Ch. 1141..1150

Chapter 1141

Cooper gestured to the server and said to Josephine, "It looks like you're on your way to your room. Which room are you in? I'll ask the server to buy a sweater and deliver it to you."

Originally, Josephine was about to reject his offer, but the man was the one who initiated a conversation with her. So, after a while of contemplation, she told him her room number. Cooper passed the glass in his hand to the server before whispering something to the other man. Before he left, he also glanced at Josephine one more time, and that glance made her heart skip a beat. Why is he looking at me like that?

After Josephine returned to the room, she spotted Sally sitting at the corner of the couch, silently drinking.

Someone asked, "Josie, what happened to your sweater?"

Josephine was wearing a white sweater, so the damp spot on her chest was obvious.

Sally peeked at Josephine and muttered, "Someone knocked into me when I was on my way back, and he spilled some of his whiskey on my sweater."

Right then, someone knocked on the room door.

A server entered the room. Upon recognizing Josephine, he handed her a shopping bag and said, "Ms. Carter, this is the sweater from our boss, Mr. Sutton, for dirtying your sweater." Josephine took the sweater and asked the server in a curious tone, "Wait, Mr. Sutton of Specter Corporation is the owner of this bar?"

"Yes. It has been a long time since Mr. Sutton took over this bar," the server replied. "Mr. Sutton apologizes for ruining your mood. He said that he'll give you and your friends a treat today." Once the server was gone, one of their friends remarked, "What a generous man Mr. Sutton is. I can't believe he's buying you a new sweater and treating all of us today."

Josephine smiled and took out the sweater from the shopping bag.

One of them then noticed the tag on the sweater. "And it's from Gucci. This sweater costs almost ten thousand. Wow..."

"Isn't Cooper married to Sally?" another abruptly chimed in.

At that, everyone turned to look at Sally.

Josephine shrugged. "I saw them buying rings at the jewelry store the other day, but who knows if they've registered."

Josephine's seemingly-nonchalant words struck a thought into the people's minds.

"Then they haven't done that yet," someone said. "I have a friend who works at Specter Corporation, and there were rumors saying that Mr. Sutton has been having dinners with a different woman every night some time ago. A bigwig like him doesn't have any shortage of women, and if he wants to marry someone, he'll surely marry a woman of equal status or a woman who can help him out."

Before anything happened to the Loake family, Cooper would have been lucky to marry Sally.

However, the Loake family was gone.

Sally silently nursed her drink in the corner as she listened to their conversation. Her grip on the glass tightened until her knuckles turned white.

Her silence was an affirmation to their speculations.

Someone then increased her volume and said, "Say, Josie, do you think Mr. Sutton is interested in you?"

Josephine rolled her eyes at the young woman and said, "Nonsense."

Right as Josephine said that, someone entered the room again. The earlier server had come with a large bouquet of crimson roses.

"Ms. Carter, this is something Mr. Sutton asked me to deliver to you. He hopes that you'll like it."

At that, the others in the room let out a "wow."

The bouquet of roses was more like a slap on Sally's face, she shot up to her feet gloomily and uttered, "Enjoy yourselves. I have something else to do."

Someone mocked as they watched Sally scurry away, "I thought Cooper loved her dearly to have bought her the ring but is this all?"

"Could it be that Sally was the one who clung to Cooper?"

Josephine lowered her head to smell the roses.

It seemed like the bouquet of roses was fresh as the scent was strong. Josephine guessed that there were around eighty to ninety stalks of roses in the bouquet, and any woman would be ecstatic to receive them.

When Josephine thought about the look the man gave her before he left, her heart raced again.

Chapter 1142

The gathering lasted until after eleven at night.

When Josephine bade her friends goodbye, the same server from earlier escorted Josephine out of the bar and opened the door to a Bentley.

The server then said, "Mr. Sutton said that it isn't safe for you to go home alone since you've had some alcohol."

Well, Cooper had given her a branded sweater and a large bouquet of roses. Now, he was even sending her home in a luxury car. He had stroked her ego.

When she was entering the car, she turned and asked the server, "Do you have Mr. Sutton's number? I'd like to thank him myself."

"Of course." The server then took out a notepad to write a series of number on it.

After getting into the car, Josephine took out her phone and added the number to her contacts. Then, she sent a message to that number.

Shortly after, the man responded and told her that the compensation was necessary after having dirtied her sweater.

When Josephine saw him responding to her so swiftly, she guessed that he was really interested in her. Hence, she was in no rush, and for the next few days, she did not send any messages to Cooper. After New Year, Cooper messaged Josephine, asking if she wanted to play golf.

