about dating you. Unexpectedly, the incident where her legs were broken brought you two together.”

“You—” He was at a loss for adjectives to describe his sister. How could she do such a thing?

Nevertheless, since plenty of her dark secrets had been revealed, she did not mind revealing two more. “The second time was when she came to my place to seek help after being expelled from school. I thought that she was disgusting, so I had someone break her legs and throw her out like trash. I even hired two gangsters to rape her, but she unexpectedly managed to escape. She even managed to get someone to treat her legs.”

So much has actually happened without my knowledge! Daniel is right—this sister of mine is simply here to make my life a living hell! Richard peered at his sister with an expression that he never had before.

“Let’s do the math—I broke her legs twice, but she broke my legs once in the barrack and this is the second time. She’s seeking revenge! Do you believe me now? My legs were broken by that b*tch!” Kayla had a scowl on her face with protruding green veins as she coldly looked at Richard.

Richard couldn’t believe that the unreasonable lady in front of him was actually his sister. How many evil deeds has she done?

“You—” He pointed at her with trembling fingers and finally lost his temper. “What exactly do you want? You are really making the lives of the Harper Family difficult! Have you counted how many times our Harper Family has helped to clean up the mess you made and deal with the consequences of the problems you have caused? Master Levine was right—you only bring misfortune to the Harper Family. You’re a jinx!”

With that, Richard dashed out of the room in rage. Xyla, who remained silent at one side, chased after him in worry and consoled, “Richard, don’t be mad. Kayla is stubborn, so that’s just how she speaks. Everything will be alright once she is more mature.”

He sat on a bench in the hospital, feeling exhausted as he rubbed the middle of his brows and looked at her accompanying him. Feeling a little comforted, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and uttered, “Thank you, Xyla. If only Kayla has half of your thoughtfulness, there wouldn’t have been so many issues to deal with.”

She leaned in his embrace happily, hoping that the moment would last forever.

However, since Sophia had returned, Xyla knew that he would be snatched from her if she didn’t strive harder for him. I must stay strong and hold my ground!

“Richard, the misunderstandings that Sophia and Kayla have are getting deeper. Now that she has broken Kayla’s legs, I’m afraid Mrs. Harper won’t be able to tolerate her if she finds out about this.”

The mention of the incident gave him a headache. Why will Sophia suddenly take action on Kayla? My mother just had a slight change in her impression of Sophia, so if she’s willing to try harder, she’d be able to make my family like her even more!

“Sigh…” He let out a sigh and gave Sophia a call. I need to ask her myself what exactly happened.

Xyla leaned in his arms and eavesdropped on his call to Sophia.

The call was connected and Sophia’s voice was heard. “Hello, Zane. What’s the matter?”

Upon hearing Sophia’s nonchalant voice, Xyla gritted her teeth in anger inwardly, wishing that she could fly to the other side of the call through the telephone signal and strangle that b*tch to death.

Richard gulped before he asked, “Sophia, Kayla was beaten up today. She said that it was you—”

“What? Your sister is beaten up? Oh my, how could this have happened? This is scary… I’m sorry. The food is here. I’m hanging up now.”

A beep was then heard.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 191

The call was cut. Richard stood there stiffly with the phone for ages, despite no other sound coming from it, before finally putting it down.

“Perhaps it really isn’t Sophia who did it. She had just done a great deed for the Harpers. If she really wanted to do something to Kayla, she wouldn’t have helped out there,” Xyla said none too sincerely.

At that train of thought, Richard nodded in agreement. Kayla’s preconceptions of Sophia were already rooted deep into her. It wasn’t her first time lying about her. There was a high chance that things were actually like that this time. What if she had broken her own leg? Even when she caught a cold at home, Kayla still had to insist that Sophia put a curse on her. Besides, the police had come over to investigate earlier. They had checked the CCTVs nearby, and there was no proof that it was Sophia’s doing.

“Richard, relax. I’ll smooth things over with your mother. I won’t let her have the wrong idea about Sophia.”

Seeing how responsible Xyla was, Richard kissed her forehead with his emotions running high. “Xyla, your presence in my life is truly the best gift that the heavens have blessed me with.”

At number 8, The Imperial, Sophia hung up her call with Richard. A plate of braised eel with the most appetizing aroma was already placed before her. Everyone was leaping for the chance to try the dish; after all, a man that had the hearts of millions of girls in his hands had cooked his signature dish for her for the first time. The moment the dish hit the table, Sophia immediately reached out to take a piece. He was indeed an expert on eel! Even the eel dish he made was extraordinarily delicious!

At this moment, Michael Fletcher carried Nathan—who was still in the middle of eating—out of the dining room and closed the door. When he came back, he brought a bottle of red wine with him. He then lit some candles.

Nathan immediately became mutinous from being locked out of the room. When he sat down again, Michael gracefully spread his napkin. “What’s your schedule for the next few days like now that you’ve finished your exams?”

“The campus winter basketball tournament will be held these few days. I’m a member of the university’s women’s basketball team, even if I’m just a substitute. There’s still a good chance that I’ll need to step up to the field.” Sophia’s words were unclear as she ate. She had signed up for numerous clubs and societies in order to avoid Michael back then; in fact, she had forgotten exactly how many she had put her name down for. At any rate, the basketball club had come knocking on her door to get her to play.

Michael nodded. “I see. It’s better to work on all different aspects of yourself. Girls should exercise more too. You’ll only be able to become stronger if you do a bit of exercise or dabble in some sports.”

Sophia nodded fervently. Michael took a sip of wine and then wiped his mouth. “Do you want me to root for you during the tournament?”

Sophia hastily flapped her hands. “No, no need for that. Hubby, you’re even busier with work. There’s a good chance I won’t be needed on the court anyway!” If Michael came to the tournament to cheer her on personally, her identity would most likely be blown in a flash. It would be better to keep things low-key.

Due to her exams the past few days, Sophia hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. On this day, however, she was freed from her torment and was able to eat such delicious food. It was even her first time eating an Adonis’s cooking. This was most likely the only time she would get to do it in her lifetime. She loved the dish so much that she was close to licking the plate clean.

Michael, on the other hand, ate at a slower pace with graceful bites. As he ate, he openly studied his dainty wife sitting across him. She was soft and adorable, making everyone feel like they couldn’t help but shower her with affection, but she looked so tiny. She really looked rather child-like. A thought suddenly struck him. “Who phoned you just now?” he asked.

Sophia took a bite of the pork ribs that Michael had marinated with his signature sauce before answering. “I broke my ex’s sister’s leg, and he called me to ask if I was the one who did it. Of course I answered that I didn’t do it!”

Michael laughed. What a frank girl!

Kayla’s parents had caught wind of Kayla’s broken leg in the end, but Xyla’s silver tongue worked its magic to sway them. It was so effective that Mrs. Harper believed that Kayla was lying about Sophia. And now, none of the Harpers believed Kayla’s words. Ever since Madam Harper arranged a few medical workers to come care for her daughter, she hadn’t visited her once. Kayla was so mad that she went on a hunger strike, but even though she had stopped eating, none of the Harpers came to see her. One, the Harpers had a huge wreck to handle, and secondly, the Harpers had been gradually losing their trust in Kayla. They wanted to teach her a lesson so that she wouldn’t ever dare to brazenly do as she wanted while being lavished with the Harpers’ adoration.

Xyla was the only one who still came to see Kayla every day. “Kayla, I know that you’re upset now that no one believes you, but I do. Still, that wretched Sophia is really impressive for having tricked both Richard and your parents into turning their backs on you. I spoke up for you yesterday, but Richard snapped at me. They were even talking about letting that little shrew into the company as an intern…” Xyla wiped her tears as she spoke.

Kayla had been on her hunger strike for a day already, neither eating nor drinking. Having heard Xyla’s words, her eyes reddened out of sheer hatred. She couldn’t contain her tears as she gritted her teeth. “As long as I’m still here, that wretch had better not think about taking a step into the Harper Family!”

Xyla covertly watched Kayla’s expression as she continued to wipe her tears. “What else can we do now? The entire family’s dancing in her palm from her lies now. No matter what we say, no one’s going to listen,” she said with fake concern.

Kayla gave a cold chuckle. “I can’t move due to my broken leg, but when I can finally leave this place, I will kill that b*tch!”

“Huh?” Xyla seemed to have been shocked by this. She quickly advised Kayla against it. “Kayla, don’t do something stupid. Listen to me and rest well so that you can recover. When you’re better, let’s expose that wretch’s true face together!”

Kayla still stood her ground. “Don’t talk me out of this. I must find the most efficient assassin to slice that b*tch up into a million pieces!”

Hire an assassin? Shock and doubt alternated in Xyla’s eyes, as though two thoughts were battling with them. She hastily continued to advise Kayla, “Kayla, please don’t do such a stupid thing. That’s against the law!”

Now that things had come to this, Kayla didn’t care whether she was breaking the law or not. All she wanted was for Sophia Edwards to die, and she was willing to pay any price for that. Kayla really couldn’t take it anymore, irritated from having listened to Xyla trying to talk her out of her plans for ages. She pushed the mini folding table over. “Get out of my sight!”

