Chapter 206 Thorough Investigation! Dismissal! Hit!
Even though she already had her suspicions, Sophia didn't jump to a conclusion right away.
She took the watch out of the drawer, returned it to William, and reminded him to look into his female secretary carefully.
"There's one more thing I need to tell you."
Sophia told him about what happened at the hotel in Forton County a while back, when Molly knocked on his door wearing revealing pajamas.
William's eyes narrowed as he asked, "You believed it?"
"No."
Sophia answered without hesitation. She had not been lied to,simply because she didn't care at all.
After the divorce, she found herself becoming unusually rational.
William didn't feel relieved by her trust. Instead, he saw her complete indifference in Sophie's eyes.
Thinking back to what happened that day and Sophia's cold attitude in the days that followed, William felt a sharp pain in his chest, his whole body tensing up. He felt a huge sense of crisis, and his pride took a hit.
Sophia's intention in bringing this up was to hope he'd be more careful. After all, using a "seduction tactic" wasn't unusual in business competition.
Now that she'd told William about Emily's background, these words had likely been heard by whoever installed the listening devices.
She was worried they might harm Emily.
Sophia looked at him and said seriously, "Even if you are Emily's father, there's a trial period. Whether Emily will willingly call you dad depends entirely on your ability."
"As her mother, I only have one requirement: I don't want to see the children get hurt because of the women around you."
"Empire City belongs to you. If just anyone can hurt your child, it only proves you're not capable enough - it's your failure as a father."
Blood ties are hard to break, but they're not permanent chains either.
Sophia warned him bluntly, "Being indecisive only gives bad people opportunities and leads to bigger disasters in the end."
William took her words to heart. He was also worried that Molly might really be a dangerous person, as Sophia suggested.
He didn't want to see what happened to Alice happen again, and he definitely didn't want to hurt the children.
He had just acknowledged Emily as his daughter and hadn't even gained her acceptance yet. He absolutely couldn't let her face any danger because of him.
William promised, "I'll get to the bottom of this and won't let her hurt the children."
Sophia coldly replied, "That's what you said back then, too..."
William had no way to argue with that.
Before leaving the Johnson Villa, William made a special trip to the playroom to find Emily, who was changing clothes on her pink fox toy.
"Emily..."
Emily turned around at the sound and still called him, "Mr. Smith."
Though disappointed, William could understand the child.
He walked over to Emily, knelt on one knee, opened his arms, and asked, "I'm leaving now. Can I give you a hug?"
"Sure."
Emily didn't hold back and gave him a big hug.
The moment Emily came into his arms, William felt an indescribable emotion.
He kissed the top of Emily's head, his eyes gentle.
"Emily, I failed to take care of you and your mom. I understand that you don't want to call me dad."
"I'm willing to wait until the day you're willing to call me dad."
Emily lifted her head from his embrace, her smile bright, encouraging him, "You can do it."
William let her go, "Okay, I'll do my best."
As he reached the playroom door, he suddenly heard Emily speak behind him, "Mr. Smith, I have my mom, my uncle, my godmother..."
"They all love me."
Emily's underlying message was that she hoped he wouldn't be so sad.
Love doesn't depend on roles.
Although William had been absent from the father role, she had never lacked the love of family elders and had always received lots of love.
She waved the pink fox in her hand at him, "Mr. Smith, goodbye."
That same day, after leaving the Johnson Villa, William went straight back to the company.
He called his assistant Tony into the office and instructed, "Get me the list of projects Molly has handled."
Tony did so immediately.
William had already suspected something was off about Molly. He deliberately kept her by his side to let her reveal clues. But Molly was indeed smart - during this time, the Eagle Hill project she was following hadn't shown a single error.
Looking through the projects Molly had handled once more, William quickly found new problems.
Besides all these projects having the same supplier, there was another suspicious thing - several of the project managers had all jumped ship from their competitor, "Harmony Pharmaceutical."
William said coldly, "The Eagle Hill project trap can be wrapped up now."
"Also, set up an investigation team to re-examine all the projects she's handled."
For Molly to rise from a small assistant to the position of the CEO's secretary, her abilities and methods were naturally more outstanding than those of her peers.
William continued ordering, "Keep looking for evidence of her collusion with Quinn."
After learning Molly's identity was suspicious, Tony had been following William's instructions all along.
He had Tony send Molly another confidential email, which was actually a computer virus that would directly monitor her computer.
Molly didn't know yet that they suspected her, but Sophia's words had set off alarm bells for her.
Thinking about the secret she'd heard through the listening device, Molly secretly made a decision.
These past few days, Molly has taken sick leave because of her ear injury, which happened to give the company time for an internal investigation.
William had just returned from a business trip abroad, and the one by his side was a male secretary from before who had decent abilities.
In the office, Tony, who had stayed at the company to investigate, immediately reported the latest progress to William - the evidence was solid.
Tony reported, "Mr. Smith, it's all compiled."
"There's also a file Aubrey put together. He saw Ms. White secretly getting into the car of Harmony Pharmaceutical's chairman."
Aubrey was the man who had been jealous of Molly's bonus. He often eavesdropped on Molly's phone calls and had followed her several times after work.
William reviewed all the materials.
After confirming Molly's identity as a corporate spy, he coldly instructed, "Have HR prepare a termination contract for her and pursue compensation for the losses she caused the company."
"Also, send Aubrey a termination letter, too."
Although Molly wasn't a good person, this Aubrey, who stalked and eavesdropped on colleagues out of jealousy, also failed in character.
If not dealt with now, he'd cause bigger problems later.
After working for a week, William pinched his throbbing temples. Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest, he received a call from Henry.
Hearing Henry's words, William's expression grew worse.
Since Henry's second divorce, Holden had kicked him out of the Smith Manor and given him a small apartment to live in.
When William arrived at the apartment, it was dinnertime.
He rang the doorbell.
Henry had been waiting for him inside and immediately said enthusiastically when he saw him, "You're here, come in quickly."
William's tone was distant, "Just give me the thing."
If Henry hadn't said he found a diary Luna left for him, William wouldn't have shown up here, much less seen him again.
Luna did have a habit of keeping a diary, but before she died, she destroyed everything related to her.
Even William didn't have any of Luna's belongings.
His reason for coming here wasn't to keep a memento of Luna, but simply because he didn't want her things to be defiled by Henry, this unfaithful man, even after her death.
Henry played the emotion card, "It's been a long time since our father and son had a meal together. I was wrong in the past; I apologize to you. I don't expect your forgiveness, just have one last meal with me."
Seeing William unmoved, he added, "After we eat, I'll give you the diary!"
The table had a simple spread of four dishes and a soup, made by a part-time worker who came at set times. Although William sat at the dining table, he didn't touch the utensils.
However, before long, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
Henry watched William collapse and sneered, "You bastard, you dare fight with me? You're still too naive!"
Henry came out of the bathroom wearing a gas mask, turned off the humidifier next to the dining table that had been laced with strong sedatives, and made a phone call.
Soon, the apartment door was opened from the outside.
Molly, dressed in a red dress, walked in. Looking at William unconscious at the dining table, a vicious glint flashed in her eyes.
Just moments ago, she had received a termination notice from Peace Group. And before that, she had still been confirming with Tony when she'd return to work.
Good thing she had prepared in advance.
Henry carried William to the guest room and stripped off all his upper clothing. He instructed Molly as she came in, "Hurry up!"