Chapter 201: Division of Property
The sunset's glow spread across the sky, and painted it a warm orange-red.
Emily's bright, lively eyes sparkled as she gazed at the customized pink fox toy car in front of her, full of love.
William watched Emily run happily toward the toy car, her small figure reflected in his deep eyes.
He asked softly, "Do you like it? If not, I can get you something else."
Emily answered cheerfully, "I love it! Thank you."
After speaking, she couldn't wait to get in the car and try it out, but William stopped her.
"Wait a moment."
William walked over and picked up the safety gear nearby. He gently gently wore her the pink fox-themed helmet, then the elbow pads and knee pads, not skipping a single step. Finally, he carefully checked the seatbelt to make sure it was properly fastened.
After making sure she was safe, William patiently taught her how to drive the toy car.
His affection for Emily knew almost no limits.
Emily never objected to his care. She really liked this William, who took such good care of her.
"Let's go!"
Emily called out, then stepped on the gas pedal.
William had been watching the smile on her face, his lips curving up slightly, but the next second, his expression changed.
"Emily!"
He really hadn't expected Emily to floor the gas pedal right from the start.
Although it was just a toy car, it still had some speed. Watching Emily get more excited, he quickly called out to stop her.
Emily had driven about ten feet, when she heard his voice and immediately hit the brakes. Her delicate face, paired with her confused expression, made her look like an exquisite doll.
She turned to look at William, her eyes full of confusion: 'What's wrong?'
William took a breath to calm himself, then walked over with long strides to adjust the toy car's settings. He reduced the speed to the lowest..
After driving two more laps, Emily felt it wasn't exciting enough. She stared at him with doleful eyes, "Mr. Smith, the car is running too slow."
William didn't give in, , "No, it's for safety."
Just then, James and Michael alighted from the car. They saw William and Emily from afar and waved enthusiastically.
"Daddy! Emily!"
James and Michael were already giddy with excitement as they learnt they will be living close to Sophia and Emily .
Emily, wearing a cute dress and pink safety gear, quietly tuned the car's speed when William wasn't paying attention, and drove straight up to James with one press of the gas pedal.
She flashed a bright smile, "James, get in!"
James thought Emily's little car was so cute and matched Emily perfectly.
He trusted Emily, and directly picked up the passenger helmet and put it on. As soon as he got in the car and fastened his seatbelt, Emily took off in another direction with one press of the gas pedal.
Michael, who was left behind, felt a bit envious of James.
However, he was more concerned about the living arrangements .
"Daddy, is this our new home?"
William patted his head, "Yes, do you like it?"
"I love it!" Michael answered firmly.
He looked toward Emily, who had already driven James back, his eyes full of joy. From now on, after school, he and James could play with Emily anytime.
Although Emily liked James more, ever since Michael changed his attitude towards Sophia, she started warming up to him.
After the car stopped, she called out, "Michael, get in."
James opened the door and got out, took off the helmet, and handed it to Michael, "Michael, you turn."
Michael took the helmet and wore it, "Here I come!"
The brothers weren't jealous Emily's pink car because their dad had gotten them similar cars, they even had parking spaces at the Smith Manor.
Watching Michael having fun, James excitedly said to William, "Daddy, can we bring mine and Michael's cars over too? I want to drive with Emily."
When he was young, his parents' failed marriage affected William's understanding of relationships. Now, reflecting on his own with Sophia, he realized many of his past ideas weren't entirely correct.
So in raising his children, he followed the principle of open communication, hoping that when James and Michael grew up, they wouldn't repeat his mistakes.
William crouched down, his eyes level with James's, and replied seriously but gently, "Yes. Whenever you want to see Emily, you can visit her anytime."
"You can also invite Emily to our house to play, but you must tell Sophia first, otherwise she'll worry, okay?"
James nodded sensibly, "I understand. Then I'll go play with them."
The Johnson family's butler, Allan, and the bodyguards had been watching from the side the whole time, their eyes closely following the children, vigilant for any danger.
At this moment, Tony finally understood why William had asked him to arrange bodyguards at the intersection in advance.
It was to create a safe driving environment for Emily. This kind of thoughtfulness from William was something Tony, who had no children, couldn't have thought of.
Sophia had something at the lab so she couldn't make it back for dinner, William took the children back to the new residence for their meal. Throughout, he didn't resist Allan and the bodyguards following them.
Emily's personal tableware was brought over from the Johnson Villa by Allan.
William just glanced at Tony once, and Tony immediately understood, arrangements to buy the same brand and style of children's tableware to keep at home.
After dinner, William took out various beautifully designed children's invitation cards he had prepared in advance, for the children to choose from.
Learning that Emily's birthday was coming up, James and Michael jumped up excitedly and started discussing what gifts to give.
James suggested, "Daddy, I want to make a pink fox-shaped cake for Emily, covered with Emily's favorite candies. Can you get a caterer to teach me?"
Michael immediately chimed in, "I want to learn too! James, can I do it with you?"
Faced with James and Michael's request, William didn't refuse.
"Michael, James, I want to play too." Emily joined in the fun from the side.
William helped Emily organize the invitation cards she had picked out while patting her head, "Okay, the three of you can do it together."
Around eight o'clock in the evening, it was time for Emily to go to bed.
Allan reminded, "Mr. Smith, Emily should go back to wash up and sleep."
The nanny was already waiting outside in the yard.
William didn't let the servants do it, but personally took James and Michael to walk Emily back to the villa across the street.
After returning home, William personally bathed James and Michael. Before telling them a bedtime story, he asked the children about an important idea.
When he and Sophia divorced, half of the assets he split with her were worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Sophia had it notarized, leaving all that money to James and Michael.
As for the other half of the wealth in William's hands, with his business empire continuously expanding over the past two years, his net worth had already doubled, exceeding a trillion dollars.
Now, he wanted to divide his portion of the assets equally into three parts.
James, Michael, Emily—one share each.
As for the portion Sophia left to James and Michael, he wouldn't touch it; it would still belong to James and Michael.
William looked at them and asked, "Do you mind if I divide it this way?"
Even with the bond of blood, he worried that James and Michael might feel it was unfair, so he wanted to hear their true thoughts.
Who knew James would take the initiative to say, "Daddy, Emily is young, you can give my share to Emily too. When I grow up and become as capable as you, I can earn money myself to spend on Michael and Emily."
Michael, on the side, also agreed, "Daddy, we love Emily just like you do. Sophia is the queen, Emily is the little princess, we need to protect Sophia and Emily together!"
The two children looked at each other and added, "We'll protect Daddy too, and love Daddy forever."
The family warmth that was missing in his childhood, William found doubled in James and Michael.
He quickly turned his head, tilting his face up slightly, hiding the emotion in his eyes.
"Good, I'll wait for you to grow up."
On the other side, Sophia had just come out of the lab when she received a message from Allan, learning that Emily had been picked up by William, and that he had moved to the same neighborhood as James and Michael.
She clicked on the video Allan sent. In the footage, William was putting a helmet and knee pads on Emily.
Seeing William's expression, Sophia's heart trembled.
That look was so much like when he first held James and Michael—it was the excitement of becoming a father for the first time, mixed with a hint of nervousness and anxiety.
At that moment, Sophia felt her scalp tingle.
She urged the driver, "Drive faster."
At the same time, she watched the video again, trying to read more information from William's eyes and body language.
She had a feeling that William seemed to already know something, or at least had guessed something. But thinking it over carefully, she felt it was impossible.
Even if he did hundreds more paternity tests, he would never get the answer he wanted from the results.
Never.
Because Emily...