Xyla seemed to have been deeply aggrieved by that as she got up to leave, but she quickly returned and closed the door. She was silent for a while, as though she had been mustering her courage, before she spoke up. “Kayla, since I cannot talk you out of this, then the only thing I can do is to help you!” Then, she fished out a name card from her bag. Printed on it was the name Lone Wolf Media Co. Ltd, and its general manager’s contact details. There was a QR code on the back of the card. She handed the card to Kayla and said in a hushed tone, “This is the name card for someone who’s part of an international terrorist group. They also take money for hits on people. They’re even willing to kill political guests and royalty, and they’ve never failed their missions. Have you heard of the Phantom Wolf?”

Kayla’s eyes lit up in an instant, and Xyla continued to say, “If you really want to kill Sophia, look for them. As long as they’re the ones doing it, they definitely won’t fail.” She paused, hesitating. “But Kayla, you’ve got to think things over carefully. Everyone in that organization is a seasoned, bloodthirsty killer. Their boss, the Phantom Wolf, is on the wanted lists of several dozen countries. If you decide to hire them, their fees will be exorbitant!”

At once, Kayla let out the most cold-blooded, harsh laugh. “Even if what they want is my life, I will give it to them!”

Xyla left shortly after she finished giving her advice to Kayla. When she reached the hospital’s entrance, she found Richard waiting for her. “Richard, I talked with Kayla for what seems like forever, and she’s finally agreed to eat!” Xyla zoomed toward Richard like a pure and innocent little pixie.

“Xyla, thank you!”

Meanwhile, Kayla scarfed down a large quantity of food in her room to bring her energy levels up. Once she was done, she logged into her Messenger account and scanned the QR code on the back of the calling card.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 192

Bayside University’s winter basketball tournament was about to begin. It was merely one of the many sports under Bayside University’s sports festival during the winter. It was held after final exams every year, and it would go on for a few days. All the students were free to join.

Sophia represented the School of Economics and Business Administration in the women’s basketball lineup, but since she was just a substitute player, it was unknown if she would even need to make an appearance at the court. Hardly anyone watched women’s basketball. After all, the guys looked hotter playing basketball.

With the cold and snow outside, the indoor basketball court was warm like a spring day. Sophia changed into her sports attire in the changing rooms and coiled her hair close to her head. She looked as though she was a capable player. The other players on the team had their boyfriends to whisk them here and there and to help carry their bags and such; only Sophia was alone. She watched as everyone had their boyfriends escort them while she was the only one left out. Her heart felt hollow.

She wondered what Michael was currently doing. He probably was filming something. He had been busy recently with filming Doctor Invincible on top of some cameo appearance in another show. He would need to be away for a few days. Marrying him meant that she was fated to never have a campus romance.

The tournament hadn’t started yet when the audience began to trickle into the stands. In the desolated stadium, the players’ family members far outnumbered the actual audience numbers. Sophia sat alone in a corner, fiddling with her phone.

She refreshed her social media feeds again and again before finally catching sight of the latest status that Michael posted. He even uploaded a selfie with it too. It was a picture of him during the filming of Doctor Invincible. He was dressed in a raggedy costume, with scraggly facial hair. After they were done with his special effects makeup, he looked like a middle-aged man who was down on his luck. If he were out by the streets, no one would have been able to recognize him as a dreamboat who was desired by millions of girls.

When Richard entered the stadium, he immediately caught sight of Sophia in the small crowd. While everyone had brought their family with them, she was alone. He quirked an eyebrow in joy. “Sophia.”

Sophia looked up to see that Richard had come with Xyla. They were even holding hands. Her brows knitted together. Why was this pair of clowns here?

Xyla’s heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment when she saw Sophia’s frown. She tightened her grip on Richard’s hand. “Sophia, we’re here to cheer you on!”

Sophia snorted. Rather than rooting for her, they were here just to rub their affection for each other in her face.

“Right, thanks,” she replied. She didn’t want to say another word to them so that she wouldn’t end up causing unnecessary misunderstandings. After all, the Harper Family were a bunch of skilled actors.

Richard raised a well-groomed eyebrow. He pumped his fist in Sophia’s direction before going off to find a seat with Xyla. Once they found their seats, they sat down and began to get their hands all over each other, as though they were deliberately playing it up for others to see.

Xyla was absolutely pleased. Regardless of how staunchly Sophia stood her ground, Sophia was still just an unwanted, meddling third wheel who wouldn’t be able to face the light of day. Now that things had come to this, Sophia had to be absolutely gutted, yet unable to express it outwardly.

Sophia bent over and re-tightened her shoelaces. She could be sent to the court at any moment. All of a sudden, she saw a line of people march out with a gigantic, ostentatious light-up board. There were two words blazing at a blinding brightness on it: Sophia Edwards.

Sophia wasn’t sure what to say.

Stanley Fletcher had brought the guys in her class as well as the e-sports club to bring that light-up board. Each of them had a little flag, and they made their entry with all the discipline and poise that they had gained from all the marching they did during their military training. As they marched, they yelled.

“Sophia, you can do it!”

“Sophia will win!”

“Sophia, Sophia, cut right through! Sophia, Sophia, you’re the best!”

Nathan walked at the rear of the line, waving a little flag with a whistle in his mouth. Each time he took a step, he would blow on it. Hale and Gary followed behind him, the two of them carting a brilliant red banner with the words ‘Sophia, You Can Do It!’ printed on it.

Everyone in the stadium froze.

Sophia facepalmed. How she wished she could change her name.

Stanley and the Sophia support squad sat down in the stands. The squad had around twenty to thirty people. When they were marching earlier, they seemed like a huge crowd due to the emptiness of the venue. Stanley led the squad by roaring valiantly at the top of his lungs. “Sophia, do your best!”

The rest of the squad followed his lead. “Do your best! Do your best!”

Hale had a mask on; only his eyes could be seen.

He didn’t have the guts to face others like this.

After a brief moment of silence, everyone began to smile in realization. While they had been pointing out Sophia’s solitary presence, they now suddenly remembered that she had a boyfriend.

Molly Lawson was one of the main players on the School of Economics’ women’s basketball team. She approached Sophia. “Sophia, you’re up next in a bit!”

Molly’s grandfather was a general, and her father was a famed national basketball player. She may not be a professional athlete, but the natural skill she possessed was terrifying. With her on the court, their school would have an extremely high chance of seizing victory.

Sophia was taken by surprise. “I thought I’m a substitute?”

“One of the sophomores couldn’t make it at the last minute, and the other substitute caught a cold today. She’s not in the best shape,” Molly answered. “Besides… your boyfriend and Nate are watching in the stands. If you don’t play, you’ll be wasting their support for you!”

Sophia didn’t dare to turn her head and look at Stanley and the rest of the support squad. She simply steeled herself and agreed to get on the court.

With a blow of the whistle, the match started. They were up against the School of Foreign Languages. Their women’s basketball team was strong, primarily because of their foreign students. They had two tall ones, both of them being close to 180 cm. It was evident that they had the physical advantage, but the School of Economics wasn’t to be underestimated. Just Molly alone was already enough to level the playing field, and the others were also strong players in their own rights. Sophia had come out on top during her military training, and the others weren’t ordinary athletes either.

Molly got the ball the moment the match started. She was immediately blocked off by the two foreign students.

“Sophia!” She passed the ball to Sophia, who caught the ball nimbly and surely before darting out like a rabbit to dribble. With a perfectly executed three-step travel, she shot the ball.

“ho!”

“Yes!”

Sophia’s support squad was instantly whipped into a frenzy and they leaped up to whoop loudly, their whistles and cheers reverberating throughout the stadium.

Richard’s line of sight was obstructed by the wave of people who had suddenly stood up in front of him; the back of Stanley’s head had taken the place of Sophia’s figure from Richard’s point of view.

“You there in front, sit down!” he protested.

Stanley was cheering enthusiastically. He hadn’t heard Richard’s complaints at all.

Despite calling out to him a few more times, Richard’s words were futile. Anger surged up within him. In a few steps, he was in front of Stanley. “Hey you, you’re blocking my view!”

Stanley gave him a once-over. “I’m blocking your view? Sorry about that. You should change seats yourself!”

“You—” Richard was furious, but he didn’t want to get into a lengthy debate with Stanley.

Who did he think he was? He was just a fat gamer, a loser, a country bumpkin from a third-rate town!

Sophia was merely using him as a front by being together with Stanley. The one she loved was him, Richard Harper!

Richard changed his seat, but in an instant, Stanley brought the support squad to squeeze themselves in front of him. They even raised the light-up board high, deliberating obstructing his view.

Richard knew that Stanley was doing this on purpose. He was pursuing her, but Sophia only thought of him as a front.

What use was this little petty action?

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 193

Regardless of how loudly he screamed for her, it wasn’t any more use than if he had just sat down and kept quiet. Sophia wouldn’t even look his way once anyway.

