Ch. 971..980

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 971

As a grand ceremony for the cultural and entertainment industry in Cethos, the “Light of Cethos” not only had stars from the entertainment industry participate, but also seniors from the literacy world. In Cethos, the people were particular to the order of seniority, so even the entertainment industry followed this tradition. Only veteran seniors or people with outstanding achievements would dare to sit in the front, while juniors and newcomers could only sit in the back, no matter how excellent you were.

There were almost no young artists in the first row. The ones sitting in the first row were either the older generation of artists, or the senior leaders of relevant departments. Michael, Harry and Nicole’s seats had been added as an exception.

Today, the seats were divided into three zones—A, B and C. The B zone was in the middle, and should have been seated by the most authoritative and veteran seniors, but at this moment, the ones sitting there were Sandra, Nicholai and their group.

Among those people, the only familiar faces were Nicholai and Sandra. One was a rookie in the film industry and the other a former world champion.

Even those who were older and more accomplished than them were sitting at the back, so what right did they have to sit there?

The award ceremony had not yet started, and the scene was already becoming awkward and difficult to control. The ceremony was about to be broadcast live on television, but the first row of the most important zone B had a long row of empty seats, and sitting in the most critical position in the middle was Sandra and her party. They were so conspicuous that the cameraman didn’t even dare to pan his camera there.

It was going to be a prime time live broadcast, and someone was going to be held accountable for such a huge mistake!

The director went to the last row in a panic like his butt was on fire. He almost knelt down and begged the leaders and seniors to return to their seats.

The leaders and senior artists were also very proud. “The first row isn’t somewhere where old hasbeens like us can sit. Old hasbeens like us are more suited to sit here!”

“That’s right! We’ll sit right here and won’t go anywhere else!”

The director was about to cry. No matter how popular Nicholai was, he was just lucky to have made it, and he was far from being a real artist.

The director knew that he had messed up. He didn’t think these old artists would be so prideful.

He also knew where the problem was so he hurriedly said to Harry and Michael, “The two of you should sit in the first row! The last row is not suitable for you!”

Michael stayed aloof. He raised his eyes from the phone and said in a puzzled manner, “Wasn’t this seat arranged by you all?”

The director was now regretting his choice and continued, “No no, we made a mistake! Your seat is in the first row.”

He truly regretted it now. He thought it was just a matter of changing the arrangements of a few seats and he didn’t expect that this would escalate.

Michael was also a person who was considerate. Seeing that the live broadcast was about to begin, he put his mobile phone away and said, “Since it was a mistake, let’s quickly change our seats.”

As soon as he agreed, the director was relieved and hurried to the front row to pry Sandra and the others’ out of their seats.

At this moment, the guests and celebrities were all here, and the entire studio’s seats were full. Whether they be D-listers, A-listers, the iconic stars, and even the old generation artists, all had gathered here. Currently, half of the Cethos entertainment industry was watching the joke that was the first row.

Some people in the first row still had their pride to protect.

Ian had already secretly left long ago. Vincent could also tell this wasn’t a spot to continue to stay at, and he was persuading fake Lucile to leave with him.

Sandra, however, felt that she should sit in the first row as she was once a world champion. Since many politicians could sit here, why couldn’t she?

When she was invited to the Spring Festival Gala, she was always seated in the first row!

Also, she had the Michel Family’s backing, so why couldn’t she sit in the first row?

The director came to ask Sandra to change seats, but Sandra behaved very arrogantly. “I won’t change seats. I deserve this seat. What’s the matter with you? You can’t just change people’s seats when it has already been arranged!”

The director kept trying to persuade her till his mouth went dry, but Sandra still refused to change seats. Seeing that the live broadcast was about to start and after much persuasion from Michael and Harry, the older generation of artists and leaders all started to get up and moved to the first row. If Sandra and Nicholai were still there, it would be awkward.

The old artists had finally become amicable, and the director didn’t want to mess things up.

So, he called for a few security guards directly. If Sandra wouldn’t move, he would ask them to just pick her up and throw her out.

The rest of Sandra’s group had already scurried to the back, and Sandra was the only one who didn’t want to move.

Especially when she saw Michael and Sophia heading toward her from the back. She grew even more resolute not to budge.

“I won’t get up! With my qualifications and reputation, what’s wrong with me sitting in the first row?”

Sandra also gave herself a plausible reason. “I always sit in the first row when I am invited to the Spring Festival Gala. Why can’t I sit in the first row at ‘Light of Cethos’?”

“Miss Mitchell, it’s true you won the championship of the Universal Games once, but after that, you left the sports circle. Plus, it has already been three or four years, and the era that belonged to you has long passed!” Sophia walked up from behind, holding onto Michael’s arm. Her exquisite eyebrows revealed ruthlessness and loftiness, and she said this to Sandra coldly.

“If it was in the entertainment industry, an artist who did not produce new works for three or four years would have long been forgotten. Miss Mitchell, you are a sports star who has been over the hill for three or four years. You need to be self-aware. Today’s ceremony isn’t someplace where you can behave atrociously. Get up and sit in the back!”

As soon as this remark came out, chuckles came one after another.

Recently, Sandra had been doing what she could to tarnish Michael and Harry’s name. She accused the former of faking his death and the latter a star whose light had dimmed, but she didn’t look at herself. She had won a gold medal but it had already been four years, yet she kept bragging about it. The Universal Games already had a new gold medalist, but Sandra still thought that it was her age…

The term ‘a hasbeen sports star’ perfectly described her!

“What right do you have to criticize me? I am—” Sandra immediately shot back and was about to brag about winning a world championship.

“You were a world champion, I know.”

Sophia’s tone was calm, but it carried a very intimidating feel to it. “The latest Universal Games have ended. Many champions this year have already broken the records you set in the past, but you are still standing in place. Miss Mitchell, one day, you will lose what little bragging rights you have left!”

Sandra glanced at the second row. Last year’s Universal Games had just ended, and several Cethos Olympic champions had been invited to attend today’s event as well. They were all sitting in the second row watching Sandra making a fool of herself. Among them, there were even many with better records than Sandra.

Her authority as a former world champion was further weakened.

At times like this, there would definitely be one or two in the crowd who would boo.

“Go sit in the back! This is something to do with the cultural and entertainment industries! An obsolete sports star like you shouldn’t act like a boss! Get moving! The live broadcast is about to begin!” Stanley, who was in the second row, was waiting for this moment.

“Even those who have better results than you are sitting in the second row. Don’t be so thick-skinned and move!”

“The live broadcast is about to start! Miss Mitchell, just suck it up and go sit in the back! When the live broadcast is over, you can sit there as long as you want!”

A group of people followed Stanley’s lead. Sandra was so angry that her chest was violently heaving, and her face was dark.

Sophia looked at her coldly. “Miss Mitchell, are you going to leave or not? If you don’t leave, I’ll ask security to throw you out!”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 972

If Sandra really didn’t move, Sophia really would have her thrown out. Of course, she wouldn’t do it herself.

Michael had already brought a large group of old artists over. All of them surrounded Sandra, staring at her unfriendly. At this time, she didn’t have any qualifications or seniority to back her up, and she was far from qualified to sit in the first row.

The live broadcast was going to start any second now. The dancers on the stage were ready. The opening song and dance was about to begin, and the backstage was in turmoil. The director became so anxious that his eyes grew bloodshot. Seeing that Sandra was still motionless, he directly ordered, “Take Miss Mitchell out!”

They gave her a way out, but she was ungrateful!

Sandra furiously stood up and viciously spat, “I’ll leave, but all of the artists from Glory Entertainment will be leaving with me!”

After tossing out these words, she carried her bag and was about to leave. Her eyes swept across the group of artists from Glory Entertainment viciously.

Now, it was the artists’ turn to be in a dilemma.

If they left, they would feel it was a huge loss! Not just anyone could come to this award ceremony!

But if they didn’t leave, they would be offending their boss!

In the end, the group of artists from Glory Entertainment really got up in twos and threes and were about to follow Sandra out. In fact, a lot of artists were from Glory Entertainment. If they left, it would really open up a lot of empty seats.

Nicholai also stood up and said, “I feel that the ‘Light of Cethos’ award ceremony is not very friendly to us. I have no need to stay as well.”

After saying this, Nicholas also left with Sandra and the group of artists.

The director grew even more panicked. Nicholai was the winner of the Best Artist and Best Male Artist awards for ‘Light of Cethos’ this year! If he left, how would this award go on?

The director hurried to catch up with Sandra, while Sophia had already sat down in the first row with Michael and the group of old artists.

Although he was a junior with commendable achievements, Michael was still very sincere and courteous toward his seniors. After letting his seniors take their seats first, it was finally his and Harry’s turn to sit down with their respective wives.

As for whether Sandra and Nicholai would stay or not, that was not something Sophia had to worry about. It was the director’s problem as it was his fault for being a fence-sitter.

That director was a complete fence-sitter. When he saw that Michael and Sophia didn’t get the endorsement for Dragon Eye, that his backer had died, and that Michael’s name was tarnished and he was old news, he immediately arranged for Michael to sit in the last row.

However, he never expected that Michael would have such good relations with the leaders and senior artists, and that he could also lead the group of seniors to protest, which almost caused a big mistake.

