Chapter 184 Getting Married
The following morning.
Sophia woke up to two updates.
The good news was that two internet users from Rain Village had specifically contacted their families. After learning that the late elderly couple had died of Natural causes, they located their son, who had returned to Forton County's the city center.
He was packing his bags, saying he was going abroad for vacation.
Everyone was from the same village and had a rough idea of each other's financial situation. When the netizens deliberately provoked them, they accidentally let the cat out of the bag.
"I did it deliberately, so what? Don't forget, we're all from the same village. She's just an stranger. You'd better keep your mouth shut, or don't blame me for my rudeness!"
The son of the two deceased elderly people didn't know that his neighbors were streaming live.
After they sent the video to the company responsible for reward claims, they immediately received a wire transfer of $100,000.
This was far more money than they made from livestreaming!
Other netizens who had been watching and anticipating the payout immediately grew jealous.
Some asked people to help investigate, some began analyzing videos, and psychology students started analyzingTammy's micro-expression.
In short, Sophia didn't need to make to explain herself - the netizens had already started finding evidence to debunk the article.
They hoped even more than she did that the article and video were fake, all hoping to hit the jackpot.
The bad news was that...
Parker had been admitted to the hospital and slipped into a coma a couple of days ago.
Sophia dispatched someone to go to Forton County's hospital to monitor Parker's current condition. As for the shift in online Public opinion, she didn't give it a second thought.
Rather than responding to their provocations every single time, it was better to ignore them and force their hand.
While she was having breakfast with Emily, Tammy, back in Rain Village, was feeling quite unhappy because Cindy was throwing a fit again.
"Mom! Are you crazy? I finally found a steady job, and then you pull this stunt. You made me lose my job. Are you happy now?"
"What do you know? How much money can one job make? Do you know how much I earned from just a single video?"
Tammy proudly held up her phone, "Two hundred thousand dollars! Do you know how many years our family would need to save up that much?"
Cindy scoffed, "So how much of that $200,000 is for me?"
"How could I give it to you? Of course it's for Russell."
"Your nephew is about to start school. I'm planning to buy Russell an apartment in the city. Any money you have saved, hand it over."
Tammy didn't think there was anything wrong with her obvious bias.
"I don't have any money!" Cindy was so angry that she didn't want to say anything more and went straight upstairs to pack.
Her impromptu suitcase was just a bed in the upstairs loft with some clothes placed beside it.
Her room had had long since been given to Russell's child. When she visited for the holidays, she could only sleep in the small upstairs living room.
Before coming back, Cindy had also seen the article about the "$10 million prize pool" that Sophia had published.
She walked to the window and watched Tammy happily feeding chicken drumsticks to Russell's son in the yard. Thinking of what she herself had eaten for breakfast, she reached a silent conclusion.
Seeing Cindy about to leave right after coming back, Tammy frowned.
"Why are you leaving again? Your sister-in-law's back hasn't been good lately. Stay home and help out around the house. Why do you always want to go out?"
Cindy looked at her two nephews, each with a chicken drumstick, eating with grease dripping down their chins. Thinking of the different treatment she and Russell had received since childhood, her resentment began to simmer.
"Going out to find a new job."
Tammy didn't notice Cindy's emotions at all. In her mind, daughters were merely a liability - she had to rely on her son for retirement security.
She grabbed Cindy's hand and said with a smile, "Don't look for work. I'll have the village the local matchmakerarrange some blind dates for you. Just get married."
Hearing this, Cindy's face fell further.
She glanced at where she had set up her phone earlier and walked over with Tammy. Through a series of questions, she extracted the details about where Tammy's $200,000 came from.
"Mom, I still have $5,000 in back payI haven't withdrawn. I'll go to Forton County first to get the money back, then I'll buy you some dinner."
"Good, you're so inconsiderate."
Tammy patted her hand with satisfaction and reminded her, "This time, don't take a taxi back. Take the bus to the the next town over and walk back - it's only a five-hour walk. You can save some money. Keep the rest for Russell, understand?"
If before she had only felt hurt, hearing these words made Cindy completely checked out emotionally.
She nodded silently and, while Tammy wasn't looking, grabbed her pre-positioned phone and left home with her backpack.
While Tammy was happily waiting for Cindy to come back and hand over the $5,000, she had no idea that Cindy had already edited the footage into several clips and sent them to the prize pool payout administrator.
With each $100,000 she received, Cindy's hatred for her biological family grew stronger.
When she received one million dollars, she wiped her digital footprint and hopped on a train to another state.
She never looked back again.
The moment the prize redemption company received the videos, they could tell they were reported by a family member of Tammy's and forwarded them to Sophia.
While waiting at a stoplight, she took a quick look at the video content.
She knew this was sent by Tammy's daughter.
The prize pool had now been redeemed for a third of its amount, becoming almost the main source of income for the the jobless, livestreamers, and those in similar straits.
Sophia didn't look at the specific content in detail, just gave the order to continue redeeming prizes for these people.
After Cindy left Rain Village, she also published the coordinates of Rain Village.
Before long, the village was surrounded by all kinds of people wanting to make money, and Tammy was trapped in her house.
The villagers, unable to bear the disruption, all came to settle accounts with Tammy.
When Sophia arrived at 'Hidden Feast', Lyra was already there.
She looked around, somewhat disappointed, "Where's Emily? Where did you tucked her away?"
Sophia gave a helpless smile, "When you messaged me, Lucas had already taken her out to play."
During this time, Lyra had been filming a movie deep in the desert.
According to her original plan, this movie was supposed to be filmed until the end of the year, but less than two months after shooting started, Lyra suddenly headed back to Empire City.
Sophia was a bit worried about her and rushed over.
"Plus, you said you had something important to discuss with me. I was worried it was urgent, so I came over straight away."
Lyra sighed, "I haven't seen Emily in so long. I wonder if she's forgotten her gorgeous and brilliant Godmother."
"Don't worry, with the rate you send clothes, bags, and gifts every month, she won't forget you."
Sophia walked to the tea table in the private room and sat down, starting to make her coffee.
To maintain her figure, Lyra hadn't eaten carbs for many years. All her meals were strictly strict meal plans.
For this reason, Sophia had the restaurant specially develop low-calorie meals for her, keeping the food delicious while reducing calories as much as possible.
As soon as she arrived, she could tell that although Lyra still seemed cheerful on the surface, there was an a profound sadness in her eyes.
She sat down across from Sophia and said quietly, "Sophia, I... got married."
"An hour ago, we just registered the marriage."