Sophia indeed wouldn’t give Stanley an extra look. It’s just way too embarrassing! Just what was that cheer?

Stanley waved his flag like a madman while yelling, “Sophia, Sophia, cut right through! Sophia, Sophia, you’re the best!”

Sophia gave Stanley a baleful glare as she went after the ball. Just that glare alone made Richard’s mind fill in many of the blanks.

As expected, all Stanley could draw to himself was Sophia’s ire no matter how hard he worked, for Sophia only loved Richard!

Richard and Xyla then left.

The match continued. Sophia performed extremely well on the court. She had been on the main team of her high school’s women’s basketball team. Right now, her skills were just as polished as ever as she dribbled and dunked with practiced ease. Her jumps were extraordinary, and even her three-pointers were executed easily.

The School of Economics’ points skyrocketed under these circumstances.

This match was more or less in the bag, so Sophia relaxed greatly. She sneaked a glance at the stands from time to time. The cold and distant Nathan was also waving his flag madly to root for her. Her friends Sarah and Sean had also come.

While the support squad that Stanley had formed was a little cringey, they were still here to cheer for her. She would have to treat everyone to a round of barbeque once the match was over.

A heated gaze inside the stadium landed on her. She swept her eyes over the stands and noticed a chubby, middle-aged man sitting in a corner. He had a dirty cap on his head and a grey scarf around his neck, beard white and face fleshy. He looked so average. Mixed in with the rest of the crowd, no one would notice him.

Sophia thought the man’s appearance familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she had seen him before. She retracted her gaze and returned to play seriously.

The match ended with a blow of the whistle and the points were tallied up. The School of Economics won by 30:11.

Sophia’s support squad surged up to her, encircling her and handing her towels and water. Sophia wiped her sweat with a towel and chugged some water before patting Nathan on the head. She then looked up to look at where the middle-aged man had been sitting before, but his seat was empty now.

The man had left. All she could see was a departing figure.

That man’s figure and gaze were oh so familiar.

All of a sudden, a thought struck Sophia hard and she whipped her phone out to look for the selfie that Michael had posted earlier—wasn’t his get-up exactly the same as that middle-aged man’s outfit?

That was Michael Fletcher!

Sophia stood there stiffly with her phone in hand as though she had been struck by lightning. She thought back on that middle-aged man’s rotund face. There was a whole world of difference between that fleshy face and Michael’s gorgeous one.

That man truly had no qualms about throwing off his lordly image.

“Sophia, come on. Let’s all go out for some food,” Stanley suggested due to their victory.

Sophia thought about it for a bit before declining. “Sorry, no thanks. It’s getting dark. I should be going home for dinner.”

Stanley stopped her. “Hey, Sophia, I’ll be on the field the day after tomorrow at 3 p.m. The match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management. Remember to swing by!”

“We’ll see.”

Everyone went back home. After changing out of her clothes, Sophia and Nathan charged for the university gates to the old parking spot. Just as expected, she saw a car parked in a small alley. Gary and Hale were already there waiting for her.

“Missus, Little Master, please get in.”

Sophia caught sight of the middle-aged man from earlier when she opened the door. He was sitting inside the car. Nathan was clearly frightened by this and he looked at Sophia in confusion. Did a thief get inside the car?

Sophia brought Nathan into the vehicle.

The middle-aged man began to take off his makeup when the car started. He plucked his cap off, and when he put a hand to his face, it was clear that it was synthetic wax for makeup use. It was all over his hand once he swiped at his face. When he was done, a handsome face was revealed to Sophia’s eyes. It truly was Michael.

Nathan was dumbstruck, fear all over his face. Michael patted the boy’s head and smiled. “What? Don’t you recognize your dad?”

Even Sophia couldn’t recognize him, never mind Nathan. Who would have thought that Michael would have been able to distance himself this greatly from his usual princely image?

She really hadn’t thought that Michael would show up on campus. Did he rush over from his film shoot to watch her match? Even if he did, it would take time for him to get to campus from the film site.

Sophia’s mind began to pull itself in different directions.

Dinner was already on the dining table when they returned. Michael stepped into the dining room after he had completely removed his makeup. He was still as jaw-droppingly handsome as ever.

When Michael finished his makeup removal, Nathan was the only one sitting quietly at the dining table, waiting for dinner to start. Sophia’s entire body was covered in a layer of smelly sweat from all her exercise earlier; she was still in the middle of blow-drying her hair after her shower. Nathan was gaming on her phone. He raised his head to look in Michael’s direction, that earlier fear during their trip home still in his eyes. He most likely still hadn’t recovered from Michael’s earlier get-up.

Michael lowered his head to look at Nathan, who was dressed in a frog onesie. With his hood up, only his face was exposed to the air, a little face that was seemingly carved from marble with a pair of big eyes decorating it. Michael thought the boy an angel, and he couldn’t stop himself from ruffling Nathan’s hair.

“Son, were you a good boy today?”

Nathan snorted and ignored him, continuing to play his game with his head lowered.

All of a sudden, Sophia’s phone rang. It was a phone call from someone marked as ‘Ex’. Michael seated himself after picking it up. As he waited for Sophia to come to the dining room, he pricked up his ears to listen to what this piece of work had to say.

“Sophia, I heard that your school’s women’s basketball team won their match. Congratulations, you did very well today. What was Stanley’s deal? I know that he’s always clinging to you. If you find it inconvenient to get rid of him, then allow me to do so. I certainly will not let him get in the way of our feelings for each other. That’s right, Sophia. My school will be up against the School of Computer Science at 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow in Basketball Court 3. I’m one of the players on our school’s main basketball team. I’ll be on the court then. You have to come see me. How I miss those days from years past. Those days when we’d play basketball, go jogging, and circle the lake on campus while memorizing terms and phrases for classes. I’d even send you to the library on the back of my bicycle to…”

Richard went on for a while before he eventually said, “Sophia, I miss you.”

Michael did not say a word throughout the one-sided conversation while the phone was on speaker mode. Before he could finish listening to the other man’s rambling, the phone automatically switched itself off from its lack of battery.

Sophia soon came down. Both father and son had already changed into their pajamas, which were a matching set of frog onesies—a large one and a small one. Sophia, however, wore a rabbit onesie that was pink, with a pair of ears stitched onto the hoodie.

After plugging in Sophia’s phone to recharge, Nathan bolted upstairs with pattering steps. He soon came downstairs again, having changed into a pink rabbit onesie that matched Sophia’s. He sat next to her and tilted his head to look at her, as though he was seeking her approval.

“Good boy!” Sophia patted his head. Nathan basked in the touch, but he didn’t forget to shoot a condescending look at Michael in his bright green clothes.

“Heh.” Michael gave a cold chuckle.

You sneaky kid, my methods for stealing Sophia’s affections will definitely scare the wits out of you!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 194

The family of three began their dinner. As they ate, Michael couldn’t resist asking her about the match earlier. “You liked basketball in high school?”

Sophia scratched her head sheepishly. “I was point guard on the girls’ basketball team then.”

The girls’ basketball team at Riverdale High School had never been strong during her time there. They would always get trounced in inter-school competitions. It wasn’t until Sophia joined the team that they began to seem less pathetic. At the very least, they weren’t the bottom of the barrel anymore.

Michael didn’t ask her who she played with back then. Who hadn’t accidentally fed a delusional person in their youth? Who could guarantee that they hadn’t fallen for a jerk or two when they were younger?

Michael sneakily glanced at his tiny wife eating heartily before smiling mysteriously.

Two days later, the basketball match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management was officially held. Compared to the women’s basketball match that no one cared about, the audience numbers here were clearly greater. Although the match would start at three in the afternoon, the audience had filled all the seats by two. To top it off, it was the final round of the men’s basketball tournament in the winter sports festival on this day. The teams that would be stepping to the court later were the strongest out of over ten elimination matches. These were the strongest teams other than the School of Athletics anyway.

Other than students from both schools, scores of fangirls filled the stands.

The School of Financial Management’s team had Richard Harper. With his status as a top student and the scion of the Harper Family, he was truly a man out of fantasy. Despite being engaged, that didn’t dampen his fangirls’ passionate support toward him. His fans were a wall that took up around a quarter of the stands. The School of Financial Management was filled with lots of good-looking and rich guys, so they had especially many female fans.

At any rate, the School of Computer Science had a paltry number of fans; true indeed, the rich would go for luxury while the losers would go for computers. The School of Financial Management had scores of hot guys, while the School of Computer Science was filled with gamer geeks and losers. The number of girls in their school wasn’t enough to even form a bare-bones cheerleading team.

Fortunately for them, they had Stanley Fletcher in their ranks and was able to draw some fangirls over. They modified the light-up board that they had used for Sophia a few days ago by swapping the name out, and it was now a board for Stanley.

The competitors did their warm-ups on the court prior to the start of the match. These attractive basketball players shuttled back and forth across the court, their youthfulness shining through the spray of their sweat. Just these warm-up exercises alone was enough to make one’s blood heat up, especially when Richard Harper on the School of Financial Management’s main basketball team. He was immediately showered with enthusiastic cheers from the fangirls.

