Ch. 981..990

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 981

Alice looked at the cell phone Sophia was holding; it was equipped with a transparent case that nearly concealed the Dragon Eye logo, but one could still vaguely tell that the cell phone was a Dragon Eye model.

After all, Dragon Eye cell phones were very distinctive due to their unique design. Sophia’s cell phone had such a design, but it was neither the Dragon Eye 6 nor Dragon Eye 7. In fact, it looked nothing like any of the Dragon Eye cell phones currently on the market.

Seeing that Alice was studying Sophia’s cell phone as if she had never seen it before, Sandra became certain deep down inside that the cell phone was a knock-off. This belief instantly filled her with confidence, and she raised her voice. “Even though Taylor didn’t land the endorsement deal with Dragon Eye, you two shouldn’t be using knock-off phones. You and your husband’s knock-offs must be manufactured by the same factory. No wonder their quality looks so cheap!”

Michael was known across the nation for his blatant use of a knock-off cell phone. As determined by several experts, the cell phone Taylor had been using was indeed a knock-off; even Amazon sold cell phones of the same model he was using, and they were selling like hotcakes since they looked identical to his.

Everyone couldn’t wrap their heads around this. Why would Taylor use a knock-off cell phone? Taylor could afford a Dragon Eye no matter how poor he was, so why would he use a knock-off phone instead?

Nobody could figure out the reason behind it, but he used a knock-off cell phone which made headlines on news websites almost every day.

Upon hearing Sandra’s voice, the crowd gathered around Sophia from near and far to see what the rumored knock-off cell phone looked like. As they moved closer, they noticed that Sophia was indeed holding a cell phone that looked like a Dragon Eye, but it didn’t look like any of the existing models. Moreover, the Dragon Eye logo was brazenly imprinted on it.

As if that wasn’t bold enough, she even showed her cell phone in front of Alice, who was the developer of the Dragon Eye’s cell phone series!

What on earth was Sophia doing? Wasn’t she still fighting for the right to be Dragon Eye’s agent? Wasn’t she asking for trouble by doing so?

Surrounded by the crowd, Sophia held her cell phone in one hand while holding a wine glass in the other. Taking a sip of the wine, she held the cell phone that had attracted everyone’s attention between her manicured fingers with a ghost of a smile on her face.

One couldn’t tell the expression on Alice’s face, for she looked as calm as she used to be. On the contrary, Sandra had gotten all worked up; she even started denouncing Sophia on Alice’s behalf as if she had become Alice herself.

“Sophia, you and your husband are well-known public figures in Cethos; countless people would imitate your every move. By blatantly using such knock-offs, do you know how badly you and your husband would affect Dragon Eye’s reputation and intellectual property? What is intellectual property to you? By doing so, both you and your husband are advocating for piracy. People like you are the sc*m of the Mitchell Family! Why would Miss Alice consider you as Dragon Eye’s agent in Cethos? Besides, you must apologize to Alice and the whole Michel Group for your use of Dragon Eye knock-offs!”

She uttered each and every word with righteous indignation as though she viewed herself part of the Michel Family.

The matter between Vincent and Lucile had almost been settled, and she was about to secure the agency contract with Dragon Eye; the only thing left to do was to sign the contract. Since there would be plenty of time for Sandra to make Linus develop feelings for her in the future, marrying into the Michel Family would only be a matter of time. Therefore, she had to put on a tough front right now so that Alice wouldn’t look down on her when she married Linus in the future.

Lucile once said that Alice was Linus’ greatest rival—Alice was constantly burning with ambition to move up the power ladder and replace Linus.

Therefore, Sandra was determined to show her attitude and craftiness that day; she wanted Alice to know that she wasn’t someone who could be easily bullied!

Sophia still held her knock-off phone with one hand while swirling the wine glass in her other. The red wine splashed around in her glass, reflecting the faces of many who were here to look on.

Vincent gloated at one side as the people around him were drawn to the commotion over here. He had finally succeeded in winning Alice’s heart the night before, and she finally stopped vacillating and keeping him in suspense. She had given the Mitchells the right to act as Dragon Eye’s agent, and Vincent agreed on acting as the company’s agent together with Sandra.

Stanley and Sean had arrived as well, and they watched the spectacle while holding their respective knock-off cell phones.

Lucy of the Edwards Family had an unfathomable expression, whereas Ian looked indignantly resentful upon seeing Vincent. He thought to himself, Lucile will be mine sooner or later!

The other competitors had also come over to enjoy the spectacle. As they watched Sandra and Sophia bickering with each other, they hoped that these two ladies would make an even bigger scene. After all, it was good for everyone to have one less competitor.

The more Sandra spoke, the more emotional she became. Seizing upon the knock-off cell phone in Sophia’s hand, she condemned Sophia vehemently. According to her logic, Sophia had to slit her throat and commit suicide on the spot to apologize for using the knock-off cell phone.

The more she spoke, the more she felt righteously indignant. She thought so highly of herself that she failed to notice the deepening furrows in Alice’s brow and the trace of impatience in Alice’s eyes.

What background is this Sandra from? Why is she acting as if she knows me very well? Why is she so worked up when I haven’t even spoken yet? Whether or not Sophia is using a knock-off cell phone is none of her business! Besides, the cell phone Sophia is using isn’t a knock-off…

At this moment, Alice had removed Sandra from the short list of agents.

Sophia held her glass of wine as she took another sip. When she finally finished listening to Sandra’s reproaches, she put down her wine glass and looked at Angela with a graceful smile. “Speaking of apologizing…”

She continued with a sly smile, “Miss Mitchell, you publicly spread rumors that my husband had an affair with a celebrity surnamed Mitchell last year, and you mentioned that we had divorced; my husband and I sued you in court because of that. From what I can remember, you seemed to have lost the lawsuit, Miss Mitchell… The court ruled that you had to pay compensation within a set time for damaging our reputation, and you were required to apologize to me and my husband in public.

Then, her voice turned chilly as she suddenly demanded in an imposing manner, “Miss Mitchell, where is the compensation for our damaged reputation? Where is your public apology?”

“I…”

Sandra was embarrassed on the spot, for she had lost the lawsuit back then. In fact, she lost the lawsuit in such a humiliating manner that she didn’t give any interviews and forbade every media outlet to cover this story. Also, she used a lot of big news to divert the public’s attention from the news report about the lawsuit.

Needless to say, she didn’t pay the compensation; she didn’t even apologize to Sophia and Michael either. Unwilling to accept the result, she appealed against the court’s ruling, but she lost the appeal once more…

Having successfully found the blot on Sandra’s past and fighting back, Sophia looked at the crowd that came over to watch the spectacle. She shouted, “There are quite a lot of people here today, so this should be considered a public occasion. Miss Mitchell, let’s not talk about money for now. Please apologize to me first.”

With that, she raised her chin and waited calmly for Sandra to apologize to her.

Of course, Sandra would never apologize to Sophia with so many eyes watching.

She tugged at Alice’s arm as if she hadn’t heard what Sophia said just now. She said harshly, “You are Dragon Eye’s developer, Alice. Doesn’t it concern you that this woman and her husband are blatantly using Dragon Eye knock-offs in front of you?”

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 982

Sophia noticed that Alice had lost her balance momentarily when Sandra grabbed her.

Sandra was determined to embarrass Sophia since the latter had brought up her embarrassing past. Filled with anger and hatred, she subconsciously exerted too much strength while grabbing Alice, causing the unprepared Alice to nearly fall over.

Alice frowned as her body toppled for a moment. Despite her best efforts at exercising restraint, she still felt an excruciating pain in her waist.

Her wound had yet to heal, causing her to feel severe pain when Sandra tugged at her. She felt deeply unwell, and the color gradually drained from her face.

At this critical moment, a pair of large, warm hands suddenly reached out from behind and supported her back gently, saving her from further gaffes.

Alice didn’t look back, but she smelled the classically elegant scent of sandalwood. She had been helplessly intoxicated by the exact same scent six years ago while she was by River Seine that fateful night. When she woke up in a hotel bed after that, the person had left nothing behind in the room except for the lingering scent of sandalwood.

Just like that, he left without a trace.

Snapping out of her memories involving the sandalwood scent, she whispered to Daniel behind her and said, “Thank you.”

Daniel kept standing behind Alice while watching the situation in the hall without saying a word.

Sandra deliberately skirted the issue of apologizing as she wanted Alice to punish Sophia for using a knock-off cell phone. Seeing that Alice did not take action, she boiled over with rage and went so far as to reach her hand out again in an attempt to grab Alice.

After Sandra had grabbed her earlier on, several scratches appeared on Alice’s exposed arm. Being well-prepared this time, she cleverly dodged Sandra when the latter reached out to grab her again. Meanwhile, the bodyguard sensed that something was wrong and immediately stood between the two to keep Sandra away.

Sandra stared at Alice in utter surprise. She was mortified after Sophia teed her off just now, so she desperately needed Alice to save her from embarrassment by coming forward to give Sophia a hard time. However, she didn’t expect Alice to remain silent even after she had spoken so much.

“What’s wrong with you, Alice? This woman is using a Dragon Eye knock-off! You’re one of Dragon Eye’s developers—how can you let it slide? What the hell is going on with you?!”

