Chapter 143: Emily Tricks Hannah
Outside and inside the door, both men were stunned by Sophia's firm and straightforward rejection.
But she remained calm and continued, "Is it really good for the children to force two parents together when there's no love between them?"
Sophia wanted to say: 'Isn't what happened to William's parents lesson enough?'
But in the end, she swallowed those words, not wanting to hurt Holden any further.
"Even if William and I are separated, our love for the two children won't decrease one bit because of this."
"James and Michael are already grown up. Do you see anything wrong with how they are now?"
Having said this much, Holden couldn't say anything more, though he felt regret in his heart.
Thinking of Henry's mess with relationships and William's emotional cluelessness, he felt an indescribable feeling inside.
William leaned against the wall by the door, the dim lighting making his features look even more profound, his face deeply somber.
Silence filled the room, flowing through the air.
Before Sophia came out, William had already left, returning to his separate villa at the Smith Manor.
Just as she was about to find the children, she discovered something had happened.
It all started because...
Holden was meeting guests in the upstairs lounge, so Henry was in charge of reception.
Although he had been forced to retire, he was still the previous head of the Smith family, and people in their circle would still show him some respect, though plenty mocked him behind his back.
Hannah stood beside Henry in a red dress, actually looking quite like a bride.
What bothered her most was never having had her own wedding.
Back then, she and Henry had secretly registered their marriage behind Holden's back, foreshadowing her status as an outsider in the Smith family for the next twenty-plus years.
A few days ago, Hannah went to Peace Group to apologize to William, but wasn't even allowed to enter the elevator.
Henry's card hadn't been unfrozen, so he couldn't pay bills, and he called to yell at her.
Hannah had no choice but to transfer all the money from her own card to Henry for emergency use, waiting for his card to be unfrozen so he could pay her back, but there had been no news.
Just as she was about to discuss this with him, Henry received a phone call.
Henry frowned, told Hannah to stay and chat with these wealthy ladies, then hurriedly left the banquet hall himself, not even hearing Hannah call after him.
In Empire City's elite circles, most marriages were business arrangements, but regardless, these women were all legitimate wives married through proper channels, and they weren't willing to talk much with someone like Hannah.
But there were some women in the circle who were like Hannah.
Seeing that she was William's stepmother, they still gathered around warmly, curiously asking about Sophia and Emily's identities.
Hannah sighed deliberately, "Her? She's the ex-wife William kicked out of the family."
"I didn't really want to say this, but... this woman is just too much! The real reason for their divorce was that she was pregnant with another man's child, and William found out."
She pulled out her phone and opened a video saved from an email.
In the video, Sophia moved between various bar stations, wearing the bar's standard uniform of shirt and pants, but her face was so beautiful that under the bar lights, she looked even more alluring.
"What good is being pretty when her private life is so messy? Who knows what diseases she might be carrying? Come to think of it, my two grandsons have always been sickly since childhood. I wonder if it's because of her."
Hannah snorted coldly and continued spreading rumors, "As for that little girl you saw, she's the proof of her affair back then!"
Hearing this, everyone gasped. These people loved nothing more than gossip, especially gossip about the Smith family, and they all perked up their ears to hear what Hannah would say next.
Seeing everyone's attention drawn to her, Hannah suddenly had the illusion of being the center of attention.
She pretended to sigh as she opened her phone, playing an anonymously received video, and the wealthy ladies around her were all drawn to look.
Hannah deliberately chose a video with unusual clothing. In the colorful lights of the bar, Sophia moved between men, wearing bunny ears on her head and dressed in a hostess outfit.
Her slender waist was visible as she bent over to pour drinks, and behind her, a man with a sleazy look stared at her waist, eyes full of greed, his hand reaching toward her lower back.
Just as he was about to touch the skin at her waist, the video cut off abruptly.
But based on Sophia's outfit in the video, the wealthy ladies assumed she must have been taken advantage of by the man.
Maybe even more happened after that.
"I can't believe the Smith family picked such a woman for their heir after all that careful selection. No wonder they divorced after just five years."
"When choosing a wife, you shouldn't pick someone too pretty - they're more likely to cheat."
"Come to think of it, if she hadn't given the Smith family James and Michael, she probably wouldn't have lasted even five years. What family could accept such a daughter-in-law?"
No one doubted James and Michael's bloodline though, since the Smith family would never let children without Smith family blood into the family.
Take Hannah, for example - everyone in the circle knew about her and Henry's affair back in the day.
Everyone knew, they just didn't talk about it.
Seeing everyone's disgusted expressions toward Sophia, Hannah felt immensely pleased - this was revenge for what Sophia did to Tanner!
Just then, she saw Emily playing outside with James and Michael, and a vicious idea flashed through her mind.
James was playing ball on the lawn with Michael and Emily.
Emily chased after James and Michael, and even when she fell on the grass, she immediately got up and continued chasing.
When she got tired of running, she went to play by herself on the side.
Seeing her sitting alone on a couch on the lawn to rest, James and Michael felt a bit relieved.
The two of them kicked the ball around near her.
Hannah deliberately walked to a corner where others couldn't see, using food to lure Emily, "Sweetie, want some candy?"
She held a large smiley-face candy in her hand, like the witch in a fairy tale tempting Snow White with an apple, smiling wickedly.
Emily looked at Hannah strangely as she crouched there. She remembered seeing Hannah before - she had been very mean to Sophia.
Seeing Emily not moving, Hannah felt a bit anxious.
If Henry came back and saw she wasn't in the banquet hall, he'd probably get angry again. She had to hurry and get control of Sophia's daughter.
But no matter how she tried to lure her, Emily just sat on the couch without moving, blinking her big eyes and watching Hannah's performance.
Seeing her not speaking, Emily deliberately put on a hesitant expression, eyes fixed on the candy in Hannah's hand.
Every time she showed this expression, Hannah's eyes lit up. She secretly planned that once she had control of Sophia's daughter, wouldn't it be easy to manipulate Sophia?
Meanwhile, Emily thought: 'Why did this person stop talking?'
So she stood up and walked one or two steps closer to Hannah, and sure enough, she heard Hannah's chattering again.
Emily would walk a short distance, Hannah would talk, she'd walk another bit, and Hannah would start babbling again.
When she was almost in front of Hannah, she ran back to the couch and smiled at her.
Emily thought: 'This person doesn't seem very smart.'
In the end, Hannah felt like she'd been played by a one-year-old child!