Richard found Xyla in the stands with a casual scan of the crowd. Xyla wasn’t screaming madly or cheering like the rest of the fangirls. She simply sat there sweetly, but she was even prettier than anyone else.

Richard sent a flying kiss to Xyla and she shyly accepted it. The crowd of girls were jealous and mutinous, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Richard’s gaze continued to rove over the crowd. However, he couldn’t find Sophia. Had she been delayed by something?

Meanwhile, Sophia had been about to take Nathan home to sit by the heater and eat ice cream when Stanley stopped them by the classroom door.

“Sophia, didn’t you say that you’re going to watch my match today? How could you go back on your word?”

Sophia took Nathan’s hand and side-stepped Stanley in his athletic wear. “I’m not going to watch you duke it out with a piece of crap.”

Anger surged up in Stanley, and he grabbed Nathan before making a break for it with the boy in his arms. “I’ll make you come to the match!”

Sophia was forced to chase after him in fury. Stanley only returned Nathan once she had entered the basketball stadium. “You’re not allowed to leave. If you do, I’ll get my uncle to fire you!” he threatened.

Sophia looked for seats while she carried Nathan, but the stands were filled, and she had no idea where all these people came from.

“Sophia, here! Over here!”

The members of the e-sports club waved at Sophia. As Stanley’s loyal fans, they had come way earlier to the stands to snag the best seats.

Sophia took Nathan’s hand in hers and sat down. These were indeed the best seats.

Richard spotted Sophia in an instant. Knowing that she had come to cheer for him, he smiled at her knowingly.

Sophia had only casually looked at the court when she caught sight of Richard making eyes at her. She was so disgusted that she wanted to leave, but Nathan seemed to be very interested in this; he was watching seriously while draped over the bars by the front of their seats.

The match was about to start. The two teams were about to face each other. Both Stanley and Richard stood across each other as players on the main teams, with the mid-court line separating them. Stanley spun the ball in his hand as he eyed Richard across him.

This guy reeked through his wealth. Stanley truly had no idea how Sophia fell for him back then.

Richard also absolutely couldn’t stand the sight of Stanley. He sized the other man up with a condescending gaze. Noting the sportswear and shoes that were from some third-rate manufacturer that he wore and the air that a fat nerd would have oozing from him, Richard wondered how did such a loser have the courage to cling to Sophia?

Richard finally declared, “If I win today, you will leave her.” He said that with absolute seriousness as he looked at Stanley.

Stanley acted as though he had heard the joke of the century. “Fine, but if I win, you will not show yourself in front of her again.”

The verbal duel between Sophia’s ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend was clearly drawing attention.

They locked eyes the moment they finished their speeches. With their showdown done, they looked at Sophia in the stands at the same time for some reason.

Sophia met their gazes as well as the surrounding audience’s gazes. For a moment, she was uncomfortable. No words came to her, and the atmosphere was a little tense.

Sophia was suddenly worried for Stanley. She wasn’t sure whether this gamer nerd knew his way around a basketball, but she knew about Richard’s basketball skills. After all, they had played together for two years starting from her first year in high school.

The match began at last. With a blow of his whistle, the referee tossed the ball.

The School of Financial Management immediately gained control of the ball the moment the ball left the referee’s hands. A few long passes later, the ball was in Richard’s hands. He did a three-step, his strong and tall figure charging up to the basket and shooting the ball with a clean shot. The whistle blew again, signalling that the School of Financial Management had gained two points.

Applause resounded throughout the stadium. Richard high-fived his teammates in delight and raised an eyebrow at Stanley on purpose. He was extremely pleased.

The match continued. Stanley immediately snatched the ball after the ball was tossed a second time. A few long passes later, he did a beautiful clean shot that scored three points. The School of Computer Science now had three points to their name.

Stanley gave Richard the finger.

The audience cheered. Nathan also blew on his whistle with all that he could give.

Sophia wasn’t worked up at all, for she didn’t know that she was the main object of these two men’s spat. She had no idea where her ‘current’ boyfriend’s immense hatred for her ex came from. Did he hold a huge grudge because the Harpers had thrown money at magazines on purpose and had him portrayed as a loser whose only skill was playing video games?

She had to admit that the match was absolutely a treat to watch. Never mind those two players who were currently duking it out like their life was depending on it; the two basketball teams represented the cream of the crop of Bayside University’s non-career sports teams. Their members had been carefully selected. The match was intense, with the lead in points flip-flopping; neither team would give up.

The entire stadium was filled to the brim. The stands were filled, and even the seats at the back as well as the corridors were filled with people. They had all come to witness the duel between Bayside University’s top two basketball teams.

Sophia’s heart kept racing. She just had the feeling that something big was about to happen. The last time her heart had pounded like this was when Michael descended and caught that groper at the cinema.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 195

The announcer was very professional as he rattled off his commentary. “Number 5 of the School of Financial Management, Richard Harper, has taken the ball. Oh, it’s in! A perfect dunk with a three-step! Number 5’s jumping skills are jaw-dropping!

The School of Computer Science is now behind by two points. We can see that they’ve begun upping the ante. Look at Number 7 now. Number 7, Stanley Fletcher has gotten the ball and shot a five-pointer! And the ball’s in! The School of Computer Science has taken the lead by a point for now!”

The commentator got even more excited. “Number 5 has possession of the ball. Number 7 is dogging him relentlessly. Oh, he nearly got it. The ball is still with Number 5. Keep it up, number 5! And Number 5 got rudely cut off by Number 7 while he’s about to dunk. That’s truly tragic!”

Sophia watched the tense tug-of-war between both teams, her heart slowly lightening as she did. Who would have thought that Stanley really had it in him? He was going toe-to-toe with Richard!

The half-time break began with a blow of the referee’s whistle. Both teams retreated from the court. The score was currently 23:20, with the School of Computer Science behind by three points. However, they would soon be able to make up for it later after the break.

Stanley had only just stepped off the court when Nathan came zooming down to him with some water. The boy’s usual aloofness was nowhere to be seen. Right now, he was rather warm and receptive.

“Hey, Nate!” Stanley’s hands were dirty, so he didn’t move to pat the boy. He simply took the bottle from Nathan and took a few sips before calling over his teammates to discuss strategy. All of a sudden, one of the players came hobbling over.

“Captain, sorry about this, but my leg’s injured. I’ll need to go to the infirmary.”

Stanley eyed the player’s red and throbbing ankle. “Go ahead.”

The player hobbled off with someone helping him. Stanley’s bag suddenly vibrated in his bag, indicating he had been Venmo-ed a huge sum of money.

Now that they were down a player, Stanley needed to hurry up and find a replacement. When he checked, however, he found out that none of the three substitutes were there for some reason. After some asking around, Stanley found out that the substitute players had left earlier due to emergencies. One of them had stated that his girlfriend was throwing another fit, while another said that his father was in an accident. The last one had a sudden case of appendicitis and was currently undergoing surgery in hospital.

Seeing how his own team only had four players, Stanley hastily phoned everywhere looking for replacements. “Hi, where are you, Sandy? What? You’re back in your hometown and are currently lying on your bed?”

He tried his luck with another person. “Rooster, where you at? Wait, what? Why are you at a motel during the day? And in some rural area too?”

“Hey, Mitch…”

He still wasn’t able to find anyone after a round of phone calls. If they hadn’t returned to their hometowns, they were out having fun during their vacation. Stanley had no other choice left. He had to go to the audience stands and just grab someone. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to play with just the four of them.

“Stanley, what’s up?” Sophia asked when she realized that something was off.

Stanley explained the situation briefly as he went hunting for potential players. Sophia reflexively glanced at Richard to see that he was resting off to the side, slender fingers wrapped around his phone as he flashed a smile that screamed that victory was in his hands.

Something seemed to click for her.

Right then, Stanley’s phone rang. He pulled it out to see that it was a name that he never expected to see. He accepted the call and left with a frown on his face.

Meanwhile, Richard put down his phone after he had transferred the money. Now that Stanley’s team had too few players, Richard was going to watch just how they would be able to continue. The School of Computer Science was lacking in everything except for their abundance in losers, especially those who lacked money. The School of Financial Management, on the other hand, still wouldn’t be lacking in hot guys and money even if everything else was taken away.

Richard took a sip of water and looked at Xyla in the stands before flicking his gaze over to Sophia, who was currently looking in the entrance’s direction.

Oh no. Her heart was racing again. She just had the feeling that something was about to happen!

The match was about to resume when Stanley quickly returned. He seemed to have found replacements, for trailing behind him were two men clad in down jackets. Stanley was grinning as he called those two in.

Sophia looked at the men before him in curiosity. She couldn’t help but be dumbstruck when she caught a good look at their faces. Wait, isn’t that Michael and his gay friend, Harry Winston? she thought.

Why were they here? Where did they get the guts to come sauntering to this place? Weren’t they megastars? Weren’t they celebrities? Weren’t they supposed to have an entourage of bodyguards wherever they go? Weren’t they worried about the number of people here? What if the fans couldn’t control themselves from charging down and exposing them?