Sandra’s questioning tone was filled with displeasure; it was as though Dragon Eye belonged to her and Alice was a mere worker.

Knowing that the Mitchell Family was finished, Sophia smiled gracefully.

As expected, Alice had lost her patience; she was displeased from the very beginning when Sandra overstepped her position. Now, Sandra had even took liberties with her and leveled such nonsensical and shameless accusations.

Feeling a dull ache in her wound, Alice looked a bit pale; the smile on her face had long since been replaced with an immeasurably commanding and impatient expression.

Sandra was waiting for Alice to give Sophia a slap in the face, but she didn’t expect to hear something else. “Miss Mitchell, the cell phone Miss Edwards is using is not a knock-off, but a genuine custom-made model produced by the Michel Group’s cell phone division. Only a pair of them are available across the globe!”

That was right—Sophia certainly wouldn’t use a knock-off cell phone. In reality, her cell phone was a customized Dragon Eye model made specially for her by Cooper and Linus.

The cell phone ran on Dragon Eye 7’s latest operating system, and it was equipped with the most advanced functions. Since it had the best quality, the materials used for this custom-build cost even more than Dragon Eye’s market price. Sophia thought that Dragon Eye cell phones looked ugly on the outside, so Linus redesigned the cell phone’s exterior just for her. Because of that, her cell phone looked different from the ordinary Dragon Eye cell phone models.

Cooper had given her a pair of these cell phones as a present, and she gave one of them to Michael. Therefore, the ‘knock-off cell phones’ they were using were actually custom-built models.

Upon hearing Alice’s words, everyone looked at the ‘knock-off’ cell phone in Sophia’s hand.

No wonder! Sophia’s ‘knock-off’ cell phone felt very high-class and expensive from the beginning—it’s completely different from other knock-off devices. It turns out that…

Ignoring Sandra’s profound shock and disbelief, Alice reproved angrily with a commanding look in her ocean-blue eyes and said, “Mr. Murray’s cell phone isn’t a knock-off either. Not only is he using a genuine one, but he is also the global spokesperson for the new Dragon Eye 7 which will be announced soon. Miss Mitchell, please show some respect to Dragon Eye’s spokesperson!”

Everyone was astounded.

It turned out that Taylor was also a spokesperson for Dragon Eye—in fact, he was the global spokesperson for the high-end version!

This revelation reminded them of previous online articles. Whenever Nicholas showed off his low-end version of the Dragon Eye cell phone, what immediately followed would be slanderous articles that accused Taylor of using a Dragon Eye knock-off. These articles accused Taylor of overrating his abilities by competing with Nicholas for the endorsement deal with Dragon Eye despite becoming less handsome due to his old age. According to these articles, Taylor issued press releases to show off even before he had landed the endorsement deal, but he was slapped in the face right away when Nicholas landed the endorsement deal with Dragon Eye once again.

In the eyes of any layman, this was an entertaining drama between two male celebrities in show business. A male celebrity who was past his prime put up a last-ditch struggle after being too confident, but he didn’t expect to lose face when he lost the fight against his junior in the entertainment industry over an endorsement deal.

However, those familiar with show business knew that this was actually a plot hatched up by somebody so that they could rise to fame by riding on Taylor’s popularity and even slandering him.

The identity of the person behind the plot was obvious; whoever benefited from this had to be the mastermind behind the plot.

“Ah, so this is Dragon Eye 7! I must’ve been blind earlier on. This looks so much better than Nicholas’s low-end version!”

“How could the low-end version be compared with the high-end one? They are totally different in terms of concept; the low-end version is significantly cheaper than the high-end one. There are big differences between the two models, and there are big differences between the respective spokespersons too.”

“The high-end version’s global spokesperson kept such a low profile, whereas the low-end version’s spokesperson in Cethos couldn’t wait to play up his endorsement deal with Dragon Eye every single day. Perhaps this is the difference between a low-class, attention-seeking idol versus a first-class artist!”

“He slandered someone else for more than a month and showered him with all kinds of abuses, slanderous remarks, and foul language just because of a cell phone. I wonder How Glory Entertainment is going to clear up this mess this time.”

The crowd whispered among themselves while looking at the cell phone in Sophia’s hand. Meanwhile, Sandra’s face grew darker as she listened to their comments.

Unwilling to stay out of the limelight, Stanley took out his Dragon Eye 7. “All of you have been mistaken, people. My aunt’s cell phone is custom-built, and there are only two of these cell phones in the world; my aunt has one of them, whereas my uncle has the other. Come and take a look at this—this is the Dragon Eye 7 that will soon be released to the market, and it’s quite pleasant to use. Its operating system runs more smoothly than before, and it responds to the user’s touch a lot more quickly. What’s more, it comes with portrait retouching functions…”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Dragon Eye 7, but some people were still paying attention to the embarrassed Sandra. As Glory Entertainment’s actual controller, not only did Sandra mock people online for using knock-off cell phones, she even humiliated someone in person at the banquet organized by L/K today.

Sandra was absolutely shocked at this moment before she was consumed with towering rage.

Did Dragon Eye make Michael the global spokesperson for its high-end version?

She looked at Alice furiously, and her fingernails sank into her palms.

Alice had turned around and left while everyone was paying attention to the Dragon Eye. She didn’t want to see Sandra anymore.

As expected, someone who’s engaged in sports isn’t fit to do business. When Alice saw Sandra for the first time, several words which could be used to describe the latter came into her mind. There must be something wrong with her mind; she failed to recognize a great person, yet she’s so intoxicated by her success and acting like a d*mn snob.

She was so puffed up with pride only because one of the artists under her agency became a regional spokesperson for the low-end version of Dragon Eye cell phones. Judging by how confident she looked, was she absolutely certain that she’d become Dragon Eye’s agent? Who gave her the confidence to think that way?!

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 983

Daniel immediately caught up with Alice as he noticed that she looked very unwell. It seemed that the physical contact just now had caused the wound in her waist to hurt. “How are you? Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital for a checkup?” Daniel asked Alice if she was alright, but she was indifferent about it.

To their surprise, Alice had barely taken a few steps when a woman’s deep voice suddenly broke out from the crowd behind them. “Stop right there!”

Alice’s footsteps faltered upon hearing the voice, and Daniel immediately followed suit. Stop right there?

Alice paused in her tracks and glanced back at Sandra stonily. Meanwhile, the latter stood among the crowd with a darkened expression on her face; it turned out that Sandra was the one who ordered Alice to stop right there just now. How dare someone order her around like that?

However, Sandra was even more audacious than Alice had imagined. Making her way out of the crowd, she walked up to Alice and said viciously, “We’re friends, Alice. Don’t you think that you’re making me look bad by leaving right now?” Sandra believed she had shown Alice much respect. She was Lucile’s close friend, yet Alice dared to put on airs in front of her despite working for Lucile. She hadn’t explained why Sophia and Michael’s cell phones were genuine, nor had she explained why Michael became the global spokesperson for the high-end version of it. How dare she leave?

Alice was so irked by Sandra’s attitude that she laughed after a brief moment of dismay. What the hell is going on with this woman? Does she have a loose screw or something?

Indeed, Sandra’s audacity surpassed Alice’s expectations of her. She said threateningly, “Are you sure that Miss Edwards and her husband’s cell phones are genuine, Alice? Also, is Mr. Murray the global spokesperson for Dragon Eye? My friend, Lucile, has shown me the designs before—I’m certain that their cell phones aren’t the Dragon Eye 7, and Taylor isn’t the global spokesperson at all!”

Alice stared at Sandra dazedly for two seconds before she finally realized what was going on. She was dropping Lucile’s name, forcing Alice to withdraw her previous remark on the spot.

Sandra had slung mud at Michael and Sophia on the spot by accusing them of using knock-off cell phones, but she ended up with a slap in the face by Alice—after all, she was the one who developed the cell phone series. Right now, the only way Sandra could save face was to make Alice withdraw her previous remark immediately by saying that she had made a mistake. Who gave her the nerve to do so? Who gave the blockheaded daughter of a second-rate wealthy family in Bayside City the cheek to threaten Alice?

Alice glanced at Sophia—who almost couldn’t conceal the sinister smile on her face as she stood among the crowd—before looking at the threatening expression on Sandra’s face. She didn’t know what had happened, but she figured out that Sandra must have done something unreasonable because she walked right into a trap Sophia had set up.

Is she possessed as rumored? How ironic of me to have chosen her as one of my agents. Stupefied, Alice felt that she was unaccustomed to the people here.

Alice’s 170cm figure walked up to Sandra before looking down at the latter, who only stood at 160cm tall. With a look of unquestionable authority in her eyes, she uttered, “The cell phone Sophia has might not look genuine, but it is a Dragon Eye cell phone—it is a custom-made version that won’t be officially released. As for Mr. Murray, I personally signed him on as the global spokesperson for Dragon Eye 7, and we have already signed the endorsement contract. Also, Mr. Winston will endorse Dragon Eye 7 alongside Mr. Murray. Miss Mitchell, if you think that your artist’s endorsement deal is a cut below Mr. Murray’s and a great insult to you, you may terminate the contract anytime. I’ll consider the endorsement fee a gift to you! Besides, you’ll never be the agent for Dragon Eye!” She turned around and left immediately, ignoring the expression on Sandra’s face.