Mark faking his death really made Sophia see a few things this time. As expected, the entertainment industry was all about stepping on those on the bottom and lifting those who made it. If you became old news today, they would have you sitting in the last row tomorrow.

In the end, using some unknown means and promises to Sandra, the Glory Entertainment artists finally came back. Of course, Sandra and Nicholai couldn’t sit in the first row and were arranged to sit in the second row.

Sandra sat down with a dark face. Of course she didn’t want to leave as today was Glory Entertainment’s big day. Several artists under her company had won several awards, so why should she leave? The so-called leaving was just to force the director to show some sincerity and to show off her style.

The director also agreed to their conditions, such as giving their artist more camera shots and deliberately filming some ugly shots of some hasbeen male celebrity.

To offend the director was to offend the entire crew, including the photographer.

And the consequences of offending the photographer were very severe.

Sandra sat in the second row, looking bitterly at Sophia and Michael in the front row.

So what if they sat in the first row? Today, she would let Sophia know who was the boss in the Cethos entertainment industry!

Because this was a very important occasion, Sophia and Michael, who were usually all lovey-dovey at home, did a rare thing and behaved themselves. They sat properly and in a dignified manner, and they occasionally conversed softly with the people sitting next to them.

Michael was having a great conversation with a bunch of senior artists. He was very proactive in inviting these artists to make guest star appearances in the upcoming ‘Doctor Invincible 2’ movie. This movie had a large number of scenes in Cethos and needed some Cethosian actors to make a cameo appearance.

The old artists were naturally very willing to make an appearance in the film. Nowadays, even if those international blockbusters came to Cethos to look for guest actors, they would look for actors and actresses whose fame were on the rise and didn’t want old guys like them. It was rare for someone to remember them.

It was not easy for Cethosians celebrities to develop their career abroad. At most, they would make it into a blockbuster film but had no prominent role. Nicholai Gates was one example. He had made a cameo appearance in one of Hollywood’s blockbuster films that was part of a series, where he played a faceless corpse and only had two or three lines. His agency had actually credited the box office sales for the entire series of blockbuster films to him, but people were unconvinced even after several years.

In contrast, not only had Michael starred in a few international mainstream blockbusters, but he had also entered the core circle of the international film industry and participated in the production of many blockbusters. He had even openly fought against racial discrimination and gained more opportunities for Cethosian actors.

Before Nicholai had even made it big internationally, he thought that the entertainment industry already belonged to him. He wished the world would know that he already had one foot in the door, while Michael was extremely low-key.

Sophia didn’t know when, but Stanley had already sat behind her.

“Do you want some melon seeds, Sophia?”

“Would you like to drink some juice, Uncle?”

“I have biscuits and Eight-Treasure Congee here.”

As Stanley spoke while munching on some melon seeds, the award ceremony finally began. The first act was a lively dance.

The host’s remarks were witty and he was very cool, which drove the atmosphere of the audience to a fever pitch. The singing and dancing were also very exciting, and the guest performers were all popular, elite artists.

In between the performances, the winners of awards were announced.

They started awarding the least anticipated award first. For example, they announced the winner of the award for ‘Most Positive Artist of the Year’ first, which was Nicholai.

He won this award for donating 1 million and supplies at a disaster relief charity party this year.

Amidst the applause, Nicholai went on stage to accept the award. When awarding the award, the big screen on the stage also showed some videos of blessings from family members and fans, and then it was the artist’s turn to give his acceptance speech. All of this was routine.

Videos from fans of Nicholas offering their congratulations were shown in perfect shot. They were all just short one-minute videos, but there were more than a dozen of them in the background. There were fans from America who sent congratulatory messages, fans from France cheering for him, and even fans from Antarctica and the Arctic giving their idol their congratulations for winning the award. There were even some international celebrities who wished him congratulations. It seemed like he had fans all over the world.

As soon as this video came out, the congratulatory videos of other stars that came later seemed dull and stingy.

Sandra heard everyone’s exclamation and raised her chin very contentedly.

Nicholai completely showed what a superstar was right at this moment!

Even if it was just videos from fans giving their congratulations, she wanted to be able to dominate the entire scene! !

The second award was for the Best Supporting Actor, and the winner was Taylor Murray.

“Congratulations to Mr. Murray for winning the award for Best Supporting Actor with his role as Miles in ‘I Am a Village Chief’!”

Amidst the applause, the big screen began to play Taylor Murray’s congratulatory video.

With Nicholai’s shocking and domineering video from his fans from before, everyone was very interested in Taylor’s video and they opened their eyes wide in anticipation.

If the video was not as exciting as Nicholai’s, Taylor was going to be embarrassed!

These videos were also an important part of these celebrities’ battles with one another.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the video began, they saw a cute little girl wearing a mask and a bunny onesie standing in front of the camera, speaking in her prepubescent voice.

“Daddy, I heard that you won an award today. Can I do an old rabbit dance for you?”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 973

Both Michael and Sophia were shocked once they saw the video. When… did Carmen film this video? They had no idea at all! The crowd exclaimed in surprise the moment the video was played. It was the first time Taylor’s daughter had appeared in the public eye! In the past, the most they saw was a picture of the girl’s back view with her braided hair, uploaded onto Sophia or Judge’s Twitter. Taylor had never publicly revealed any news about his daughter, so the crowd naturally gasped in astonishment as it was the first time they had seen her.

Amidst the crowd’s cries of surprise, Carmen began to dance and sing without a hint of shyness. Her gaze followed wherever the camera went, and she appeared confident and casual despite performing for a recording. She gave a natural and expressive performance, as if she was born to perform!

“I’m a little rabbit, a little rabbit. I’m a cute rabbit, the cutest rabbit in the world. With a little shake of my tail, and a little waggle of my limbs, I’ll easily catch you…” Carmen was extremely talented in dancing; her movements captured the hearts of the crowd and gave her audience a joyful sensation. She was like an angel that had descended upon Earth to bring happiness to all the sad people. It felt like any negative emotions could be erased as they listened to her sweet voice and watched her cute little dance.

Carmen ended the video with a short and sweet speech. “Let’s go, Dad! Hurry up and bring me to go on the show, ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’! I’ll always be your favorite little girl!” The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause the moment the video ended. All of them could still hear the cute song ringing in their ears—it was simply too comforting to listen to it. At the same time, the breaking news was announced: ‘Taylor is going to bring his daughter to go on ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’!’

When Michael went up on stage to retrieve his award, Sophia could see tears forming in the corner of his eyes. She felt rather emotional herself—she hadn’t expected such a surprise. My Carmen is an angel indeed! It was the first time Taylor had ever stepped on the podium of ‘Light of Cethos’, and tears streamed down his cheeks as he was too emotional. Of course, it wasn’t because of the award—it was because of his daughter.

After receiving his award, Michael finally calmed himself down before giving an acceptance speech. The words were all scripted, but the excitement he felt in him was real. To him, everything he went through that day was worth it. Just watching the video and the dance that Carmen had prepared for him was the largest surprise and award he had received that day.

Once Michael finished his speech and got off the stage, Sandra’s lips curled into a cold grin. She pulled her Dragon Eye 6 out before sending a message. Soon enough, harsh and negative comments began to surface in the comment section of the ‘Light of Cethos’ livestream, as if all the haters had started to take action right then.

‘He’s just a has-been; does he have to get so emotional after receiving a minor award?!’

‘That old man totally can’t handle the livestream; it’s no wonder he has never dared to appear on the ‘Light of Cethos’ livestream all these years!’

Of course, the majority of these negative comments eventually disappeared as they were drowned by all of the comments that praised how adorable Carmen was.

‘It’s out, it’s out! That Internet child celebrity, Carmen, is Taylor’s daughter indeed! Ahhh! I’m so excited! I can’t wait for the second season of ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’!’

‘Carmen is so adorable!’

‘She’s such an angel!’

…

Carmen wore a mask without revealing her actual looks throughout the performance, but she managed to attract everyone’s attention just with her skills. Everyone at the award ceremony was talking about Carmen, the young girl who stole the spotlight from everyone else. Season 2 of ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’ was a hit even before it started filming. The award ceremony went on, and it was utterly dominated by artists from Glory Entertainment. The best actor, best actress, best artist, best male artist, and best female artist awards all went to artists from Glory Entertainment.

Nicholas Yates won the most number of awards that night. He proudly received three awards, where he defeated two other Oscar-winning actors who had been nominated for ‘Best Artist’ and ‘Best Male Artist’ awards. Sandra felt extremely delighted herself; she glanced toward Michael and Sophia every now and then in hopes that their expressions would reveal a hint of disappointment or anger. After all, Sophia had been gathering votes for Michael every single day before this just to help him get the award! They’re probably really disappointed right now, but what can they do about it? We’ve already snatched the endorsement for Fass’ handphone, so they can only pick the crumbs that Glory Entertainment left behind!

After all the awards were handed out, it was evident that Nicholas had received the most number of prizes. He also got the most amount of screen-time on the livestream, and he knew how to position himself so that he looked perfect in every single shot. On the other hand, Sophia and Michael barely appeared in front of the camera; their presence was about as strong as Carmen’s, or some unpopular rookie model’s.