Still, those two megastars were just that gutsy. Not only had they sauntered in, they even hurried over to the changing rooms to change into the School of Computer Science’s basketball uniforms. Michael was Number 8 while Harry was Number 6. With Stanley being number 7, they formed a perfect trio.

Michael looked completely like a university student now that he was dressed in the sports uniform. He exuded a sunny and approachable aura, like a boy next door. There was no trace to be found of the majestic and blinding handsomeness that he had when the spotlights were trained on him. His bare face was bared to the world with no other adornments. There was even some scruff on his chin, as though it was the effect of makeup. With his unclean face, dirty sports uniform and the lack of spotlights around, he appeared to be simply a normal university student.

To top it off, his hair was currently a bright unnatural color. He looked absolutely the part of a young man who didn’t conform to mainstream trends.

Harry was also dressed in a sports uniform, dirt all over his face.

From the looks of things, these two megastars intended to step up to the court and play.

Sophia’s heart had hammered itself all the way up to her throat. Suddenly, she heard people begin to talk. “Hey look. Don’t those two look kinda like Taylor Murray and Ethan Winston?”

“Yeah, they look eerily alike!”

“But it seems that their auras can’t compare to the actual Taylor’s. Look how dirty his face looks. How would Taylor actually go around looking like that?”

Sophia hurriedly added herself to the discussion. “How can that guy be my bias? He just looks like him, that’s all. Both Taylor and Ethan are abroad filming anyway! I even saw him post on Twitter this morning that he was in Moscov having dinner.”

Everyone was drawn in and believed her words. How could those two megastars possibly be here?

It had to be some really strong lookalikes! They should hurry up and snap some pics to show off to all their social media followers!

Countless phones were whipped out as everyone aimed them at these two megastar ‘lookalikes’.

The two megastars swaggered onto the court just like that.

They were actors, and Oscar-winning ones to boot. They were the best when it came to acting and putting on a front. If they just stood a particular way and brushed on a little makeup, no one would suspect their true identities.

Richard was threatened by the sudden appearance of the School of Computer Science’s replacements. His instincts told him that these two replacements weren’t ordinary people. There was a high chance that they had been poached from the School of Athletics.

It wasn’t surprising to look for players outside of their own schools. Some of the players on the School of Financial Management’s team were from the School of Athletics.

Just where did those from the School of Computer Science find their extra players though? And why did they resemble two certain celebrities so much…

The match resumed with the whistle.

The battle in the second half was way more intense than it was in the first half. Both teams pulled out all the stops, entering a fierce battle right from the start. Sophia kept a hand on her thumping heart in the stands. She was so worked up that she nearly jumped from her seat like everyone else.

A star would never show all his cards. This was the true showdown between her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend! No, it was more precise to say that it was a showdown between her ex and her husband!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 196

Now that the School of Computer Science had another two players, they seemed very imposing when both teams took to the court. The commentator could barely keep up with the changing situations on the court. “And the newcomer to the School of Computer Science’s team, Number 8, has gone straight for the ball right from the get-go. He passed it to Number 7. Number 7 has passed it to Number 6. Number 6 has passed it back to Number 8 now. Number 8’s going straight for a slam dunk, and what a beautiful one it is!”

A minute hadn’t even gone by when Michael took the lead in offense and executed a perfect slam dunk and shocked the entire stadium; even the commentator was startled by this. “Looks like the School of Computer Science has been hiding their true colors all this while! They had been saving such strong players until the last moment!”

The match continued. The commentator was about to give himself a crick in the jaw. “We can now see that both teams are at a tie now. The financial management students have started an aggressive offense. Number 5 has snatched the ball. Whoa, Number 8 has the ball now. Number 8 passed it to Number 6. Number 6 is now going to shoot—and it’s in! The School of Computer Science has gotten another two points!”

“Number 5 has once again gained the ball. The ball is now with Number 8 and he’s passing it to Number 7. Number 7 has passed it to Number 8. A three-pointer now—and it’s in! It’s in! It’s actually in! What kind of monster is number 8?”

“Everyone, we can now see that there’s a growing gap in points. The School of Financial Management is now behind by eleven, no, thirteen points. Number 8 has gained another point!”

“There are only five minutes left till it’s the end. We can now see that the financial management students are behind by over a dozen points!”

Sophia watched slack-jawed at each beautiful three-point shoot, dunk and so on. Her eyes were filled with a light that they never had before. She never thought that he would also be so skilled at basketball on top of being a good actor. Was there anything else in this world that Michael Fletcher couldn’t do?

Sophia’s heart was racing in her chest again. She covered her chest with a hand but realized she had no way of calming it.

The moment the mysterious Number 8 took to the court, he instantly drew everyone’s attention with his uncanny resemblance to Taylor Murray. The crowd would burst into cheers each time he scored. Even Richard’s legion of fangirls had started batting for him.

Another wave of cheers sounded as Number 8 dunked with ferocity and scored another 2 points. Nathan applauded madly while he blew on his whistle. Sophia seemed to be dazed as she followed in the clapping, her eyes glued to Number 8’s figure.

All of a sudden, Number 8 turned his head back and glanced at Sophia. Crackling waves of energy seemingly shot out of his eyes. Sophia took it all in with her own widened ones. The moment they locked eyes, that intense energy seemingly traveled to her heart, and it began to beat even faster as though it had just gotten a shot of adrenaline to it. Her breathing had begun to quicken. The influx of blood had made her entire face and even her ears redden. She felt as though her eyes were about to become literal hearts. All she could see was a figure with boundless energy, and all her heart could accommodate was him.

Richard suddenly rushed up to block Michael, his hands scrabbling at him. Richard reached out to grab at Michael’s clothes and yanked his top up to reveal a flawless eight-pack. He hadn’t even managed to snatch the ball from Michael. Instantly, the screams of fangirls flooded the stadium.

Michael, meanwhile, had already dribbled the ball over to the three-point field goal and executed yet another flawless three-pointer.

Ah, her beautiful man was simply so hot! She couldn’t hold herself back at all! Sophia felt as though she was about to have a nosebleed.

While Sophia was still in her infatuated haze, the match ended. The points were tallied up after the whistle had been blown. In the end, with a score of 42:27, the School of Computer Science was crowned the champion of Bayside University’s men’s basketball tournament.

Stanley had no reservations as he showed Richard the finger.

Richard was so angry that his face turned purple. Without another word, he silently headed to the changing rooms to get out of his uniform.

Stanley joyously trotted off to receive the prize while Michael and Harry went straight for the changing rooms. The audience was still excitedly talking about the match after they left the stands.

Sophia and Nathan waited outside the changing rooms for ages before they saw Harry exit. Sophia was still extra awkward with Harry, but he was still Michael’s good friend, so it wouldn’t do for her to avoid greeting him after they had met. Thus, she smiled dumbly at him. It could be considered her greeting to him.

Harry left first. It took another long while before Michael emerged from the changing room.

He had had a wig on during the basketball match earlier, but he had now taken the wig off to reveal his actual hair. Sophia had no idea when he had shaved his head. He was dressed in a coat that was similar to Stanley’s, while a pair of clean, white sneakers were on his feet. He was so clean and spotless that every pore was seemingly glowing, just like a boy next door. He probably resembled the handsome boy that every girl had a soft spot for back in their student days.

“Hubby.” Sophia shyly trotted over and looked up at him.

Michael touched his closely cropped hair. “I shaved my head for the shoot. Does it look good on me?” he asked.

Sophia pressed her lips together and nodded. A handsome man would look good regardless of anything. He looked good while walking down the red carpet dressed in a tuxedo, and he also looked good while dressed in standard university student garb. At any rate, he was handsome!

Michael gazed at Sophia’s blushing little face and couldn’t resist from kissing her, sealing his lips against hers. They had only been apart for half a day, but he felt as if they had been separated for days on end. He pushed her toward the wall as he kissed her, and the two of them began a passionate and intense dance of tongues.

Sophia felt that she was close to being unable to breathe. All of her consciousness and ability to feel had been sucked away by Michael. She couldn’t last long at all with Michael in front of her; just a few rounds in, and she had already thrown in the towel and begged for mercy.

Her husband was just irresistible. She couldn’t stop herself at all! He managed to ensnare the hearts of millions of girls so easily, never mind Sophia’s own heart.

Nathan clutched the cleaned basketball while staring blankly at the two adults currently nibbling on each others’ lips by the wall.

The rest of the team had gone to pick up the prize. Only a few students from the School of Financial Management were still in the changing room or showering. However, there were still players filing out of the changing room, and they could immediately see the kissing couple. Since Michael’s back was turned toward them, all they could see was a hulking figure with a cropped haircut.

Michael and Stanley were uncle and nephew. They naturally would bear some familial resemblance. When paired with a similar haircut and general aura, everyone immediately thought that they were seeing Stanley smooching in the corner with Sophia as though there was no one around.

