Chapter 182 Reputation in Ruins
Chapter 182 Reputation in Ruins
# Carl's POV
I hung up the phone in a rage, my chest heaving violently.
Thirty percent - even if that money plugged the hole on Sophia's end, the Smith family would be completely drained.
I wasn't willing to accept this. I absolutely couldn't accept this humiliating extortion!
# Sophia's POV
Meanwhile, in the bedroom at the Spencer Manor.
I had just finished showering and was sitting at the computer in silk pajamas.
The pale glow of the screen lit up my cool, expressionless face. My phone on the desk lit up - a message from my lawyer.
[Lady Sophia, Carl rejected the buyer's offer. Seems he wants to hold out a bit longer, can't bear to part with those assets.]
I picked up the glass of warm water beside me and took a sip, a faint mocking smile playing at my lips.
On death's door, still holding onto false hope.
Carl had spent most of his life scheming against others. Now that it was his turn to be carved up, naturally he was in agony.
My slender fingers tapped on the screen: [Send him the prepared exposure article and evidence screenshots, along with a countdown. Tell him that at midnight, it goes live across the entire internet.]
[Understood.]
# Carl's POV
I was pacing around the living room like a caged animal when my phone dinged with a new email.
I opened it and my face instantly turned deathly pale.
It was a beautifully formatted long image with a glaring headline: [The Truth Behind Smith Group Heiress Vivian's Plagiarism: Exposing the Fake Persona of a Socialite Designer]. The image not only showed comparison charts of Vivian's plagiarism, but also transfer records of her paying ghostwriters, and even transcripts of her arrogant and domineering private recordings.
At the very bottom of the email was a bright red countdown: Twenty minutes until network-wide release.
"Dad, what's that?" Vivian had come downstairs at some point. Seeing the content on my phone screen, she screamed, her whole body as if struck by lightning. "No! You can't release it! If this stuff gets out, I'm completely finished!"
Gretl also rushed over in a panic. After seeing the content clearly, her legs went weak and she collapsed on the floor.
"Carl! What are you standing there for!" Gretl clutched my pant leg desperately, crying with snot and tears streaming down. "Vivian is our family's last hope! If she's completely disgraced, how will the Smith family ever hold our heads up in Washington again!"
Vivian cried even more miserably, shaking my arm as if seeking death. "Dad! I'm begging you! Just give them the money! I can't have a reputation for plagiarism. If Ryan finds out, he'll definitely break off our engagement! Dad, please save me!"
Watching my wife and daughter in this state of collapse, then looking at that constantly jumping red countdown, the last line of defense in my heart completely crumbled.
I closed my eyes in despair, as if I'd aged ten years in an instant.
I had no choice.
Sophia was just a heartless debt collector. She meant what she said.
With trembling hands, I redialed the broker Mr. Strand, my voice hoarse beyond recognition. "Mr. Strand, contact that buyer. Thirty percent is fine. Have him prepare the contract and funds immediately."
However, Mr. Strand's helpless voice came from the other end. "Mr. Smith, it's too late. The buyer just said if you'd agreed earlier, it would be thirty percent. Now, he's only willing to offer twenty-five percent."
"What?!" My vision went black and I nearly coughed up blood. "He's kicking me when I'm down! Twenty-five percent - how dare he!"
"The buyer says take it or leave it. In a little while, even if you gave away these assets for free, probably no one would dare take them."
The veins on the back of my hand gripping the phone bulged, my nails nearly breaking.
Humiliation, rage, despair - like countless invisible hands pressing me down into the mud.
"Dad! There's only fifteen minutes left on the countdown!" Vivian screamed in terror.
"I'll sign!" I forced these words through gritted teeth, my eyes full of humiliated bloodshot veins. "Do the expedited online process right now, have him transfer the money immediately!"
11:55 PM.
With a "ding" of a text notification, that payment carrying all my humiliation and life's work finally arrived in the Smith family's account.
I didn't dare delay a single second. With shaking hands, I operated the online banking, transferring that huge compensation amount in full to Sophia's designated account.
The moment the successful transfer page appeared, it was as if all strength had been drained from my body. My phone dropped onto the carpet and I collapsed onto the sofa, gasping for breath.
The wall clock's second hand passed midnight.
Vivian stared at her phone screen, her heart nearly jumping out of her throat.
Five minutes passed, ten minutes passed - the internet remained calm, with no exposure about her plagiarism.
"She didn't post it. She didn't post it." Vivian wept with joy, collapsing into Gretl's arms. "Mom, I'm saved. My reputation is saved!"
Gretl also let out a long sigh of relief, patting her chest with a look of having survived a disaster.
However, this brief celebration didn't last long.
Gretl glanced at me, looking as if I'd lost half my life, hesitated, then carefully spoke up: "Carl, we've plugged the hole on Sophia's end, but what about the Lopez family?"
At the mention of the Lopez family, the atmosphere in the living room, which had just eased slightly, instantly dropped to freezing again.
Right - the Lopez family's astronomical bride price and compensation still hung over the Smith family's head like an insurmountable mountain.
The Smith family had now sold even our last pair of underwear. What would we use to repay the Lopez family? If the Lopez family pressed us, the Smith family would still face bankruptcy.
My already fragile nerves were viciously stabbed again. I suddenly grabbed the ashtray from the coffee table and smashed it on the floor, glass shards flying everywhere.
"Pay them back! Pay them back! Should I pay with my life!" I roared hysterically, glaring at Vivian with bloodshot eyes. "If you hadn't insisted on provoking Sophia, hadn't done that plagiarism thing, would the Smith family have fallen to this state! You useless fool who ruins everything!"
Vivian flinched at my shouting, then began crying pitifully.
"How can you blame this all on me!" Vivian beat the sofa as if seeking death, putting all the resentment on Sophia. "It's Sophia! She deliberately set me up! She just can't stand to see me doing well, jealous that I'm the Smith family heiress, jealous that I can marry into the Lopez family! That bitch, I hate her so much!"
Vivian's eyes flashed with tangible malice and hatred.