Chapter 116: Money Can Buy Anything
The logic was clear to everyone. Sophia had no interest in wasting breath on empty pleasantries. She cut straight to the point. "Mr. Smith, I've already taken the Johnson name. The Smith family has nothing to do with me anymore."
"If you can change your name, you can change it back." George always wore that air of superiority like a second skin. As chairman of the Smith Group, he was used to having the final word on everything.
In this world, everything—people included—had a price tag. Objects were measured by their cost, people by their salary.
Money could solve anything.
As long as you offered enough.
"Living with the Johnsons, you have to use your own resources to support them. But as my daughter, you'd have access to the finest lifestyle money can buy. You lived at the Smith Manor for over a decade—you should understand that better than anyone."
Sophia glanced down, a faint smile playing at her lips, utterly composed. "What I understand even better is that the value the Smith family provides me is nowhere near the value I could create for the Smith family. When the exchange isn't equal, it's not a deal worth making."
Her reasoning was razor-sharp. She knew exactly how much she was worth—not just her existing assets, but her unlimited future earning potential. Staying at the Smith Manor to be exploited would be the stupidest choice she could make.
Besides, money held absolutely zero appeal to her. She'd left the Smith Manor for one reason only: she was done being Andrew and John's entertainment—their little stress ball to squeeze whenever their perfect lives got too boring.
George ground his back molars, about to speak, when Jane cut him off. "Since you've made your decision to stay there, we won't force you. Perhaps we'll cross paths in the business world. There may still be opportunities to collaborate."
"Of course." Sophia smiled. She occasionally appreciated Jane's tactical sense. Push too hard, and you'd end up with nothing at all.
"It's late. If there's nothing else, I should go." Sophia gave a polite nod of farewell. George and Jane didn't try to stop her.
Roy, the butler, had already loaded all her files into the trunk.
Once her sports car disappeared down the drive, George spat out his frustration. "Foolish girl. She's got an inflated sense of her own importance! Comparing her insignificant little ventures to a century-old legacy like the Smith Group—living with the Johnsons has made her pathetically short-sighted!"
Jane lifted her coffee cup, taking a measured sip. "The short-sighted one here is you. It doesn't matter how many assets she controls—she's going to be the wife of Cloud Group's CEO. Michael's devotion to her hasn't wavered. Build bridges with her, and you build bridges with Cloud Group. Furthermore, Vertex Innovations Ltd.'s new chip is the most advanced in the tech industry right now. Their only partner is Cloud Group. If the Smith Group could secure a collaboration deal, there'd still be a seat for us at that table."
Despite years of neglect toward her children, Jane knew exactly how much Andrew had helped Sophia in business—and the girl genuinely had talent.
She would be a force to reckon with someday.
Even if the Smith Group never partnered with Cloud Group or Vertex Innovations Ltd., it was better than making another enemy.
James had been waiting at Applewood Estate the entire time, too anxious to explore the mansion. He'd stayed planted on the living room sofa, glancing repeatedly at the wall clock.
The moment he heard a car engine outside, he jumped to his feet and strode to the door. Seeing Sophia step out of the car, he finally exhaled.
He'd been terrified the Smiths would corner her, refuse to let her leave. He'd seen how obsessed Andrew and John were with keeping Sophia around. What if they resorted to some underhanded tactic to trap her? Where would he even begin looking for her?
"James, I'm back." Sophia approached with her small backpack slung over one shoulder, clutching his arm with exaggerated helplessness. "There are so many files. I can't carry them all. Help me?"
"Of course." James's eyes flooded with affection. He went to the car and helped transfer all the document bags into the ground-floor study at Applewood Estate.
Once Sophia had organized everything, they walked home together at an easy pace.
But James wasn't the most anxious one waiting. Back at the apartment, Mary and Ray were on edge.
Mary had come out of the shower to hear her husband mention Sophia had gone to the Smith family. The couple had been sitting in the living room ever since, periodically glancing up at the wall clock.
On the seventh glance, when both hands pointed at the number ten, they finally heard the sound of a key turning in the lock.
Both sprang to their feet. Mary rushed to the wooden door and yanked it open, seeing Sophia and James together. She nearly burst into tears.
"Sophia..." She pulled Sophia into a tight hug, her nose stinging. "Mom thought you weren't coming back."
Caught off guard by the embrace, Sophia needed a moment to process. Then she gently patted her mother's back. "Why would you think that? I told you—I just went to pick up some files."
She hadn't even entered the manor. She'd circled around through the gardens and come right back out.
Ray rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Your mom and I were just worried..."
Worried that the Smith family's power and influence might be too much. Worried that if they asked you to stay, you'd want to stay.
Ray didn't say it out loud, but Sophia understood. She could see where their fear came from.
After all, the daughter they'd loved for seventeen years had abandoned them without a second thought for the Smith family's luxury lifestyle.
That emotional betrayal had left a needle lodged in their hearts. The moment they saw any sign it might happen again, the pain would return.
She comforted Mary with a few words, pulling her inside. "Dad, Mom—I have connections, I have money. I'm not going back there!"
Back when she'd lived at the Smith Manor, they'd given her a monthly allowance of two hundred thousand dollars. Now, the Celestial Peak Hotel alone generated more than that in profit each month—not to mention her stakes in other companies.
She didn't even dare calculate her total net worth. She was afraid she'd be tempted to blow through it all.
Besides, the Smith family had been a cage. They'd controlled every aspect of her life.
Now? Life was perfect. She could focus entirely on business. Go wherever she wanted. Associate with whoever she chose.
She'd have to be truly insane to walk back into that endless, suffocating darkness.
Sophia repeated what she'd told James earlier, sharing it with her parents. "I only went to retrieve what's mine. Here, I have Dad, Mom, James, and Evelyn who love me. Even Lucas always takes my side. Why would I go back to that cold, heartless place?"
Hearing this, Ray and Mary finally—truly—relaxed. Sophia didn't just lack emotional attachment to that place. She actively resented it.
From now on, Sophia was their daughter. Only their daughter. Forever their daughter.