Cooper drove to pick up Josephine himself, and he brought a bouquet of roses again.

When they arrived at the famous golf course in Jadeborough, Josephine asked in a casual tone, "I saw the guard letting you in without a word. Are you a member here?"

Cooper was driving toward the parking lot when he heard her question, and he answered with a smile, "It'll be bad if they don't recognize their boss' car." Josephine inhaled sharply.

She knew that Specter Corporation was rich, but she never thought that the most famous golf course in Jadeborough belonged to that corporation too.

When Josephine entered the reception area with Cooper, two women in work attire walked over. One of them had their hair up, and it was none other than Sally. Josephine blurted out, "Sally, why are you here?"

Cooper answered for Sally, "She asked for a job from me, and coincidentally, the golf course needed someone to fill up a role. Would you like her to follow you around and hold your stuff for you later?" he asked.

Josephine never expected Sally's life to be that bad despite being with Cooper-she never thought Sally had to actually come and work at the golf course.

Furthermore, Josephine could see that Cooper was not too concerned about Sally.

After she changed in the dressing room, Josephine told Cooper that she wanted to walk to the course, so Sally took the golf clubs as she shielded Josephine from the sun with an umbrella.

Josephine deliberately took her time walking there. "I don't know how to play golf. Mr. Sutton, you've got to teach me how to play it later."

"Sure," Cooper said in a low voice. "If you still fail to get any of the balls into the hole even after a personal lesson from me, you'll have to treat me to dinner."

"All right." Josephine smiled before glancing at Sally from the corner of her eyes. Sally lowered her gaze, and it seemed like she was trying to endure something in silence. For the first time, Josephine felt pity for Sally.

After reaching the golf course, Cooper passed his club to Josephine and personally taught her how to play.

As he was adjusting Josephine's position, the two of them were standing extremely close to each other. It was almost as if Cooper was hugging Josephine from the back.

The close proximity allowed Josephine to smell the scent wafting from the man, and her heartbeat sped up.

During the break, Josephine saw Sally wiping away the beads of sweat on Cooper's forehead, and she tightened her grip on her club.

When Cooper left the golf course, Josephine told Sally that she was thirsty and asked her to pour a cup of coffee for her. When Sally came back with a cup of coffee, Josephine splashed the contents on her. Sally could not dodge it in time, and some of the hot coffee splashed onto her uniform.

The look in Josephine's eyes was hostile, but she said, "I'm sorry. It slipped from my hand."

"It's fine. Ms. Carter, please rest here first. I'll go and get changed." With that, Sally turned and left.

She walked down the corridor and went to the restroom meant for distinguished guests.

Cooper was standing before the basin, no longer wearing his shirt and sweater. He did not do many outdoor activities, so his skin was fairer. Nevertheless, the man had a muscular body.

When Cooper saw Sally entering, he frowned and said, "Does she shower herself with perfume before leaving the house?"

Chapter 1143

Sally inhaled deeply and recognized the strong scent of perfume in the restroom.

She almost suffocated from the stench.

While handing Cooper a coat from a carrier bag, Sally smirked and teased, "Maybe she spritzed just a touch too much perfume in her eagerness to see you."

She could not help adding, "After all, Mr. Sutton, it's impossible to resist your gentle ways."

Cooper shot her a displeased glare.

Right then, Sally removed her uniform jacket and dried the damp fabric with a hairdryer.

She seemed to have sensed Cooper's gaze even without raising her head as she replied flatly, "You didn't have to say a thing, and Ms. Yerton and Yasmin were about to ready to go to blows for you."

"You remembered everything from before, huh? Should I be complimenting your excellent memory or your concern for me?" asked Cooper.

Sally retorted firmly, "My excellent memory, of course."

Cooper shook out the coat and draped it over his exposed torso. "How do you think they would feel after learning that you swooped in for the final victory while they were fighting each other for my attention?" "That has nothing to do with me," Sally corrected immediately. "You were the one who forced me to marry you, Mr. Sutton."

Her response caused Cooper to huff in amusement. "So I shouldn't have saved you from the police station, then?"

"Well, you didn't have a choice. You can't find another woman who's this intelligent and willing to help you." Even as she praised herself, Sally's expression seemed colder than ever. He could not think of a comeback to her argument.

After all, Sally was telling nothing but the truth. While Tiffany could help him raise two kids, only Sally could assist him to take on the Gaudette family.

Plus, Sally was whip-smart, and she could easily guess his thoughts without him sharing them.

They seemed to have an inexplicable telepathic connection.

Cooper picked up the glasses from the restroom counter and put them on. Then, he asked Sally, "How did you put up with their scathing remarks in the private room that night?"

