Scott Richard was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said, “It’s nothing, I was delayed by work.”
“Hurry up and sit down to eat; we were all waiting for you!”
As soon as Scott Richard sat down, Andrea asked with a bitter tone, “Why are you so late? Did you go to that lady, Ms. Emily, again?”
Her words showed no respect, and Scott Richard glanced at everyone with anger, replying, “What lady! I told you I was busy with work at the company!”
“Work? That lady is also in your company. When are you planning to fire her? Now that Dad and Uncle are here, give me a date! Or are you planning to keep her by your side forever?”
As Andrea spoke, she tugged at Scott Richard’s shoulder, crying.
Sophia discreetly observed the old lady’s expression. As expected, her face did not look pleased. Sophia sneered inwardly, thinking how Andrea was oblivious. Being a mother-in-law, she should know better than anyone that a mother dislikes seeing her daughter-in-law override her son.
Sure enough, the old lady put down her cutleries and said displeasedly, “Andrea, you’re both at an age where such scenes at the dinner table are inappropriate!”
Andrea became anxious. “Mom, you think I want to make a scene? Look at Richard; how many days has it been since he came home? That lady is his assistant, and they see each other every day. How could I not be anxious? All I want now is for that lady to resign. Is that too much?”
The old lady coughed, put down her plate, and smiled slightly, “Andrea, Scott Henry hasn’t gone to Sophia’s room for two years and has been staying over at Olivia’s, yet she hasn’t worried a bit.”
“Mom…”
“As you’ve always said, it’s normal for men to have a woman outside. I’d say don’t take those outside women too seriously, as long as the man knows to come home. Besides, has our Scott family ever treated you poorly? You’ve never had to work, and you didn’t have to raise the children. Living the life of a wealthy woman, isn’t that enough?”
The old lady’s words were harsh. Sophia glanced at her, feeling a bit surprised. The old lady often used her as an example to persuade Andrea, yet everyone knew that she and Andrea had a poor relationship. Given the circumstances, Andrea would undoubtedly feel offended and would resent Sophia even more, deepening their conflict. Was this the old lady’s calculation, or was it unintentional?
Sophia thought about it for a moment, unable to figure it out. When she lifted her gaze, she happened to lock eyes with Scott Livinus. His gaze was deep, but Sophia lowered her head, pretending not to see him.
The table was chaotic for a while longer, and Andrea’s pestering finally made Scott Richard throw his cutleries and leave for his room. Most of the family finished the meal in discomfort, but Sophia enjoyed herself, eating all her favorite dishes. Before leaving, she even brewed a cup of herbal tea to drink later that evening.
—
Back in her room, Andrea was fuming. When she saw Scott Richard smoking continuously, she couldn’t help but cry, “Are you treating me this way for the sake of a mistress? I’ve been standing by you all these years, helping you strategize to keep our family living in this house, and yet you don’t consider me or our son at all!”
Seeing her cry, Scott Richard sighed and snapped, “Stop your crying! It’s driving me crazy! I’m telling you, I wasn’t with Ms. Emily; I was worrying over company matters. The hemorrhoid ointment project I’m in charge of has run into issues. How can I not be anxious?”
“Problems?” Andrea suddenly stopped crying and asked, frowning, “What kind of problems? How could there be problems? I had someone look into it, and the formula I took from Sophia’s room didn’t have any issues.”
“Who knows!” Scott Richard continued to smoke, frowning after a while, “I just got the old man to approve the project, planning to invest and list it. Now a problem has popped up. If my brother and the old man find out, I might not have a place left in the company.”
Andrea naturally understood the severity of the situation.
“Do you think it’s possible that Sophia’s formula was fake?”
“Fake? How could it be? You stole that formula!”
“Stole? I took it from my son’s room. Everything in that room belongs to my son, to our Scott family! How could it be called stealing?” Andrea shot Scott Richard a glare.
Scott Richard said nothing, but Andrea’s words made him think.
Could the formula really be fake? If so, it would explain why the seemingly precise formula kept failing at critical moments. Now, with the ointment on the verge of being launched, the company has spent billions on developing it. If a problem arises at this point, it could be disastrous.
“How could she have known we’d take the formula? Did she prepare for this in advance?”
Andrea’s expression turned cold. “Quite possibly! She’s been clinging to the Scott family, not moving out, just to spy on us. She must have heard somewhere that you needed the formula and purposely left a fake one behind in the picture frame. I always thought it odd that she, that sneaky girl, would let someone see her hiding the formula. Thinking about it, she’s set a trap for us.”
Her words deepened Scott Richard’s frown.
Since getting the formula, they had treated Sophia poorly, openly tearing down their relationship and making it clear that she wouldn’t receive a single penny. Moreover, with Olivia pregnant, they’d decided to kick Sophia out with nothing.
To be honest, they had treated her rather harshly. Initially, she had no value to them, but if she had deliberately handed over a fake formula, now only she held the real one. This meant he had no choice but to negotiate with her to obtain it.
“There’s another possibility.” Andrea, looking shrewd as ever, scoffed, “That sneaky girl knows she has no leverage, so she purposely gave you a fake formula, waiting for you to come to negotiate. This way, she can demand a higher alimony. If you don’t meet her demands, she won’t hand over the formula. But we do need it badly, so we might have no choice but to give in.”