Seeing that the situation seemed to have developed in a direction he hadn’t expected, Vincent immediately stepped forward and stopped Sandra for fear that her conflict with Alice would escalate. He urged, “That’s enough. Calm down a bit; we are all of the same family, so you should show some restraint when you speak.”

Alice’s attitude seems a little strange…

After sleeping with Lucile, Vincent managed to get much information out of her with some pillow talk. For example, Fass was still the de facto head of the Michel Family, but Lucile was the family head’s rightful successor. Linus and Alice were merely right-hand men that Fass had trained for his daughter. Alice appeared very powerful to the outsiders, but she was actually Lucile’s puppet.

Lucile was the actual person who had developed Dragon Eye and single-handedly supported the whole Dragon Eye series. However, she kept a low profile and didn’t like to be in the limelight, so she always allowed Alice to act in her capacity. In other words, Alice was merely working for her.

In reality, Lucile kept the Mitchell Family in suspense about the selection of Dragon Eye’s agent because she had been testing the Mitchells the entire time. The matter had been under her control all the while; now that they were in such an intimate relationship, the right to act as Dragon Eye’s agent would definitely be given to the Mitchell Family.

Vincent and Sandra never doubted Lucile’s words because the latter had previously helped Nicholas to secure the endorsement deal for Dragon Eye. They truly believed that Alice was merely working for Lucile whereby she had the final say in everything, and all the competition was merely a superficial gesture to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes.

Knowing that Alice would be here on this day, Sandra had deliberately used her to humiliate Sophia. However, she didn’t expect Alice, a mere worker, to be so arrogant by humiliating her instead!

As expected, Lucile’s right—Alice is disloyal to her. Burning with ambition, she’s forgotten her place and plans to overstep her position by replacing Lucile thoroughly! Sandra was so furious that she trembled all over; her nostrils flared, and her eyes flashed fire. No longer caring about Sophia at this moment, she shoved Vincent aside and went after Alice.

At that moment, she would only be humiliated by Sophia if she continued to stay here. She had to catch Alice back! Who gave this mere worker the nerve to humiliate her?!

Vincent immediately went after Sandra; Alice would certainly get in his way when he married Lucile and climbed up the social ladder later on, so he had to get rid of her sooner or later. However, now wasn’t the right time to do so.

Meanwhile, everyone continued to gossip with great relish as they watched Vincent and Sandra going out after Alice. Sandra had spoken to Alice in such a disrespectful tone just now; it even seemed like she was talking to her subordinate. Why did this happen? Wasn’t Sandra vying for the right to act as Dragon Eye’s agent? What gave her the cheek to speak to Alice in that tone?

In a celebratory manner, Sophia raised her glass and clinked glasses with her team. Alright, the Mitchell Family is finished. Let’s deal with the next one.

On the other hand, Sandra had angrily caught up with Alice, Daniel, and the others outside the door. She darted toward Alice while threatening furiously, “Don’t be ungrateful, Alice! You’re merely working for Lucile. How dare you disobey her orders? Lucile has designated me as Dragon Eye’s agent, so what gives you the right to change that without her permission? She also appointed Nicholas as the global spokesperson for Dragon Eye 7, so who gives you the right to decide things yourself?”

Alice couldn’t quite believe that there was such a shameless person in the world as she looked at the unreasonably hysterical Sandra. Knowing why Sandra would act like this, Daniel urged Alice to leave and said, “Let’s hurry up and leave this place. This woman has been bitten by a dog and is having a bout of rabies!”

Naturally, Alice didn’t want to talk to a person with whom she couldn’t communicate. Escorted by some bodyguards, she hurriedly got into her car and left, fearing that Sandra would really bite her if it was too late.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 984

Alice’s wound continued to ache while they were inside the car, but she asked Daniel, “What’s wrong with this Sandra? She doesn’t seem to be in her right mind.”

Daniel knew that Sandra had fallen into Sophia’s trap, but he couldn’t tell Alice about it. He answered, “It wasn’t easy for Sandra to rise from an illegitimate daughter to the Young Lady of the Mitchell Family. Sophia’s return placed her position in jeopardy, so she suffered a mental breakdown and went crazy.”

Suppressing the anger within her, Alice removed the entire Mitchell Family from consideration.

Sandra ran after the car, but she failed to catch up with it. Overwhelmed with anger, she immediately dialed Lucile’s number.

How dare Alice-the-lapdog treat me like this?! I’m Lucile’s close friend! Now that she has disrespected me, Lucile will have the chance to denounce her!

Alice was overweeningly ambitious, but she used to hide her ambition so well that one couldn’t find fault with her. Now that Sandra had found an open and justified excuse, she believed that Lucile would certainly thank her this time.

However, Sandra couldn’t reach Lucile on her phone; she simply assumed that the latter was too busy to answer her call. Anyway, she could no longer stay at the banquet since she would certainly be humiliated if she went back inside. Therefore, Sandra decided that she’d better go home and have Lucile speak up for her.

When she and Vincent called home, they learned that Lucile and Abbie had gone out shopping that morning and hadn’t returned yet. Sandra immediately sent her people to search for them, but after a day of looking around, the Mitchell Family’s men went to the place where Abbie and Lucile used to stay and realized that the house had already been emptied.

When they arrived at Abbie’s house, they learned that Abbie’s family had moved out a year ago. At that moment, the Mitchell Family realized that something was wrong.

Lucile and Abbie had disappeared into thin air, and the property under their names had been converted into cash and transferred a long time ago!

They left without leaving any clues behind; no one knew where they had gone, nor could anyone get in touch with them. The luxury goods they left in the Mitchell Residence had been spirited away.

That night, word finally came that Lucile and Abbie had left the country by plane.

At this moment, Sandra and Vincent seemed to have guessed something. No! How could Lucile possibly leave like this? The daughter of the Michel Family certainly wouldn’t abscond with their money!

She must have left in advance because of some urgent matters. Lucile has always been mysterious; being unable to contact her is normal. Besides, she’s the daughter of the Michel Family, so how could she possibly report her schedule to us in advance? This must be the case… thought Sandra and Vincent as they tried to comfort themselves.

They knew that they would suffer a huge loss if Lucile was actually a con artist!

Panic-stricken, Vincent immediately called Linus; he believed that Linus would know where Lucile was.

Linus’ assistant answered Vincent’s phone call, telling him that Linus was booked and busy; he could only wait until next month to make an appointment with the man. However, he refused to answer him about matters regarding Miss Lucile.

Vincent was as anxious as hell. He lost both Lucile and his money—which meant that he had lost everything.

Ian was equally anxious as Vincent, for he also discovered that Lucile and Abbie had gone missing. He also realized that all the property he gifted Lucile had been converted into cash, but the money couldn’t be traced.

They utilized various channels and even contacted the Mafia abroad to search for Lucile and Abbie. However, the two women seemed to have vanished into thin air; they couldn’t even find a trace of the duo’s whereabouts.

Even so, they couldn’t conduct a large-scale search for them. If word got out that the Edwards Family and the Mitchell Family’s Young Masters were swindled out of their money by the same woman… Losing money wasn’t the matter here, for they would lose face completely.

Moreover, Vincent had even slept with Lucile.

After several days of fruitless searching, the two victims put their prejudice against each other aside and met up to discuss the matter.

Ian said to Vincent, “Lucile spent the night with me that day. She promised to make me the agent for Dragon Eye; she also said that she would go back to the Michel Family and seek their blessings to marry me.”

Vincent was speechless upon hearing his words.

At this moment, they realized that both of them had fallen for a romance scam.

However, they didn’t just fall for a romance scam; the Mitchell Family had believed Lucile’s baloney and offended Alice thoroughly. Losing the contract to be Dragon Eye’s agent was less important than the fact that they had offended the Michel Family!

Still, they hung onto every last bit of hope, thinking that they could recover their losses once they found Lucile. After all, everything would be fine if Lucile was real. If she was an imposter, they would take the fake Lucile to Alice’s and confront the imposter in her presence; perhaps they could even get back into Alice’s favor by doing so.

However, the wait was endless. As Lucile and Abbie disappeared without a trace, Sandra finally realized that she had been scammed. Upon learning that Lucile had transferred all the property away, she passed out on the spot and was rushed to the hospital.

On the fifth day after the incident, Linus’ assistant suddenly called Vincent. “Mr. Mitchell, Miss Lucile will set aside two hours from 2.00PM to 4.00PM tomorrow to meet you on the 18th floor of the Michel Group’s building. She wants to discuss the quality issue you raised regarding the sports car. Please be there on time; we won’t wait for you if you’re late.”

Upon learning this, the wilted Vincent came back alive at once.

Previously, he had made an issue out of the sports car multiple times in hopes of luring Lucile out and meeting her in person. Unexpectedly, Sandra brought Lucile to him afterward, so he forgot about the sports car entirely.

He didn’t expect Lucile to make an appointment with him on this day.

Although he looked forward to this meeting, he was afraid as well.

He wanted to meet Lucile very soon, but he feared that the Lucile he was going to meet and the Lucile he had previously spent time with weren’t the same person at all…

However, he had to attend the appointment no matter what!

The next afternoon, Vincent set out on time before arriving at the Michel Group.

