Chapter 30
When I returned to the Lopez Manor, Oscar wasn't back yet. My phone rang—it was actually Michael calling.
This surprised me a bit. I answered, and his voice was cold: "I heard you've been doing pretty well since you went back."
I smiled faintly: "Mr. Johnson, you seem pretty free, still caring about me?"
Michael seemed to chuckle softly: "I'm calling to let you know that someone's been asking around about you these past couple of days."
That wasn't surprising. I'd shown up out of nowhere and conveniently pushed the Brown Group out. They'd definitely try every way to dig into my background: "Members of The Brown Family?"
Michael paused: "Not just them."
"What do you mean?" Besides the Brown Family, someone else was investigating?
"The Lopez family?"
If it were members of the Lopez family, that would make sense. After all, Oscar and I are engaged now. Once they found out I have SoftGlow Biotech and could come up with two hundred million dollars just like that, they'd naturally want to look into my background.
Michael gave me a different answer: "Yes and no. The Brown Family members are asking about Emma, while the Lopez family members are asking about you."
This was somewhat unexpected. When they lost thirty million dollars back then, they should have already looked into me. They didn't find Solstice then, so why did they suddenly find clues now?
Or had they already connected me with Emma?
I was confident my current appearance couldn't possibly let them make that connection. So what went wrong?
"Are you still listening?" Hearing my silence, Michael asked.
I responded: "I'm listening. How did the Brown Family suddenly find me?"
Michael's voice remained flat, emotionless: "Want me to help you solve this problem? They'll track it back to Jeffrey sooner or later, and then your identity probably won't stay hidden."
I thought carefully: "Never mind, no need. They shouldn't move that fast. I can handle it. Thanks, Mr. Johnson."
I paused for a moment, then Michael said, "You don't need to keep thanking me. I told you if you need help, you can come directly to me. There's no need to team up with Oscar."
My face flushed a bit, feeling the awkwardness of running into a former boss after switching to another company: "I... actually working together might be more efficient. I know what I'm doing."
Michael hummed in acknowledgement: "Good that you know. Protect yourself. Men's words can't be trusted, understand?"
I half-jokingly asked him: "So right now, what Mr. Johnson is telling me—should I believe it or not?"
Silence!
The phone suddenly went awkwardly silent.
I quickly laughed dryly: "I'm just joking, Mr. Johnson, don't take it seriously. Mr. Johnson?"
Just when I thought the signal might have dropped, Michael's voice came through again: "My words can't all be trusted either, at least sometimes that's the case. I hope you can always stay true to yourself. Also, when you run into trouble, I hope I'm the first person you think of. Understand?"
Stiff tone, but warm words. The corners of my mouth lifted, and I slowly nodded, then realized he couldn't see my expression and quickly said, "I understand."
Without any closing words, the call ended.
I tossed my phone aside and fell into thought.
Jeffrey was still in prison, so it wouldn't be that easy for them to find out. But if they really traced it back to me, it was just a matter of time. After all, the time I appeared by Michael's side as Emily wasn't that far apart from when he bought me. For three years, I'd been wearing a veil—they could easily guess I was the ugly woman he'd bought.
It didn't matter anymore. By the time they found out the truth, many things that needed to be done would already be complete. Like right now—I looked at the Brown Group stocks I'd purchased on my phone, the corners of my mouth slowly curving up.
A tiger without teeth can only become a meal on someone's plate.
That evening, Gregory actually brought Sophia to the Lopez Manor.
When Sophia looked at me, she deliberately restrained her hostility. She walked up to me and took the initiative to show weakness: "Ms. Wilson, I was immature before. I shouldn't have suspected you without proof. My dad, my brother, and Gregory have all already scolded me. I'm sincerely here to apologize. I hope you can forgive me."
What act was she putting on now? Playing the weak woman card again?
I was curious to see how she'd use the same old tricks.
"You're calling me Ms. Wilson... isn't that a bit inappropriate?" I looked at her with a smile.
Sophia looked puzzled, then saw my gaze casually sweep over her and Gregory. She quickly explained: "You're Gregory's future aunt. I'm following my sister's lead, so naturally I should address you that way. If you mind, I won't call you that anymore. But either way, I hope you can accept my apology."
Gregory also stepped forward to help: "Sophia has been feeling guilty these past few days. Making things unpleasant the first day she met you—she's felt bad about it for a long time. She really didn't mean it, so today I specially brought her to apologize to you formally."
This put me in a position where if I said I wouldn't forgive her, they'd probably say I wasn't respecting the younger generation: "Forget it, it wasn't that big a deal anyway. There was no need to make a special trip."
Seeing this, Robert's face naturally showed a smile: "That's good then. The Brown and Lopez families have a good relationship, and Emma is Gregory's wife. It's good that things are cleared up. Emily isn't petty. Dinner's ready. Gregory, you haven't eaten yet, right? Stay and eat here tonight. If it gets too late, just stay over."
Gregory nodded with a smile: "Alright, thank you, Grandpa."
Sophia came up to me affectionately, reaching out to hold my hand: "Ms. Wilson, your skin is in such good condition. What cosmetics do you use? I should try them too."
She leaned close to me, and that strong perfume smell hit my nose, making me instinctively lean my head back slightly. I subtly pulled my hand from hers, too lazy to humor her: "Just regular cosmetics."
Sophia still smiled sweetly and moved closer: "Then you must be naturally beautiful. I need to find a chance to learn from you. Really, this skin condition is so enviable."
As she spoke, she grabbed my hand again, her fingertips touching my palm.
I grabbed her fingers and turned around with a smile, holding up her hand: "Sophia, I don't think we're close enough to hold hands like this, are we? I'm not good with strangers. I like to keep my distance from people I'm not familiar with. Since you're sincerely here to apologize, I hope you can also sincerely respect other people's habits."
I smiled and flung her hand away, then blatantly grabbed a tissue from nearby and wiped my hands, making my displeasure clear.
Gregory looked at us in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Sophia quickly explained with a smile: "Nothing, nothing. Since Ms. Wilson doesn't like being too close to people, I'll keep my distance next time. It's mainly because I found Ms. Wilson so approachable. Gregory said you're a lot like my sister. I didn't feel it before, but now I really think you're just like my sister, so I subconsciously wanted to be close to you."
As she spoke, she looked into my eyes, as if trying to find something on my face.
I still smiled gently: "From how you all refer to her, she must be very important to you. Then I hope you can find her soon. I'd also like to see how exactly I resemble her."
Gregory seemed to remember being punished with family discipline for mistaking identities before. His expression became awkward, and he quickly tugged at Sophia: "Sophia, Grandpa said it's time to eat. If there's anything else, we can talk about it later."
Although Sophia wore an obedient smile, the look in her eyes as she left was like poison.