They instinctively decided against disturbing the pair.

Richard and Xyla soon made their appearances. Xyla was still soothing Richard, who looked glum. “Okay now, Richard. It was just a basketball match. It’s nothing to get upset over. It’s going to be the new year soon. Cheer up a bit!”

Richard’s heart warmed as he gazed at the girl who had been at his side all this while. Xyla had always been with him, in contrast to Sophia. It didn’t matter now that Sophia wasn’t with him anymore. She had been clapping along with everyone whenever the School of Computer Science scored a point earlier.

Richard’s eyes exuded anger at that thought, but then he caught sight of an unforgettable pair kissing each other when he turned around.

Isn’t that Sophia? And the man with the cropped hair is unmistakably Stanley! Fury crashed over Richard in an instant and he charged over like a spurned man.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 197

Curse it all! Even I had never gotten to kiss Sophia. How dare this loser touch my girl! Richard thought.

Much to his surprise, Xyla stopped him in the middle of his charge. “Richard, don’t! Don’t do it! Sophia is now dating Stanley. It’s not the time for us to tear her apart!”

Richard did his best to clamp down on the rage boiling inside. He felt as though his life was crumbling apart. He never expected his own woman would kiss another man in front of him! He felt absolutely betrayed in that instant.

Xyla eyed the furious Richard and Sophia, who had been ‘caught in the act’. Schadenfreude danced in her eyes.

Sophia, let’s just see how you’re going to seduce Richard in the future!

Sophia’s heart jumped in surprise when she caught sight of Richard glaring mutinously at her as she was kissing Michael passionately.

Oh, that look in his eyes! While she didn’t mind it, she had no interest in acting out a kiss in front of her ex-boyfriend. Besides, she was kissing Michael; it was better for this to be done at home behind closed doors.

She pushed Michael lightly. “Hubby, I’m hungry. Let’s go home.”

Michael pecked her on her lips lovingly. “Sure.”

That moment he lowered his head was practically a moment when he oozed pure handsomeness with nothing else; such perfectly defined lines with an extraordinary beauty and mysteriousness!

Sophia’s face burned. She then took Nathan’s hand and headed outside with Michael.

Richard followed them in displeasure. He watched on helplessly as Sophia and that loser ‘Stanley’ smiled and chatted before leaving right from his sight. ‘Stanley’ even had an arm wrapped around Sophia’s shoulders. The two of them were no different from any couple on campus. The only thing that differed was the little third wheel walking next to them.

Richard’s face turned purple from anger as he watched this ‘family of three’. The sense of betrayal he felt grew even more.

Xyla was revelling in all of this. She pulled on Richard’s arm and consoled him. “Richard, don’t be mad. Let’s all get along now. It’s lucky that you found out about her tendency to shift targets in time. It would have been a disaster if she had gotten into the Harper Family otherwise!”

“Heh.” Richard chuckled coldly and retracted his bone-chilling gaze. “I won’t tear her to pieces for now. Once we’ve made some inroads into the Fletchers…”

He would kick her ruthlessly to the side by then!

Sophia and Michael got into their car and returned home. She couldn’t resist pulling out her phone to see if her ex had sent some weird message to her again, for example, ‘Sophia, I never thought that you’re that kind of person.’ Or maybe it could be something like, ‘You’ve betrayed our love for each other!’

Unfortunately, there was nothing. On the contrary, Richard had sent this instead. ‘Sophia, I had miscalculated during today’s match. I hadn’t expected Stanley to be able to find some substitutes from outside his school. I won’t let you down next time.’

Huh? He actually isn’t interrogating me or ripping into me? Sophia had a vague idea of Richard’s scheming. They were probably waiting for her, ‘Joel’s mistress’, to whisper in Joel’s ear and figure out a way to marry Kayla Harper into the Fletchers.

When that happened, the Harpers and the Fletchers would be united. The Harpers would probably be sharpening their knives to slaughter the goose then.

It wasn’t like Richard hadn’t done anything like that before. In the past, she had stayed up overnight helping him with the homework that he hadn’t gotten right. She had then sacrificed her rest to help tutor him, but he ended up hooking up with Xyla the moment he got into university.

She knew exactly what her ex had in mind when he sent that!

She tossed her phone to the side and began to focus on Michael’s dashing good looks. Sometimes, the difference between people was even greater than the difference between a person and a piece of crap.

When they returned, Sophia hastily logged into the Bayside University forums. Just as she thought, others had posted pictures from the basketball match earlier. Michael had been the subject in all of the shots. There were a good number of high quality shots on the forums, which Sophia hastily saved.

Tch, just how did Michael maintain his good looks all these years? He was already in his thirties, yet that skin of his was exactly the same as a young lad in his late teens. It was so dewy that one could practically squeeze the moisture right out of it!

If only she could be like him when she got to her thirties; that would be great!

Sophia put on her glasses and drooled all over her husband’s otherworldly looks through her computer screen. Michael deliberately walked in front of her, clad in just a pair of boxers. She then immediately switched off her computer and pretended to study seriously. Her eyes followed that sturdy body for a long while until the bathroom door interrupted her line of sight. It was only then that she retracted her gaze, but her mind kept conjuring up weird thoughts, such as musings about what her future child with Michael would be named, and which kindergarten would the kid go to.

But at the thought that Michael had many gay friends, she felt that her existence was quite insignificant. She was a little deflated.

She was just a regular person. She wasn’t exactly rich, and it wasn’t like her face was absurdly beautiful or anything. There were many more ladies who were prettier and wealthier than she was, and Michael had been showbiz for years. The number of gorgeous women he had met had to outnumber all the meals she had eaten throughout her life. He was the crush of millions of girls worldwide, and the number of beautiful women throwing themselves at Michael could probably form a line that wrapped around the world several times over. What advantage did Sophia have to come up on top of all these millions of girls?

Perhaps Michael had married her for some other reason. At any rate, he hadn’t done it because he loved her.

She continued to be all wrapped up in her head. One moment she would be thinking of which kindergarten that their child would be sent to, and the next moment she would be wondering the type of men that Michael liked. All of this was done as she browsed the threads on the forums of course.

Many people were asking about Michael’s origins.

Hmph, if even I can’t get my hands on him, you guys can forget about it!

Sophia kept pasting the same reply on the posts. ‘This is my boyfriend. We’ve been in a steady relationship for five years. We’ll be marrying once I graduate.’

Meanwhile, Michael was bathing with Nathan in the bathroom. There were three bathtubs in there, with each person getting their own tub. Nathan’s tub was green, with two little toy frogs floating in the water in it.

Michael luxuriated in the bathwater; taking a bath after a basketball match was a great feeling. As he soaked in the bath, he said, “Son, you’re already five. Once it’s the new year, you’ll be six. If you round that up, you’ll be ten this coming year. Ten years old is already old enough to be a man. Don’t sleep with my wife from now on.”

“Find me a wife then. I’ll let you sleep with my wife,” Nathan said dully in his bath.

Michael laughed. “Son, you’ll have to sleep by yourself next year. Mom will be sleeping with me.”

Nathan didn’t speak up again. His dad must be thinking of taking the opportunity to shove a little sister into Sophia’s belly.

If Sophia really gave birth to a little sister, then he wouldn’t be the only baby of the family anymore. Nathan was a little saddened by the thought.

Sophia went to campus again the next day. Her school still had one more basketball match to go.

It had stopped snowing at last. The sun was finally out too. However, snow was still piled by the sides of the road. Sophia stepped into campus with her pink coat, a pink Santa hat perched on her head as well. When paired with her pink cheeks, she looked strikingly beautiful.

Nathan was also dressed in a pink coat with a pink hat on his side. He looked like a girl in his outfit. His face was freezing, and he didn’t know why Sophia thought that he would like this eye-watering pink; he was clearly a boy!

Still, he put up with it for the time being since Sophia liked the outfit. He’d embarrass himself with her for now. He was a little kid at any rate; the others wouldn’t make fun of a little kid.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 198

When Sophia reached the campus, she saw Sarah and Sean walking toward her. Almost every day, the duo came to the campus together because they seemed to be neighbors.

“Sofie, come and take a look at the latest magazine! There’s a surprise inside!”

Sarah brought Sophia to the campus’s most crowded newspaper stand. There, the magazines that defamed Stanley had been removed and were replaced by a new edition of esports magazines. Coincidentally, Stanley was on the covers too.

This time, the magazines were full of Stanley’s well-groomed photos instead of candid shots. As usual, Stanley was in his punk style. He looked attractive in the professionally shot and slightly edited photos.

When Sophia read the magazine while walking, she found that the whole magazine was talking about esports and Stanley’s interview even took up a lot of pages.

Oh dear. This guy is actually so capable, Sophia thought. Not only was he the worthiest esports player in Cethos, but he was also very famous in the international esports industry. Previously, he even led a team of Cethonian online gamers and defeated every foreign team in an international esports tournament, winning themselves the first place.

