Chapter 160 Lily, I'll Give You a Lesson
Cold sweat broke out on Sophie's forehead, and she was so scared she could barely hold her phone steady.
She hurriedly left Lily's seat.
But Austin blocked her way. "You haven't answered my question yet. What were you just doing?"
Sophie's hands were shaking, and she didn't dare look at Austin.
She stammered, "I... I was just trying to help David's project win the bid. After all, Maple Leaf Corporation is David's competitor right now. I wanted to help."
"Helping is fine, but what you just did is illegal, you know that? And you're hurting Lily by doing this!" Austin never expected Sophie would do something like this!
He suddenly remembered what Michael had said. "So what happened with the coffee shop surveillance last time—was that real?"
"Austin, it's not like that," Sophie tried to explain.
But Austin didn't want to hear her explanations. He grabbed her arm. "Go apologize to Lily right now!"
Even though he had issues with Lily, and just moments ago, he was trying to convince her not to join the Bubble Buddies Team, he would never do something like this!
Sophie was terrified, sweat breaking out on her forehead, her voice pleading, "Austin, I was doing this for David. Please don't tell anyone."
If Lily found out, she'd be completely finished.
Given Lily's personality, she would never tolerate this kind of betrayal!
Austin was incredulous. "You're saying David told you to do this? To steal Lily's materials?"
"Yes, otherwise why would I do something so risky? There's nothing in it for me." In her panic, Sophie could only use David as a shield!
Austin was stunned. He hadn't expected David to make Sophie do this.
Though given David's personality, he was exactly the type who would do something like this, especially since David had such a big problem with Lily now.
He'd even said he wanted to destroy Maple Leaf Corporation!
Seeing Austin waver, Sophie quickly pressed her advantage. "Michael has put half his fortune into this project just to establish a foothold in Empire City. If this project fails, it'll be a huge blow to Michael, too!"
"But you can't use such underhanded methods. Can't you compete fairly? Does David really have to destroy Lily completely?" Austin still felt something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Austin, David doesn't want to destroy her completely. He just thinks Lily isn't suited for business or being in the spotlight. Plus, she's offended the Harper family now, so her future will be very difficult.
If Lily fails this time, she'll focus on her studies and stop causing trouble."
Austin fell silent.
Sophie continued, "Look at Lily now—she's so famous, she doesn't take the Roberts family seriously at all. Just now, she was about to join your rival, the Bubble Buddies Team. She clearly doesn't respect you.
David's idea is to let Lily learn a hard lesson, then she'll realize how good the Roberts family is.
Maybe she won't join the Bubble Buddies Team and will stay on your team instead.
After all, we're family!"
Hearing that last line, Austin wondered—would Lily really stay on his team in the end?
"What are you two sneaking around doing here?" Lily suddenly walked over.
Sophie jumped in fright and quickly explained, "Nothing, Austin and I were just discussing team matters. Now that you're the Quest University team captain, do you still need to join the Bubble Buddies Team?"
"It's not out of the question. After all, the Bubble Buddies Team has strength, good benefits, and great prospects!"
Lily returned to her seat and glanced at her computer, then smirked.
She looked up. "You two touched my computer, didn't you?"
"No, Austin and I were just chatting here the whole time. Maybe someone else touched your computer! Right, Austin?" Sophie looked at Austin, her heart racing.
Don't say anything, please don't!
Austin nodded vaguely.
He looked at Lily seriously. "David is determined to win this bid. He'll use every method available. You're just an employee anyway, so you should leave while you can."
"Who says I'm just an employee? If this project wins the bid, I'll get stock options and shares in Maple Leaf Corporation."
After Lily finished speaking, Sophie looked surprised. Was Maple Leaf Corporation really that generous?
No wonder Lily was so determined to get the data from David!
Sophie felt jealous, but thinking about what she'd just photographed, she wouldn't let Lily have her moment of glory.
Austin's expression was complicated.
Sophie was right—Lily was becoming more and more successful and didn't take the Roberts family seriously anymore.
If Lily stumbled and faced difficulties, she would surely realize how good the Roberts family was.
Then he could help her.
And Lily would probably stay with the Roberts family and rejoin his team.
Austin had been regretting everything and wanted a chance to reset it all.
Maybe this was that chance.
Seeing that Austin hadn't exposed her, Sophie quickly said, "Austin, let's go. David should be here soon."
In the end, Austin said nothing and left with Sophie.
Lily sat in front of her computer, glanced at the PPT on her desktop, and shut down the computer.
Soon, people from Maple Leaf Corporation arrived too.
The person in charge, Delbert Loomis, told Lily, "Mr. Murphy said he has something to deal with and won't be coming. We can handle things ourselves."
"Okay." Lily found it strange that Eric wasn't coming, since he was the one who had invited her to participate yesterday.
But she didn't think much of it—probably a last-minute work arrangement.
Soon, people started arriving one after another.
David arrived with a large group, marching in confidently, looking confident of victory.
Lily looked at Sophie, but Sophie's eyes were evasive.
David walked right up to Lily. "I heard the Harper family stopped sponsoring the Empire Team. As soon as you become captain, you have to cover the base expenses. How much money do you have to invest?"
"Whether I have money or not is none of your business," Lily shot back.
David put his hands on Lily's desk, his tone cold. "I'm giving you a chance right now. If you apologize and admit you're wrong, I'll replace the Harper family and sponsor all your club's expenses. How about it?"
Lily looked up. "Keep your money to yourself. Don't embarrass yourself!"
Her expression was cool and unyielding.
David stared hard at Lily. "Good, very good. Then I'll teach you a proper lesson this time and make you lose completely!"
"We don't know who'll win yet!" Lily raised her eyebrows, her gaze defiant.
David stormed back to his seat across the room, looking at Lily like he wanted to devour her.
Lily sat calmly, completely unaffected.
The Maple Leaf Corporation people around Lily were all intimidated.
After all, they'd researched their competitors and knew this was an influential family in Empire City, much more powerful than Maple Leaf Corporation.
The other CEO was so fierce, yet Lily wasn't backing down at all.
Delbert whispered to Lily, "Lily, weren't you being a bit too aggressive just now? They're a powerful big company after all."
"Lily, do you know him? Or do you have some history?"
Lily nodded. "Yes, we have history!"
David wanted to make her bow her head? Impossible!
The official staff also arrived and asked the companies present to prepare to introduce their AI products.
The Roberts Group was first.
David personally presented. A CEO naturally commands presence, and his introduction was professional and compelling.
After seeing the PPT presentation, the Maple Leaf Corporation people's faces changed instantly.
"Lily, why does their content sound so similar to ours?"
Lily stood up and said loudly, "Because they plagiarized our ideas!"