Chapter 72
Even so, Sophia still became famous, and her popularity even overshadowed Emily's.
This led netizens to start digging into their private lives, into Emily's father, Sophia's past, and how Sophia's mother married Emily's father. Such a big deal naturally couldn't be hidden from the Johnson family.
In fact, ever since Sophia was summoned by the police that day, she'd been on edge. She always felt this matter wasn't over yet.
Although these past few days she'd erased all the traces of her crime that she could, no one could guarantee the police wouldn't find other clues.
These past few days, Sophia had been constantly worried, afraid the police would come for her again. She couldn't be sure that if she entered the police station again, she'd come out safely.
Fortunately, there hadn't been any movement from the police these past few days. Just when Sophia thought she'd successfully gotten through this crisis, who would've thought there'd be such an uproar online?
She heard that recording and knew Emily had released it. She saw the netizens' comments and was so scared she froze on the spot, unable to react for a long time.
That bitch Emily actually exposed the recording. How could she forget Emily had this move? Emily was now an internet celebrity. Netizens loved Emily so much, constantly urging her to start livestreaming and wanting to give her money.
Good thing Emily didn't do that; otherwise, if Emily played the victim in a livestream, wouldn't her reputation be even worse?
But even so, now that Emily had exposed this matter, it was enough to make Sophia miserable.
"Sophia, look at what you've done!"
While Sophia was hiding at home, not knowing how to deal with this, Brian kicked the door open.
He'd also seen the news online. He was furious and had to come settle accounts with Sophia.
"How could you be so careless and leave such evidence? Are you trying to kill me with anger!"
"How are we supposed to handle this? If we don't handle it well, you're finished for life! The Johnson family is finished, too! Why do you cause so much trouble?"
Following Brian was Harper. She patted Brian's chest to help him calm down.
"Honey, Sophia didn't do it on purpose. She must be feeling terrible, too. Shouldn't we blame Emily for all this?"
"If Emily hadn't put this online, how would netizens know? You're blaming the wrong person. You should be yelling at Emily, not bullying our daughter!"
"Get away from me!"
Brian raised his hand and pushed Harper aside, glaring at her. "You have the nerve to talk? This is the good daughter you raised. Never does anything useful, just causes me trouble, and now she's caused huge trouble!"
"Do you expect me to clean up her mess? Do you know what people are saying about the Johnson family online?"
"If it were just that, fine, but today so many people came asking me what happened. How am I supposed to answer? You're all driving me crazy!"
"Dad, I didn't want this either."
Sophia looked wronged. "I just lost my mind for a moment, and I didn't want to do anything to that child. I just wanted to teach her a lesson so Emily wouldn't dare go against me anymore."
"You saw it too—Nina went back perfectly fine, not a hair out of place. This proves I had no bad intentions. It's Emily who won't let it go and insists on making this a big deal. How can you yell at me?"
Sophia started speaking confidently, but gradually her voice dropped.
She knew she was in the wrong. Regardless of whether she hurt Nina, the fact that she kidnapped her was undeniable.
And in that recording, Sophia spoke so badly, cursing constantly and deliberately trying to manipulate Nina. That was already illegal. Otherwise, netizens wouldn't be so angry, even wanting to dig up dirt on her.
"Shut up!"
Brian raised his hand to hit her, and Sophia quickly dodged to the side.
"At a time like this, you're still making excuses? When will you realize your mistake!"
Brian's face was red with anger. "I don't care what you have to do; fix this right now. We can't let public opinion get worse, or where will I put my face? Will I even be able to go out anymore?"
"I'm telling you, if the Johnson family's reputation is ruined because of you, you'll be the Johnson family's criminal! I'll never forgive you!"
Brian got angrier as he spoke, the flesh on his cheeks trembling. If Harper wasn't holding him back, he really wanted to grab Sophia and beat her to death.
How does Sophia only know how to cause trouble day after day? When Emily lived at home, she was much better behaved than Sophia. Emily never gave him headaches. Comparing the two, the difference was obvious.
Sophia felt both wronged and indignant. She was about to say more when Harper quickly gave her a look.
Brian was at the peak of his anger and wouldn't listen to anything. He cared most about his reputation. Things had already reached this point—they could only clean up the mess quickly.
After Brian vented his anger, he turned and left.
Harper stayed behind. "What exactly happened? Didn't you say you'd already handled it?"
Harper was also confused. "Look how angry you've made your dad. What exactly did you tell the police that day? Is there still any way to turn this around?"
"Mom, this really isn't my fault."
Sophia stamped her foot in anger. "You saw it too—Emily was the one who exposed this. If she hadn't done that, wouldn't everything be fine?"
"Dad too—he came to scold me without even understanding what happened, and even tried to hit me. I really can't stay in this house anymore!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Harper glared at her and lowered her voice. "If it weren't for your dad, you and I would've starved to death long ago. You can't have such foolish thoughts."
She sighed. "Your dad is right. Blaming each other now is useless. We need to settle this quickly."
"Think of a way to explain this to netizens, but don't say anything too outrageous. Since netizens already know, the police are probably watching your every move, too. You need to be careful."
"How am I supposed to fix this?"
Sophia was almost in tears. "If I had a solution, I wouldn't be sitting here in a daze. Besides, what did I do wrong?"
"It was clearly Emily who seduced James first. She provoked me first; I would've forgotten she even existed. How could I possibly go against her?"
"Alright, stop talking."
Harper was helpless. "Think of something quickly. I'm going to calm your dad down. Solve this fast, or forget about netizens attacking you—you won't even get past your dad."