Since the award-giving session was over, the audience and guests all waited for the final performance. After that, they’d go on stage for a group photo before parting ways with everyone. However, to their surprise, the emcee returned to the stage after the final ‘Best Artist’ award was given out and the singing performance ended. The emcee then gave everyone a secretive and mysterious look. “To all our guests, audiences, and livestream viewers, do calm down as the show isn’t over yet! In fact, the most exciting moment of the entire award ceremony is about to happen right now!”

The crowd exchanged puzzled glances. Didn’t all the excitement end already? Could there be a lucky draw at the end of the show? The emcee continued with his captivating speech. “The ‘Light of Cethos’ event has been hosted annually for more than 10 years now. Apart from our usual 3 main categories and 15 awards, we also have another special prize. I wonder if you guys remember what it is!”

All the younger generations in the audience continued to look at each other confusedly, while the seniors knew what the emcee was referring to. It was the most important and highly-valued award amongst all the awards an artist could receive at the ‘Light of Cethos’ event—it was the ‘Light of Cethos’ award itself! This was an extremely special award which the regular artist wouldn’t stand a chance of getting. One had to be good in acting and singing, and must be popular and outstanding enough, to ever receive this award!

Furthermore, the president and the board of directors had to go through a discussion before they came up with a list of names for this award. They would consider the political, social, and global success of the artist, as well as the artist’s morality and other individual aspects. It was no longer just a simple award within the entertainment industry. This award was handed out by the president himself, and the trophy contained a higher percentage of gold than the regular awards. The award truly lived up to its own name—the ‘Light of Cethos’! Unfortunately, they hadn’t given out this award for nearly 10 years now, and most of the audience had completely forgotten about its existence.

The last time this award was given out about 10 years ago, it went to an international actor known for his martial arts movies. The reason he got the prize was because he expanded his talents in acting beyond the borders of Cethos all the way to Hollywood—he became the first Cethosian face that frequently appeared in a large number of international films. It stirred the international audience’s hype for Cethos.

In the past, Elizabeth was another artist who had received the same award. She was one of the first original soundtrack singers that made it on a global level. Until today, her songs continued to trend across the world—her songs were practically the anthem of Cethos whenever a foreigner thought about Cethosian songs.

There were only a few artists who had ever received this award ever since the establishment of the ‘Light of Cethos’. Each of them would make history for receiving it as it only happened every 10 years or so.

Does that mean that we’ll be witnessing a historically significant moment tonight? The crowd was more hyped than ever. The emcee beamed as he stood in front of the anticipating crowd. “That’s right, everyone. Today, all of you will be witnessing a moment in history. Now, let’s get our president to come on stage for the ‘Light of Cethos’ award!”

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 974

The audience gaped in awe as the president walked on stage. Meanwhile, Sophia flinched in her seat below the stage as she was surprised to see that a number of snipers had taken their positions. That explains why I’ve been feeling an odd, tingling sensation under my skin this whole time, she thought. This is amazing. I wonder how many snipers and undercover agents are here; even Joel is here. Meanwhile, Stanley was so shocked that he dropped the melon seeds snack that he had been munching on. “N-Never in my life have I seen such a sight!”

The audience applauded with all their might once the president appeared. Once he got on stage, he lifted a hand up to silence the crowd before he picked the mic up. The cheers died down as everyone was waiting for the president to announce the winner of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award.

“He is the first Cethosian to have won an Oscar for being the Best Actor,” the president said. Everyone could guess the identity of the winner from the first sentence itself—the audience cheered and clapped as some found the announcement shocking, while others thought that it made sense. After the first wave of cheers ended, the president continued. “He is the only Cethosian actor to have won two Best Actor awards at the Oscars. He’s a long-term advocate that fights for the rights of actors and actresses who are ethnic minorities, supporting his beliefs that they deserve the same jobs and salaries without discrimination. He’s been fighting for the revision of such laws for Cethosian artists to be able to find better workplaces and greater equality in their workplaces when they travel out of the nation! He isn’t the only benefactor of his hard work and success; our entire entertainment industry benefits from it! He is none other than Taylor Murray, the winner of our ‘Light of Cethos’ award!”

The crowd applauded as Michael got on stage to receive his award for the second time. After greeting the president in a friendly manner, Michael took the most valued award of the night into his own hands—the ‘Light of Cethos’ award. At that moment, awards such as the Best Artist or Best Male Actor felt like nothing in comparison to what he had received. Nicholas Yates was dumbfounded as he watched Michael receiving his award on stage. The existence of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award itself blew Nicholas’ mind; he didn’t even know that there was such a thing before that night. But it was clear that the award was an important one since the president was the one who handed it out.

Sandra was probably the one who was the most stunned by this entire incident. All the confidence and pride that she had just developed within her was crushed into pieces by the blinding golden trophy of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award! No! I haven’t been defeated! I’m still the one who got the endorsement job for Dragon Eye! Nicholas is impacting the entire world while Michael is simply getting a tiny, worthless award that allows him a chance to show off in Cethos!

The director was rather shocked as well. He only found out about this award 3 days ago, but he hadn’t expected it to be given to Taylor! Isn’t his Grandpa dead? I thought he’d lost all the backup and support he had! How did he get this award, then? This isn’t just any award; it isn’t decided by a single individual. They have to go through meetings and discussion before handing it over to the president, who has to then make any required changes before approving it. But… The director was close to collapsing onto the ground once he thought of the ridiculous, silly behaviors he exhibited earlier.

Michael had to give a speech after collecting his award. He stood on the podium for a while and glanced at Sophia before he smiled and picked the mic up. “Up until today, my greatest achievement in life isn’t just receiving the ‘Light of Cethos’ award.” The audience fell silent as they hadn’t expected his first sentence to start off so straightforwardly. The cameras captured Michael’s handsome features as he glanced down the stage over to someone seated in the first row. The crowd saw how calm he appeared to be as the camera footage was projected onto the huge screens—he seemed even calmer than when he had received his tiny award earlier. “Up until today, my greatest achievement is… the fact that I have a perfect family. Although I’d lost my parents at a young age, I still have a happy family. I have my sister, my nephew, my wife, and my beloved daughter. Getting married to my wife and having a daughter with her has been the greatest honor of my life.”

The cameramen were alert in doing their jobs—they initially focused the shots on Michael, but they then shifted it to Sophia’s face once he mentioned his wife. Sophia’s face appeared on the big screen, showing tears of joy in her eyes. Michael continued his speech. “I want to thank my parents. I want to thank my father for educating me, for teaching me not to give up. I want to thank my mother for blessing me with all her talents. I want to thank my wife and daughter for all the years they’ve spent with me… From today onward, I hope to continue striving for equality and recognition for the ethnic minorities and Cethosians. I want to create a world in which Cethosians are allowed the right to be proud of their ethnicity all across the globe. Thank you.”

After the short acceptance speech, the emcee then announced the end of the award ceremony before inviting all the guests onto the stage for a group picture. Everyone was quick to move as they wanted the opportunity to grab a picture with the president. Even the laziest, most arrogant artists sped up onto the stage before they arranged themselves according to their own socially assumed statuses. Michael, of course, took the center spot right beside the president. Nicholas tried his best to get closer to the president, but Sam took his spot. Sam was, in fact, one of the people who had supported the idea of handing the ‘Light of Cethos’ award out that year. With his influence within the scene, he managed to implement the award that Michael had just received. Michael had to thank Sam for his help in ultimately making this win possible.

Once again, Nicholas tried to edge over to stand beside Michael, but he was shoved away by Harry and some other seniors, so he ended up in the corner. The stage seemed to shine brighter than ever as artists filled the entire platform. It was an impressive sight to see. “Come on; let’s go up!” Sarah tugged Sophia up onto the stage, and Michael quickly waved toward her. She squeezed her way over to him and felt his large hand grabbing onto her small one.

With a trophy in one hand, and Sophia in the other, Michael’s eyes were twinkling brighter than the stars as he lowered his gaze to look at how elegant and beautiful she was.

“Dear guests, please look over here! The camera’s here!” The cameraman called for everyone’s attention before speedily taking a few group shots. Everyone tried their best to look at the camera, but all Michael saw at that moment was Sophia.

The award ceremony came to an end, and the president was the first to leave after the group photos were taken. The event itself had indeed been one of the grandest ones to have happened in Cethos; everyone had witnessed a historical moment that night!

In the end, Taylor turned out to be the biggest winner of the entire award ceremony. Glory Entertainment was too embarrassed to publish all the articles that they had drafted, and they speedily withdrew all the drafts that they had sent out previously. However, it was too late—the Internet kept records of everything that had been uploaded. It seemed like all their efforts and money spent on buying and increasing votes had gone to waste; the two awards that Nicholas won were nothing when compared to the ‘Light of Cethos’ award. Sandra quickly left the hall with a pale, sickly expression on her face. The rest of the artists from Glory Entertainment were silent as they, too, sneaked out of the hall.

