Chapter 200 Welcome Emily Home
After reading the email, Sophia’s emotions stayed unsettled for a while.
Although she sympathized with Molly's past experiences, she still couldn't understand why Molly was targeting her.
From beginning to end, Sophia had never done anything to hurt Molly.
Beside her, Emily slept soundly, gradually snuggled closer into Sophia's arms. Only after catching the familiar, comforting scent from Sophia did Emily contentedly continue sleeping.
Feeling Emily's complete dependence on her, Sophia slowly closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, William had just finished a business dinner abroad.
When a female companion was enthusiastically sent over by his business partner, William refused on the spot and said firmly, "If this happens again, we’ll have to reconsider our partnership."
The hotel hosting the business dinner was located in the city's most prosperous business district, directly across from an internationally renowned luxury shopping street.
William had wanted to pick out a gift for Emily, but then he remembered Sophia's resistance to expensive gifts, and how Emily wasn't interested in dresses or jewels.
To Emily, those expensive gems weren't even as attractive as a toy car.
William called his assistant, "Have someone buy all the styles and sizes of the pink fox plushies Emily likes, and send them to... Crystal Lake Residences."
William owned many properties, but the Crystal Lake Residences complex, where Sophia currently lived, was a project developed by his competitor, so he hadn't bought a house there before.
But once, James and Michael casually mentioned, "It would be nice if we could live closer to Sophia."
So, William had someone buy a house at Crystal Lake Residences.
As it happened, this house was bought from Alvin, right across from the Johnson Villa, very close by.
The house had just been renovated recently, with specially ordered furniture all properly arranged.
The original plan was to move in next week.
But right now, William urgently wanted to move in.
He never saw himself as impatient, yet back in his hotel room he couldn’t sleep, his mind was constantly thinking about Emily.
Wait!
He suddenly remembered something.
Two years ago, Sophia had said she was hospitalized alone.
If he calculated the pregnancy timeline from that point, the probability of Emily being his biological daughter would be even higher.
William's gaze deepened as he opened a hidden album on his phone.
These photos were all ones James had asked Sophia to send, which William had quietly saved. In several photos, Emily smiled with dimples, looking very similar to James, who was holding her hand.
At first, he thought the children looked alike because they shared the same mother.
But what if they shared the same father and mother?
Children grow very fast, especially between the ages of one and three, changing almost every month. As Emily grew, her resemblance to William became increasingly apparent.
The most obvious feature was the dimples.
Because William was cold by nature, didn't like to smile, and didn't like looking in mirrors, he had overlooked this detail before.
At this moment, the surging thoughts in his heart kept him awake all night.
Early the next morning.
William quickly finished the quarterly meeting at the international branch and rushed to the airport.
By the time he landed domestically, it was already dinner time.
Without bothering to eat, he had someone drive him directly to Crystal Lake Residences.
On the other side, Sophia received a last-minute call from her senior at ZN Laboratory, learning that the data for an important experiment wasn't matching up, no matter how they tested it. She had no choice but to personally go to the Empire City laboratory to verify through practice where the problem was.
Sophia instructed Emily to listen to Allan and the nanny at home, then had the driver take her to the laboratory.
Not long after she left, a black Maybach stopped in front of the Johnson Villa.
Emily, playing on the slide in the front yard, seemed somewhat distracted.
Hearing the commotion at the gate, she instinctively looked up.
She saw William, in a black suit, was standing at the entrance, holding a pink fox plushie almost as tall as her, waving at her.
William's voice was gentle, "Emily, come here."
Joy instantly appeared in Emily's eyes, "Mr. Smith—"
Wearing white overalls, she quickly slid down from the slide and ran toward the gate with cheerful steps.
Seeing her run so fast, worry flashed in William’s eyes, and his tone turned urgent: "Slow down, slow down—don’t run so fast."
The security guards at the gate knew William's identity, but they also remembered Sophia's instructions and didn't dare let people in casually.
However, since Emily was running out from inside on her own, with Allan following behind, they couldn't forcibly stop her.
As Emily rushed over, William had already knelt down on one knee.
Holding her favorite pink fox plushie in one hand, he steadily caught her with the other. He looked at her with eyes full of fatherly love and tenderness.
He handed over the plushie, "This is for you. Do you like it?"
Emily blinked her bright eyes, opened her arms to hug the pink fox, and nuzzled the soft fur with her cheek.
"I love the fox, thank you."
William stood up holding her and called out, "Tony."
The trunk of the black Maybach was filled with all the merchandise he'd brought back from abroad.
Tony and the driver each carried several bags and handed them to Allan, "These are all toys Mr. Smith is giving to Emily."
Seeing all the different styles of pink foxes, Emily was thrilled. She hugged William's neck and kissed him on the cheek.
Emily said, "Mr. Smith, you're amazing."
Glancing inside the house, William asked Emily in his arms, "Where's your mom?"
Emily honestly told him that Sophia had gone to work.
Holding Emily, William turned and walked toward the villa across the way.
Emily, nestled comfortably in his arms, wasn't at all afraid he might kidnap her. She excitedly told William that she wanted to draw lots and lots of birthday invitation cards.
William patiently listened throughout as she described what those cards would look like.
Seeing this, Allan quickly spoke up to stop him, "Mr. Smith, Emily, she..."
Tony walked forward with a smile, reassuring Allan, "Mr. Smith is James and Michael's father, and Emily is their sister. In a sense, Mr. Smith is like her dad, too, right?"
"Look, that's my boss's new house. He's just taking Emily over to get familiar with it, so it'll be easier for Emily to visit James and Michael in the future, don't you think?"
Allan had no choice but to follow along with two security guards.
Tony didn't mind either and followed along. The driver had already gone to the Smith Manor to pick up James and Michael.
The two villas looked close, but there was still quite a distance to walk.
Along the way, William fully experienced Emily's curiosity.
She would ask what kind of tree that was, then what that flower was called, and occasionally wanted to get down and run a few steps.
And his answer to all her needs was always the same—satisfy her!
William discovered that Emily got tired easily. When she was tired from walking, she would immediately open her arms to him for a hug.
He carried her to the villa entrance and said warmly, "From now on, James, Michael, and I will live here. You can come visit us anytime."
Considering Emily's height, William had specially installed a child-height facial recognition system.
After entering Emily's facial information, he patted her shoulder and said, "Go try it."
[Facial recognition successful.]
[Welcome home, Emily.]
Hearing the smart system's voice, Emily's eyes lit up.
William stood at the entrance, watching her run in and out with endless patience and affection.
He thought she was absolutely adorable.
As soon as she entered the yard, Emily was surprised by the scene before her.
She looked back at William in amazement and said, "For me?"