The British prince has asked for his guidance; the Swedish princess has tried courting him; the President has brought him on a state visit because he’s the most outstanding teen in Cethos…

“I’ve never thought that Stan is so talented!” Sarah exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Sophia also seemed to be impressed by Stanley because she had been regarding him as a nerd. It seemed like all the Fletchers were indeed extraordinary.

They walked to the basketball court while chatting.

After reaching the place and changing her clothes, Sophia began warming up and focused on the competition later.

The match was between the School of Economics and Business Administration and the School of Financial Management.

Since the School of Financial Management was full of rich, good-looking people, they had more fans in comparison to the School of Economics and Business Administration.

Richard was here too. When he reached the court, he walked to Sophia while smiling politely. “Sophia, I’m here to support you.”

He thought he was treating Sophia generously and kindly since he purposely didn’t bring Xyla along with him. In response, Sophia smiled, but she was cut short from her speech because somebody suddenly put his hand on her shoulder, and a deep voice could be heard behind her.

“Thank you!” Stanley showed up and held Sophia’s shoulder as he said mockingly, “Sophia has enough cheerleaders for today, so I don’t think she’ll need her ex. You’re an eyesore.”

His words made Sophia roll her eyes because she had no idea why Stanley kept treating her ex meanly.

For her, she had always chosen to ignore the Harpers to prevent them from having the idea that she wanted to rely on them.

In contrast to Richard, who was alone, there were a lot of men standing behind Stanley now. Aside from Nathan, Gary, and Hale, there were also a few men whom Sophia did not recognize, and even a few Caucasians.

“Sophia, come here! Let me introduce them to you.” Deliberately, Stanley started introducing his friends before Richard.

“Here’s my eldest disciple, Kevin. He’s the youngest prince of the British monarchy and the eighth in line to the throne.”

Then, he turned to another guy. “This is my second disciple, Wilhelm. He’s from the Swedish royal family.”

Pointing to yet another guy, he said, “He’s my friend, Shiloh, and he’s the heir of the largest tribe in Africa.”

As the humiliated Stanley was provoked, he asked his friends to come here to put Richard to shame.

Bayside University was never lacking international students because a lot of politicians and successful entrepreneurs sent their children here. Although Richard had thought about gaining their support, he had no ways to approach them.

Little did he know that Stanley could casually ask so many of them out.

It was also out of his expectation that Stanley was really famous by being an esports player. Esports did not only make him become famous worldwide and the worthiest gamer in Cethos, it also gave him the opportunity to know a lot of royalty and politicians.

Nonetheless, he was still a gamer no matter how arrogant he was!

Richard was quiet and his expression darkened.

Meanwhile, Stanley was glaring at him disdainfully.

Even though Nathan was in the gang, the average of their height was still around 180 cm. Hence, if they really went into a fight with Richard, they would undoubtedly be the winner because Richard was only by himself.

Sophia was the one who broke the tension. “Okay. Just go and find yourselves seats.”

Richard turned around and left with a foul expression. Then, Stanley was finally willing to bring his friends to look for seats.

During the match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management last time, they would have lost due to Richard’s tricks if Michael had not come to their rescue. Hence, Stanley brought his gang of friends over on this day to prevent the School of Economics and Business Administration from being fooled as well.

Aside from giving Sophia support, they were also here to stop those from the School of Financial Management from playing dirty tricks.

As giving out money had been the most common trick used by those from the School of Financial Management, the female basketball team had indeed used this trick on the School of Economics and Business Management before the match.

One day before the match, Sophia received an anonymous text message about giving her 100 thousand if she would quit the match. She just laughed it off.

On this day, the players from the School of Economics and Business Administration were in their best state and they were gaining points effortlessly. As their points kept going up, people from the School of Financial Management became anxious and kept sending out messages to them, offering them more money than before.

However, Stanley, who was in the spectators’ seat, suddenly shouted, “To the beautiful ladies in the School of Economics and Business Administration’s basketball team, let’s go for a meal once you all win! Just order anything you want because my friend will pay for the bill!”

At once, every girl around became excited, especially the girls from the School of Economics and Business Administration’s basketball team.

They did not care about what they would be eating; the key issue here was who they would be having dinner with.

As long as they could have dinner with their prince, money would not be an issue for them.

Hence, no matter how hard the School of Financial Management tried now, no people would accept their offer anymore.

The winner of the match was obvious now.

As Sophia’s opponents were too weak, she was running around and putting in goals without putting in much effort. She even wanted to yawn because her opponents simply couldn’t compare to her skills without the support of money they were given. Hence, she just let her other team members show off their skills, as a few princes were looking at them now.

When she looked at the spectators lazily, she suddenly found a man in a black down coat sitting in a corner. With a huge scarf around his neck, he was looking at Sophia smilingly.

Although he was wearing a black cap and had put his hair down to cover half of his face, Sophia still recognized him at a glance—Michael was here!

Hence, Sophia suddenly became competitive once again. She ran in front of her team and started snatching the ball and putting in goals. In the end, she even managed to make two consecutive three-pointers.

The match ended after the blow of a whistle. The School of Financial Management was totally defeated, making them go to the restroom in distress.

Nathan happily brought a bottle of water to Sophia after she had left the court. When Sophia was drinking the water, she kept sneaking glances at Michael’s direction and realized that he had disappeared.

Did he leave?

At once, Sophia became sad, and she even found the mineral water that she was drinking bitter.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 199

“Sophia!” Stanley suddenly called her. At this moment, he and his friends had already changed into sports attire and Stanley had a basketball in his hand. “We’re going to another place for a round of matches. Are you coming?”

As Sophia was still disappointed about Michael’s early departure, she was upset and was going to decline. However, little did she expect that a voice would suddenly ring behind her. “Of course. She’s going.”

In an instant, Sophia found that her world had become lively again. Hence, when she turned her head and looked at the man who had showed up, her eyes were literally sparkling.

She did not know when Michael went and changed into sports attire. He looked just like a student in the Bayside University in his recently done buzz cut. It was hard to accept that this lively and handsome guy was actually a 32-year-old man.

Stanley rubbed his own head that was in a buzz cut as well, then he looked at Michael’s as he mumbled, “Hmm, don’t we have the same hairstyle? Why does he look more handsome than me?”

Since Sophia’s idol was going, she would certainly go too!

Happily, she followed them to a rather deserted basketball court and started playing.

Although the court was full of young, energetic Bayside University students, the 32-year-old Michael did not stand out among them at all.

While they were playing, Sophia peeked at Michael and could not help but exclaim in her mind, How can his skin be so flawless? He looks so young and he doesn’t look his age at all! His performance also doesn’t make him look like a man in his thirties, let alone his skin condition. No wonder he was chosen to act as a handsome high school student in the movie. The role suits him perfectly! Ah! My idol!

Meanwhile, Gary and Hale quietly stood aside and watched them play. Nathan was sitting and waiting for them too.

During the interval, Sophia took a rest to drink some water. In the meantime, she did not forget to keep her eyes on her idol who was scoring goals too.

The more I look at him, the more handsome I find him to be!

“Hey! Sophia!” Stanley, who had left the court for some water, patted on Sophia’s shoulders forcefully. Then, he said with a disdainful look, “Is this your first time meeting men? You look so obsessed that you’re almost drooling! Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

Hurriedly, Sophia regained her calm composure.

Did I show my admiration so obviously just now? Somebody please tell me that I didn’t! If I really had shown it, wouldn’t Tay Tay have seen it too? It’s so embarrassing!

When Stanley finished drinking water and took out his phone to check the time, he saw an unknown number calling him.

Turning around, he picked up the call. “Hello? May I know who this is?”

On the other end of the phone, the man’s voice echoed as though he was in some enclosed space. “I’m Richard.”

Stanley laughed. “What’s up, Harps?”

Richard only said after snorting, “Stanley, I know that you’re in a relationship with Sophia now. However, I really pity you. Do you even know your girlfriend’s true colors?”

This piqued Stanley’s interests and he asked, “Oh? I don’t know. Can you tell me about it?”

Being merciless, Richard exposed Sophia’s most embarrassing side without hesitation. “I’m afraid that you don’t know about this, but I’m the only man in Sophia’s heart because she’s even willing to get into Joel’s bed for me! How can you still accept such a woman?”

After a few seconds of silence, Stanley just laughed out loud. “Harps, I’m dying of laughter now. Hahahahaha!”

On the other end of the phone, Richard shook his head and felt amused. Stanley is really just a foolish man who only knows gaming.

“During the charity banquet at the Harpers, did you know why Joel showed up? He was only there because Sophia had asked him to! Then, why did you think that Joel would listen to her? It’s because they’re having an affair now!”

Stanley was highly amused at Michael’s delusion now, and he could not suppress his laughter. “Hahaha! Continue, please.”

Richard continued saying, “Even though she’s Joel’s mistress now, she still only thinks of me. The only reason she’s with Joel is because of me. I’ve promised to offer her a position in the Harper Group once I’ve gained enough power! What can you offer her then? You’re incomparable to me! Do you understand?!”

Richard was literally yelling now. Sophia could only belong to him!