“Well? Were you guys surprised?!” Maddie cried as she hopped over excitedly. “It’s so rare for you guys to show up at an award ceremony, so I had to make sure that you wouldn’t leave empty-handed. I talked some sense into the 9th Old Master, and I told him that you had to receive an award even if that meant that we had to create a whole new one just for you!” Maddie was one of Michael’s largest fans. Thanks to her connections, all the nights she had stayed up gathering materials during the New Year, and all the colleagues that she had convinced to stay back to help her, they managed to gather all of Michael’s achievements throughout the years into a single file. He had indeed performed a great deal of important work over the years, although he had always been low-key about it. The materials they gathered formed a huge pile. Maddie then managed to get an exclusive meeting with Sam, during which she begged him to reach out to a few of his connections and convince them to come up with this award.

At the same time, Joel stood in a dark corner, dressed in his military uniform. His cold, emotionless glare softened a little as he gazed at Maddie lovingly.

Once the crowd cleared out of the hall, Sam walked to the backstage waiting room hand-in-hand with Nicole. Michael came with Sophia; Harry came with his little kitten; Justin and Celine had been waiting for them backstage. All of them were coupled up, each with the love of their lives.

“Everyone’s here! Does anyone want some melon seed snacks?” Stanley appeared alongside Sean. The atmosphere backstage had a subtle transformation the moment they walked in.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 975

Everyone else was coupled up, with wives and husbands walking hand-in-hand, but only the two of them were singles. After Sophia lost her memory, she encountered them as a gay couple from the first time she met Stanley. She naturally accepted this to be a fact, and she never found it to be odd—she even thought that they looked good together! Everyone else had always treated Sean as a girl; they all assumed he was Stanley’s little girlfriend. None of them seem bothered by the fact that Sean and Stanley always stuck together all the time.

“Do you want some seeds, Aunt Sophia?” Stanley asked.

“I still have a lot of biscuits with me,” she replied.

“Do you want some, Master Sam?” Stanley didn’t seem to realize the subtle change in everyone’s gazes as he continued to offer the melon seeds that he hadn’t finished to everyone in the room.

“Stanley, Sean, Sarah, let’s have a meeting later. I have some important stuff to tell you guys,” Sophia said out of nowhere. Although no one knew what she was about to tell them, they all nodded after seeing the serious expression on her face.

After chit-chatting for a while longer, all of them left the room backstage. Joel left for work while Maddie stayed back to deal with the aftermath of the event. On the other hand, Sophia and Michael left the hall along with Sarah and Harry. They expected most of the news reporters to have left by then, but they were surprised to be stopped by a huge flock of reporters the moment they stepped out of the building. Being the first winner of the ‘Light of Cethos’ award in more than 10 years, Michael was the biggest winner of the entire ceremony, and a large number of reporters therefore wanted to hear his thoughts and reflections—or at least, that was what Sophia expected the reporters to have asked. Instead, their questions only grew odder and odder.

“Mr. Taylor Murray, what are your thoughts on the claims of you using others to gain fame? Your journey in the industry has been smooth-sailing ever since your initial debut; could this be due to your relationship with the Fletchers?” one asked.

“Mr. Taylor Murray, why did you choose to use the ‘Dragon Eye’ imitation in public?” another asked.

Sophia found their questions to be extremely odd. What is with this talk about the Dragon Eye imitation? Using others to gain fame? Why would they ask about that?! She couldn’t be bothered to reply to them, and Michael didn’t want to say a single word at all, so they got the security to block all of the reporters away. All Michael wanted to do then was to rush back to give Carmen a big hug.

Once they got into the car and left, Sophia finally found the time to pull her phone out and check the current news. The livestream for ‘Light of Cethos’ had garnered more views than the New Year livestream, and the Internet was flooded with all the comments and discussions. A number of trending posts regarding ‘Light of Cethos’ appeared on Sophia’s main page, and she glanced through them to see that they were mostly good reviews. The ‘Light of Cethos’ event was too huge of a deal; ghostwriting companies would have to re-evaluate their own capabilities if they were to consider fabricating any issues online. Despite all this, there was still a negative post on Michael that had surfaced. Sophia tapped on it to find that someone had secretly filmed and posted a video of Michael taking his phone out. Michael’s phone appeared to be special in the video; it was a Dragon Eye phone, but not one that was being sold on the market.

‘Hmm… it must be an imitation!’

‘I can’t believe an Academy Award winner like him uses a fake!’

‘He must be really poor to have done this.’

‘He just lost his lifeline, after all. Perhaps they only gave him this ‘Light of Cethos’ award because of who his grandfather is.’

‘The award is nothing more than an empty title; he doesn’t even get prize money for it. It’s almost as if he didn’t get it at all. He’s still an outdated male actor; he’s fading out in the industry, and all he can do now is spend his grandfather’s money.’

Sophia felt increasingly confused as she went through the comments. Why can a handphone spark so much interest?! What is this talk about it being an imitation?! How could my gift to him be a fake?!

…

The people from Maddie’s department seized the opportunity to ride this trend by gathering all of Michael’s achievements and uploading them onto a website. They shared it on their official page and successfully created a hot discussion online. As Sophia went through the website, she was surprised to see the number of things that Michael had done throughout the years. Many of the movies he were in made it into the global box office’s top 100 movies list; he fought the ethnic discrimination against Cethosian actors and actresses; he did a good deal of charity without announcing it to the public; he even had a number of activities during the year that he ‘died’! School of Hope branches were set up across the world, along with orphanages that helped the children.

‘Taylor Murray’s Charity Fund has been operating with a low profile. Now, they have supported over a 100 schools on a national and global level, and the number is still increasing. One of them is ‘Sophia’s School of Hope’, which already has more than 50 branches…’ Sophia’s gaze lit up the moment she saw her own name. She put her phone down before turning to the man beside her. I can’t believe he’s donated to so many schools just for me.

Michael was doing some work on his laptop when he felt Sophia’s gaze burning into him. “Hmm?” he mumbled as he looked up at her. “It’s nothing. Don’t mind me…” Sophia quickly muttered. Michael reached over to plant a gentle kiss on her red lips. She then shifted her gaze toward his laptop only to see that he had been looking at the same post that Maddie’s department had uploaded online. “Tsk, I can’t believe Maddie dug out so much information,” he uttered. She even counted the number of Schools of Hope that I donated to throughout the years. She’s a hardcore fan of mine indeed, huh.

As Michael went through the news, he noticed that most of the pictures published were of him at the Schools of Hope that he had donated to. He wrapped his arms around Sophia’s waist as he explained himself. “I have been using both you and Carmen’s names to donate to these schools throughout the years. I thought it’d be good to perform as many charitable acts as I could; I donated funds to help with their construction fees, to build disaster relief schools, and so on. I was trying to accumulate virtues for Carmen in hopes that she would grow up healthy and safe, but I guess the accumulated virtues saved you as well.”

“You silly!” Sophia burst into laughter. Michael chuckled along with her before he pointed at one of the photos of a child laughing in one of the schools. “Look at these kids. I thought of you when I saw them. You were just like them back then; you all wanted to get into a good school to change your lives through your own hard work and effort. Unfortunately, things aren’t always that easy, and they might not even get the chance to complete their studies…”

Sophia no longer had any memories of that dark period in her life. However, now that she had Michael in her life, she didn’t need anything more…

…

The car stopped in front of the Crimson House Restaurant. A large group of people were already gathered there, as they all waited for the ‘Light of Cethos’ to buy them a meal. Cooper brought Carmen over, while Linus and Alice were invited to the meal as well.

“Daddy!” Carmen cried.

“Ah, my darling!” Michael took Carmen over from Cooper. Carmen had given him the biggest surprise that day—she nearly made an old man like him break into tears of joy in front of a public audience. Cooper no longer seemed as cold and aloof as he was before, and he even smiled during the meal. He probably felt a little proud as a father-in-law since his son-in-law had just won an award. Michael was pleased to see the change in Cooper, and the both of them sat beside one another as they talked about Carmen’s debut during the meal.

They concluded that it was impossible for Carmen to place all of her focus on preparing for her debut. She could take a single project each year at most, but she had to spend the remainder of her time on her studies.

To Cooper, Carmen was like a substitute for Sophia. He wanted to use the same methods that he had employed with training Linus and Alice to train Carmen, so that both Sophia and Carmen could go against the family head. Carmen was a smart girl; she knew how to use her resources and funds even at such a young age. She was clearly an intellectual, and Cooper believed in her abilities—acting would be nothing more than a side job for her.

After filtering through the options, Cooper finally chose a magical fairy tale film for her. Her schedule was especially packed since she also had to appear on ‘Where Are We Going, Dad?’ at the same time.

Everyone was equally busy that year, Sophia included. She gathered the other 3 founders of Plum Technology into a private room to host a formal and serious meeting. She had a huge announcement to make…

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 976

“What do you want to tell us, Aunt Sophia? Is it some breaking news?” Stanley asked as he munched on some snacks. Both Sean and Sarah perked their ears up to listen to Sophia’s announcement. After organizing her words in her mind, Sophia finally spoke in a clear, concise manner. “Fass is about to launch his handphones for sale in Cethos, but they segregated the workload among two teams—Michel Group will only handle the sales for all the high-end, premium phones but not the low-end, cheaper phones. Instead, the product licensing for these low-end phones will be fully handed over to an agency in Cethos, who will handle all of the sales.”