That fateful night, after Sally received Josephine's call on her way back to the city, she immediately fired a text to Cooper and drew up a scheme together.

Josephine was fooled into thinking that she had accidentally bumped into Cooper on her way to the restroom. In fact, he had been waiting for her the whole time and deliberately knocked into her, spilling whiskey onto her coat.

Meanwhile, Sally called Cooper and kept the line engaged even before entering the private room at the bar.

Thus, Cooper heard every nasty comment Josephine and her friends had thrown at Sally.

Even he felt uncomfortable listening on the other end of the line as they mentioned Gerald's scandal. He could not imagine how Sally must have felt while facing their taunts in person.

Rather impressively, Sally remained stoically silent the whole time and even texted Cooper to drop by with roses when the time was right.

At that moment, Sally lowered her gaze to the uniform in her hands and uttered coldly, "Josephine invited me there because she wanted to humiliate me, so of course, I had to let her have her way. Besides, the worse off I seem, the more likely they are to lower their guards. That makes our plan easier."

Cooper arched a brow and asked, "Does that mean Josephine's indifference toward me the past few days and my success in asking her out today were well within your expectations?"

She replied in the affirmative. "Josephine has always been jealous of my beauty and intelligence. She's also a vain, materialistic woman. Since you're handsome and rich, she probably thought I sold myself to you because I was at my wit's end. To ignore me and flatter Josephine now is the perfect boost to her ego."

After hearing her deduction, Cooper could not help but mutter, "Thank goodness Genevieve isn't you. I'd be dead a long time ago if she was as dogged as you."

In fact, even Armand would be dead meat if Genevieve shared Sally's personality.

Cooper lowered his gaze and stared at Sally's striking profile. He found her wiliness borderline creepy yet somehow appealing.

Suddenly, he grasped Sally's wrist and pulled her toward him.

Sally was a strong woman, but she feigned weakness and stumbled before him.

The woman then raised her head slowly and shot him an icy gaze. "What are you doing?"

"Aren't you the smart one?" Cooper shot back.

Smirking, Sally grabbed Cooper's coat collar and got on her tiptoes, planting a kiss on his lips.

Chapter 1144

Sally's breath quickened as she felt Cooper's firm muscles through his coat.

Cooper immediately caught on to the situation and nibbled on her earlobe. He pulled her shaking body into his embrace and whispered, "Don't hold back. Let it all out."

In fact, he rather liked how powerless she seemed when she gave in to lust.

It was an alluring contrast to her typically frosty attitude. He was mesmerized by how beautiful her eyes seemed when her expressionless gaze was colored with lust, and he enjoyed listening to her moans. A long time passed before Sally pushed Cooper away from her.

After adjusting his glasses, Sally threw her uniform jacket at Cooper and had him dry the garment completely while she tidied up her mussed hair.

Sally promptly got down to business and said, "While you were playing golf, I planted a bugging software in Josephine's phone. Her father handles plenty of confidential information, though. I'm sure they have an anti-tapping network all over the house. How are you so confident that our bugging software won't be blocked?"

Cooper replied, "The military and the police are using first-generation anti-tapping devices, while the bugging software in your hands is a generation ahead of that."

He continued drying Sally's jacket as she stared at his reflection in the mirror. She asked doubtfully, "Why don't I know about this generation business even though I have anti-tapping and anti-tracking software on my phone?"

He did not know why either but reassured her, "The only thing that matters is that all the anti-tapping software in the market can't block the bugging software in Josephine's phone. Once she's home, Lucian will be able to hack Edward's phone discreetly as all the electronic devices in her home are on the same wireless network."

Surprise, a rare emotion by Sally's standards, flashed through her gaze. "Is your nephew that impressive?"

"More like the person who taught him is impressive." Cooper returned the dried jacket to Sally and elaborated, "Harry is a genius when it comes to computers, and he left everything to Lucian before he died. Lucian happened to be interested in computers and picked up on his work quickly enough. He has even seen the e-mail you sent to Bertilla."

Sally's heart ached a little as she thought of Lucian's maturity despite his young age.

She then explained everything that happened after the bar incident to Cooper. Confident that Josephine would not seek Cooper out for a few days, Sally had focused her attention on investigating Robert's alleged bribery.

Her father, Gerald, was on good terms with Phineus, and after enlisting the latter's help, she discovered that Robert had never signed the document to purchase military equipment. It turned out that someone had forged Robert's signature and even planted several millions in cash in his house to make it look as though the man had taken a bribe.

After hearing her words, Cooper asked, "How are you so sure it was forged?"