Whenever he thought about her kissing Stanley, he could not hold back his fury; it was as though his precious treasure had been stolen.

That precious treasure of his was Sophia. Although he could leave her hanging when he was bored and only talked to her whenever he remembered her, he could not bear seeing other people casting their eyes on her! She only belonged to him!

Most importantly, he felt humiliated upon seeing other people cherishing his girlfriend whom he had abandoned. He felt as though his pride and dignity were trampled.

Meanwhile, Stanley was seemingly frightened by Richard’s words because he had been being silent on the other end of the phone. When Richard thought that Stanley was convinced, Stanley began howling in laughter. “Hahahaha! Are you trying to kill me with jokes so that you can get my game account?”

This made Richard feel helpless. Since he had revealed Sophia’s ugliest side, he had nothing else to tell Richard anymore. Hence, he reminded Stanley for the last time, “Similar to Joel, you’re also just a tool to Sophia. I’m the only man in her heart.”

This time, Stanley finally stopped laughing and asked seriously after taking a deep breath, “I’m just a nerd who only knows gaming. May I know which part of me that you think she can use, Mr. Harper?”

This made Richard become lost for words. In the end, he made up a perfect excuse. “Sophia is a girl who doesn’t like showing her weak side to people. That’s why she’s shy from letting people know that I’m the only man in her heart. No matter what, you’re just her tool and you can’t stop us from getting together!”

While holding back his laughter, Stanley continued asking, “Since Sophia has already slept with Joel, what advantages do you think you have in comparison to Joel? What is it that makes Sophia remain loyal to you?”

Again, Richard was lost for words because he had thought about this question too.

As Joel was going to be the youngest general in Cethos, what would happen if Sophia really chose Joel over him in the end?

Not willing to admit defeat, Richard roared, “She only loves me!”

All of a sudden, someone’s faint voice could be heard from the other end of the phone. “Where are you, Richard? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!”

Richard hurriedly ended the call.

After being hung up, Stanley finally understood why Sophia did not want to speak another word with this ex of hers—it was because she would die of laughter!

Sophia only has Richard in her heart? What nonsense! She’s totally charmed by Uncle Michael now!

After keeping his phone away, Stanley suddenly thought of Michael’s words. He said that Sophia is married, right? How is this possible? He must be lying to me. How could she possibly be married at such a young age? The reason he has told me this must be that he doesn’t wish to see me flirting with his son’s nanny.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 200

After resting for a while, Sophia continued playing basketball with Michael energetically.

When Michael did a perfect slam dunk, everyone in the court gasped and clapped.

Sophia was looking at Michael enviously because she wished to do a slam dunk too. Unfortunately, she was too short, and her hands could not even reach the hoop.

Suddenly, Michael walked to her as though he had read her mind. “Do you wish to do a slam dunk too?”

Sophia widened her eyes and nodded. Then, Michael passed her the basketball and walked forward, bending down to hold her up while holding her legs.

At once, Sophia felt herself leaving the ground and she could see the hoop right before her. However, when she lowered her gaze and saw Michael holding her, she blushed.

All the while keeping a hold on her, Michael said, “Go on.”

With a thumping heart, Sophia turned scarlet and did her ‘slam dunk’.

When the basketball hit the ground, Michael put Sophia down too.

Although Sophia was standing on the ground now, her mind was still a complete blank because her idol had been too charming. She could not think of anything else other than him now.

When Michael picked up the basketball and saw Nathan looking at him eagerly, he waved at him. In response, Nathan ran over and took the basketball without a word. Then, Michael held him up and let him do a slam dunk happily.

When Stanley looked at the happy trio, he suddenly had mixed feelings.

Can it be that Sophia is Uncle Michael’s wife? In the next instant, he dismissed this thought. How possibly would my wise Uncle Michael marry the silly Sophia? Tsk, tsk. Look at that girl. She’s almost drooling!

After playing a round of basketball, the group of people took their respective showers and changed back into their clothes, preparing to leave.

Stanley said, “Uncle Michael, I’m going to play games now. Bye!”

Then, he brought all his lackeys with him to play games whereas Sophia followed Michael home.

Michael somehow got a bicycle and stopped it before Sophia. “Hop on, chica.”

Looking at the bicycle, Sophia felt shy despite wanting to hop on. Nevertheless, how could she let her idol give her a ride in such cold weather?

Michael stopped the bicycle and smiled at her with his head tilted. “Just hop on. It’ll take you 30 minutes if you choose to walk out of the campus.”

With her head lowered, Sophia blushed and sat on the bicycle’s backseat quietly.

Then, Michael put his feet on the pedals and held the handlebar with his hands that were in a pair of warm gloves now. Turning his head, he told his young bride who was on the backseat, “Hold me tightly.”

Shyly, Sophia put her arms around his waist.

Oh gosh! I’m holding my idol’s waist now! He’s so strong and muscular. I can even feel his abs under his down coat!

They traveled across Bayside University on the bike. Sitting on a side, Sophia was leaning her head on Michael’s back to shield herself from the strong, cold wind. While listening to Michael’s even breathing, she really wished that time could stop at this moment.

Occasionally, there were other couples overtaking them on their bicycles, displaying their affection publicly too.

Ring…

Michael rang the bicycle bell. When the students on the road heard the sound, they made way for the bicycle, smiling when they saw the nice-looking couple.

At that moment, Sophia felt as if flowers were blossoming everywhere and the warm, spring breeze was surrounding her.

However, she seemed to have forgotten something.

Sophia only recalled what she had forgotten when Michael rode the bicycle to the campus entrance. “Oh no! We’ve forgotten Nate!”

Michael finally seemed to have remembered his son too. Hence, he hurriedly rode back and met Nathan and Gary halfway.

With a darkened expression, Nathan just ignored the couple and walked away.

This time, they really angered Nathan because he just shut himself in his own room upon reaching home. No matter how the couple coaxed him, he did not want to come out.

Standing at Nathan’s room door, Sophia was anxious. “What should we do? Nate seems to be very furious.”

However, Michael did not take this to heart and just smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll return to his usual self tomorrow. Just let him be alone now.” On the inside however, he was thinking, It’s good that he’s angry, because he won’t interrupt me anymore!

Michael took out the box of condoms that he had long prepared from the storeroom. He planned to use them later this night.

Happily, he brought the condoms back to the bedroom while thinking about the busy night that they would have later.

Upon opening the bedroom, he saw Sophia, who was just out from a bath, lying on the bed.

When Sophia peeked from the covers and saw the box of condoms, she felt her scalp tingling and she pulled the covers up again.

At first, Michael thought that Sophia was being shy, but little did he know that a boy would suddenly pop his head out from the covers!

With a pair of widened eyes, Nathan stared at Michael, who returned the stare. The both of them remained that way for some time.

Michael was irritated. Didn’t he just shut himself in the room? Why is he here now?!

As both of them did not speak a word after a while, Sophia hurriedly broke the tension by saying, “Hubby, Nate only wants to sleep with us because he says that it’s too cold to sleep alone.”

What nonsense! He’s just here to mess around!

Feeling helpless, Michael could only put that box of condoms back to its original place. When he returned, Nathan and Sophia had already fallen asleep.

Shaking his head, he walked toward them.

After looking at them closely, he found both of them really adorable.

Never mind. I won’t blame him for the sake of his cuteness.

Although the wonderful winter break had started, Sophia didn’t seem to be planning to take a break. Every day, she would either be preparing for her next semester’s courses, or she would be going to the gym, or playing games; all of her time was occupied.

Michael was also busy filming his part in the crew so that he could go home before New Year’s Eve.

Meanwhile, the Fletchers brought Nathan home with them. As Old Master Fletcher was really fond of Nathan, they would bring Nathan home for a few days every winter break.

This gave Sophia more free time because she did not need to take care of Nathan. Hence, she went to play games in the cybercafe every day after studying.

Recently, she had been logging in with her alternate account and she had not logged into her main account for a long time.

Ever since Nathan logged into her main account last time and messed everything up, she felt embarrassed to play with that account. This was because everyone in the same server was laughing at Sirius becoming Scary Phoenix’s ‘wife’.

Just when she was going to play with her alternate account, her ‘wife’, Call Me Taylor, told her happily, ‘Hubby, now that the Esports World Championship is approaching, a lot of skilled players in our server have formed teams to join. Are you participating too?’

The Esports World Championship? Sophia seemed to have heard of this championship before. Basically, it was an annual carnival for the worldwide nerds and it had been held for decades. Every year, more than a dozen of the famous online games could be found in the competition, including the ‘Swordsman Game’. Most importantly, it was the only Cethonian game that could be found in the competition.

Unfortunately, a foreign team won first place in the ‘Swordsman Game’ last year and the Cethonian team only got second place.

Hence, to erase this humiliation, highly-skilled Cethonian gamers had been recruited since the competition started this year.

Despite Sophia being not interested in this, Call Me Taylor kept prompting her to join. ‘Just join it, Hubby! Hurry up and sign up! I’d like to see my hubby become famous in the Aseanos region and the world!’