I won’t make a mistake this time. Even if I learn that the Lucile from before is an imposter, I’ll be meeting with the real Lucile. If I can find a way to win her heart, I’d be able to recover the losses I’ve suffered previously!

With this idea in mind, Vincent stroked his head confidently. No matter what, I mustn’t be taken advantage of today! he thought to himself. At the same time, he was full of anticipation for his formal meeting with Lucile. They would be meeting at the Michel Group’s building this time, and this appointment was arranged by Linus’ assistant; today, the Lucile he was going to meet certainly wouldn’t be an imposter.

I should think positively—perhaps this is all Lucile’s test.

Vincent seated himself in the tearoom on the 18th floor of the Michel Group’s office building at 1.50PM.

The 18th floor also happened to be where Linus worked, and Vincent sat in the tearoom next to Linus’ office. Linus was also present; upon seeing Vincent, he spoke to the latter. “Please wait for a moment, Mr. Mitchell. Lucile is taking the elevator up.”

Vincent sat there waiting with his back straightened.

At 2.00PM sharp, the sound of quick, short footsteps made by someone wearing high heels could be heard from the outside, and it was accompanied by Linus’ voice. “Mr. Mitchell has been waiting for you in the tearoom.”

Vincent’s spirits rose; he looked at the tearoom’s door in anticipation, listening to the sound of footsteps as it came closer and closer… At last, someone pushed the door open. Behind the door stood two big and sturdy foreign bodyguards with the Michel Family’s emblem embroidered on their sleeves. Then, Linus and a young lady walked inside under the escort of these bodyguards.

The young lady must be none other than Lucile.

Vincent stood up at once. However, when he saw the lady clearly, the smile of anticipation slowly disappeared from his face before it was replaced by a look of profound shock.

“Why are you here, Sophia?”

Sophia took off her sunglasses to reveal her smiling blue eyes. “Didn’t you say that the second-hand sports car I sold you had some quality issues? I’m here today to have a look at it.”

The faint, scornful smirk on her face gradually broadened as she stared at him.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 985

Vincent stared at Sophia dazedly for about ten minutes; his surprise and bewilderment grew as he shifted his gaze multiple times between her and Linus.

He was well aware of Sophia’s background since he and Sophia were in the same grade at Bayside University. He knew that she was Cooper’s daughter and that she grew up in Riverdale as a child; he also knew that she became who she was today because her uncle had sold her to Joe, who then sold her to Michael.

Sophia took off her sunglasses and asked impatiently, “Didn’t you say that the car had some issues, Mr. Mitchell? What exactly is the problem with the car?”

Still being in a complete daze, Vincent stared at Sophia in shock and disbelief. He turned and asked, “Linus, where is Lucile?”

Knowing that Sophia had played a prank on Vincent, Linus answered with a chuckle, “Sophia is Lucile. Don’t you know that, Mr. Mitchell?”

As Vincent’s face froze completely, some muscles on his handsome face twitched slightly. He looked at Sophia and Linus with a look of shock in his eyes.

Still refusing to believe this, he waved his hand repeatedly. “This is impossible. This can’t be true; she’s Scarlett, Cooper’s daughter.”

The truth would be too horrifying if Sophia was indeed Lucile. The scheme behind the sports car that cost 100 million and the competition for the agency’s contract would be more sophisticated than one could ever imagine!

Sophia frowned, but she unknitted her brows soon after that. She folded her arms across her chest and said, “Mr. Mitchell, you don’t really think that my father has been mining coal in Africa all these years, do you?”

Vincent suddenly recalled that Cooper had shown up and told them about mining in Africa back when Woody passed away.

Since he talked about mining, Mark assumed that he was mining coal. As word about this spread like wildfire among the Mitchell Family, the story became one about Cooper being trafficked to a coal pit to mine coal for 20 years. Vincent was also present at the time, and he recalled what Cooper had said back then about him mining in Africa.

The Michel Family had been mining in Africa as well; what their family mined was not coal, but underground diamonds and rare metals used in the military and high-tech industry.

Upon thinking about Fass and Cooper, Vincent suddenly realized that the two of them were strikingly similar to each other!

Fass was a gifted genius who headed the Michel Family, whereas Cooper was a mind-blowing hidden talent from the Mitchell Family; they both worked in similar industries with equally outstanding achievements.

Back when Cooper was present, the Mitchell Family was in its prime. Half of the world’s computers had products bearing the Mitchell Family’s logo and intellectual property.

After Cooper ‘died,’ the Mitchell Family slowly went downhill until it was gradually replaced by its later peers in the high-tech industry. On the contrary, the Michel Family had Fass, an amazing genius who led the Michel Group—a conglomerate that had been leading the world in the first place—to even greater heights.

Vincent thought that all geniuses were about the same, but he didn’t expect this…

Alex touted Vincent as the genius who surpassed Cooper, but it wasn’t until Vincent truly took over the Mitchell Family’s business and worked in the Mitchell Group did he realize how incredible Cooper was. He missed the era when Cooper was at the helm, but he could still see how incredible Cooper was even after more than ten years had passed.

As it turned out, Cooper was Fass!

As it happened, Fass rose to glory after Cooper’s ‘death,’ and Lucile emerged after Sophia ‘died.’ If Fass and Cooper were one and the same, so was Lucile and Sophia!

As it turned out, all of this was a ruse. No, this wasn’t a ruse at all—it was just wishful thinking on his side. He thought he had everything under his control and was a step ahead of everyone else, but he was merely an outrageous joke in the eyes of others.

Vincent thought he had gotten a great bargain after buying the second-hand sports car at 100 million complacently. However, he didn’t expect to lose money and make a fool out of himself.

“Haha!” He suddenly laughed before lowering his head to wipe his tears away, looking extremely funny as he laughed and cried at the same time.

Sophia looked as though she couldn’t bear to see him being hit badly by the truth. “It seems that you aren’t quite yourself today, Mr. Mitchell. I have something else to attend to, so let us talk about the car some other day.”

With that, she turned around and left. Glancing at Vincent—who cried and laughed simultaneously as the truth hit him badly—Linus let out a sigh and patted his shoulder while comforting him. “Don’t worry about the car, and don’t be so sad about overpaying for the car. If the worst comes to worst, we’ll give the money back to you. You can just return the car back to us.”

To his surprise, Vincent flopped down weakly onto the floor and cried like a child the instant Linus patted the latter’s shoulder.

He cried not because he was scammed out of his money, his house, and his body, nor was he crying because he got a slap in the face after smugly posing as Lucile’s husband in the presence of Lucile herself out of his own wishful thinking. He cried because he found that the faith he had been clinging onto the entire time had fallen to pieces.

His goal had always been to surpass Cooper and become the Mitchell Family’s true genius. He thought he was still young and could make it as long as he was given enough time. He even thought that he had achieved his goal and surpassed the then-of-the-same-age Cooper in several fields.

He thought Cooper was already past his prime and at the end of his heyday; Vincent believed that he was now the master of a new era.

Back then, Cooper invented the first-generation USB drive that could only store 32MB of information at most. Twenty years later, Vincent produced a new-generation of USB flash drives that could store 32GB of information. Thinking that he had surpassed Cooper, he was so self-satisfied that he put Cooper out of his mind.

Today, Vincent discovered that Cooper had already produced USB drives which could store up to 1024GB worth of information ten years ago. Besides, the USB drives Cooper produced were smaller than that of his, and they ran at a higher speed.

His outlook on life instantly fell to pieces. It was as if Cooper had given him a slap in the face, saying that he could never surpass the former.

He was never a match for Cooper, for he couldn’t even hold a candle to the latter; this was what drove him to despair.

Vincent cried in the tearoom for a long time before he was helped away by the Mitchell Family’s bodyguards. Crying as he walked out of the room, he had never cried so sadly and hopelessly as he did on this day in his 27 years of life.

His agonized look drew the attention of the front desk ladies as he tearfully walked to the building’s lobby. However, once in the lobby, he saw someone whom he had never expected to meet.

“Why are you crying like that, Vincent?”

Vincent wiped his tears and saw a familiar person coming toward him. Surprised, he asked, “Why are you here, Derek?”

The person was none other than Derek, Alex’s illegitimate son and Sandra’s younger brother who used to bear the surname Oak. Vincent had known Derek back when they attended Bayside University; they even had meals, drunk alcohol, and discussed professional knowledge together. Vincent was already in graduate school at the time, whereas Derek was still an undergraduate. Nonetheless, the latter quickly rose to fame as a well-known straight-A student in the department. Back then, Vincent didn’t know that Derek was Alex’s illegitimate son. However, he wanted to make Derek work for him because he noticed the latter’s cleverness and talent.

On this day, he saw a young and handsome Derek dressing like a successful businessman with a suit and leather shoes. Derek was no longer the baby-faced junior he was back then; he was now Plum Technology’s manager. He seemed to be here on business, for he was carrying a laptop and a briefcase while being followed by assistants and bodyguards.

Vincent knew that Derek was in Cooper’s camp, so it didn’t come as a surprise to see Derek here at the Michel Group’s office building.

“Stan and I are here on business!” responded Derek with a smile.

