Chapter 221
Anais's words instantly made Hazel's face turn even paler.
As Anais spoke, she stepped forward and linked arms with Hazel, just like close sisters, walking toward the villa together.
Things were already difficult enough just now, and now with Anais and Aiden involved, Hazel found herself in an even more awkward position.
Seeing this, Veda quickly took out her phone, organized her thoughts, and sent a message to Hayden.
After all, she couldn't explain things clearly by calling in front of everyone, so she could only send a text.
Hazel sat on the sofa while Anais kept urging her, "It's getting late. Whatever documents Mrs. Brown needs to get, you can tell our servants. Let's get everything clear at once. It would be best to sort out the inheritance matter today."
"But Mrs. Brown, please don't misunderstand. The Smith family has plenty of wealth. I'm not after Sophia's little inheritance. I just think that since Sophia's adoptive mother just passed away, she's in a bad mood right now. If you return the inheritance to her, it might make her feel better."
Hazel's expression looked terrible.
She could only turn to the Smith family's servant and say, "Then please go to the Brown Group and bring over the will that Sophia's mother left and the inheritance shares. If you see Mr. Brown at the Brown Group, please ask Mr. Brown to come over too."
"After all, Mr. Brown is Sophia's biological father. It's better for him to be present for this kind of thing. Although I'm also thinking of Sophia's best interests, I'm still Sophia's stepmother after all, so it's not really my place to make decisions about many things."
Hearing this, Anais smiled smugly, "Mrs. Brown is so thoughtful. Let's do as you say."
Anais wasn't afraid at all. Even if Hayden were sitting right in front of her today, she would still stand up for Sophia this once.
Before long, the Smith family's servant and Hayden both arrived.
As soon as Hayden entered, he sensed the particularly tense atmosphere, especially seeing Aiden sitting there with a grim expression. He felt extremely guilty for a moment.
"Aiden, Anais, I'm here. This is the inheritance and will that Sophia's mother left behind back then."
Hearing this, Sophia turned her head slightly to look. After all these years, she had never seen the inheritance Ava left behind.
She had only relied on her intuition to conclude that this inheritance must be substantial, otherwise Hayden and Hazel wouldn't have held onto it so tightly.
Now she was finally going to see it. Sophia's heart suddenly felt especially excited. For so many years, she had fought tooth and nail for this inheritance, and now she was finally about to achieve her goal.
Seeing Aiden keeping a straight face and completely ignoring Hayden, Anais quickly spoke up to mediate, "Mr. Brown, thank you so much for your trouble."
At this moment, Aiden looked toward his servant and spoke in a deep voice, "Bring that inheritance over for me to see."
The servant quickly placed the inheritance in front of Aiden.
Although Aiden hadn't been involved in company affairs for a long time, back when he was running the company, he was like an eagle, an outstanding leader in the business world.
So when he opened this inheritance and looked down at it, he could immediately see clearly any loopholes and word tricks in the text.
Sophia's emotions were a bit agitated. She quickly came to Aiden's side and looked down as well. Seeing the words on the inheritance, Sophia was immediately shocked, "How is this possible? My mother only left me 3% of the Brown Group's shares back then?"
Sophia really couldn't believe it. After all these years of fighting with the Brown family, the inheritance Ava left behind was merely 3% of the Brown Group's shares?
This was completely beyond her expectations.
Hearing Sophia's words, Hazel, who had been sitting anxiously, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
So Hayden had already tampered with it. Hazel calculated in her mind—3% of the Brown Group's shares didn't seem like much.
Thinking of this, a hint of smugness flashed in Hazel's eyes. She didn't expect Hayden to actually have some skill.
Standing nearby, Veda heard this and almost couldn't help laughing.
Although it was only 3%, it was still shares in the Brown Group. But it was so little that it wasn't even as much as the commission for the Brown Group's top salesperson.
If they gave this 3% to Sophia, there wasn't much to feel bad about.
Hayden stepped forward directly to explain, "Sophia, when your mother and I were starting our business, the Brown Group wasn't as large as it is now, so the inheritance your mother left you when she passed away wasn't very much."
"Of course, you're still our Brown family's young lady. Since you and James have gotten together, when you two have your wedding, I'll definitely prepare a generous wedding gift for you as your father."
Sophia frowned. Hayden's words sounded like charity no matter how she heard them.
Ava's inheritance should have been enough for her to live comfortably for a lifetime. How did it suddenly become like this?
As soon as Hayden finished speaking, Aiden snorted coldly and looked at him with cold eyes, "Hayden, tell me the truth. How much inheritance did Ava actually leave behind?"
Hayden was startled, then quickly tried to hide the guilt in his eyes and put on a calm appearance, "Mr. Smith, this is the inheritance Ava left behind. When Ava passed away, it was just when the Brown Group had been newly established and was going through a very difficult period, so Ava didn't have much money at that time. But for that era, being able to leave her daughter this many shares was already quite remarkable."
The more Aiden listened, the more wrong it sounded. His expression changed dramatically, and he pointed at the agreement in front of him, "Hayden, are you looking down on the Smith family? Sophia might not understand this will, but I used to look at contracts and these kinds of things all the time. This will was clearly printed out fresh today."
After saying this, Aiden stood up directly. Although he was already old, his presence was extraordinary, and instantly Hayden was scared into trembling.
Hayden's face turned pale as he pretended to look confused, "Aiden, I don't understand what you're saying. This really is the inheritance Ava left behind."
Hearing this, Aiden immediately became furious.
He raised his hand and slapped Hayden across the face, "Hayden, no one who dares to deceive me in Emerald City has been born yet. Who do you think you are? How dare you try to fool me here? Let me tell you, Sophia is now our Smith family's daughter-in-law. Deceiving her is the same as deceiving the Smith family."