Chapter 147: Who Did You Just Call an Illegitimate Daughter?
By the pool, people around were still hesitating. When they met Sophia's cold eyes, fear crept into their hearts.
The sleazy man who had earlier said he wanted to taste her kept staring at her body. "Miss, this is a party arranged by Holden today. Isn't it inappropriate for you to treat Mrs. Smith like this?"
As he spoke, he moved closer to Sophia. Years of drinking and smoking had left him reeking with an unpleasant smell.
Sophia held her breath and kicked him into the pool just as he was about to reach her.
The large man crashed directly onto Hannah, causing her to sink down and swallow several mouthfuls of water. She struggled to swim to the other side to catch her breath.
Hannah wiped the water from her face. Her already smudged makeup looked even worse. She glared at Sophia through gritted teeth. "I won't let you get away with this!"
Sophia met her eyes directly, her gaze indifferent, her tone flat. "You won't get the chance."
From the moment she decided to teach her a lesson in front of everyone, she wouldn't give Hannah another opportunity to provoke her.
The fat man's fall into the pool created a huge splash, soaking his clothes completely. He surfaced and started cursing at Sophia.
"You crazy woman, just you wait!"
"When I get out, I'll make sure you can't get out of bed!"
The ball that had been taken from Emily earlier was lying by the pool.
Sophia kicked it straight at the man's face, sending him back underwater to swallow several more mouthfuls of pool water.
She turned to look at the others. "Anyone else want to come over?"
Everyone pulled their children back several steps. Not a single person dared to cross her at this moment.
Juan stared at Sophia in a daze. So this is what it looks like when a mother protects her child?
Juan looked down, thinking. His mother would only push him out, scolding him for being useless and worthless, for not being able to keep his father's heart, which was why his father had so many illegitimate children outside.
If only... if only Michael's mother could be his mother too.
Michael, who was protecting Emily, suddenly caught Juan's intense stare and felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
Why was Juan looking at him with such a disgusting expression?
Was he planning to bully Emily again?
Michael shifted his position and pulled Emily into his arms, glaring at Juan across from them, warning him not to target his Emily again.
James also noticed Michael's reaction and Juan staring at Emily from a distance. He didn't like that look.
He immediately took off his suit jacket and placed it over Emily's head, blocking Juan's view of her.
James coaxed her gently, "Emily, be good. Let's not look at those bad people, okay?"
Besides Sophia, Emily listened to James most. She grabbed the jacket covering her head and nodded at James.
At the entrance to the banquet hall and lawn.
William arrived with Monkey and the others, followed by the Smith family's security guards trying to stop them from entering. The two groups were in a standoff.
Seeing the guards behind Monkey, William frowned. Something occurred to him, and he immediately quickened his pace toward the lawn.
The guests in the banquet hall who had been discussing business and chatting also noticed William's unusual behavior and hurried to follow.
As soon as he reached the lawn, William spotted Emily being shielded by James and Michael. James's jacket covered her head, and she was looking down, appearing to be crying.
Monkey waved his hand, and two guards went to protect Emily while he brought the rest to Sophia's side to await her orders.
Sophia also saw William but ignored him.
She said to Monkey and the guards, "Surround the pool. Don't let them come up."
Monkey had brought over a dozen people. Two stayed with Emily to protect her, while the rest surrounded the pool's edge.
Whenever Hannah or the man reached the edge, they would be kicked back into the pool.
With no choice, they could only keep soaking in the water.
Sophia coldly surveyed the people around making small movements and said to Monkey, "...Record everything."
"Everyone, I'm not a kind person. I always repay grudges."
"Those who want to bully my children and me, you'd better consider whether you can handle my response."
"You should all remember what happened to the Baker family, right?"
At these words, everyone's hearts trembled. How could they not remember? They remembered it all too well!
The Baker family had ranked at least in the top twenty among Empire City's elite circles. And what happened?
The Baker Group declared bankruptcy and was acquired at a low price. Royce was locked up, essentially spending the rest of his life behind bars.
As for Lily...
She was now in a psychiatric hospital, cared for by the three people she had previously bullied.
However, Lily's life was now worse than death. No matter how she tried to harm herself, someone would call a doctor to save her.
At first, people didn't understand the situation.
Later, they learned that those who had been bullied by Lily had formed a group and were pooling money to keep Lily alive.
Because... death would be release, but a life worse than death was true a revenge.
Every day, people would visit Lily. Those whose legs had been broken would remove their prosthetics in front of her and strike her with them repeatedly.
The person whose throat had been permanently damaged by being force-fed glue would smear glue on Lily's clothes, causing her skin to fuse with the fabric.
Others would sit by Lily's bed at midnight wearing white dresses with disheveled hair, and whenever Lily made the slightest movement, they would shine a flashlight on their faces, scaring Lily so badly she would roll off the bed screaming.
Unfortunately, Lily's room was in the most remote part of the psychiatric ward, so no matter how much she screamed, no one would come.
Those who had been bullied by Lily returned to her every method she had used on them.
Within a month, Lily had completely lost her mind.
But compared to her one month, those she had hurt for one year, four years, could never escape the shadow of the past for their entire lives.
Sophia didn't know about these things happening in the psychiatric hospital, but she was the one who had sent Lily there.
Back then, when Lily tried to use "mental illness" to escape legal punishment, Sophia had her lawyer send her directly to a psychiatric hospital and sent Lily's address to everyone she had hurt.
Fighting violence with violence isn't advisable.
But those who hadn't suffered as they had had no right to preach forgiveness.
Everyone only knew one thing: Lily later... really did go crazy!
Sophia's voice wasn't very loud, but every word lingered in everyone's ears.
"If anything about tonight appears online, even if I have to spend everything I have, I will find out who did it."
"The Baker family is the best example."
Sophia's sharp gaze swept over several men and women secretly recording the scene on their phones, her slight smile sending chills down their spines.
Fear is sometimes the best form of control.
The Smith Manor's pool was very deep.
Even the best swimmers would struggle without a place to rest, constantly treading water. This was especially true for the aging Hannah and the overweight man who smoked and drank excessively. Both were exhausted before long.
"Sophia, you're crazy! Let me up right now!"
Sophia ignored Hannah's furious appearance. She stood by the pool's edge, looking down at her.
"Hannah, who did you just call an illegitimate daughter?"