Vincent looked up to see Stanley and Sean. His tearful appearance was immediately met with ridicule from Stanley as he said, “Hahahaha! Aren’t you Vincent, the dupe who spent 100 million to buy a second-hand car from my aunt?

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 986

Stanley continued to taunt Vincent aggressively and said, “What is it? Are you here to tearfully ask my aunt for a refund? It’s alright—it’s just a car. I’ll just go up right away and ask her to return the money to you. You don’t have to worry since she’s very fond of you. After all, she is your great-aunt.”

The 100-million luxury car used to be the apple of his eye, but it was now a disgrace to him. He still remembered how the car’s price had been driven up to an exorbitant price of 100 million!

Sean knew that Vincent had suffered a blow to his pride on that day, and he found it rude to deal the latter with another blow while looking at Vincent’s pitiful appearance. He comforted Vincent by saying, “It’s alright. Sophia has joined the Michel Family after Uncle Cooper, but she’s still your great-aunt no matter what. She’ll surely return the money to you since you’re a younger member of the family.”

He seemed to be comforting Vincent, but the note of ridicule in his voice was evident.

Vincent had been in the same grade as Sophia and the others back at Bayside University. They even went through military training in the same reinforced battalion, but Vincent wasn’t on familiar terms with Sophia back then.

However, Vincent was reaching for the stars back then. He kept a low profile at university, devoting himself to his studies and taking part in the Mitchell Family’s affairs early on. Also, he distanced himself from Stanley and Sean, whom he viewed as two good-for-nothings who only knew how to play online games. Contrary to his expectations, everyone’s circumstances had changed after so many years.

In the end, Vincent left the building as he wiped the tears away from his reddened eyes. After going back, he got himself drunk. Feeling that his life had been turned upside down, he’d never be able to recover from the shock. Seeing that he was hit badly, Sandra abandoned him in disgust.

What a useless thing—he ended up like this just because a woman scammed him out of a bit of money!

Sandra was burning with anxiety right now. Knowing that she had fallen into a scam and offended Alice, she knew that she had to make up for this.

D*mn it! I was scammed out of so much money by a con artist!

In the Michel Group’s office building, Sean, Derek, and Stanley laughed and joked as they commented on how embarrassed Vincent looked just now while going up to the 18th floor to see Linus.

Plum Technology and Michel Group were joining hands to launch a cutting-edge gaming laptop, and the two companies were now discussing the contract.

On the 18th floor, Sophia was extremely pleased as she recalled how Vincent had left tearfully in deep dejection just now.

Vincent had truly never suffered such a devastating setback. For a person like him, a major setback could cost him his life.

Feeling happy, Sophia became mischievous all of a sudden. She raised her hand and turned toward Linus before saying, “Come on, Uncle Linus—let’s give each other a high five!”

She wouldn’t have reduced Vincent to tears on this day without Linus’ help.

Of course, most of the credit belonged to her. After catching the fake Lucile that day, she told her to con Vincent and Sandra for one last time. Not only did she have the fake Lucile sleep with Vincent, she deliberately instructed her to promise the Mitchell Family and give them rights to the Dragon Eye agency contract. Also, she had the fake Lucile describe Alice as a completely worthless person who harbored evil intentions. Wanting to display her ability in front of the fake Lucile, Sandra foolishly confronted Alice face-to-face.

That way, the Mitchell Family was no longer in the running for the agency contract with Dragon Eye.

Linus shook his head while looking at her dotingly. Then, he raised his hand and gave her a high five in resignation.

“Yeah! Now that I have finished off two competitors, three competitors are left to be dealt with. I’ll deal with them soon!” Sophia clapped her hands happily like a child who had gotten some candies. Then, she tossed the handbag she was holding into Linus’ arms and said, “Please excuse me—I’ll be going to the restroom for a bit. If Stanley arrives, you can talk to him first.”

She was already several meters away when the handbag fell into Linus’ arms. Linus looked at her and laughed dotingly as she walked away happily.

She’s really like a kid… She’s the same as when she was attending university.

Sophia had just left when Alice popped up behind Linus before he even realized it. Alice looked fine; she had recovered quite well after Sandra almost hurt her carelessly a few days ago. Holding her cup of coffee, she gently took a sip of it.

“Well? Has she given up yet?” Alice didn’t sound surprised at all.

Carrying Sophia’s handbag in one hand, Linus responded with a nod, “Not yet. When she sets her mind to it, she’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish it—even if it’s something impossible.”

Since Alice had refused to appoint Sophia’s company as Dragon Eye’s agent, she would finish off all the competitors with similar qualifications and force Alice to comply.

Alice walked away expressionlessly in her flat-bottomed shoes while holding her cup of coffee.

It didn’t take long before those who represented Plum Technology went up. Seizing this opportunity, Daniel came with them on the excuse of inspecting the geomantic quality of the Michel Group’s office building. He made his way into Alice’s office as soon as he arrived, but the latter drove him out immediately. Right after leaving her office, Sophia called for Daniel.

Even though she had never worked here for a day, Sophia had her own small office in the Michel Group’s building.

As soon as Daniel entered her office, she asked, “Did you see a man running away tearfully just now?”

Daniel frowned. “I didn’t see a man running out tearfully, but I did catch sight of someone being carried away by the bodyguards as he cried; he sobbed so sadly as if his mother had passed away.”

Sophia adopted a stern countenance. “I’ll give you three days’ time. I want him to be of use to me.”

Daniel was stunned for a moment before he retorted, “Why should I work for you?”

Sophia responded, “Let’s talk about the 80,000…”

“Alright, alright! Please don’t mention the 80,000 ever again!”

…

At last, Plum Technology’s team and Linus agreed upon a contract to develop gaming laptops together. Stanley took this opportunity and went to Alice’s office next door whereby he continued bombarding her with another round of persuasion. Regrettably, he couldn’t make Alice change her mind.

Plum Technology’s experience and team were pretty good, but there were even better ones here at Bayside City. For example, the Edwards Family had distribution channels, whereas the Winston Family had a wide range of contacts. Naturally, she’d choose a better option.

The next day, Sophia watched the news and saw that someone had photographed Vincent getting drunk in a bar; Vincent looked unusually haggard in the photo. Having been on a roll all his life, he used to be very conceited and proud—he believed that he was the fortune’s favorite chosen by God. This time, however, he fell into a romance scam and was humiliated. He could never recover after encountering the biggest setback in his life.

Sophia had run a background check on Vincent; he did very well in his studies, and they both graduated from the same school in the same year. Both Sophia and Vincent had been straight-A students in school, but Vincent kept a low profile and wasn’t as ostentatious as Natasha. Hence, only a few people in the school knew him and were aware of his identity.

He even graduated from Bayside University with a doctoral degree in economics. After joining the Mitchell Group, he made a lot of achievements. He should’ve had a bright future, but it was unfortunate that he ran into Sophia.

He wanted to buy a second-hand car, but Sophia and Michael teamed up to raise the car’s price by bidding for it, forcing Vincent to brace himself as he bought the car at an exorbitant value.

When he got married, his wife’s nude photos were exposed by Sophia at his wedding.

After he finally found himself another girlfriend, Sophia tricked him into losing both his money and the love of his life. He lost his direction, and his career fell into an abyss.

On the third day, Daniel brought Vincent to Sophia.

After spending last night listening to Daniel’s nonsense in a bar, he washed his face, shaved his head, and got changed this morning. Wanting to start all over again, he crossed over to Cooper and Sophia’s side.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 987

Vincent himself knew that he couldn’t possibly accomplish anything great while he was on Alex’s side. Everything he strived for right now might be credited to someone else in the future since Alex wanted to leave the fruits of his labor to his own son.

The Mitchell Family’s members used to be judged on their merits, and the most powerful person in the family would become the family head. However, beginning with Alex, the head of the family became a position held by the previous family head’s son.

Many talents had been forced to leave the family and strike out on their own. Hence, Cooper drew many talents back to him when he returned recently.

Moreover, Vincent had bragged to Alex and Sandra about wanting to win Lucile’s heart and unite with the Michel Family through marriage back when he had fallen into the fake Lucile’s romance scam. Now that he had lost both his money and the love of his life, he was too ashamed to explain himself to Alex, so he decided that it would be better to run away. He devoted his loyalty to the Mitchell Family and not Alex, so crossing over to Cooper’s side wouldn’t violate his life principles.

Vincent openly crossed over to Cooper’s side, taking his trusted subordinates and resources with him. This came as a shock to the Mitchell Family’s council of elders and caused Sandra and Alex to fly into a rage. No one had expected things to turn out this way in merely two days.

As a result, Vincent was openly removed from the Mitchell Family’s genealogy record book.

Cooper was currently concentrating on clean energy, so Vincent’s resources were useless to him. Therefore, the resources were distributed to Sophia and Sean.

Sophia was Plum Technology’s major shareholder, whereas Sean was its founder. Ready to go all out, they absorbed Vincent and his team and reorganized their resources.

Sandra could only curse in response to this.

When it came to acting as an agent, Vincent had tons of experience under his belt. Alice once considered him as a potential candidate, but she removed him from the shortlist after Sandra had a bad fit of ‘rabies’ at the banquet that night. To everyone’s surprise, Sophia stole Vincent and his entire team from the Mitchell Family in just a few days. In an instant, her potential had grown exponentially.

