However, all they got in return was a long period of silence. The two ladies lowered their heads as they heard the sound of high heels walking toward them, and they held their breaths with their heads hung low as the real Lucile stood right in front of them. Amidst the pin-drop silence, they could hear the sound of Lucile sipping on her coffee before placing her cup down onto its saucer. âWhy did you stop talking?â
she finally asked.
To their surprise, she didnât speak in English⦠Instead, she spoke in pure Cethosian and even sounded like a native speaker. Both Abbie and the fake Lucile lifted their heads up at the same time to see a face that they hadnât been expecting. They both gasped in surprise.
â¦
After dealing with Abbie and the fake Lucile, Sophia stepped out of the café and got into the car before she took her Dragon Eye 7 out to make a call. âHey, Stan. How are things going at your end?â
Stanley sounded rather occupied as he spoke. âIâm still trying to get an appointment as the other party keeps saying that their schedule is full. Donât worry, Aunt Sophia; we wonât give up until the official announcement of the results! Long live Plum Technology!â he chanted.
That cracked Sophia up. âAlright, alright; youâre nearing your thirties! Can you stop acting so childishly?!â
she sneered in a joking manner.
âWeâre in the online gaming industry, so itâs important that we possess the hearts of a high-schooler! Oh, by the way, how are things going at your end?â Stanley asked.
âIâve done everything Iâm supposed to do. The decision hasnât been made, but even if it has, Iâm not about to give up just yet. I heard some news about the agencyâs agreement. Apparently, the Michel Group has the right to end the agreement if the selected agency fails to hit their sales target.â Their conversation surrounded the topic of becoming the chosen agencyâit was too amazing of an opportunity to give up on. Furthermore, it was a huge stepping stone in Sophiaâs journey to get involved with the Michel Group, so they had to succeed!
Stanley and Sean had been trying their best to arrange for an appointment with Alice. They were trying to request for a second meeting with her, while Sophia used her connections to see if she could pull the family card. While she was at it, she also tried her best to defeat any of the opponents that came in her way. However, Stanley didnât show any progress in his work, and Sophia found herself mentally drained from all the scheming. Fortunately, the trap that she had set up went just as she hoped, and her competitors from the Mitchell Family were about to go down.
Right before their conversation ended, Stanley abruptly switched the topic. âBy the way, my sonâs company is hosting a banquet to show their gratitude to all their customers. Alice is going, and a few of our competitors will be there as well. Theyâre probably showing up for the sake of Alice.â
âIs it the dinner hosted by L/K? I think I got an invitation myself. See you there,â she uttered.
â¦
The L/K banquet happened two nights later. Sophia showed up along with her team from Plum Technology. Alice wasnât anywhere to be seen when they arrived, but they did catch a glimpse of most of their competitorsâSandra and Vincent from the Mitchell Family, Lucy and Ian from the Edwards Family, and Dana, the daughter of the Winston Familyâs elder. There were a number of other competitors, but they werenât impressive enough to deserve any attention.
Sophia began to delegate tasks to the rest of her team once they got in. âSarah, youâll handle Dana.
Sean and Stanley, I want you guys to hold the Edwards back and distract them. We can ignore the Mitchells as theyâre about to wreck themselves. Iâll focus on dealing with Alice.â Everyone gradually approached their own targets once they got their missions.
Sarahâs target was Dana, the daughter of an elder in the Winston Family. The elder was the one who was in charge of the eldersâ council, and he often went against Harryâs opinions. The elder also held a lot of power in the Winston Groupâs Board of Directors, and he often expressed his dissatisfaction toward Harry. However, ever since Harry forged his own path to success at the young age of 19, his position remained secure for the past 20 years. The elder hoped for some issue to surface, but there hadnât been a chance for him to create any trouble in the past 20 years. Now, his daughter, Dana, seemed to share the same goals as his. Sarah was determined not to let Dana become the chosen agent. If Dana were to be chosen, she wouldnât just enjoy all the countless benefits of the agreement; sheâd also form a partnership with the Michel Group. In that case, the elder would gain more power in making demands within the Winston Family.