"I've seen Mr. Zane's signature many times." She pulled up a photo on her phone and showed it to Cooper. "He's a lazy writer, so he never curves the't' in his name." Cooper compared the alleged forged signature with the one on Sally's phone and indeed observed a difference.

He declared, "Keep this photo safe. Hopefully, Lucian can find more information on Edward's phone. We can at least clear Mr. Zane's bribery charges, which would reduce his sentence significantly even if he had abused his influence."

Sally insisted, "I know him well. Mr. Zane would never abuse his influence. Otherwise, he would have laid a red carpet for Armand to succeed in his role ages ago."

She narrowed her eyes and announced frostily, "If we can't free Mr. Zane, then Edward should join him in prison."

Cooper returned her phone and asked, "Do you have any updates on that?"

She immediately knew what he was asking about and answered, "I contacted Frank that very night, and he sent me an e-mail. He investigated the members of the police station and learned that someone there had leaked information to an outsider. He didn't leak it to the Gaudette family, though; he leaked it to Sean."

"Sean?" Cooper was bewildered. "He's just an editor. How could he get intel from Lostaria's police?"

Chapter 1145

Sally explained to Cooper, "Sean has a university classmate who works in Lostaria's judicial system. The guy's a prosecutor and is pretty chummy with the police."

Cooper's gaze appeared thoughtful as he nudged his glasses. He muttered, "So that's how the Gaudette family found out about Armand and Genev's accident so quickly and spread the news to General Zeigler."

He surmised, "Perhaps Genev never planned to die with Zephyr. Someone else could've prepared the explosives on the cruise ship."

Sally argued coolly, "Only Genevieve and Zephyr were privy to their agreed meeting on the cruise ship. She had sent Frank a scheduled e-mail telling him that she had never considered the possibility of remaining alive after boarding the cruise ship."

Her words caused Cooper's chest to tighten painfully, and he could not help but massage his temples to soothe his nerves.

Amid their conversation, someone suddenly knocked on the restroom door.

Josephine's voice drifted through the door. "Are you in here, Mr. Sutton?"

"Yes." Cooper continued, "What's the matter?"

Josephine replied, "Oh, nothing. I just realized you had been in the restroom for a long time. Do you need my help?"

Cooper glanced at Sally, who buttoned up her uniform jacket while facing the mirror, looking utterly unperturbed.

He massaged his temples again before replying to Josephine, "My secretary sent me several documents to look through. Go ahead and play a few rounds of golf without me. I'll be there soon." "Sure." The sound of footsteps gradually receded into nothingness. Josephine appeared to have left.

Cooper leaned against the sink and shot Sally a hooded gaze. "Now that everything's done, can I skip out on dinner with Josephine?"

Expressionlessly, Sally replied, "She visits this golf course more frequently than you visit a bar. She pretended to be a newbie in the sport the whole day to drag out your date to dinner. She's definitely hoping for something more to happen."

"Something more?" Cooper's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Sally turned around and zipped up his golf jacket. She added meaningfully, "Josephine's boyfriend's father is the head of the city's education department. She hasn't split up with her beau yet. If she lands herself in a scandal, both her father and her boyfriend's father would be burned by the news."

Realizing her intentions, Cooper flung her hand away and stared at her drily. "Are you suggesting I take this act to the extreme and bed Josephine?"

"Would you dare?" Sally returned his stare with a piercing gaze.

"What about my reputation?"

Sally retorted nonchalantly, "You're no stranger to romance scandals. It'll hardly hurt your reputation. In fact, I can still find news on your old flings online."

After a pause, she added, "I would've done it myself if Josephine were into women."

Cooper's expression darkened with fury. Eventually, he stormed out of the restroom without further protest.

Just after six the next morning, Josephine's boyfriend, Yannick Nordern, received a video on his phone.

Yannick rushed to Langfield Hotel in a huff and kicked open the door of a certain suite. His gaze immediately landed on a stark- naked Josephine sleeping with another man.

A crowd of reporters swarmed into the room after him.

With that, news of Edward Carter's daughter cheating on her partner made the headlines of every tabloid.

Despite Jadeborough authorities' best efforts to suppress the news, even going as far as threatening major media networks, it was no match for the all-knowing internet, and the scandal spread like wildfire across town.

Edward's cheeks stung with embarrassment as he called the elder Mr. Nordern to apologize for his daughter's effrontery.

Both men were in influential positions in the city and were currently the talk of the town.

Despite being the other party involved in the scandal, Cooper was spared from everyone's gossip on account of his colorful history.

Edward reproached Josephine after spending his day trying to stamp out his daughter's mortifying scandal.