Now that she had finished off the Mitchell Family, Sophia immediately turned her attention toward the next target—the Edwards Family.

The siblings of the Edwards Family were also fighting separately as two teams. It wouldn’t be so easy to lay a hand on Lucy and Ian, but Sophia was currently on the lookout for their weaknesses like a buzzing fly.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s target was Dana Winston.

The Winston Family belonged to the underworld, but it had its own family business which was quite successful. The Winston Corporation was a company under the Winston Family’s name; Harry didn’t manage Winston Corporation’s business personally, but the company’s board of directors consisted mostly of those he trusted, and they held most of the company’s shares. Still, the Winston Family’s Grand Elder had quite some influence within the board of directors.

Although Sarah held some shares in Winston Corporation, she didn’t hold a post in the company. To accomplish the task Sophia had assigned her this time, she had to persuade the company’s board of directors to turn down Dana’s request of competing for the right to act as an agent for Dragon Eye.

The distributorship rights to the Michel Family’s cell phones were lucrative, and getting the distributorship rights would benefit the company. Therefore, it was a big challenge to persuade the company’s board of directors and convince them to give it up.

Securing the distributorship rights was beneficial from the Winston Family’s perspective, but from Harry’s point of view, doing so would only reinforce Grand Elder and his men’s threat to the company—he was quite reluctant to see that happening.

Knowing that Sarah worked in Plum Technology, the board of directors knew exactly why she was persuading them; it was likely that they would turn down her request.

It was still difficult for her to persuade the board of directors even if she did so at Harry’s suggestion.

It wasn’t until Harry had threatened them that the board of directors sluggishly gathered enough people to call a meeting. Many directors were still absent, but the number of directors had reached a quorum, enabling them to pass a resolution.

Having prepared the relevant documents and presentation slides, she nervously took her laptop with her to Winston Corporation’s office building as Harry sent her there.

When the car arrived downstairs, Sarah looked out of the car window while holding her documents. Winston Corporation’s imposing building stood in front of her like a giant black monster, making her feel breathless.

She opened the car door and put her feet down, only to shrink back only a second after stretching out her legs. She looked at Harry inside the car with a troubled expression and said, “Old Wolf, am I considered living off our family while secretly helping someone else by doing so?”

As Harry’s wife, she was Madam Winston; Plum Technology was considered an outsider to the Winston Family. By persuading the board of directors, it could be said that she was helping the outsiders to go against her own family.

Harry looked both helpless and affectionate as he stretched out his hand to pat her head. “It’s alright, I’ve got your back. Just live off our family and secretly help Sophia and the others.”

Sitting between Harry and Sarah was the tiny, dark-skinned, and stony-faced Sour Face.

“Come on—let your Old Wolf give you some encouragement.” Harry stretched his neck out and cupped Sarah’s face in his hands before giving her a passionate French kiss.

The chauffeur wasn’t surprised to see this. Sour Face wasn’t surprised as well; he looked indifferent the whole time even though his parents were kissing and sucking each other’s lips just a few centimeters above him.

Sarah was brimming with confidence after Harry’s encouragement. Cupping her son’s face in her hands, she urged, “Hurry up and cheer your Mommy on, Hope!”

Sour Face knocked her hands off indifferently.

Sarah cupped his face in her hands again, to which Sour Face responded by knocking off her hands yet again.

After this was repeated three to four times, Sour Face finally lost his patience. He reluctantly said to her, “Good luck.”

Bursting with joy, Sarah gave the disgusted-looking Sour Face a great big smacker before getting out of the car and striding into Winston Corporation’s office building.

Harry didn’t go in with her, but he paid close attention to his wife by watching Winston Corporation’s surveillance videos all the time using his laptop. He wanted to see if his little kitten could persuade the group of big guns among the board of directors as well.

Sour Face looked indifferent on the outside, but he actually cared about Sarah in secret; similarly, he kept a close eye on the surveillance videos too.

Sarah entered Winston Corporation’s office building. As soon as the receptionists saw her, they stood up and greeted reverently, “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Winston.”

“Uh-huh,” responded Sarah casually as she tried to give herself airs despite her girlish-looking face.

Much to her dismay, she saw her worst enemy in the Winston Family soon after getting into the elevator.

Standing in the elevator were three people who looked like businessmen with their suits and leather shoes. However, the tattoos peeking out from their necks and wrists occasionally revealed their identity as members of the underworld.

Feeling very nervous on this day, Sarah kept thinking quietly about what she was going to speak in a while, so she didn’t pay much attention to the people in the elevator. Unexpectedly, right after she entered the elevator and steadied herself, a loud slap landed on her butt from behind.

Then, a wicked voice spoke in her ear. “Hey, isn’t this person my dear little kitten?”

Sarah’s expression changed drastically when she saw the frosty-looking person dressed in a business suit who was standing next to her. She was so furious that she jumped. “I’m warning you, Dana—stop getting physical with me!”

She was short, and both her voice and face had the cuteness of a young girl that existed only in comics. Therefore, she didn’t sound commanding at all when she spoke.

The person dressed in a suit who was standing next to Sarah took off her sunglasses elegantly with a flirtatious look in her attractive eyes. As she whistled at Sarah, she said, “Get physical? Am I getting physical by doing so?”

With that, she slapped Sarah’s butt again. Sarah covered her butt and jumped behind the bodyguards like a furious kitten.

The elevator went up speedily to the top floor, but the atmosphere in the elevator was tense.

Dana’s 175cm body was wrapped in a slim, tailor-made suit that fit her very well. Her short hair stuck up in a classic hairstyle, and the tip of her hair concealed her hairline as it reached her eyebrows. Her handsome eyes seemed to shine 24/7, and any woman would blush when she glanced at them with her bright, sparkling eyes.

Dana was raised as a boy back when she was a child, so she always dressed herself in men’s clothing like a high-class business elite. Putting her hands casually in her pockets, she had a flat chest and a face that looked like the male lead of a romance comic book, making her look noble and elegant. Tilting her head to the side, she looked at Sarah while making eyes at the latter. Sarah was totally defenseless against such a face that looked like the male lead of a comic book, so she got butterflies in her stomach; feeling a burning sensation in her slapped butt, she tried to avoid meeting Dana’s gaze.

Dana was Sarah’s worst enemy in Winston Corporation, for she took liberties with Sarah whenever they met.

The two parties were locked in confrontation on their way up to the top floor.

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 988

Dana and Celine were cut from the same cloth, but the difference here was that Celine was simply playing pretend; when it was time to actually step up to the plate, she was useless. After all, her husband kept his eyes on her. On the other hand, Dana was the real deal. Regardless of male or female, both were acceptable to her—she even had countless sugar babies under her wing. Not only that, Dana had angered several fiances into leaving her. It even enraged the Grand Elder himself to the point where white, long hairs made their way into his beard.

As the elevator door opened, Sarah dashed out with the documents in her hand as she scurried away.

Meanwhile, Dana followed behind languidly as she put her sunglasses on. In an instant, her aura became cold once more. With a determined smile on her lips, she strode gracefully and made her way over to the meeting room with her spectacular aura.

She wanted to see what kind of trouble Sarah could stir up, wet behind the ears like she was.

Dana would certainly win those rights this time!

Meanwhile, the meeting had already begun inside. Dana sat down nonchalantly among the directors, having already taken her sunglasses off. A sinister smile hung on her lips as she steepled her fingers together in anticipation of Sarah’s performance.

Sarah cleared her throat, getting ready to present her findings. However, she was interrupted by a director before she could even speak. “After deciding through a majority vote, we will compete for the rights to endorse the Michel Group’s Dragon Eye cell phones. I do not think there is any need for you to speak anymore.”

The other directors chimed in as well and said, “Yes, yes. There’s no need for that, so you shouldn’t waste your breath.”

Sarah felt uncomfortable after being shot down like that, but she steeled herself and steadied her trembling voice, lowering her pitch in a bid to not make herself seem cute.

“Please quiet down and listen to me first. I am not opposed to the partnership between the Winstons and the Michels, but I think that we can certainly gain a project that is even more beneficial to us!”

The directors were skeptical. In their eyes, the director’s wife was simply here for show. What kind of project could she get, and a better one at that?

Dana had a laugh waiting to bubble up.

Sarah glanced at the directors present. As she played her presentation slides, she spoke. “As you all know, other than its illegal businesses, the Winston Group mainly deals with legal territory. While there have been successes when we marketed major international brands on their behalf, our most successful project to date is actually in luxury furniture—our furniture line is ranked third in the world. Locally, our market shares can’t go any higher. Of the wealthy families in Bayside City, two-thirds of them own furniture manufactured by us. Many international organizations and councils recognize the Winston Group’s furniture, and we have thousands of official stores in over thirty countries around the world.”

That was right. Other than its illegal businesses, the Winstons also had their fingers in the luxury furniture industry; Sophia had even pre-ordered a full set of luxury furniture from the Winstrons while her house was being remodeled. The Winstons began dabbling in the luxury furniture business generations ago, and its 200-year long history spanned across several generations altogether. Their furniture sold well internationally because of its unique charm and craftsmanship.

“Our strength lies in furniture. Should we wish to partner up with such a prestigious company like the Michel Group, I strongly believe that we should negotiate with our greatest strength instead of our weakness—we should humbly request for a partnership by offering them advantages that they don’t have!”

