Chapter 200 Sophia's Secret Meeting with Someone
Olivia couldn't help but smile at what she saw.
Rodolfo always talked about retiring, but he'd never actually thought about giving up his career, had he?
And things turned out exactly as Olivia expected.
After Rodolfo finished reviewing the materials again, he shared some insights about this research project with her.
Olivia happened to be stuck at a bottleneck, and with Rodolfo's guidance, she immediately found a breakthrough.
She couldn't help but feel amazed again.
It had to be Rodolfo - even though she'd learned most of his medical skills, when it came to experience, she still wasn't as seasoned as him. Just a few pointers from Rodolfo and she'd gained so much.
However, seeing Rodolfo start to yawn, Olivia didn't want to tire him out, so she took him out for lunch at noon.
She planned to send Rodolfo home after lunch.
Since Rodolfo liked quiet places, Olivia specifically booked a private room on the restaurant's second floor.
Before the food arrived, Olivia went out to wash her hands.
On her way back, her eyes accidentally glanced downstairs, and she vaguely spotted two familiar figures.
Olivia stopped and looked again, realizing one of them seemed to be Sophia.
There was a man next to Sophia, unusually tall, but it didn't look like Michael.
Olivia found it quite interesting.
Sophia was out having lunch alone with another man?
Wasn't that woman supposed to be clinging to Michael?
But it was just a glance - Olivia wasn't that nosy.
Besides, it was Sophia, and she couldn't be bothered. She just felt it was bad luck to be dining in the same restaurant as her.
How unlucky could she be to run into her here?
She quickly turned around and went back to the private room, planning to leave with Rodolfo as soon as they finished eating.
Downstairs.
Olivia hadn't been mistaken.
Sophia was indeed out having lunch with a man.
When she walked into the private room, Sophia's whole body was tense.
You could tell she didn't want to be with the man beside her - even her seating choice was as far away from him as possible.
"What, you really don't want to be close to me?" The man's casual tone disgusted Sophia.
If she could help it, she wouldn't want to be here at all.
But she had no choice with the person in front of her.
The man before her was her ex-husband!
After he came to Emerald City, he'd found ways to get her contact information.
Before, she could still block him.
But recently, he'd stopped pretending.
He directly threatened her that if she didn't come to meet him, he'd tell Michael about her wild past abroad.
When Sophia received that message, her heart sank.
But she had no other choice - she could only hide it from everyone and secretly meet her ex-husband here.
Sophia's face was dark as she glared viciously at the man before her. "Arthur, what exactly do you want!"
The man looked somewhat mixed-race, with deep features, chestnut curly hair, brown eyes, nearly 6 feet 7 inches tall, with a refined air and quite good looks.
Anyone familiar with the foreign entertainment industry might recognize him as a male model who was quite famous a few years ago.
Now, looking at the angry Sophia before him, he wasn't upset at all. He patiently smiled and said, "Darling, we haven't seen each other in so long, and this is your attitude?
You're really breaking my heart. Do you know how much I've missed you during our time apart?"
Sophia's expression was terrible. She had no patience to listen anymore and interrupted, "I don't have time to waste with you. Just say it - what do you want from me?"
Arthur showed a disappointed look and said, "Baby, do you really have no feelings for me anymore? Can't I look for you without a reason? I'm still Aiden's father after all, and legally, I have the right to visit him."
"Shut up!" Sophia's face darkened. "Arthur, stop pretending, and don't mention Aiden to me. Don't forget, we're already divorced! I told you then that Aiden has nothing to do with you anymore!"
Exposed, Arthur stopped pretending to be sentimental. He smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, those were all your unilateral demands. I never agreed."
"You!" Sophia trembled with anger at this man's shamelessness.
But right now, she couldn't do anything about Arthur. With him holding leverage over her, she didn't dare completely break things off. She could only grit her teeth and say, "Arthur, I don't care what your purpose is. Go back to wherever you came from. I don't have time to deal with you!"
The disgust in her eyes was too obvious. Perhaps this attitude provoked Arthur.
The man's originally pleasant expression suddenly darkened, and his look became somewhat sinister. "What position are you in to order me around?
Could it be as the future Mrs. Johnson?
But would the Johnson family even want you?"
