Chapter 199
Veda looked at James in shock, as if she couldn't quite believe it, "What are you trying to do?"
Since when did James start scheming against children?
Lowering her voice, Veda spoke quietly, "Have you lost your mind?"
"Joseph?" Nolan asked.
Clearly, Nolan was also the type who would do anything necessary to achieve his goals.
Michael's abilities were actually visible to everyone at the Smith Group. When Nolan made Michael take a 'vacation,' he originally wanted to use it to intimidate Michael, but unexpectedly the company couldn't run properly without him.
Now that Michael was using this as an excuse to refuse to come back, Nolan was getting anxious instead.
Now he wanted to use every means possible to trick him into coming back.
"Dad, the Miller family hasn't been paying much attention to Joseph lately, and I can't control him either. Joseph won't come home and has been staying with Samuel at Michael's place." Veda spoke quietly.
Actually, she was quite surprised that the day she got drunk and forgot to pick up Joseph, Michael was willing to look after him and even brought Joseph home, making Joseph so attached that he didn't want to leave.
In Veda's impression, Michael was always cold and aloof, as if he always looked down on her and James.
By extension, Michael definitely looked down on Joseph too.
But unexpectedly, Joseph really liked Michael.
He even cried and begged not to go home.
This showed that Michael was very attentive and caring to Joseph.
This surprised Veda and moved her a little.
"Have Joseph trick that little bastard Samuel into going out, and don't let the Thomas family find them for a while. If something happens, Jasper will definitely call Nora, and when Nora comes back, Michael will naturally come back too." James offered his strategy.
"James!" Veda was getting angry, "You're even using children? Joseph is only five years old, what are you trying to do?"
"It's not using him, just having him take Samuel out to play. Our people will watch from a distance, nothing will happen." James frowned.
"I don't agree." Veda was angry.
She wouldn't let Joseph do such a thing.
Whether something happened or not, once Michael found out, how would Joseph face Michael in the future?
"Do as James says." Nolan spoke in a heavy voice, clearly thinking this could get Michael to come back too.
"I think Michael has been bewitched by that bitch!" Nolan said in anger.
"This Nora is nothing but trouble. Look what she did to James back then." Luna's eyes reddened, her performance perfectly convincing. "She's the kind of troublemaker,look at anyone who gets involved with her, which family has a good ending?"
After saying this, she added, "She made Evelyn sick all over. And look at the Clark family, that Pearl is now too scared to come back to the country because of her. With all those so-called victims coming forward, if Pearl comes back she'll probably go to jail."
Luna looked angry, "I think this Nora is just trouble, going around seeking revenge. The Adams family suffered badly because of her too, and her adoptive parents who raised her all these years don't have a good word to say about her."
James frowned but didn't say a word to defend Nora.
These people only knew about the current fate of the Adams family and the Clark family, but didn't know what terrible things they had done to Nora before.
"The Clark family is because Pearl brought it on herself. She's been arrogant and domineering since childhood. I know far more than this,I know she blinded a classmate in elementary school. She's really bad. If she can't come back to the country, she deserves it. How much does it have to do with Nora? Does she have that much power?" Veda at least said something fair.
Luna glared at Veda and said nothing more.
James was silent for a long time before speaking, "Veda, let me pick up Joseph tonight."
Veda frowned, "James, I advise you to think this through."
Although she didn't like Nora and was jealous of her to the point of madness, and was even willing to stand by and watch those people bully Nora, she was still unhappy about involving children.
"You don't need to worry about it." James stood up and left the Smith Villa.
What he wanted to do was slowly climb to the highest position and trample Michael underfoot.
He wanted to completely drive Michael out of the Smith Group.
When that day came, he wanted to see what Michael would have left, still proud like some king on high.
---
Emerald City, artificial island.
This area was a resort under development, with beautiful scenery. It hadn't opened to the public yet and was very quiet.
At the center of the island was a luxury hotel that had been completed but not yet put into use.
The resort's butler drove a sightseeing cart, taking Nora around the scenic area, "Miss, have you heard of this place?"
Nora was quite surprised and shook her head, "I've heard reports saying this is a resort area owned by Unity Realty waiting to open."
"That's right." The butler smiled and took Nora to the hotel location.
The hotels here were all in a homestay style,two-story split-level villas with large garden courtyards and open-air rooftop gardens. At night, lights twinkled, and behind them were the beach and ocean. Very beautiful.
Perfect for newlywed honeymoons or wedding ceremonies.
Unity Realty had emerged as a dark horse in recent years, far surpassing the Smith Group in real estate and venture capital. To avoid Unity Realty's momentum, the Smith Group kept its distance from real estate and venture capital.
Nora had looked into this Unity Realty.
Because she wanted to choose a good backup plan for Michael, she needed to select some powerful partners for him as much as possible, like the Fields family, the Clark family,the kind of partners that would make Nolan think twice.
And Unity Realty was the most mysterious of all the companies.
To this day, Nora still hadn't found out who the boss behind Unity Realty actually was.
People in business circles were also very curious about Unity Realty. Some said it was domestic investors, others said it was foreign investment with a random legal representative. In any case, no one knew who the actual controller of this company was.
And Unity Realty's development momentum over the past five years could be described as explosive,a dark horse that suddenly emerged in the business world.
"Nori, come here." At the hotel, Michael was wearing swim trunks and waved to Nora.
Nora jumped down from the sightseeing cart and ran over excitedly, "Mr. Smith! This is Unity Realty's resort that hasn't opened to the public yet!"
Seeing how happy Nora was, Michael smiled too, "Yes."
"This place isn't open to the public yet. I heard that some company chairman wanted to hold his daughter's wedding here, and Unity Realty's president didn't even give him that favor!" Nora was practically jumping with excitement, as if she'd seen hope.
"Who told you that? It's all gossip." Michael smiled, "Come on, let's go swimming."
Nora had no mind for swimming now, "Mr. Smith! Do you know Unity Realty's president?"
As long as Michael had connections with Unity Realty's president and could reach a project cooperation with Unity Realty, then no matter how much Nolan wanted to kick Michael out of the Smith Group, he'd have to think twice.
Michael looked at Nora and thought for a moment, "I guess you could say I know him."
Nora was a bit happy. This unopened resort area was said to be Unity Realty president's private property. Unity Realty people told outsiders that their president's wedding would be held here, and before their president used it, this place wouldn't be open to the public.
For Michael to bring her here, he must be very familiar with the president.
At least they had to be good friends.
"Mr. Smith, could you discuss a project cooperation with Unity Realty?" Nora excitedly ran to get her tablet, clearly ready to work.