Dana’s calmness evaporated the moment those words left Sarah’s mouth. With anger flashing through her eyes, she knew that Sarah was talking about her; she had negotiated for the managing rights with Alice using her background in the Winston Group’s shady dealings and her vast network. On top of that, she even offered a few extra crumbs.

Sarah’s words successfully drew the attention of the board of directors.

Sarah continued. “Meanwhile, the Michel Group’s primary businesses include military arms, jewelry, and the tech industry. If we want to partner up with them, we’d have to make it a strong partnership by combining our strengths with the Michels. That is the only way we can create more benefit for ourselves, and our partners would take our requests more seriously. Annette, please give each director a copy of my proposal.”

Annette the assistant hastily gave out Sarah’s proposal. The directors and other higher-ups took the document and looked at it. The proposal’s title was as clear as day—Proposal Regarding the Partnership With the Michel Group and Smart Furniture.

Smart furniture?

The directors exchanged glances as it dawned upon them.

“The Winstons’ main advantage is our luxury furniture business, and the Michels’ strength lies in the tech industry. Partnering up for a smart furniture deal is the correct way to handle this collaboration with them. I’ve written down a comprehensive plan; please take a look at it and raise any questions you have. Also, I’ve already begun to negotiate the contract with Mr. Linus, who is the lead of the Michel Group’s technology business. If my calculations are done right, this will be our largest project of the year. If we do this well, it will be a new development for both traditional craftsmanship and technology, and the Winston Group’s furniture will be sure to make another leap forward. Hence, that is why I don’t agree with the plan to manage Dragon Eye cell phones. This is not our strength, and it will also divide our attention and manpower. I hope that the Winston Group will do their best to make this project a success. This will be a long-term and reliable partnership.”

Sarah was brimming with confidence as she broke down the data and listed out the statistics of markets she had studied. She even went into detail for their short-term and long-term plans, how the Winstons should go about the partnership, the division of the profits, and so on. Evidently, she had a clear direction of her plans.

Sarah had been preparing for this project for a long time. Incidentally, Linus was thinking along the same lines as her. He had the best smart technology in the world, while the Winstons had the best furniture in the world. Why not form a partnership then?!

Of course, Sarah certainly couldn’t neglect her own company—she would fight for their benefits, and smart furniture was the way to go for the Winston Group. Even though they could insist on landing the management deal for Dragon Eye phones, Sophia was truly in need of those management rights so that she could begin taking over her duties in the Michel Group. Hence, Sarah was fine with Sophia having those rights instead.

If this partnership deal went through, the Winstons would have ties with the Michel Group—Harry and his family would receive the most benefits.

In the end, the plan was approved through a majority vote; Dana’s proposal to manage the Dragon Eye phones was promptly discarded. Dana left the meeting room fuming, while Sarah received praise from the directors.

By the time she walked out of the company building, Sarah reeked of sweat. Her hands continued to tremble from nerves as she sat inside the car on her way back.

Harry patted her shoulder. “Calm down. Here, hold him for a bit and gather your thoughts.”

He placed Sour Face in her arms, and Sarah rubbed her face against the boy as if she was cuddling a doll. Eventually, she calmed down.

Meanwhile, Sour Face remained silent through all this.

You’re really treating me like a prop, aren’t you?!

“My proposal got accepted, Old Wolf!” Sarah still couldn’t believe it.

Harry patted her on the shoulder and praised her. “That’s right. You managed to convince the board of directors. Amazing work there—you’re even more impressive than I imagined!”

The family of three drove away in the car, but Harry still couldn’t forget Dana’s slap inside the elevator earlier.

One of these days, he would chop Dana’s offensive hands off!

Meanwhile, Sophia finally found Ian’s weakness after circling round the Edwards’ building all day.

Later on, Sophia invited him out for a one-on-one meeting.

The moment he saw her, Ian said coldly, “If you’re here to tell me to give up, I’m just going to tell you this—impossible! I will win those management rights!”

Unbothered by his prattle, Sophia whipped out a stack of photos with Ian in the nude; they were all high-definition pictures. “Here are pictures of you and the fake Lucile. I also have six videos of you with your d*ck out in all of them. Think about it; once we step out of this place, I cannot guarantee that the videos and photos won’t turn up somewhere else.”

Ian was speechless.

alling for My Old Husband (sophia edwards and michael fletcher) Chapter 989

The corners of Ian’s mouth spasmed as he looked at the stack of nude photos Sophia had pulled out. Indeed, they were his nudes—all sorts of poses and expressions were revealed in these photos.

If his guess was right, Lucile had taken those photos several nights before—no, the fake Lucile was the one who took them.

Things began to make sense; he hadn’t been able to successfully pursue the gorgeous woman, but she suddenly agreed to have dinner with him that day. In fact, she deliberately had some wine too. Once they were done with dinner, Lucile was clearly drunk since she had a low tolerance for alcohol. Of course, Ian did not send her back to the Mitchells like a gentleman; he booked a room at the hotel and carried her there instead. Entering the hotel room as a man and a woman, anyone could guess what came after that.

Furthermore, Lucile had been absolutely certain that he would be the one to win the management rights, assuring him that he would get it. Much to his surprise, she vanished without a trace the next day. All the things he gifted her had been sold off—even the Audistin’s gold member card.

He hadn’t been able to contact her since then, but he did not have the guts to openly look for her either.

She was a scammer, no doubt!

Prior to leaving, she even slept with him and enjoyed every last bit of pleasure.

Ian kicked himself out of regret as he stared at the stack of nude photos.

So that’s how it is—Sophia must be in league with that scammer!

However, Ian remained calm as his fingers languidly tapped away at the stack of photos, a condescending look on his face. “Oh? In that case, you must’ve seen these photos of mine too. Since you’ve had a look at it, I wonder what you think about them,” he said nonchalantly.

With that, Ian even closed his eyes and pretended that this wasn’t concerning to him at all; he seemed like a perverted flasher who feared nothing.

Sophia calmly pulled over one of his nudes; his face was clearly shown in the picture along with his privates on display. Looking straight at it without any embarrassment, Sophia appraised it with surety. “Hmm, my thoughts? I do have a lot to say about this. From what I can see, it’s only 10cm—what a huge difference compared to my husband’s.”

Ian’s flippant smile slowly stiffened.

“Not only is it thin and short, it’s not a pretty one either. It looks so ugly! Even the foreskin is a bit too long.”

Sophia went through each of the photos one by one, airing all her criticisms about his body and his private parts. Ian’s expression darkened as this went on, keeping silent all the while. At last, he smacked the table hard and stood up. “I won’t let you get those management rights, Sophia. You’d better give up on that notion! I will be the one to get it instead!”

Sophia didn’t continue speaking. She simply pulled out her elite, custom-made Dragon Eye 7 and began typing away after she unlocked the screen with the fingerprint scanner.

“What are you doing?”

Sophia continued typing. “I’m sending out those nudes of yours.”

The color instantly drained from Ian’s face; he instinctively grabbed her phone and realized that she was posting it on some forum with a burner account. With the caption typed up and the photos uploaded, his nudes were taking center stage. The post had already been uploaded; even if he tapped ‘cancel’, it wouldn’t be of any use now.

“Sophia, y-you…”

Ian was so furious that his entire being shook.

If those photos got out, he would never be able to live this down!

Sophia giggled as she retrieved her phone. “You’re done for. It’s an internationally renowned forum. Soon, socialites from all around the world are going to know about your thin, skinny and ugly d*ck with its long foreskin.”

Ian’s face immediately darkened in rage. “Y-You…”

Seeing how Ian looked like he was about to have an aneurysm any time soon, Sophia couldn’t bear teasing him further. She explained to him and said, “I’m joking. I wasn’t connected to the Wi-Fi earlier! Still, I won’t leak your nudes because of Master Sam.”

Ian finally relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief, but he continued to glare balefully at Sophia. “Don’t take things too far, Sophia. You…”

Sophia lowered her head and deleted the post that she had just drafted. Since there wasn’t any internet connection on her cell phone, the post was still in the midst of uploading.

As she looked at her phone, she whipped her free hand out and held it in front of Ian’s face. “Stop! Let me delete that post first before you speak to me. If my fingers slip and that post accidentally gets out, it’s all over for you.”

Ian shut his mouth, deeply afraid that Sophia would actually upload his nudes. Hence, he sat there with his mouth sealed and a frosty expression on his face as he watched her delete all the photos. He only dared to speak once she put her phone down.

“Turns out that everything was part of your plan; you arranged for that scammer to get close to me!” Ian exclaimed, his eyes on the table.

Sophia none-too-hurriedly took a sip of coffee before she spoke. “I arranged for that scammer, you say? Mr. Edwards, have you forgotten how you came into contact with that scammer?”

That scammer had originally wanted to trick the Mitchells, but as the former head of the Mitchell Family, Ian still had loyalists inside; he only found out that Lucile had been in contact with Vincent when they leaked the information to him. At that point in time, he decided to get closer with Lucile so that he could compete with Vincent.

Ian was rendered speechless by this. He dug his own grave by claiming that Sophia had arranged for the scammer to trick him, but he continued to question her anyway. “Regardless, you’re still the one who arranged for that scammer. Your initial target was the Mitchell Family, and I just happened to walk into your trap. Am I right?”