Sophia's face went pale, as if he'd stepped on a sore spot.
The man's devil-like voice continued in her ear, "Your work achievements were stolen from others. At those parties, you embarrassed yourself so many times. Is Olivia really the useless housewife you claimed?"
Under his verbal assault, Sophia's face looked terrible. "Shut up!"
Her tone carried resentment.
During this time, she'd been completely crushed by Olivia, with people mocking her everywhere.
But what right did this man have?
He was just a washed-up model!
Back then, she'd only played with him because of his decent face!
Beyond that, he had nothing.
Arthur didn't care about being scolded. He smiled again, "What? Embarrassed and angry? But I'm telling the truth.
Only an idiot like Michael still believes your act.
Though I think he won't believe you much longer either, right?
After all, if someone had real substance, why would they need to worry about being exposed? Don't you agree?
Not to mention your wild past abroad - do you really think you can hide it from Michael forever?"
With each sentence he spoke, Sophia's face grew darker.
"If he knew that his first love was a promiscuous woman, what do you think his reaction would be?"
At that last sentence, Sophia reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Shut your mouth!" Furious, she slapped Arthur hard across the face.
Yes, she'd been wild back then, but who didn't have a youth? She just liked to have fun. She just never expected it would lead to problems, that this man would blackmail her into marriage and having a child.
It was because of this that she stayed abroad, giving Olivia the opportunity!
Now, seeing her plan to set things right about to succeed, she absolutely wouldn't allow anyone to ruin it!
Sophia gritted her teeth viciously. "Stop bringing up the past. My patience isn't that good either. Just tell me what you want!"
Arthur pressed his tongue against his numb cheek from the slap, but didn't get angry. Instead, seeing Sophia's desperate expression, he smiled again.
This time he didn't beat around the bush. "Since you don't want to reminisce with me, let's not waste time.
I need money. Three hundred million dollars. Transfer it to my account as soon as possible."
At these words, Sophia wondered if she'd misheard. "Are you joking?! Where would I get that much money?"
She thought Arthur had gone crazy!
Even when the Brown Group was still around and hadn't collapsed, she wouldn't have been able to easily come up with that amount.
Arthur wasn't angry. He continued smiling and reminded her, "I know you don't have it, but you can ask Michael for it.
While he still has feelings for you."
"Impossible!" Sophia bit out, cutting him off.
"Are you sure?" Arthur said with a half-smile. "Do you remember that crazy party I went to before our divorce?
You grabbed onto my mistake and used the Brown Group's connections to pressure me.
But recently I found out that you set me up at that party.
You'd already planned to come back and find Michael then, hadn't you?"
At these words, Sophia's expression changed slightly. "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Arthur saw through her act. He sneered, "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. I have proof.
I don't blame you for what you did, but after our divorce, guess what I've been doing all this time?"
Sophia's heart jumped, and for some reason, she had a bad feeling.
Seeing her silence, Arthur continued, "I went to find all your past boyfriends. I have to say, it was quite fruitful.
How you fooled around with them, how wild you were in bed - I've got a whole collection of photos and videos.
I wonder what Michael would think if he saw them?"
The threat in his tone made Sophia's face go pale. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She looked calm on the surface, but actually, Sophia's nails were already digging into her palms.
How could those photos still exist?
She'd clearly deleted them all back then.
Arthur chuckled. "If you don't believe me, why don't we watch them together with Michael? Could be a fun activity."
His confident expression made it impossible for Sophia not to believe him.
What if what he said was true? What if he really had those photos and videos?
No, she couldn't take that risk.
Those things absolutely could not appear in front of Michael!
Seeing she still didn't believe him, Arthur simply took out his phone and opened a video on the spot.
Suddenly, obscene language filled the air.
That was her voice. In the video, the naked body, the shameless face - it was her.
"Give me that!" Shocked, Sophia instinctively tried to grab it.
But Arthur was prepared and dodged.
He closed his phone and smiled. "What's the point of grabbing it now? Such precious material - of course I have countless backups. Even if I delete what's on this phone, there are copies elsewhere."
Sophia's face lost all color.
Now she had to believe that this man really had leverage over her.
She finally gave in, looking at him through gritted teeth. "If I give you the money, will you leave and delete all the photos and videos?"