Everyone began to pay attention after they heard Sophia’s words. That means that Alice will be looking for a Cethosian agency for her lower-end phones! The quality and reputation of the high-end phones produced by Fass were undoubtedly the best. The brand itself was one of the first phone brands that appeared on the global market, and it had been around for at least 10 years. The phone’s technology was always one step ahead of everyone else’s—it already had a video recorder when other phones just started to have colored screen displays.

However, it was the first time Dragon Eye produced handphones that fell into the low-end category. They were all geared up and prepared to surpass other large brands like Apple and Android. Furthermore, Cethos was also one of the main industries when it came to the global sales of low-end phones. Fass’ phones were all military-grade, so its quality was guaranteed. Anyone who managed to become the agent for this… would become really rich!

Plum Technology, on the other hand, had gotten themselves involved in a variety of markets throughout the years. Stanley didn’t want his company to be limited within a certain domain, so apart from the basic online applications and games, they also produced mobile games with other digital companies. They even acted as the agent for gaming computers. Right then, all four of them fell silent for a moment before Stanley rolled his sleeves up and slammed the table. “Damn!” Both Sarah and Sean agreed that it’d be a waste if they didn’t take the job. After all, they had similar experiences that were completed with success, and Sophia had her connections—it wouldn’t be hard for her to secure their role as the main agency.

Everyone returned to work the next day, and the company was busy preparing the materials needed for them to secure this agreement to become the agency to sell the phones. Sophia’s company, Pourl, was going through a rebranding as well. They figured that luxurious goods targeting humans would earn more than those targeting animals, so Pourl was looking to release a new range of luxury goods that came in a set—one for the owner and one for the pet. They planned to remain as a pet’s luxury business while gradually edging themselves into the luxury industry.

However, Sophia also wanted to pick up on the workload at Plum Technology, and she desperately wanted to become the sole agency for Dragon Eye’s low-end phones. She didn’t want this just to impress the shareholders of Plum Technology; she also wanted to prove her abilities to the Michel Family. If she succeeded in doing so, it’d be her first step that would create further opportunities for her to slowly work her way into the Michel Group.

Like Alice, she didn’t want to be recognized as some princess of the Michel Family. Terms such as ‘the star’ or ‘the princess’ were all titles that no one would want for themselves. No one had ever called Alice any title other than ‘vice president’! Sophia no longer wanted to feed off her parents’ funds; she wanted to prove her worth!

…

Michael and the ‘Light of Cethos’ ceremony remained as the trending topic for a while, but with all the ongoing news and scandals in the entertainment industry, the hype around the awards quickly died down. One of the news reports that immediately caught everyone’s attention was the news of Nicholas getting the endorsement rights for Dragon Eye. The low-end Dragon Eye phones weren’t sold on the market yet as they were still in the stage of seeking for agents. As of then, the only contract they made was with the spokesperson—they hadn’t taken any further action beyond that. However, the phone began to capture global attention the moment they uploaded a picture of it along with its specifications. It was famous before it even got released.

Initially, Alice wanted to handle the sales for the low-end phones. However, since Michel Group had always dealt with high-end products, they realized that the marketing strategies used for low-end products were completely different. After considering multiple factors and aspects of the situation, Alice finally decided to approach an agency instead.

As of then, the low-end version of Dragon Eye phones weren’t on the market, and there were only a few people in the whole world who owned a Dragon Eye device themselves. Nicholas was the only one in the whole of Cethos to own one of them, and he shamelessly promoted this wherever he went. He even considered sticking the phone right onto his forehead just to show it off to whomever he met. On average, he would upload 1 selfie every 2 days, where he flaunted his delicate, flawless face while also highlighting the quality of Dragon Eye’s camera. He would then post about something silly or embarrassing, like how he dropped his phone into a large, boiling pot of water, and how it was still functioning after he fished it out. ‘It’s all because it’s a Dragon Eye phone! If it were any other brand, I would’ve had to cook the phone along with my meal.’

Of course, this was all part of his job. As the spokesperson of Dragon Eye, he was required to promote the phone and start the hype around it. But how would he miss the chance to also rub salt into Michael’s wounds? Every time Nicholas showed his phone off, he had to follow it with some news about Michael’s failure to get endorsement rights for the phone, and how he used a fake version of the phone instead!

I’m sick and tired of seeing this! Is there any purpose in repetitively bringing these gossips up? Sophia thought as she read the comments. ‘You’re trash if you get the ‘Light of Cethos’ award but not the endorsement rights to Dragon Eye. So what if you are the ‘Light of Cethos’? You’re still using a fake phone!’ There was even more gossip recently, such as how Taylor’s wife no longer gave him allowances after he failed to become the spokesperson; how he was so broke that he not only had a fake phone, but he even had to bring his 4-year-old daughter out to earn some money.

Sophia was too busy to even go home some days, and she had no time to trouble herself with all the groundless rumors. Michael, on the other hand, was immune to all these comments, and he simply allowed them to go on. After all, the comments would disappear once the ghostwriters got their salary. He continued to bring his ‘fake’ phone out wherever he went.

Cooper heard about Michael’s recent life through all the gossip and news reports online. He heard that Michael’s rich wife was too busy for him, that she didn’t pay him any allowance, that he had a child to care for and tens of thousands to be paid to the 7 or 8 caretakers at home, that Nathan’s yearly fees in university cost a good sum of money, that Michael’s sister was retarded and couldn’t take care of herself, that his brother-in-law lazed around while feeding off the family’s money, that Michael had no choice but to act young and lively even though he was past his forties, just to snatch a few jobs over from his juniors… Cooper felt bad for Michael. He felt so bad for his son-in-law that he nearly donated some money to him.

Eventually, Michael managed to get Carmen into an audition for ‘Doctor Invincible 2’ to play the role of a superhero who was stuck in a child’s body forever. The role was a sidekick for the Justice League in the movie, and there were only a few scenes in which the hero would appear. They didn’t plan to have a stand-alone movie for this superhero either. They were hosting global auditions for child actors and actresses—anyone between ages 3 to 10 were welcome to join. They accepted both genders and both black and white-skinned participants initially. With a little urging from both Michael and Harry, the production team finally decided to take in Cethosians as well. This particular superhero film had been ongoing for more than 10 years and had released more than 20 blockbuster films. It practically created a cinematic universe of its own, bringing in all the most famous celebrities from across the globe. The competition was strong even for a tiny role like this.

All of the child celebrities across the world were excited about the news. Michael personally brought Carmen for the auditions. He tried his best to secure her a slot in the auditions, but whether she could outshine the other hundreds of famous child celebrities that were competing against her would depend on her own abilities. Cooper eagerly tagged along with them, while Sophia only kept herself updated on the audition through her phone as she was simply too busy with her work at Bayside City.

Currently, the most important project she had on her plate was to claim the rights to be the only licensed agent for Dragon Eye in the whole of Cethos. However, Alice was a fair and just individual—she wouldn’t just hand the rights over simply because Sophia had some influential background. It ultimately depended on Sophia’s own skills. There were probably a large number of competitors fighting to be the licensed agent since it was such a great financial opportunity. There were a number of competitors that Sophia was aware of, namely Sandra, Ian, and Lucy…

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 977

In the fight to be the licensed agency, Sophia led the team in Plum Technology with great care and hard work. They put a lot of effort into their materials, and they always showed up as a group for negotiations. Apart from all the work they put in as a righteous business competitor, they even pulled the family card by getting Linus and Cooper to put in a few good words about them. As Casper was staying in the Edwards Residence, Sophia even asked him to throw in a few praises about them in front of Alice. They were all doing their best to get the agreement.

Meanwhile, there was some renovation going on at home, and Daniel frequently showed up at the Edwards Residence to guide the process with the use of his divination techniques. Sophia therefore urged him to use his methods to convince Alice. She figured that if he could use his tricks on Cooper, Alice would definitely fall for it. Daniel was clearly troubled by her request, and he finally struck her with a series of harsh truths. “Well… can’t you tell by the current situation? How would Alice possibly allow you to be the sole agency? Do you think she can’t see how wild and ambitious you are? If anything, you’d probably be the first that she’d kick out in comparison to your other competitors. Don’t even think about it. You’ve definitely been eliminated,” he uttered.

Both Alice and Linus were the top competitors to be the next family head. Sophia, on the other hand, couldn’t even be considered a participant in this competition as she wasn’t involved in any of Michel Group’s business yet. However, if she managed to get the position as the licensed agent, it’d mean that she was starting to involve herself in Michel Group’s business. Once her career in Michel Group started budding, she would surely turn more greedy with time; she’d definitely find ways to climb up the hierarchy and would ultimately end up as one of Alice’s competitors.

Wouldn’t Alice be an idiot if she chose Sophia’s team? Alice would clearly be helping her competitor to climb the ranks, then! Even an outsider like Daniel could tell that it would be impossible for Sophia to succeed in becoming the appointed agency. However, Sophia tirelessly insisted on fighting for her opportunity. “I’m working especially hard because I know how slim my chances are. It’s a huge opportunity for me; my dad and my uncle are helping me, but I really need your help too!” she cried.

Daniel waved her off. “What for?! I’m not your dad!”

“You sold me off for 80,000 in the past!” Sophia reminded him.

“Well, uhh… It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I’m not close to Alice, and things are a little awkward between us,” Daniel explained.

“You sold me off for 80,000 in the past!” Sophia repeated once again.

