Chapter 1223: Chapter 1228

Sophia looked at Sandra—who was still stubbornly resisting—with a sneer. Taking a box from Dimon, she opened it to see that it was a box of ampules, and there were only nine ampules left.

These were none other than the miraculous drug that was closest to Sandra’s heart!

Sandra’s expression changed drastically.

Sophia picked up an ampule and eyed it up and down. She even clicked her tongue to express her amazement and said, “This is serious—these are super stimulants manufactured by the pharmaceutical factory that’s a subsidiary of Phantom Wolf, the terrorist organization! I heard that it can’t be detected via urine tests and blood tests. Furthermore, it can gradually improve human bodies and draw out human bodies’ potential to the full. It’s indeed a miraculous drug! Currently, many countries want to get the formula for this kind of stimulant, but… unbeknownst to them, Phantom Wolf had already been wiped out a long time ago, so this kind of drug is already out of stock. I didn’t expect to find nine ampules here. Tsk, tsk. You’d lose one ampule with each injection!”

After finishing her speech with regret, she dropped one ampule to the floor.

The glass ampule dropped to the floor and smashed into pieces, spilling the blue liquid medicine all over the floor.

Sandra went crazy on the spot. “No! Don’t! Don’t touch my drug!”

However, Sophia picked up the second ampule and was seriously enjoying the sight of it. Unable to hold back any longer, Sandra confessed and said, “Lucy is a disgusting lesbian who has been dating a woman for more than ten years. If the Edwards Family learns about this, she will immediately lose her position as the heir and Vice President of the Edwards Group!”

Sophia was startled; it never occurred to her that this was Lucy’s weakness!

It suddenly struck her that Lucy seemed to be involved in a rumor with the scion of a large foreign consortium lately. The two families seemed like they were preparing to unite through marriage, but the nuptial league would definitely fall through if word spread around about this.

As someone who mixed with those from the fashion world, Sophia knew that many in the fashion world were homosexuals or bisexuals. It seemed that one couldn’t enter the fashion world without an uncommon sexual orientation, but this was completely prohibited in an old family.

The Mitchell Family was an example; even though the family’s council of elders were set up under Cooper’s leadership, the council was still very displeased with Linus’ sexual orientation. However, the elders didn’t dare to voice their objections; not only was it due to Cooper’s pressure on them, but also because Linus himself was very powerful.

As for the Fletcher Family, Stanley and Sean were now living together as business partners. However, the Fletchers were extremely displeased with this, causing the relationship between Stanley and his family to be strained.

The Winstons were also very unhappy about the presence of an intersex like Dana in the family.

However, they were gangsters in the first place, so they could even kill their own fathers. They could even beat themselves up in a fit of rage, and they cared nothing about ethics or moral principles. The Winston Family’s council of elders had even called a special meeting to educate Dana. Unexpectedly, Dana took out her machete on the spot and slashed four elders to death, so no one dared to say anything anymore. After all, this was the style and tradition of the Winston Family.

Bayside City was a cosmopolitan city, but these old families were still very conservative…

Sophia said nothing as she silently put the drugs down and left with her people.

After getting her drugs, Sandra held onto it as if it was a rare treasure; it was as though she was afraid that someone else would come and snatch them away from her.

These drugs were her life!

Moreover, the broken ampule on the floor tore her apart.

Luckily, the floor was covered with tiles, and there was no carpet. Since the liquid medicine was still there, Sandra immediately took out an empty syringe and frantically drew up the spilled liquid on the floor.

Sophia glanced back at her.

This lady is already finished.

Sophia felt depressed when she returned home. After having her meal, she sat alone in the study in a trance.

She thought about the precarious situation on one hand and Lucy’s secret on the other.

If she made Lucy’s secret known to the public right now, the latter might be hit hard and detested by the Edwards Group. She would soon lose her current position, and Ronney Fashion Week would fall through, making her the winner this year.

However… Sophia thought that it might be a little too wicked to attack Lucy by making an issue of the latter’s sexual orientation.

Sophia felt that she wasn’t a good person, for she sold the stimulants that nearly finished Sandra. Also, she had killed people back in Africa back then in order to survive.

However, she had her own bottom line, and it was apparent that this matter had crossed it.

Feeling anxious, Sophia drank several cups of coffee and stroked one cat after another as she was in a dilemma.

She had her bottom line on one hand and Bayside Fashion Week on the other…

This was the first time she was so confused in her life.

Meanwhile, Michael and Carmen were blowing up balloons and hanging up colored lamps to usher in the New Year.

Cooper—who had come from Villa No. 2—was about to ask questions when he didn’t see his daughter anywhere. Before he could do so, Carmen spoke first. “Grandpa, something has been weighing on your daughter’s mind today. She only ate half a bowl of rice and has been in her study since then. Hurry up and give her some advice.”

Learning of this, Cooper immediately went upstairs into the study to take a look.

Michael let out a sigh as he watched Cooper rushing upstairs; he also knew what Sophia was worrying about.

The fact that his ex-girlfriend and current wife were having a fight made him feel very hopeless too.

However, he really was no expert at what was happening in the fashion world…

Meanwhile, Sophia was stroking the cats in her study dazedly.

“Sophia.” Cooper suddenly opened the door and came in. Seeing that he was here, Sophia greeted softly, “Hey, Dad.”

Cooper was very worried when he saw the expression on Sophia’s face. Dragging a chair over, he seated himself next to her and asked gently, “Do you have something on your mind, Sophia? Can you share it with me? Is it something about your work?”

He also knew that the preparations for Bayside Fashion Week hadn’t been going smoothly these days, so he guessed that Sophia was probably worried about the fashion week.

Sophia bent over the desk while looking at Cooper with a tender look in her eyes. She asked, “Dad, which do you think is more important: success or bottom line? Can someone ignore their bottom line appropriately for the sake of success?”

Cooper was weighed down by his memories as they talked about this.

He used to think about the conflict between his bottom line and achieving success.

Someone had once hurt him deeply without ever considering what the bottom line was. However, those who ignored their bottom line weren’t punished at all.

Therefore, he also became someone who stopped at nothing.

As expected, he became successful; standing at the top of the world, he looked down at the struggling nobodies, but he had become unmoved by any circumstances.

However, everything changed when his daughter showed up in front of him surprisingly.

Staring at his daughter, Cooper advised in all sincerity and said, “I used to believe in neither supernatural beings nor the story about heaven and hell. I also had no idea what my bottom line was, for all I wanted was to expand my sphere of influence. Once I had money, power, and influence in my hands, I’d have the final say in the law. I never cared about my bottom line, but ever since you showed up in front of me with cuts and bruises all over your body…”

Cooper looked grieved as he spoke of this. One could still notice several tiny, irremovable scars on Sophia’s face if one looked closely when she was bare-faced. It was as if these scars were reminding Cooper of the sufferings his daughter had experienced.

“Sophia, one’s bottom line can’t be crossed until there is no other choice—unless there’s something more valuable than your bottom line that needs your protection. Nobody knows if one will be punished for doing something against their conscience, but everything is predestined, and no one can be certain about the future.”