By then, Lucian had activated the bugging software planted in Josephine's phone and heard every scathing remark Edward directed at his daughter. He even heard the sound of Edward throwing a teacup at Josephine.

The young woman's voice had gone hoarse from crying, yet she remained silent for fear of agitating her father further. After Edward ended his lengthy reprimand, Cooper said to Lucian, "Luc, see if you can hack into Edward's phone now."

Chapter 1146

Lucian nodded at Cooper's request and returned his attention to his computer.

Amanda entered the living room then and vaguely heard a woman's voice drifting out of her brother's computer. The woman stammered, "Cooper s-seduced me."

She immediately glared at Cooper and demanded, "Uncle Cooper! Did you cheat on Aunt Sally?"

"I didn't. You must've misheard." Cooper covered the girl's ears and had Lucian switch off the bugging software to prevent Amanda from hearing more incriminating words.

To his dismay, Amanda pulled his hands away from her ears and pouted angrily. "I heard every single word. You're trash, Uncle Cooper! Why do you keep hitting on other women? You don't deserve Aunt Sally at all!"

She even added, "Uncle Tim's way better than you."

Cooper was speechless.

Just then, Sally came home with several boxes of pastries. Amanda flung herself at the woman and wailed, "Aunt Sally! You must break up with Uncle Cooper!"

Sally bent over and mussed the young girl's hair. "Why?"

"I heard a woman saying that Uncle Cooper seduced her," Amanda declared indignantly. "Don't worry, Aunt Sally. I have many handsome uncles to introduce to you. My Uncle Yuvan is a super elegant artist. You would suit him."

Cooper leaned into the couch and stared at Sally in amusement. "Come on. Tell your darling niece whose idea this was."

Sally held Amanda's hand and led her into the living room before she carefully removed the pastry boxes from a carrier bag.

There were cream puffs, walnut cookies, roll cakes, and egg tarts in the boxes, and Amanda's mouth instantly watered.

There was even a glass of sweet, flavored milk to wash everything down.

Amanda's eyes positively lit up as she sipped on the flavored milk. "Aunt Sally, this flavored milk is so yummy. Where did you get it from?"

"Oh, at a small shop. If you like it, I can add this to your breakfast menu," replied Sally.

"Okay!" Amanda was elated.

Meanwhile, Cooper read the shop name and address on the carrier bag. It had been printed in a traditional font, which tipped him off about the shop's location. "Did you go all the way to Baykeep to buy this?" "Mm-hmm." 'Sally opened another cup of flavored milk and passed it to Cooper.

Cooper said disbelievingly, "Baykeep isn't exactly close to Jadeborough. Are you seriously going to run to Baykeep every morning to get a few cups of flavored milk?"

Sally fired back, "As long as Amanda likes it. You have a helicopter, anyway."

Her response shut him up.

About half an hour later, Lucian said he found some information in Edward's phone. He explained, "He deleted some photos from his phone, but I think he doesn't know backup versions have been saved to the online database."

Cooper sent Lucian off with some pastries and examined the photos with Sally.

The photos seemed old. They were rather pixelated, and there were timestamps on the photos to confirm their suspicions.

Cooper asked Sally, "Do you recognize everyone in the photo?"

"I do." Sally used to share a compound with Josephine, and she knew everyone in Josephine's family. She told Cooper about every person in the photo.

Suddenly, she scrunched her brows and pointed at one of the photos. "Edward only has one daughter."

Cooper's gaze followed her finger. In the photo was a young, elegant girl with long black hair, wearing a long dress.

He arched a brow and asked, "An illegitimate child?"

"Probably not. Edward's wife is not one to be trifled with. She could've closed one eye to a mistress but definitely not a love child," Sally said softly. Cooper returned his attention to the photo and commented, "She kind of looks like Edward. Hmm, it can't be Edward's wife who cheated..." He suddenly realized something and asked, "Does Edward have a son?"

"How do you know?" Sally turned to glance at him and explained, "His son went overseas to study when he was sixteen and hasn't been back since."

Chapter 1147

Cooper pointed at Lucian's computer screen and said to Sally, "Didn't you notice? The stranger looks very feminine, but 'she' has an Adam's apple."

The Adam's apple was usually unique to men because of their higher androgen levels compared to women.

Sally froze for several seconds before she realized what Cooper was getting at.

She replied, "Perhaps Edward's son experienced gender dysphoria and realized he preferred to be a woman. He might've undergone gender affirmation surgery on the sly. Edward is a loyal subscriber to patriarchy and proud to boot. He exiled his son from the family because he could not accept that his son had become a woman. Then he lied to everyone else about sending his son abroad to study." Cooper agreed with Sally's hypothesis and replied slowly, "Perhaps the Gaudette family never promised Edward anything but instead discovered his son's secret." Something niggled at Sally's mind. "While this news would humiliate Edward, it's clearly not enough to cost him his government position or be worthy of blackmail."

