Chapter 231 Is This the Way to Deal with Her?
"Are you sure? And where did you get this information from?"
Aiden was indeed somewhat hesitant.
Using this method was pretty ruthless, and it also meant that his relationship with Emily could never return to how it was before.
"Of course, I had someone look into it. That person lives in that villa community, so her information is definitely reliable."
Bianca didn't mention the mysterious person behind the message, but made up an excuse instead.
That villa community was full of wealthy and noble residents.
It wasn't a place where just anyone could buy a house and move in with some money.
If it came from someone there, the credibility was indeed very high.
"I had no idea you'd made friends from there, Bianca," Aiden asked doubtfully.
If Bianca had this kind of ability, in the future, he could ask her for help if he needed such connections.
Bianca replied casually, "Girls' friendships, you know, sometimes they just happen out of nowhere. We hit it off, and we don't care about status. After all, someone with that kind of background doesn't care whether others are rich or not, so that's how we became friends."
Seeing how naturally she spoke, Aiden didn't doubt her.
However, he thought Emily was capable, so he didn't want to completely burn bridges.
In business, there was also the saying: leave some room when dealing with people, so you can meet again in the future.
"Maybe we should discuss this with Dad first. I feel like this move is too harsh!"
Aiden said hesitantly.
Bianca knew exactly what Aiden was thinking. She wanted to force him to completely choose her side, so that in the future, if she and Emily really had a conflict, Aiden would only be able to choose her side.
"Aiden, it's not that I really want to destroy Emily completely, but this time I know we have no choice but to do this. Once that twenty percent of shares falls into her hands, plus her position as project leader for the cooperation with the Reyes Group, and with Mr. Smith backing her, if she finds some scattered shareholders and gets more shares, the Johnson Group will really be under her control."
"Are you willing to accept that? Would Father be willing? This time, you need to have the courage to make this decision. Father is getting old and will be soft-hearted. Ultimately, it needs to be decided by you, the future head of the Johnson family."
Aiden was finally persuaded by Bianca.
"Alright, we'll do as you say!"
Emily had just finished taking Daniel's pulse and inserting acupuncture needles before returning to the villa.
She had no idea she'd already been schemed against by those two.
Back at the villa.
She first called over Leopard, Zander, and Bird. As for the other two, they had temporarily gone back to handle their own matters.
"I've already transferred the money to your accounts. I'm sure you've received it. I wonder if you've made your decisions about what I proposed yesterday?"
Emily had talked to them about becoming her subordinates and working together long-term.
The two who left—one was seeking medical treatment. Emily told him to bring his relative over, and she could treat them.
The other one, called Beau, had a younger brother who got into trouble and was detained. Emily had called Knox at the time to ask for help. Beau promised that after rescuing his brother, he would come find Emily.
Emily had basically won those two over.
They had needs, so they were easy to recruit.
These three relied entirely on Emily's personal charm to see if she could keep them, since they didn't have any weaknesses.
"We've thought it over. We'll work for you from now on, but nothing that harms innocent people!"
Zander immediately said with a smile.
Leopard smacked him on the head, "What are you talking about? SQ went to the compound to do such good deeds—could she be someone who does harm? Just based on how you prioritized our safety and told us to leave, we know that working for you means we don't have to worry about being abandoned or schemed against!"
Bird smiled in an extremely charming way, "I just like working for a beauty - it makes me happy. So, beauty, please take care of us from now on!"
As Bird spoke, he even blew Emily a kiss.
Although Emily still wasn't quite used to their different personalities, she still nodded with a smile, "Welcome to the team. Let's all work well together. There's only one rule for working with me: no betrayal. One act of disloyalty means you're done forever! Also, from now on, you can call me Ms. Johnson or Emily."
No need for "beauty."
"Yes, Ms. Johnson!"
The three responded in unison, solemnly.
Emily told them they could freely explore and enjoy Silverlight City when they had time. Later, she would have Aaron and Terry meet with them to see which company they wanted to work for.
After arranging things with the three, Emily returned to her study, preparing to obtain evidence of Rhett's extortion of one million dollars and to personally see him.
If he didn't know what was good for him, she'd report him to the police.
Just then, her phone rang.
Emily looked and saw it was a call from Willow at school.
"Willow, hello, what's the matter?" Emily answered the call and asked gently.
She'd almost forgotten about the design competition.
Willow had actually tried to contact Emily two days earlier, but Emily had already boarded a plane to go abroad, so the call couldn't get through.
Now, with the preliminary round about to start, out of a sense of responsibility, she decided to call Emily to notify her.
Fortunately, this time the call went through.
"Emily, although you've transferred departments, since you've already registered and uploaded your design to the organizers' judges, as your former teacher, I still need to tell you.
Your design has passed the preliminary selection. The first round is tomorrow - are you ready to participate?"
Willow was a middle-aged woman in her forties who wore glasses. She always spoke gently and softly, and students really liked her.
Her appearance reflected her heart—it was because she was kind-hearted that she kept calling Emily again and again, worried that Emily would miss this opportunity.
Emily said gratefully to Willow, "Ms. Reed, thank you for reminding me. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have known I passed the selection and entered the next stage of the competition. Since I chose to register, I'll naturally participate in the first round if I pass."
"Good, you're a very intelligent and talented student. I hope you can go far. Keep it up!"
Willow encouraged her a couple more times and gave Emily some tips based on her experience.
After thanking her repeatedly, Emily hung up the phone.
"Master, you have a visitor!"
At the door, a mechanical voice came from the smart lock.
Just after Emily hung up the phone, the doorbell rang.
There were no other servants at home, and since Violette and the others weren't there, Emily had upgraded the smart lock on the door to prevent someone from looking for her while she was upstairs and couldn't hear the knocking. Now it was especially intelligent and automated.
Emily went downstairs.
When the door opened.
Seeing the uniformed people standing in front of her, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
Logically, if the matter at the compound had been resolved and the law enforcement team wanted to contact her to commend her, they should have called her first to explain and even told her some specific details about the compound situation.
Moreover, Emily felt this shouldn't be happening so quickly.
After all, after she cracked down on criminals and rescued the asset, the follow-up involved negotiations between the two countries, as well as personnel transfers, including subsequent punishments, and many other matters.
"Are you Emily?" the person asked seriously.
Emily nodded, "I am. May I ask what brings you here?"
"It's like this - someone has reported that you kidnapped Hayden and are hiding him in your home. We need to conduct an investigation, so please cooperate!"
The person didn't show any bias toward Emily and spoke in a businesslike manner, even issuing a search warrant.
Emily remembered Chase's warning when he came to see her, and vaguely guessed that this was probably the work of someone from the Johnson family.
Fortunately, she had prepared in advance and wasn't nervous at all. "I'm a law-abiding citizen, so of course I'll cooperate with the investigation. Please, come in!"