Chapter 127: The Johnson Family's People Can't Grow Such Brains
"I wasn't sure about the girl's story at first. It's tough to judge without all the details. But a guy hitting someone? That's just wrong."
"Does having money mean you can do whatever you want? Even if we're not rich, we still have our dignity. Stand up to the rich jerks!"
"This is too much! We can't let them get away with this!"
Niamh's careful manipulation stirred sympathy in the crowd, leading many to voice their accusations against Byron.
Byron's face darkened. He'd finally gotten a chance to meet with Emily, and he couldn't let anyone spoil her mood.
Thinking this, Byron and Sophia exchanged a knowing glance. He was about to signal the staff to approach Niamh.
"Byron!"
Emily called out, sensing his intentions.
Byron paused, looking at Emily in confusion.
Ignoring Byron, Emily walked straight up to Niamh.
"Your tactics are crude, but they work. Blind followers are all the same. Are you proud of yourself?"
Emily didn't hold back. If she had something to say, she said it.
Who cared if she was being blunt?
She was happy doing it.
Niamh's face twisted in anger but she quickly masked it with a pitiful look. "Emily, how can you say that about me? Even if I mentioned you were disowned by the Johnson family, I was just stating a fact. Are you mad because it's true?"
Emily chuckled, "I don't care about that. You're right, it's a fact."
"Then why—"
"What I want to know is, who are you to question my friends? And if Byron and Sophia made it big with their family's help, does that make their success any less real? Are you out of your mind? Just because you're average doesn't mean everyone else is."
Emily's voice was icy.
She was standing up for Byron and Sophia.
The two were deeply touched.
Niamh felt humiliated.
"You know that's not what I meant. I'm just worried Sophia might go down the wrong path. As family, isn't it natural to be concerned?"
"The most annoying thing is when people use 'it's for your own good' as an excuse to do things you don't like. Instead of worrying about things you don't understand, why don't you focus on improving yourself, rather than flirting with different men?"
Emily had heard "it's for your own good" too many times. In her past life, she had often been trapped by such words.
"By the way, let me remind you. I have a project for them now, and they'll make more than two million dollars in the future. Let's see if you still have the guts to say 'just two million dollars.' From what I know, your family can't even come up with that amount. It seems Sophia's family often helps yours out. You're ungrateful and trying to make others misunderstand Sophia. What a way to repay kindness!"
"I, I didn't!"
Niamh panicked. She couldn't afford to be accused of such things.
Moreover, she couldn't let Sophia hear this. If Sophia complained to her father, and he stopped helping her family, her parents would kill her.
Emily didn't care about her worries.
She turned to the group and said, "Let's go. Let's find a private room to eat and avoid running into self-righteous people like her."
The restaurant manager, noticing their attire and realizing they must come from wealthy families, had been watching from the sidelines, not wanting to offend anyone.
Seeing that Emily wanted to end the drama, the restaurant manager eagerly stepped forward and offered, "Please, let me arrange the best private room for you."
Emily led the group to the private room.
While waiting for the food to be served, Sophia and Byron couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Johnson, what's the project about? Tell us more!"
Byron, still feeling a sense of competition with Terry, couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"And Ms. Johnson, who is this? You promised I'm your number one follower. How many followers do you have?"
Byron, who usually had a fierce expression, now looked almost pitifully at Emily.
His subordinates would probably be shocked to see this.
Emily's lips twitched.
Why did this make her seem like the villain?
"Yes, yes, you're the number one follower. Let me introduce you. This is Terry, the project leader. I'm starting a medical AI research project, and he's an expert in this field. Since I don't have much time, I'll be entrusting it entirely to him."
Emily introduced Terry to Sophia and Byron.
Terry proudly greeted them, "Hello, I'm Terry."
Since he was someone Emily trusted, although Sophia and Byron felt a bit resentful about having to share Emily's attention, they still politely greeted him, "Hello, Terry."
Seeing them getting along, Emily continued, "I'll give you the project plan and materials later. You can review them and decide if you want to invest. You both have priority investment rights."
It was a privilege she offered.
Byron immediately assured, "Ms. Johnson, no need to review. I trust you. Investing with you is definitely profitable."
Both Byron and Isaac had complete faith in Emily now.
He was sure that once he told Isaac, they could secure a significant amount of investment funds.
Sophia, though not as bold as Byron, also promised, "Ms. Johnson, I'll show the materials to my family. I'm sure they'll be convinced to invest a large sum. My family already wanted to thank you for finding me a tutor, but hadn't figured out how. This time, they'll definitely be willing to invest."
Emily smiled, "I'm not forcing you to invest. Let your family decide. I'm inviting you to invest not because I'm particularly short on money. So, as you said, since you're with me, I'll make sure you earn money."
"You might have misunderstood. Even if you don't invest, there are plenty of people eager to do so. The technology isn't that difficult."
Terry admired the two for being so well taken care of by Emily.
Although they seemed a bit naive, naive people often had good fortune.
The two were deeply touched and now found Terry more agreeable.
Both of them, already appreciative of technical talents, now respected him even more.
Byron's eyes sparkled as he looked at Terry, "Terry, you must be amazing at computing, right? Can you do hacker stuff? Are you ranked?"
Terry confidently replied, "I'm just average, globally ranked second."
"And the first..."
Terry glanced at Emily, "Who else could it be? You tell me!"
Sophia excitedly exclaimed, "Ms. Johnson, why are you so amazing? How does your brain work? You can do everything. The Johnson family was right; you don't seem like one of them. After all, the Johnson family doesn't have genes good enough to produce someone as smart as you."