Even though he knew that he couldn’t get his money back, he had to get to the bottom of this!

Sophia shrugged, unsure how to answer. She knew that the woman was a scammer from the very beginning, but she tolerated her the entire time. In reality, Sophia had been waiting for the scammer to finish up her antics before catching her as she escaped. That way, she could squeeze every last bit of value out of that woman.

She had instructed the fake Lucile and Abbie to speak badly of Alice in front of Sandra; Sophia even got them to help her sneak some top-secret information out of the Mitchells so that she could pass it on to Cooper. If those women didn’t follow her instructions, Sophia would’ve exposed them.

However, Sophia never thought that Cooper wouldn’t care for the confidential information she had obtained from the Mitchells.

Cooper simply hadn’t started his war against the Mitchell Family. If he had actually decided to make a move, the Mitchells would’ve long since been decimated. Mitchell International Energy and Technology achieved a meteoric rise this year, outgrowing Alex ages ago.

Meanwhile, the Mitchells would be swallowed up by the Michel Group sooner or later, which was their rival.

Still, Sophia felt indignation over the fact that the Mitchells had divided up Cooper and Woody’s possessions back then; she kept that indignation close to her heart all this time.

Ian was the one who ran into this himself. She wasn’t duty-bound to warn him about that!

With Ian questioning her now, she gave him a vague answer. “I guess you could say that. I realized that you were being tricked earlier on, but I just didn’t call her out.”

Ian was so furious that his eyes rolled back into his head. What difference was there between this and outright joining hands to scam him?!

Seeing how he was about to speak, Sophia suddenly asked him in curiosity, “Do you want to marry Lucile that much? You do know that Lucile wouldn’t lower herself to marry you, right? You’ll have to marry into her family instead. However, do you know the price of marrying into the Mitchells?”

Ian’s ears pricked up upon hearing that. He couldn’t help paying attention to this, but he still feigned an uninterested expression on his face.

“I don’t care about such things.”

Sophia shrugged. “To be honest, it’s not that high of a price—you’d only have to change your family name. When you die, you won’t be buried in the Edwards’ ancestral graveyard; you’ll have to be buried with the Mitchells.”

Just as she expected, Ian hesitated after hearing this. An elite family that spanned generations like the Edwards had strong feelings about blood ties. Obviously, they wouldn’t agree to one of their male descendants marrying into another family.

Besides, women in Cethos never changed their family names upon marriage, let alone a man.

To top it off, Ian stood at the top of the Edwards’ hierarchy. If he changed his family name and married into the Mitchells, he would definitely anger the Edwards; they would strip everything away from him. Even if he really did marry Lucile, he would just be a son-in-law who brought nothing material to his new family.

 

My Dreamy Old Husband Chapter 990

As he lowered his gaze, Ian was utterly quiet now. Sophia deliberately taunted him and said, “I do know Lucile herself, but she’s already married. However, I can introduce you to other unmarried ladies in the Michel Family who are definitely worthy of your status. Just get ready to change the family name on your household registry, ID, and passport. Also, you’re required to change your citizenship too. You’ll have your wife’s family name in the future, and you’ll have to swear your loyalty to whatever country she’s a citizen of. From then on, you cannot call yourself a part of the Edwards Family anymore. Don’t you worry, though! Apart from changing your family name to your wife’s, everything else stays the same! You can bring your wife back to your family home. With your parents’ permission, you can still work in the family business—you might even be able to nab some manpower and resources from your wife’s family! It’s a match made in heaven! How awesome is that? While your kids won’t be carrying your family name, they’ll still be your kids. Here, I have a bunch of the Michel ladies’ numbers. Do you want them? Think of it as my compensation to you.”

Ian’s gaze was conflicted. On one hand was the Michel Family, and the Edwards were on his other.

As a man, how could he possibly take his wife’s family name?

He wouldn’t have the courage to look his ancestors in the eye when he died!

In the end, Ian flung the coffee cup in his hand away and stood up, extremely furious. “Do I look like the kind of person who would rely on his wife’s family like that? Don’t you look down on me, Sophia! I am not the kind of person who will betray both his nation and family because of money and status! Back in the day when the nation was suffering, us Edwards had always been at the forefront to protect it! We donated and saved as many people as you Mitchells did! If you’re planning to humiliate me like this, I can tell you now that your plan has failed! I will still fight for those management rights, Sophia. Even if you send those nude photos of me out, it’s no use. You’d better be careful—don’t get yourself dragged into this too, you scammer!”

After that rousing speech, Ian put away those eye-catching nude photos before he turned around and stormed off. Much to his surprise, he immediately caught sight of Linus standing outside the moment he pushed the door open.

Ian’s gaze turned respectful. “Why are you here, Mr. Michel?”

Linua smiled politely. “I’m here to fetch Sophia.” He then gestured at Sophia with his gaze and asked, “How did your talk go?”

Before Ian could reply, Sophia had already come out after putting her belongings away. She grinned as she walked. “Our chat wasn’t so bad—Mr. Edwards promised to back out of the bidding war for the management rights.”

Linus nodded as he relaxed, reaching out affectionately to take Sophia’s hand. “Alright, let’s go back. Fass and Carmen are probably home already.”

Cooper is back!

Sophia had been so busy lately that she hadn’t even seen actual daylight; she nearly forgot that today was the day of Cooper and Michael’s glorious return.

“Let’s hurry up. Get the cooks to prepare some delicious food. We must have dad’s favorite eggplant with minced meat and braised eel for Carmen’s dad!”

The slender fingers of Sophia’s hand were soft and warm in Linus’ palm. It seemed like they were boneless, and her hand felt nice to hold.

Meanwhile, Ian’s gaze kept flitting between Linus and Sophia.

When did they get so buddy-buddy with each other? They’re even holding hands—is Sophia a two-timer?

With Sophia’s hand in his, Linus turned and spoke to Ian. “Mr. Edwards, since the discussion has come to an end, Lucile and I will be leaving. Thank you for your time, and I’ll take you out for a meal some other day.”

Ian was silent.

No wonder Sophia knew that Lucile was a fake! She’s the actual Lucile! If Sophia is Lucile, doesn’t that make Cooper…

At the thought of the implications behind it, a chill immediately ran up Ian’s spine; goosebumps prickled over his skin.

Fass is actually Cooper! That’s terrifying as hell!

He figured that it would be better if he gave up on getting those management rights.

As for Lucy… He couldn’t be bothered to pursue that thought anymore. He realized that Fass—no, Cooper—put those rights up in order to test his daughter.

It was all an inside job! Even if the rights didn’t go to Sophia, they wouldn’t go to any outsider! Even if some outsider won those management rights, Sophia might even sabotage them in secret.

Meanwhile, Sophia followed Linus home. The moment she opened the door to the house, her darling Carmen flew over like a butterfly.

“Mama!”

Sophia caught Carmen as she pounced on her and spun around happily. She lifted Carmen high in the air.

“Oh, Mommy’s sweet little baby!”

They had only been apart for ten days, but Sophia thought that her baby had grown a bit more during that time; the girl was also getting cuter by the day.

The house was bursting with merriment today. Sarah and her husband had brought Hope over; even Justin and Celine were present with Nathan. Of course, Stanley and Sean were sure to be here too.

Michael had been treating Sophia’s place like his own home recently, completely falling into the role of a house husband. He had brazenly moved his luggage into Sophia’s bedroom, and he even set up another aquarium next to Cooper’s tortoise tank for his eels. He wasn’t acting like a guest at all.

Now that Cooper was back, Michael killed two eels for dinner.

When Cooper saw the plate of eggplant on the table, his face turned green. Sophia enthusiastically got him some food, plopping half the plate of eggplant onto his own plate.

In truth, Cooper really disliked eggplant with minced meat.

Nonetheless, the atmosphere around the table as everyone ate was nice and heartwarming.

While the babysitter helped Carmen with dinner, Sophia sat next to Nathan and began interrogating him.

“How have your studies been recently? What’s your GPA? Are there many ladies sending you confession letters? Have you got a girlfriend yet? When are you bringing her back to see me?”

Nathan kept his head lowered as he focused on his food, a blank expression on his face. He ignored Sophia completely.

Meanwhile at the dinner table, Michael told them all about Carmen’s audition with the production team. As they expected, Carmen still didn’t get the role. Although her acting was good and she was a bubbly girl who could also play the role of a boy, she was on the younger side; she wasn’t even four yet. In the end, the production team decided on a 12 year-old child star.

However, they didn’t want to waste their time since they were already there. Michael and Cooper contacted several other production teams, so Carmen auditioned for a few major films too. In the end, she managed to snag a few small roles in them.

After they had finished dinner and sent their guests off, it was time for family bonding. Cooper played with Carmen, stacking building blocks with her while Sophia and Michael left hand-in-hand. Anyone could tell what they were going to do just by looking at the anticipation on their faces.

The moment he shot them a glare, Carmen pouted. “Focus, Grandpa.”

No matter how much Cooper hated this, he didn’t have any way of stopping them.

He got Nathan to play with Carmen and took the opportunity to slip away. He still had plenty of things to ask Linus.