Just then, Lucian piped up, "Uncle Cooper, I recovered some of Edward's deleted texts too. You can look into those."

As Cooper scrolled through the recovered texts, he hit jackpot.

The sender was likely a woman. The content of the text was so lewd that even Cooper could not bring himself to finish reading it.

He pointed at the computer screen and asked Sally, "Do you think his wife knows about this?"

"Well, as long as his mistress doesn't announce herself at the main house, I wouldn't put it past Edward's wife to even feign ignorance about his affair." As she spoke, Sally jotted down the sender's phone number.

Cooper added sneeringly, "He must be pretty rich if he can afford a mistress."

"Our investigation will be much easier once we track this woman down. An affair and his corrupt ways would undoubtedly ruin Edward's life. That's probably the Gaudette family's ammunition against Edward." After going through the content of Edward's phone, Cooper returned the computer to Lucian and said, "You've done your Aunt Sally a huge favor today. Would you like her to give you a reward?" Lucian looked at Sally and declared, "You should divorce Uncle Cooper."

"Yes, divorce him!" Amanda chimed in, "Uncle Cooper's too trashy. He doesn't deserve you, Aunt Sally. You should divorce him. Lucian and I will acknowledge you as our godmother!" Cooper huffed indignantly and shot Sally a meaningful look.

After dinner, Bertilla called Cooper, citing some emergencies at work. The latter promptly tucked himself away in the upper floor study to work and did not set foot outside the room since half past seven. Meanwhile, Sally coaxed Amanda to sleep after checking the girl's homework. She did not want to disturb the housekeepers at night and made some pear juice herself in the kitchen, which she brought to the study.

Upon entering the study, she saw Cooper dressed in a gray sweater, his head buried in work.

Sally placed the glass of pear juice on the table and pushed it toward him.

After Cooper settled the matter at hand, he took the glass and glanced at its contents. "Not coffee?"

Sally leaned her hip into the desk, her tight-fitting sweater flattering her figure. She drawled, "I don't know how to make that. Anyway, pear juice is better for smokers." Cooper took a sip of pear juice while she spoke.

The beverage practically consisted of sugar and pears, and it was a decent attempt by Sally's standards.

Cooper placed the glass on the table and removed his glasses. He massaged his nose bridge before uttering, "You should head off to bed. I've still got some work to do." However, Sally was in no rush to leave. Instead, she dipped her gaze and said, "I saw the news this morning."

"Did you enjoy it?" asked Cooper wryly.

Sally's gaze landed on his chest as though she saw through his clothes. "I saw the reporter's photo. Josephine's scratched her nails all over your arm and shoulder." Cooper merely scoffed and replied, "Well, we were sleeping together. A few scratch marks are pretty normal."

Chapter 1148

Sally's gaze cooled several degrees at Cooper's flippant remark. She abruptly straightened herself and headed for the door.

Cooper did not pay heed to her reaction. Instead, he wore his glasses again and got back to work. Barely three minutes passed before Sally marched back into the study. She held a tube of ointment in hand. "Take off your sweater."

Frowning, Cooper held Sally's cool gaze for several seconds before he finally conceded and removed his glasses and sweater.

Sally opened the tube and squeezed some white ointment onto her hand. Her mind whirled with thoughts as she rubbed the ointment into the red marks on Cooper's arm. Josephine scratched him pretty hard. Just look at the nail marks across his skin. And that bruise over his collarbone. It's bordering on a love bite.

Sally suddenly paused and stared intently at Cooper's collarbone.

Though the heater in the study was switched on, Cooper visibly felt the room temperature drop several degrees. Also, it was impossible not to notice Sally staring at his shoulder.

Cooper smiled and teased, "Weren't you applying ointment? Why did you stop?"

Sally was confused by the feelings churning in her chest. Nevertheless, she gradually composed herself and continued rubbing ointment on Cooper's arm.

Cooper pushed his chair backward and hooked an arm around Sally's waist, easily pulling her into his lap.

He could feel her curves even through her sweater.

He coaxed, "I have standards, okay? I'm not going to bed any woman I see. By the way, you should've told me Josephine goes wild when she's drunk. I would've handcuffed her to the bed or something." He would have appreciated less scratch marks across his body.

Still, the scratch marks had come in handy, after all. The reporters who barged into the suite earlier that morning certainly took it as a sign that he had slept with Josephine.