“I’m sure you know how independent and strong of a woman Alice is. She’s definitely going to smother an enemy like you while you’re still in your crib. I can’t do much about it.” Daniel ignored Sophia’s protests.

“80,000! 80,000!” she cried stubbornly. Daniel simply kept his mouth shut. Eventually, Sophia succeeded in convincing Daniel to get out of the house. Hence, he had no choice but to bring Casper along to visit his mother at the company, while also acting as an advocate for Sophia. This time, Daniel felt more emotionally conflicted than ever. He’d rather attempt to fool Cooper—he’d be scared, but he’d force himself to do it. On the other hand, he didn’t feel scared to fool Alice, instead, he felt an extremely complicated mess of emotions within him. He didn’t know what to feel about Alice. Had he once been attracted to her? Of course he had felt that way at some point.

Daniel wasn’t one to fool around with girls. There were a countless number of rich ladies in Bayside City who had begged him to tell their fortune by grabbing their boobs, but he barely ever looked these women in the eye. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the idea of fortune telling through grabbing their boobs; he simply didn’t find a pair of boobs that he liked…

This was only true until he first met Alice, a unique and attractive Westerner that made his heart flutter with excitement. However… Daniel wasn’t prepared to settle down and start a family then, so he chose to avoid it. In the end, he couldn’t escape his own fate, and he ended up bumping into Alice once again. They even had a child together.

“Casper.” Daniel turned to look at Casper while they were on their way to Michel Group. Casper had attempted to imitate Daniel’s style of dressing, and he wore a pure white cotton sweater that was especially thick as it was made for winter. He looked like a chubby little penguin.

“Master!” Casper didn’t know that Daniel was actually his father, so he addressed the older man the way he learned from the movies. Daniel didn’t know what to say as he looked at the child. Casper looked mostly like a Caucasian; apart from the black hair he inherited from Daniel, most of his features were dominated by the Michel Family’s powerful genes. Daniel took Casper’s tiny hand into his as they stepped into the Cethosian branch of Michel Group. Linus had opened this branch in Cethos a few years ago when he acquired a building specially to handle all the Cethosian affairs that the Michel Family had to deal with. Alice ended up working in this building.

They took an elevator up to the 18th floor in search of Alice’s office. Daniel felt his insides twisting and turning as they made their way there. He didn’t know how to act in front of Alice, and he didn’t know how to bring up anything about what Sophia had asked him to mention. When they arrived at Alice’s office, he saw her standing alone as she glanced out of the floor-to-ceiling window in her office to see the entire view of Bayside City from 18 floors above. As she stood facing the sun, her figure darkened into nothing more than a shadow, which made her seem lonelier than ever. No—loneliness was what the regular individual experienced; someone as independent as Alice was probably used to being alone. What she experienced was probably a loneliness that only the most successful people understood—regular people would never go through such a sensation.

“Mommy!” Casper shouted affectionately. Daniel followed behind Casper as the young child tottered toward Alice. Joy spread across Alice’s face as she turned around to see Casper behind her. She had been extremely busy for the past few days, and she hadn’t managed to be with her son throughout that period of time. Daniel was the one who had been taking care of him. Alice rubbed her face against Casper’s lovingly before she pulled her son into her arms and asked him about his day.

Although Casper had recently found himself obsessed with religion, fortune telling and divination techniques, he didn’t fall back on his homework. Since Carmen was overseas for an audition, Casper took her spot and attended her private tutor’s classes. Alice’s gaze lit up with a mother’s pride as she looked at her smart and quick-witted son. Although she often portrayed herself as a strong, independent woman that was even more aggressive than some men, she allowed herself to turn gentle and soft in front of her son.

After a short meeting with Casper, Alice got him to play in a corner while she sat herself down in front of her office table and began to work. Her secretary and her assistant came in every now and then to update her on work-related stuff, while Daniel found himself totally neglected by her. As he didn’t know how he could bring up the favor that Sophia had asked from him, he had no other option but to sit by a corner while acting calm and natural. He spent the entire afternoon watching Alice do her work.

She was surely exhausted from having to handle so much work, but she didn’t have much of a choice because of the position that she was in. If she didn’t put all of her blood and sweat into her work—if she didn’t demonstrate her true capabilities—she could easily be replaced by someone else any day. Daniel laid his gaze on her for the whole afternoon. He gradually forgot the initial reason for his visit and instead found himself mesmerized by Alice.

He realized that she unconsciously pressed her hand against her waist from time to time—it was the exact spot where she injured herself in the mountains. It had been more than a month since she got injured, but her wound didn’t seem to be healing well, probably because she didn’t get enough rest. Daniel finally gave in to the urge to speak up. “You should take a break, Alice. Your wound isn’t fully recovered yet.”

She didn’t even glance at him as her focus remained on the work she was doing. “I don’t need your concern, Master Levine. I’m fine, and I have a professional medical team taking care of me.” Daniel felt uneasy to see her wearing herself out with work, but he didn’t think he was in any position to comment on it.

Right as he was contemplating how he could convince Alice to take a break, she abruptly halted the work that she had been doing before looking up at Daniel with a stern expression on her face. “I’m guessing that you’re here today to lobby for Lucile, right? Well, I can tell you with certainty that Lucile and her team aren’t even shortlisted for the role. I’m sure you know why.”

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 979

Recently, Nicole had come in contact with a production crew that was looking for a child celebrity to fill the role, so Nicholas brought his son for the audition. Since Sandra had already pulled a few strings here and there, she wouldn’t be surprised if Nicholas’ son got the role. After spending a huge chunk of money, Sandra finally secured her role as Lucile’s best friend. Now, they were close enough to sleep on the same bed! Although Lucile hadn’t offered to put in a word for Sandra, Sandra was certain that she would become the agent for Dragon Eye. All she needed now was for Lucile to say the magic words.

Alice was simply one of Lucile’s employees, after all.

…

Sandra’s car had been parked outside the Michel Group’s building for a long while before she finally saw Lucile and Abbie walking out of the building. Sandra threw in another fortune just to convince Lucile and Abbie to pay the Michel Group a visit, so that Lucile could put in a good word for her. As they walked out, Sandra saw that the four of them—Lucile, Abbie, Alice, and Linus—were walking in a group while they laughed and giggled. They seemed pretty close. Perfect! It looks like I’m definitely going to become the agent this time!

If it weren’t for the fact that Lucile had prohibited Sandra from telling Alice that they had met, Sandra might’ve just walked over right then to talk to Alice about the agreement. Instead, she patiently waited and watched as Alice and Linus left the company in different cars. She then went up to Lucile and Abbie once the other two left. “Well? Did Alice agree to it?” Sandra asked anxiously.

Lucile flashed her a rather disappointed glance. “Although we’re all part of the Michel Family, Alice has always been the one to handle anything related to the phone business. I can’t secure a solid confirmation for you, but I heard that there’s a piece of jewelry that Alice took a liking to recently. Perhaps you can find a way from there,” she hinted.

Sandra immediately understood what Lucile meant, and she drove Lucile and Abbie to the jewelry store to purchase the piece of jewelry that Alice had shown interest in. She then got Lucile and Abbie to pass the gift to Alice. After taking the jewelry with them, Lucile and Abbie informed Sandra that they would be meeting Alice for coffee the next day.

In a private room in one of the cafés in Bayside City, Lucile and Abbie sat on the table with the jewelry placed in front of them, while their bodyguards kept watch outside the room. They had been staying in the Mitchell Residence for a while now, and there were a number of things that they couldn’t discuss when they were there. They therefore had to bring their conversations to a café. Abbie picked the jewelry up and tried it on. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. She happily kept the jewelry into her own bag.

The Mitchells were simply too easy to fool. All Lucile and Abbie had to do was arrange for a meet-up with Alice and Linus; their simple acts were enough to fool all of the Mitchells. They then used the excuse of maintaining privacy in order to get the Mitchells to zip their mouths shut. Just by doing so, Lucile and Abbie had already managed to con a few feasts and presents out of them.

Both Lucile and Abbie had successfully conned other families in Bayside City in the past, and those families were still unaware of what had happened. Even if they had realized anything, they probably didn’t want to make it a big deal. Although Lucile wasn’t the actual Princess Lucile, she was still a part of the Michel Family. Anyone who started a fight against Lucile and Abbie would just be making themselves look bad, and they might even offend the Michel Family.

Abbie was familiar with Bayside City, and the fake Lucile was familiar with the Michel Group; together, they were a perfect match. Abbie went through all the properties, jewelries, yachts, money, and cars that now belonged to her… It wasn’t just the Mitchells and the Edwards that they had fooled—there were other families as well. They benefited greatly from these people, and Abbie gradually realized that she had enough to take off to someplace far away now. The fake Lucile took more than she did, and the two of them calculated the amounts that they had scammed before splitting it between the two of them.

Abbie was elated as she looked at all the wealth she had. She wouldn’t be able to finish all of it even in a few lifetimes! With the money, she could travel overseas, settle somewhere, and enjoy the rest of her life. She could sleep with a different man every night! After they split the money between them, Abbie spoke in a rather concerned tone. “We’ve taken quite a lot from these few families in Bayside City. For safety purposes, I think we should leave soon.” She felt like she had earned enough from these families; she wanted to leave before they were exposed. They could travel to another country and enjoy their lives for a while before they would target the money of another wealthy family.