Back then, Harry had truly been a monster who killed his siblings while attending his classes. After his mid-term exams, he killed one of his largest, strongest competitorsâhis elder brother. In his second year of high school, he killed his sister; he then killed his other brother after he completed his mock exams in his third year of high school. Harryâs father had been preparing to kill Harry while he was studying for his college entrance exams, but he hadnât expected Harry to kill him first. From then on, Harry officially took over the Winston Family. He managed to go for his college entrance exams despite his busy schedule, and he even got 2nd place in his entire school for the results he achieved in his humanities subjects.
With his high scores, he enrolled himself into Bayside University. He thought he was invincible back then, but he soon realized that none of his classmates even bothered to glance at him. Furthermore, he even got physically punished by his instructor just three days after he joined the military training program. His instructor began hitting him from the military campâs canteen all the way to the little forest beside the mountains. His instructor was Michael, who was the same age as he was and had fists of steel.
My darling is such an amazing man, so I have to step up my game too! Sarah cheered herself on as she strode toward Dana. I have to make sure she loses this opportunity!
Sophia, on the other hand, laid low as she quietly waited for Aliceâs arrival. She had brought a helper along with her that night. Daniel had arrived before Alice, and he waved at Sophia cheerily once he saw her. He earned nearly 10 million off of Michael in the past, but after so many years, he had probably given more than that amount in return.
Alice showed up right as the dinner began. She was dressed in a silver gown that revealed the bare skin on her back, and her slim, slender figure made her seem as elegant as a swan. Everyoneâs gazes were focused on her sexy back, but Daniel was the only one that looked at her waist area instead. I wonder if her injury is any betterâ¦
Sandra was the first to approach Alice once the latter arrived. Sandra lifted her glass of wine as she strode toward Alice. âWe meet again, Miss Alice.â Sandra was more confident than she had ever been.
She was pleased to see that Alice was wearing the exact same piece of jewelry that she had asked âLucileâ to send over as a gift. âLucileâ finally stopped acting all secretive the night before; she finally revealed that it was confirmedâAlice would most definitely choose Sandra to be the sole agent of Dragon Eye. According to her, they had even drafted the contract. With this confirmation, Sandra was certain that she would become the agent; all that was left was their signatures on the contract. Alice is indeed nothing more than Lucileâs employee, huh.
âMiss Mitchell.â Alice raised her glass politely toward Sandra.
The night before the dinner, âLucileâ had also told Sandra a little more about Alice. She claimed that Alice was a greedy, ambitious woman despite being nothing more than an employee. âIn the past few years, Alice has been growing increasingly disrespectful toward me. Itâs a little hard for me to deal with her personally, so itâd be great if you could do a little something to put Alice in her place.â âLucileâ told Sandra about her request.
Right as Sandra was thinking about how she could embarrass Alice a little, Sophia walked toward them.
Before Sophia could say anything, Alice addressed her with an icy tone. âYou donât have to even try, Miss Edwards. Like Iâve said, you were never even shortlisted in my options for Dragon Eyeâs Cethosian agent.â Smack! Her words were like a fierce slap that struck Sophia.
Sandra beamed happily as she waited for Sophiaâs expression to turn awkward or sour. But to her surprise, Sophia remained pleasant and elegant as she raised her glass. âHow can we ever be sure about the way the universe works its wonders? Perhaps youâll change your mind tomorrow, Miss Alice.â
Alice simply sipped on her cocktail without responding to Sophia. Sandra, on the other hand, quickly seized the opportunity to mock Sophia. She had already spotted the fake phone in Sophiaâs hand, and she quickly used it as a means of ridiculing Sophia. âDo forgive my bluntness, Miss Edwards. Itâs fine that your husband uses an imitation of the Dragon Eye phone, but Iâm surprised that youâd intentionally use one yourself when you know that youâd be meeting Alice, the developer of Dragon Eye. Youâre practically violating the brand. Do you even have any respect for Miss Alice?! How could you possibly have the right to be the agent of the genuine Dragon Eye phone when youâre using an imitation yourself?!â
What? An imitation? Alice glanced at Sophiaâs handphone.