Sally's silence prompted Cooper to reach his arm under her sweater and tickle her waist.

She was exceptionally sensitive in that spot, and her body inadvertently stiffened in response. She shot Cooper an icy stare just as he swooped in to kiss her lips. Her lips were soft and, true to her character, cold.

Sally pulled away from the kiss first and lowered her head, planting her now-warm lips over the reddish mark on Cooper's collarbone.

Cooper inhaled sharply at the contact.

When he looked down, he noticed the mark over his collarbone had darkened and was on the verge of bleeding. He turned to Sally and asked, "Did you just bite me?"

Sally tossed his sweater at him and muttered, "Finish up your work. Don't sleep too late."

Then, she sauntered out of the study like a victor.

Cooper stared at the closed study door for the longest time before putting his sweater back on.

The next day, after sending the kids to school, Sally traced the phone number of the lewd texter on Edward's phone.

Cooper had linked her up with Charlotte for the task.

Though Charlotte hardly knew Sally, she was aware that the Loake family was in trouble because of the Gaudette family. Plus, Charlotte hated Beatrix with a vengeance and naturally helped Sally as much as she could.

Soon enough, Sally not only identified the woman behind the lewd text but also her address.

Instead of confronting Geraldine Yost, otherwise known as Edward's lover, Sally monitored the woman's residential area for a week. However, Edward did not show up even once.

He seemed to be awfully careful, either because he sensed someone was monitoring him or to appease his furious wife at home.

One day, Sally learned from her taps that Geraldine had called her building's management office to complain about a faulty gas stove.

With that, she changed into a foreman's uniform and rushed to Geraldine's apartment block. When the building's management staff arrived, Sally claimed Geraldine had already hired the services of her repair company and dismissed them.

It was about four in the afternoon when Sally finally left Geraldine's house.

She got into her car and whipped off the foreman's uniform. Before she drove off, her phone screen lit up with a notification.

It was a message from Cooper.

Chapter 1149

Instantly, Sally's gaze dimmed. She drove as quickly as possible while calling Melissa to pick up the kids from school.

At the same time, in the living room of a mansion in the countryside. Cooper found himself tied to a chair with thick rope.

The men who had kidnapped him to this place had even trampled over his glasses while bringing him there.

He counted three other men in the living room beside him.

Cooper was unnaturally calm despite his predicament. His calm gaze swept over the men, and he quickly determined that these men were far from scruffy thugs.

From the way they blocked his car on the road and dragged him out of the vehicle, he could tell that they had received professional training and were most likely employees of a private security company.

One of his kidnappers' phones began ringing, and the man stepped away to a window on the far side of the room before answering it.

The phone call lasted a good three minutes. When the kidnapper returned to the group. Cooper asked, "How does your boss plan to deal with me?"

The man was visibly stunned as he sputtered, "You know our boss?"

Cooper replied calmly, "I don't, but he must be pretty rich if he could hire you to kidnap me here. None of you have beaten me up either, so he clearly doesn't want me dead."

The kidnapper huffed and retorted, "You're a big shot in the business world, Mr. Sutton. Anyone would end up in the headlines if they tried to kill you. That said, you did, however, offend someone you shouldn't have provoked."

He had barely finished his sentence when the mansion's doorbell rang. As such, he signaled his colleagues to open the door, and in walked seven women.

Each wore makeup thicker than the next, a less-than-subtle hint about their profession.

Cooper's gaze darkened at once.

Without delay, the kidnappers carried Cooper, chair and all, into a bedroom on the second floor. The windows in the room were tightly shut, and the space reeked of agarwood. One instantly felt hot and uncomfortable after breathing in its scent.

While placing Cooper and the chair atop a carpet in the room, one of the kidnappers snarled, "Since you like women so much, Boss said we should give you a night you'll never forget. Here are seven women at your service, Mr. Sutton. Enjoy."

Cooper tried to slow his breathing and minimize his exposure to the agarwood scent.

He frowned and seethed, "I'd rather your boss cut off my arms and legs. This tactic is plain repulsive."

The kidnapper merely replied, "Murder is illegal. We're not touching that."

Once he was done chitchatting with Cooper, he left the room, where the women awaited his instructions. "Serve our client well, won't you?"

The women pranced into the room happily.

This was their job, after all, and they had no qualms about appearing in front of a camera, even. Therefore, "serving" a tied-up man was far too easy.

Cooper had no means of resistance, and with the help of the agarwood scent, the kidnappers did not see the need to guard the bedroom.

They just had to check the "results" after a few hours.