Lucy, on the other hand, had bigger plans. She wanted to have a baby with Ian or Vincent, and she wanted to get married to a rich family. She’d then be able to leave the Michel Family and stay in Cethos as the grand wife of a wealthy man. Wouldn’t that be better than whatever she had in the past? She had nothing to lose!

Although Lucile was still part of the Michel Family, she was nothing like the actual Lucile. Through a few vague exchanges with Linus and Alice, she had gathered that Fass once had a daughter called Lucile. They were from the same family; they had the same surname and name, yet one lived the life of royalty while the other lived the life of a slave. This conflict left the fake Lucile dissatisfied, so she went out to scam others for money. She initially thought that she would use this money for her own business, but her ego only inflated the more she went around fooling others. She had more than enough capital, but she had never bothered to build her own business. After all, why would she put in the effort to start a business when she was so used to getting money with easier methods?

Abbie, on the other hand, was more aware of what was going on. Lucile hadn’t just fooled all the people around her—she even fooled herself. Right after Abbie finished speaking, the doors to their private room unexpectedly flung open. The two ladies stared at the door to see their bodyguard being restrained by someone else, looking as helpless as a baby. A Northern European man with blonde hair and blue eyes stood outside as he shot the two ladies a cold glare.

“Roger? What are you doing here?” Abbie didn’t know who the man was, but Lucile, who had grown up in the Michel Family, quickly recognized him. Isn’t he the leader of the main security team that always follows Fass around?

Roger simply addressed them with an empty look on his face. “Miss Lucile would like to meet you guys.” There was only one ‘Miss Lucile’ that Roger would refer to. Both Abbie and the fake Lucile’s faces went pale as they realized that they had finally been exposed. They had never seen Lucile in their whole lives; they had never interacted with her, and they didn’t even know that Fass had a daughter for the past 20 years. They couldn’t imagine any other reason the real Lucile would wish to meet them apart from the fact that they had been using her name to scam others.

The two ladies shifted over to another private room in the café, their limbs trembling in fear as they moved. There were already a number of Michel Family’s bodyguards located outside the entrance of the room. The fake Lucile recognized all of them, and it only emphasized the identity of the person waiting for them in the room.

Abbie hung her head low as her eyes darted all over her surroundings, trying to find a way to escape. I could shove all of the blame onto Lucile. If anything, I can just return some of the money to them. I’m not part of the Michel Family, so they can’t do anything to me, she thought.

When they stepped into the other private room in the café, there was already a woman waiting for them inside. She had her back turned toward them. Her long, black hair reached down to her waist, concealing her slim waistline. The room was oddly quiet, and the smell of coffee penetrated the air around them. It only made the atmosphere more tense than ever. Both Abbie and Lucile didn’t even dare to lift their heads—they knew the sort of person that they were dealing with.

However, Abbie then began shouting out of nowhere. “It’s all her! It’s all Lucile’s idea. She’s the one that suggested using your identity to scam others. I’m just her partner; she’s the mastermind!”

Lucile glared at Abbie in disbelief. She hadn’t expected Abbie to betray her during a crucial moment like this! But Abbie was now determined to shove all of the blame onto Lucile, so she continued with her speech. “Miss Lucile, she even tried to use your name to get herself married to a rich man! How shameless of her!”

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 978

“I’m sure you also know, Master Levine, that I’m not about to give my competitor a chance to defeat me.” Alice went straight to her point. This was a huge financial opportunity for anyone who would succeed in becoming the sole agent—why would Alice hand it over to someone who was her potential enemy? She’d make a fool out of herself if she accidentally nurtured someone who would later turn into a strong competitor of hers. “Furthermore, there’re more than 10 teams who are competing for this. There are loads of other teams who are stronger than her, so why would I pick her?”

Daniel was left speechless after what Alice said. He realized how his methods of tricking and convincing Cooper would never work with Alice. The last time he tried his methods of deception on Alice, she ended up with her virginity lost and her heart broken. She woke up that morning to find that the other side of the bed had gone cold, that the man who had pledged his love and loyalty for her the night before had ended up running away. Daniel no longer had the nerve to deceive Alice once again. The words he had intended to use were at the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them before he could say it.

However, since he had promised Sophia to help her, he still tried his best to fulfil his promise. “You’re being unreasonable, Alice. Sophia was the one who helped you when your request for Taylor to be your spokesperson got rejected in the past,” he said.

With her golden-framed glasses perched on her nose, Alice looked both wise and heartless as she spoke. “That endorsement job benefited both parties. We came to a fair and square agreement. But this time, I’m the one who gets to decide who I want as the agent for Dragon Eye. If I see a team that outshines her, it will only make sense that I pick them as they would provide me with the greatest benefit.”

Daniel fell silent once again. He knew that there was no point in him talking anymore; he might even make things worse if he continued. He therefore kept quiet until Alice got off work. The three of them stayed in the office without disrupting each other, with Casper absorbed in his book, Daniel seated on the couch, and Alice focused on her work. That night, Alice brought Casper out for a meal while Daniel went along with them. At the restaurant, Daniel brought up the topic of the agency selection again, and Alice revealed a little more information this time.

“The selection process isn’t just based on my personal preference. We’re also looking at a variety of other factors. I’ve shortlisted both the Mitchells and the Edwards as I need someone who can boost the sales of the product. I’ll give the exclusive rights to the team that does a better job. I’m a businesswoman, Master Levine. There’s a saying in Cethos that goes, ‘the only thing that businesswomen chase are profits’! It’s all about who can benefit me the most,” Alice explained.

In the end, Daniel headed home dejectedly as he had failed to be of any help to Sophia. He didn’t feel any burden or guilt after deceiving Cooper—if anything, he only felt the fear of being chopped into pieces if he was exposed. However, he simply couldn’t bring himself to deceive Alice. He was tongue-tied whenever he was in front of that woman.

Sophia later heard about the news of Daniel’s failure. Although it was surprising to hear that the all-powerful, brilliant master of deception, Daniel, had finally met with failure, Sophia somehow felt like she had expected this to be the outcome. Fortunately, Daniel managed to give her some information. She now knew more about the competitors that she had.

In the Mitchell Family, both Sandra and Vincent were fighting to be the agent. Although they were from the same family, they each ran their own businesses, and they approached Alice as two separate teams that represented their own companies instead of the Mitchell Family. Despite Sandra, Alex, and Vincent being on different sides as Cooper, Cooper had always perceived the Michel and Mitchell Families as two separate things. If Alice really wanted to pick the Mitchells as their agent, Cooper probably wouldn’t object to it.

Next, both Ian and Lucy from the Edwards Family had also been split into two separate groups that were competing to be the agent. Apart from them, there was another team led by the Winston Family. There were also a few other companies who were about as qualified as Plum Technology was, while Sophia simply ignored the rest of the teams and companies as they didn’t seem to pose much of a threat to her. After the conversation with Daniel, Sophia hurriedly drew a table with all the information that she had retained with perfect precision. She then analyzed each of her opponent’s strengths and the current situation.

As Sophia ran through the information, she realized how it made sense for Alice to dismiss her team as an option. Both Linus and Cooper told Sophia the same thing after they spoke to Alice about it. Although Alice trusted Sophia enough to leave her son with her, she was a whole different person when it came to work. Even when Linus and Cooper went over to advocate for Sophia’s team, Alice immediately stated that she would never choose Sophia.

But Sophia wasn’t ready to give up just yet. She did her research on Alice, and she knew that Alice was someone who made choices based on the amount of benefit she could obtain from anyone. If I manage to defeat all of the other teams and prove that I’m the most capable one, she will definitely pick my team.

However, it was hard to defeat all the teams as the Edwards, Mitchell, and Winston Families were all in the picture. Sophia was familiar with the Edwards and the Mitchells, but she found the Winstons to be the most challenging one to deal with. The inner structure of the Winston Family wasn’t very stable and established, and all the members of the family were extremely devilish and vicious individuals. In the past, after Harry killed his father and siblings to overtake the Winston Family at the young age of 19, there were many family members who expressed dissatisfaction toward the situation. They would step forward to create trouble every now and then, and Sophia’s opponent was precisely the group of people who were always going against Harry.

Regardless, they didn’t have much time yet. Sophia decided that she would defeat as many of the teams as she could. If she were to start off from the weakest team, it’d be Sandra’s team. Sophia had been wanting to defeat Sandra for a long while now, and her desire only grew stronger lately, after Sandra spent a fortune to hire ghostwriters to create gossip and rumors about Taylor. They were the ones that kept posting about Taylor using a ‘fake’ phone after he failed to become the spokesperson for Dragon Eye. Sophia couldn’t be bothered to confront Sandra since it was just some negative rumors and comments on the Internet. Sandra’s just wasting her own money, after all, Sophia thought.

Taylor wasn’t using an imitation model of the phone—in fact, it couldn’t be any more original. It was an unreleased model of Dragon Eye, so all of these rumors would end up as a joke once the model was released. When that happened, all of Sandra’s money would go to waste. Now, Sandra is stepping on Taylor’s reputation in order to build Nicholas’ fame, but when her plan backfires, she wouldn’t only be losing money; Nicholas’ reputation might also be tarnished! I can’t wait for that to happen. Sophia hadn’t bothered to make a move on Sandra in the past, but now that Sandra was blocking her way to success, Sophia decided to deal with her first!

