Chapter 121 Cleaning Up the Sect
After Arthur entered the villa, his anger didn't subside one bit. Instead, the impatience and rage he'd been bottling up for so long erupted completely, triggered by those destroyed flowers.
He didn't go back to the bedroom. He went straight to the leather sofa in the living room and sat down, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, the oppressive atmosphere around him nearly crushing the entire villa.
Ann didn't dare speak. She stood to the side with her head lowered, even breathing lightly.
"All the servants, drivers, and gardeners that Sophie brought here over these years—settle their wages. They leave tomorrow."
Arthur's voice was low and cold, leaving no room for negotiation. "From now on, no one she brought into this house stays. Not a single one."
Ann's heart jumped, and she immediately went to handle it.
After dealing with the household, he directly called HR, his tone cold as ice. "Look up everyone at the company that Sophie recommended or has any connection to, no matter their position. Fire them all. Make them pay the maximum penalty for contract violations. I don't want to see anyone connected to her at the company anymore."
The person on the other end didn't dare ask questions and immediately got to work.
Within two days, the Grant family villa had completely changed staff. Every one of Sophie's informants and confidants she'd planted in the villa was cleaned out completely.
The company underwent an even quieter purge. Anyone connected to the Smiths or to Sophie was fired without exception, not even given an explanation.
After Arthur finished all this, his expression remained cold.
He wasn't just angry about those flowers—he was angry that Sophie had brazenly crossed his boundaries.
He'd already pretended not to know about what happened five years ago and hadn't held her accountable, yet she still didn't know when to stop. Relying on the favor she'd done him, she recklessly planted people in his life and his company, as if he had no temper at all.
He simply used this incident to let the fire burn completely.
Outside the villa, Sophie still stood frozen in place, her face pale. She had no idea that Arthur was using this outburst to quietly and thoroughly uproot everyone she relied on, everyone she'd planted around him, and clean them all out.
Arthur's actions this time left everyone at the company on edge, creating an atmosphere of fear and anxiety.
Over the next few days, whether at home or at the company, everyone was extremely careful, not daring to approach him and risk his wrath, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
It took Sophie several days to gradually realize something was wrong.
At first, it was just familiar faces missing from the house. The servants, drivers, and gardeners she'd brought from the Smiths all vanished overnight, replaced by a group of expressionless new servants who only listened to Arthur's orders.
When she asked, Ann only replied coolly with "the master arranged it," refusing to say anything more.
She was already panicking inside but still clung to a last shred of hope, comforting herself that Arthur's anger just hadn't subsided yet and he was taking it out on the servants.
Until today, when she forced herself to pull herself together and drove to the company.
She was used to being fawned over wherever she went, but when she stepped into the company lobby today and walked toward the office area, her heart sank deeper and deeper.
Her distant cousin, whom she'd personally recommended, had been sitting securely in the marketing department manager position—now his desk was empty, replaced by a completely unfamiliar face.
Her cousin she'd pulled strings to get in, who handled a core administrative position—now both he and all his things had vanished completely, and the new person in charge didn't even recognize her.
The people she'd planted around Arthur, the network of connections she'd carefully built up...
All of it, overnight, wiped clean.
Everywhere she went, there were unfamiliar faces, unfamiliar eyes, unfamiliar position assignments.
No one treated her with respect anymore, no one came forward to curry favor, and even her presence seemed out of place.
Even the employees who used to fawn over her didn't dare approach her to talk, as if she were some kind of plague.
Sophie stood at the end of the hallway, her fingertips ice-cold, the strength draining from her body as if it had been sucked out in an instant.
She finally panicked completely.
Not just flustered—it was a fear spreading from her very bones.
Only now did she truly understand that the anger in the garden that day wasn't just a momentary fit.
Arthur had used those destroyed flowers as an excuse to quietly and ruthlessly uproot everyone she'd planted at home and at the company, all her escape routes, removing them all at once and cleaning them out completely.
He hadn't consulted her, hadn't warned her, hadn't left her any dignity.
He was truly furious.
Sophie's face was deathly pale. She could barely stand, leaning against the cold wall, her eyes uncontrollably welling up with tears, even her breathing trembling.
With every step Sophie took, she could feel eyes landing on her.
Employees walked past with lowered heads, but after passing her, they quickly exchanged glances and whispered, their fragmented gossip buzzing in her ears like mosquitoes.
"Did you hear... Mr. Grant recently cleared out all the wife's people, didn't leave a single one."
"Not just at home—anyone at the company with even the slightest connection to her got replaced. He's really angry this time."
"No matter what happened before, we've never seen Mr. Grant this ruthless..."
Her face grew paler and paler, her fingertips clenched tight.
But what made her blood run even colder was the next comment, spoken extremely quietly yet piercing her heart like a needle.
"Haven't you heard? There's a rumor going around that Mr. Grant has an illegitimate child."
Sophie's steps stopped abruptly, blood rushing to her head before freezing completely the next second.
She stood frozen in place, hearing those people continue to whisper.
"That can't be true, right? For years, except for business dinners, he's barely touched women. When he's drunk, he goes straight home or stays alone at the hotel."
"Yeah, so many times he's been completely wasted, William sends him back, and there's never anyone shady around him."
"Everyone used to think it was because he only had eyes for his wife, that's why he stayed so clean..."
At this point, everyone paused, their tone becoming uncertain.
"But this time, clearing out people and turning on her like this, making such a big deal—if it's just because she dug up some flowers, it wouldn't be this extreme, would it?"
"Oh, you guys don't know? Those flowers were apparently left by the former wife..."
"Huh? Former wife? We had a former wife?"
"Yeah, I heard five years ago they weren't even divorced yet when Mr. Grant married the current wife, and then the former wife left. Mr. Grant searched for her for a long time."
"Ah! So that child people are talking about, could it be..."
"It's possible. If it's true, then everything makes sense."
The rumors descended like a fine, shadowy veil, quietly enveloping everything.
Before, everyone was certain that Arthur stayed away from women and remained faithful even when drunk because of Sophie.
But now, with him turning on her so ruthlessly, cleaning house so thoroughly, and with the "illegitimate child" rumor surfacing, everyone had a nagging doubt in their hearts.
Sophie stood in the peripheral vision of the crowd, her face deathly pale, her entire body ice-cold...