On their way to the living room, the mansion door suddenly flew open from a vicious kick. A man was flung into the living room. His limbs were tied up, and his mouth was gagged.

The victim was none other than Yannick. With muffled cries, he stared at the men in the house, frantically turning his head toward the door as though ordering them to get rid of the person standing outside. Clad in a long black coat and jeans that made her legs look sky-high, Sally stepped into the men's sights.

She glanced at the kidnappers and demanded coldly, "Where is my man?"

The kidnappers worked as bodyguards at a private security company in Xedells. Yannick had hired them to do his dirty work in Jadeborough, and as out-of-towners, they had no idea who Sally was and though she was just a random woman.

Sally's question caused the kidnappers to pause on the stairsteps.

The man at the front of the group pointed upstairs and shot her a suggestive smile. "He's in a room upstairs with seven women. Gotta admit he's popular with the ladies."

Sally kicked Yannick to the side and walked into the mansion.

The kidnappers immediately wrote her off as a threat. As she walked upstairs, the man at the head of the group sent a punch flying her way.

Chapter 1150

Sally firmly caught the punch flying her way.

In under two minutes, she promptly subdued three men who were almost two meters tall and kicked them down the stairs.

Then, she headed back to the living room and dragged Yannick upstairs.

When Sally kicked open the bedroom door, she was assaulted by the strong scent of agarwood. She accidentally inhaled a good amount of the aphrodisiac and immediately felt unsettled.

In the dimly lit room, she vaguely made out the figures of several women, all of whom were almost completely nude.

Holding her breath to prevent herself from inhaling more agarwood scent, Sally grabbed several women by their hair and flung them aside. Then, she untied Cooper from the chair.

Even Cooper's neck was red from exertion at this point. Once freed from his binds, he leaned his body weight onto Sally's shoulder and mumbled, "Hurry. Let's go..."

He was gagging from the agarwood scent and wanted to throw up.

Sally carried him out of the room and had him lean against a wall. Then, she dragged Yannick into the room and tied him to the chair that originally held Cooper.

She then threw the woman closest to her into Yannick's lap before declaring, "I'll give two hundred thousand to the woman who serves him best. Expect payment in an hour."

All the women fell over themselves in their attempt to reach Yannick.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers downstairs had just fixed their dislocated arms. They shrank into themselves when they saw Sally helping Cooper downstairs.

Sally stood on the stairs and shot them an icy look. "Do you want money or your lives?"

Without hesitation, the kidnappers shuddered in fear and ran for their lives.

As Sally helped Cooper into her car, he suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms, giving her a rib-crushing hug.

The veins on his neck were bulging from resisting the effects of the agarwood scent in the bedroom.

Even through her clothes, Sally could sense Cooper's entire body was burning up.

She said, "I took an hour to get here."

Josephine's scandal had undoubtedly humiliated the Nordern family. Though Sally expected Yannick to retaliate against Cooper, she never knew he would resort to such revolting measures. Thankfully, she had arrived in time to save Cooper.

Sally closed the car door. While removing her coat, she asked Cooper, "Do you want me, or would you prefer to get some fresh air outside for an hour?"

Sweat beaded on Cooper's forehead as he gritted out, "I'm not sure if I can control my strength."

She made the decision for him and kissed his lips while reclining the car seat.

Sometime later, Cooper lowered the car window a fraction to let in some cold air. Sally burrowed deeper into his embrace, a coat the only thing covering her modesty. She had underestimated the effect of the agarwood scent and overestimated her ability to keep up with Cooper. At that moment, her body heaved with exhaustion. Cooper suddenly reached under the coat and touched her lower back.

Sally's hand immediately flew to his wrist as she raised her head and shot him an accusing look. Cooper explained drily, "Your waist knocked into the car door earlier. I wanted to massage the bruise for you." Only then did she release her grip.

He continued flatly, "I told you to think of another plan, but you insisted on having me seduce her. Any man would be furious to be cheated on, let alone someone whose father is a bigwig."

If he were Yannick, he would not have let the other man off the hook, either.

"Nothing works as well as seduction. Besides, you're fine now," answered Sally simply.

Annoyed, Cooper pinched the bruise on her back.

Sally grimaced and glared at him coldly. Alas, she was not in a good position to retaliate.

"What's that glare for? This is all your doing." Undeterred, Cooper returned her stare and added, "I'd be a dead man in that mansion if I didn't text you fast enough."

To her credit, Sally acknowledged the blame and pursed her lips instead of arguing with him.

After massaging the bruise on her hip for a while, Cooper adjusted the car seat to its original position. He then grabbed the clothes under the seat and helped Sally to get dressed. "Stay in the car. I'll check on Yannick."