Daddy?
Sophia, who was drinking some orange juice, turned around and saw Michael walking in with Quinton.
Even though they were half brothers, they looked incredibly similar since they had the same features.
These days, Quinton concealed the arrogance in his temperament; he appeared to have an air of elegance around him as he walked in with a smile. He looked even more like the photo of Theo that Sophia had seen.
Wait a minuteâwhy is Quinton in my house? Why did Michael even bring him here?!
As soon as he appeared, the atmosphere in the house turned tense. When Justin saw Quinton, he was instantly filled with rage and almost charged forward, but Celine was ecstatic as she jumped up with joy like a child and screamed, âDaddy!â
Quinton was stunned.
Tugging his hand happily, Celine smiled innocently and said, âDaddy!â
Michael explained hurriedly, âYouâve been mistaken, Celie. This is our little brother; he just looks like Daddy, but Daddy has been gone for years.â
Celine seemed very fond of Quinton as she quickly corrected herself, but Quinton smiled awkwardly and nodded stiffly in response to her.
Then, he caught sight of Sophia standing by the pool in a one-piece swimsuit. Although she was wrapped in a towel, her long legs were still exposed; under the bright sunlight, her snow-like skin together with her elegant demeanor made the water droplets on her thighs seem like crystal pearls.
He felt a tug at his heartstrings and subconsciously walked toward her. But before he could take another step, a voice came from behind him.
âYouâre going in the wrong directionâitâs this way.â
With that, Michael forcefully grabbed Quintonâs arm and pulled him toward the other direction.
As Michael dragged Quinton away, he wrapped his arm around his brother affectionately as Sophia watched in amazement.
How did these two get together?
Not only that, Michael even brought Quinton back with him!
It couldnât have been Michaelâs idea. Although this was the Edwards Residence, Cooper was still the one in charge; Michael would cause a little trouble behind Cooperâs back from time to time, but whenever he saw Cooper, it was like a mouse catching sight of the cat. Even though this âmouseâ was quite thick-
skinned, he still listened to Cooperâs instructions nonetheless.
Could it have been Cooperâs idea?
Didnât Cooper swear that he would chop Quinton into minced meat and stuff him into an eggplant?
She quickly put on her clothes and followed them into the house, curious to know what they were going to do.
Cooper did not want Sophia to get involved in this matter, but he couldnât keep Sophia sheltered forever;
she would have to deal with this sooner or later, so he let Sophia into the room.
Sophia knew many of the people inside Cooperâs study. Apart from Cooper and Linus, Harry, Daniel, and Quinton were present; even Sean had been called over.
The atmosphere was serious as a drenched Sophia wore a pair of slippers and listened to them on the side.
When Cooper saw Quinton, his face was even gloomier compared to when he saw Michael. He was merely dissatisfied with the fact that his son-in-law was only five years younger than him; even though he always grumbled about chopping Michael into minced meat, he never really meant it.
He really wanted to chop Quinton into minced meat, though!
Under Michaelâs coaxing, Cooper put away his prejudice toward Quinton for the time being and cooperated with him. After all, the latter possessed crucial information about the matter involving his own daughter and granddaughter.
During this special meeting, Quinton answered every question directed at him.
He briefly talked about the manâs identity and the forces he knew about.
âHe is seldom in Bayside City. He spends most of his time abroad, and the person in the country now is just an impostor.â
An impostor?
Instantly, Michael had an epiphany. He had met that person once before; at that time, Michael didnât feel that he was a powerful figure at all. He assumed that the person was just an ordinary head of the aristocratic clan, but he probably met the imposter back then.
Just like Cooper, the man had influential power abroadâno one knew what sort of influence he possessed.
Quinton talked about that personâs informant among the Michel Family and the possibility of his participation in Cooperâs car accident back then. Upon hearing this, Cooper and Linus were silent; they had been aware of the matter previously, but they didnât expectâ¦
Linus spoke up. âWhen Sophia was in trouble back then, there was an internal conflict within the Michel Family and the Michel Group; Fass and I were so busy with our own affairs that we didnât receive Michaelâs call for help. Perhaps we did, but other news piled up like a mountain to the point where we didnât have time to process them all.â
Having to deal with tons of information every day, his assistant and robotic butlers usually filtered and processed each document before handing it to him. Sometimes, the robotic butler even ignored information it deemed unimportant.
Cooper recalled several past events and said, âIâve known him since we were kids. He already had power in the Edwards Family when I was a child, but I could vaguely sense that he was cautious of me at that time. The feelings I felt made my skin crawl, and it was very strange; I had no grudges against him, but a man who was almost 30 years old gave me such a cold and sinister gaze. Not only is he intuitive and sharp, heâs particularly good at reading people. With just a glance, he can tell if a person will be his future enemyâheâll kill them off before they can even grow up. Many talented individuals in Bayside City died before they reached adulthood, and he was the one behind it. Heâs tried to sabotage me since I was ten, but I managed to survive them all. From what I can remember, the most dangerous time wasâ¦â
Suddenly, Cooperâs words came to an abrupt end.
The most dangerous incident was when he and Annabel escaped from the Mitchell Family; someone had tried to kill them while they eloped on a train. Since they had already lost the Mitchell Familyâs protection, Cooper and Annabel could only rely on themselves and hid in the bathroom. In the end, they managed to escape to the South⦠That was truly a bittersweet memory of his!
Now that he thought about it, the assassin could have been sent by that person.
Cooper broke into a cold sweat as he thought about what wouldâve happened back then if Sam hadnât secretly leaked the information which led the Mitchell Family to them. Otherwise, he mightâve died with Annabel in the South.
Obviously, that person had been monitoring his movementsâhe even knew that Cooper was going to elope with Annabel in the South, so he sent someone to assassinate them on the way there. However, Cooper managed to dodge his attack skillfully.
That person was Jordan; he was Lucy and Ianâs father, as well as the current head of Edwards Family.
Ever since his wife died an early death due to some illness, he had never remarried. If Quintonâs information about his identity as a son-in-law abroad was correct, then he must have already gotten hold of his father-in-lawâs businesses.
Internationally, there were only a few people who could match Cooperâs power; it was not that difficult to locate them one by one.
At the moment, Jordanâs business abroad was his main focus; only a small part of the Edwards Family were aware of his second operating force overseas, so the Edward Familyâs business was mainly operated and managed by Lucy, Ian and Sam.
However, Jordan never planned on giving up Cethos as he continued to keep a close eye on it. As part of his plan, he tried to destroy Cooper since he was fearful of him, but Cooper surprised everyone with his return many years later.
Later on, he feared Michaelâs power and attempted to destroy his family as well, but Michael pulled through with impressive willpower and hid his strength as he slowly developed himself.
But now, both of them shared a common weaknessâSophia and Carmen.
Halfway through the meeting, Harryâs expression changed drastically after he answered a call. He stood up abruptly and walked out in a haste.
âThereâs an emergency which I have to take care of first. Please excuse me.â
Nobody had ever seen Harry look so flustered as Michael chased after him and asked about it. Harry replied anxiously, âSarah ran out alone when she found out that I fed her father to the fishes!â