Meanwhile, Sandra had been feeling really good about herself recently. She felt like she was at the peak of her job since everything was going as she planned. Nicholas, the artist under her wing, won two awards at the ‘Light of Cethos’ award ceremony. Although this was outshined by that final ‘Light of Cethos’ award, Sandra had made sure to destroy Taylor’s reputation and public image after that. Now, he was nothing more than a poor old man who used a fake phone. The news of him being an outworn, old-time celebrity spread like wildfire.

Most of the male artists under Sandra were trained according to the example that Taylor and Harry had set. She was patiently waiting for Taylor and Harry to fade out in the industry; the artists that she trained would then take over their spot and claim all the opportunities that had once belonged to them. Recently, Sandra even signed a Hollywood agreement that had Nicholas as one of the key figures. He would appear for a total of 2 minutes! 2 minutes! The entire movie was 120 minutes, and her artist would get 2 minutes of screen-time! Tons of celebrities would never even dream of achieving this! He definitely isn’t far from getting an Oscar!

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 980

However, all they got in return was a long period of silence. The two ladies lowered their heads as they heard the sound of high heels walking toward them, and they held their breaths with their heads hung low as the real Lucile stood right in front of them. Amidst the pin-drop silence, they could hear the sound of Lucile sipping on her coffee before placing her cup down onto its saucer. “Why did you stop talking?” she finally asked.

To their surprise, she didn’t speak in English… Instead, she spoke in pure Cethosian and even sounded like a native speaker. Both Abbie and the fake Lucile lifted their heads up at the same time to see a face that they hadn’t been expecting. They both gasped in surprise.

…

After dealing with Abbie and the fake Lucile, Sophia stepped out of the café and got into the car before she took her Dragon Eye 7 out to make a call. “Hey, Stan. How are things going at your end?”

Stanley sounded rather occupied as he spoke. “I’m still trying to get an appointment as the other party keeps saying that their schedule is full. Don’t worry, Aunt Sophia; we won’t give up until the official announcement of the results! Long live Plum Technology!” he chanted.

That cracked Sophia up. “Alright, alright; you’re nearing your thirties! Can you stop acting so childishly?!” she sneered in a joking manner.

“We’re in the online gaming industry, so it’s important that we possess the hearts of a high-schooler! Oh, by the way, how are things going at your end?” Stanley asked.

“I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do. The decision hasn’t been made, but even if it has, I’m not about to give up just yet. I heard some news about the agency’s agreement. Apparently, the Michel Group has the right to end the agreement if the selected agency fails to hit their sales target.” Their conversation surrounded the topic of becoming the chosen agency—it was too amazing of an opportunity to give up on. Furthermore, it was a huge stepping stone in Sophia’s journey to get involved with the Michel Group, so they had to succeed!

Stanley and Sean had been trying their best to arrange for an appointment with Alice. They were trying to request for a second meeting with her, while Sophia used her connections to see if she could pull the family card. While she was at it, she also tried her best to defeat any of the opponents that came in her way. However, Stanley didn’t show any progress in his work, and Sophia found herself mentally drained from all the scheming. Fortunately, the trap that she had set up went just as she hoped, and her competitors from the Mitchell Family were about to go down.

Right before their conversation ended, Stanley abruptly switched the topic. “By the way, my son’s company is hosting a banquet to show their gratitude to all their customers. Alice is going, and a few of our competitors will be there as well. They’re probably showing up for the sake of Alice.”

“Is it the dinner hosted by L/K? I think I got an invitation myself. See you there,” she uttered.

…

The L/K banquet happened two nights later. Sophia showed up along with her team from Plum Technology. Alice wasn’t anywhere to be seen when they arrived, but they did catch a glimpse of most of their competitors—Sandra and Vincent from the Mitchell Family, Lucy and Ian from the Edwards Family, and Dana, the daughter of the Winston Family’s elder. There were a number of other competitors, but they weren’t impressive enough to deserve any attention.

Sophia began to delegate tasks to the rest of her team once they got in. “Sarah, you’ll handle Dana. Sean and Stanley, I want you guys to hold the Edwards back and distract them. We can ignore the Mitchells as they’re about to wreck themselves. I’ll focus on dealing with Alice.” Everyone gradually approached their own targets once they got their missions.

Sarah’s target was Dana, the daughter of an elder in the Winston Family. The elder was the one who was in charge of the elders’ council, and he often went against Harry’s opinions. The elder also held a lot of power in the Winston Group’s Board of Directors, and he often expressed his dissatisfaction toward Harry. However, ever since Harry forged his own path to success at the young age of 19, his position remained secure for the past 20 years. The elder hoped for some issue to surface, but there hadn’t been a chance for him to create any trouble in the past 20 years. Now, his daughter, Dana, seemed to share the same goals as his. Sarah was determined not to let Dana become the chosen agent. If Dana were to be chosen, she wouldn’t just enjoy all the countless benefits of the agreement; she’d also form a partnership with the Michel Group. In that case, the elder would gain more power in making demands within the Winston Family.

Back then, Harry had truly been a monster who killed his siblings while attending his classes. After his mid-term exams, he killed one of his largest, strongest competitors—his elder brother. In his second year of high school, he killed his sister; he then killed his other brother after he completed his mock exams in his third year of high school. Harry’s father had been preparing to kill Harry while he was studying for his college entrance exams, but he hadn’t expected Harry to kill him first. From then on, Harry officially took over the Winston Family. He managed to go for his college entrance exams despite his busy schedule, and he even got 2nd place in his entire school for the results he achieved in his humanities subjects. With his high scores, he enrolled himself into Bayside University. He thought he was invincible back then, but he soon realized that none of his classmates even bothered to glance at him. Furthermore, he even got physically punished by his instructor just three days after he joined the military training program. His instructor began hitting him from the military camp’s canteen all the way to the little forest beside the mountains. His instructor was Michael, who was the same age as he was and had fists of steel.

My darling is such an amazing man, so I have to step up my game too! Sarah cheered herself on as she strode toward Dana. I have to make sure she loses this opportunity!

Sophia, on the other hand, laid low as she quietly waited for Alice’s arrival. She had brought a helper along with her that night. Daniel had arrived before Alice, and he waved at Sophia cheerily once he saw her. He earned nearly 10 million off of Michael in the past, but after so many years, he had probably given more than that amount in return.

Alice showed up right as the dinner began. She was dressed in a silver gown that revealed the bare skin on her back, and her slim, slender figure made her seem as elegant as a swan. Everyone’s gazes were focused on her sexy back, but Daniel was the only one that looked at her waist area instead. I wonder if her injury is any better…

Sandra was the first to approach Alice once the latter arrived. Sandra lifted her glass of wine as she strode toward Alice. “We meet again, Miss Alice.” Sandra was more confident than she had ever been. She was pleased to see that Alice was wearing the exact same piece of jewelry that she had asked ‘Lucile’ to send over as a gift. ‘Lucile’ finally stopped acting all secretive the night before; she finally revealed that it was confirmed—Alice would most definitely choose Sandra to be the sole agent of Dragon Eye. According to her, they had even drafted the contract. With this confirmation, Sandra was certain that she would become the agent; all that was left was their signatures on the contract. Alice is indeed nothing more than Lucile’s employee, huh.

“Miss Mitchell.” Alice raised her glass politely toward Sandra.

The night before the dinner, ‘Lucile’ had also told Sandra a little more about Alice. She claimed that Alice was a greedy, ambitious woman despite being nothing more than an employee. “In the past few years, Alice has been growing increasingly disrespectful toward me. It’s a little hard for me to deal with her personally, so it’d be great if you could do a little something to put Alice in her place.” ‘Lucile’ told Sandra about her request.

Right as Sandra was thinking about how she could embarrass Alice a little, Sophia walked toward them. Before Sophia could say anything, Alice addressed her with an icy tone. “You don’t have to even try, Miss Edwards. Like I’ve said, you were never even shortlisted in my options for Dragon Eye’s Cethosian agent.” Smack! Her words were like a fierce slap that struck Sophia.

Sandra beamed happily as she waited for Sophia’s expression to turn awkward or sour. But to her surprise, Sophia remained pleasant and elegant as she raised her glass. “How can we ever be sure about the way the universe works its wonders? Perhaps you’ll change your mind tomorrow, Miss Alice.”

Alice simply sipped on her cocktail without responding to Sophia. Sandra, on the other hand, quickly seized the opportunity to mock Sophia. She had already spotted the fake phone in Sophia’s hand, and she quickly used it as a means of ridiculing Sophia. “Do forgive my bluntness, Miss Edwards. It’s fine that your husband uses an imitation of the Dragon Eye phone, but I’m surprised that you’d intentionally use one yourself when you know that you’d be meeting Alice, the developer of Dragon Eye. You’re practically violating the brand. Do you even have any respect for Miss Alice?! How could you possibly have the right to be the agent of the genuine Dragon Eye phone when you’re using an imitation yourself?!”

What? An imitation? Alice glanced at Sophia’s handphone.