The corners of Ianâs mouth spasmed as he looked at the stack of nude photos Sophia had pulled out.
Indeed, they were his nudesâall sorts of poses and expressions were revealed in these photos.
If his guess was right, Lucile had taken those photos several nights beforeâno, the fake Lucile was the one who took them.
Things began to make sense; he hadnât been able to successfully pursue the gorgeous woman, but she suddenly agreed to have dinner with him that day. In fact, she deliberately had some wine too. Once they were done with dinner, Lucile was clearly drunk since she had a low tolerance for alcohol. Of course, Ian did not send her back to the Mitchells like a gentleman; he booked a room at the hotel and carried her there instead. Entering the hotel room as a man and a woman, anyone could guess what came after that.
Furthermore, Lucile had been absolutely certain that he would be the one to win the management rights, assuring him that he would get it. Much to his surprise, she vanished without a trace the next day. All the things he gifted her had been sold offâeven the Audistinâs gold member card.
He hadnât been able to contact her since then, but he did not have the guts to openly look for her either.
She was a scammer, no doubt!
Prior to leaving, she even slept with him and enjoyed every last bit of pleasure.
Ian kicked himself out of regret as he stared at the stack of nude photos.
So thatâs how it isâSophia must be in league with that scammer!
However, Ian remained calm as his fingers languidly tapped away at the stack of photos, a condescending look on his face. âOh? In that case, you mustâve seen these photos of mine too. Since youâve had a look at it, I wonder what you think about them,â he said nonchalantly.
With that, Ian even closed his eyes and pretended that this wasnât concerning to him at all; he seemed like a perverted flasher who feared nothing.
Sophia calmly pulled over one of his nudes; his face was clearly shown in the picture along with his privates on display. Looking straight at it without any embarrassment, Sophia appraised it with surety.
âHmm, my thoughts? I do have a lot to say about this. From what I can see, itâs only 10cmâwhat a huge difference compared to my husbandâs.â
Ianâs flippant smile slowly stiffened.
âNot only is it thin and short, itâs not a pretty one either. It looks so ugly! Even the foreskin is a bit too long.â
Sophia went through each of the photos one by one, airing all her criticisms about his body and his private parts. Ianâs expression darkened as this went on, keeping silent all the while. At last, he smacked the table hard and stood up. âI wonât let you get those management rights, Sophia. Youâd better give up on that notion! I will be the one to get it instead!â
Sophia didnât continue speaking. She simply pulled out her elite, custom-made Dragon Eye 7 and began typing away after she unlocked the screen with the fingerprint scanner.
âWhat are you doing?â
Sophia continued typing. âIâm sending out those nudes of yours.â
The color instantly drained from Ianâs face; he instinctively grabbed her phone and realized that she was posting it on some forum with a burner account. With the caption typed up and the photos uploaded, his nudes were taking center stage. The post had already been uploaded; even if he tapped âcancelâ, it wouldnât be of any use now.
âSophia, y-youâ¦â
Ian was so furious that his entire being shook.
If those photos got out, he would never be able to live this down!
Sophia giggled as she retrieved her phone. âYouâre done for. Itâs an internationally renowned forum.
Soon, socialites from all around the world are going to know about your thin, skinny and ugly d*ck with its long foreskin.â
Ianâs face immediately darkened in rage. âY-Youâ¦â
Seeing how Ian looked like he was about to have an aneurysm any time soon, Sophia couldnât bear teasing him further. She explained to him and said, âIâm joking. I wasnât connected to the Wi-Fi earlier!
Still, I wonât leak your nudes because of Master Sam.â
Ian finally relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief, but he continued to glare balefully at Sophia. âDonât take things too far, Sophia. Youâ¦â
Sophia lowered her head and deleted the post that she had just drafted. Since there wasnât any internet connection on her cell phone, the post was still in the midst of uploading.
As she looked at her phone, she whipped her free hand out and held it in front of Ianâs face. âStop! Let me delete that post first before you speak to me. If my fingers slip and that post accidentally gets out, itâs all over for you.â
Ian shut his mouth, deeply afraid that Sophia would actually upload his nudes. Hence, he sat there with his mouth sealed and a frosty expression on his face as he watched her delete all the photos. He only dared to speak once she put her phone down.
âTurns out that everything was part of your plan; you arranged for that scammer to get close to me!â Ian exclaimed, his eyes on the table.
Sophia none-too-hurriedly took a sip of coffee before she spoke. âI arranged for that scammer, you say?
Mr. Edwards, have you forgotten how you came into contact with that scammer?â
That scammer had originally wanted to trick the Mitchells, but as the former head of the Mitchell Family, Ian still had loyalists inside; he only found out that Lucile had been in contact with Vincent when they leaked the information to him. At that point in time, he decided to get closer with Lucile so that he could compete with Vincent.
Ian was rendered speechless by this. He dug his own grave by claiming that Sophia had arranged for the scammer to trick him, but he continued to question her anyway. âRegardless, youâre still the one who arranged for that scammer. Your initial target was the Mitchell Family, and I just happened to walk into your trap. Am I right?â
Even though he knew that he couldnât get his money back, he had to get to the bottom of this!
Sophia shrugged, unsure how to answer. She knew that the woman was a scammer from the very beginning, but she tolerated her the entire time. In reality, Sophia had been waiting for the scammer to finish up her antics before catching her as she escaped. That way, she could squeeze every last bit of value out of that woman.
She had instructed the fake Lucile and Abbie to speak badly of Alice in front of Sandra; Sophia even got them to help her sneak some top-secret information out of the Mitchells so that she could pass it on to Cooper. If those women didnât follow her instructions, Sophia wouldâve exposed them.
However, Sophia never thought that Cooper wouldnât care for the confidential information she had obtained from the Mitchells.
Cooper simply hadnât started his war against the Mitchell Family. If he had actually decided to make a move, the Mitchells wouldâve long since been decimated. Mitchell International Energy and Technology achieved a meteoric rise this year, outgrowing Alex ages ago.
Meanwhile, the Mitchells would be swallowed up by the Michel Group sooner or later, which was their rival.
Still, Sophia felt indignation over the fact that the Mitchells had divided up Cooper and Woodyâs possessions back then; she kept that indignation close to her heart all this time.
Ian was the one who ran into this himself. She wasnât duty-bound to warn him about that!
With Ian questioning her now, she gave him a vague answer. âI guess you could say that. I realized that you were being tricked earlier on, but I just didnât call her out.â
Ian was so furious that his eyes rolled back into his head. What difference was there between this and outright joining hands to scam him?!
Seeing how he was about to speak, Sophia suddenly asked him in curiosity, âDo you want to marry Lucile that much? You do know that Lucile wouldnât lower herself to marry you, right? Youâll have to marry into her family instead. However, do you know the price of marrying into the Mitchells?â
Ianâs ears pricked up upon hearing that. He couldnât help paying attention to this, but he still feigned an uninterested expression on his face.
âI donât care about such things.â
Sophia shrugged. âTo be honest, itâs not that high of a priceâyouâd only have to change your family name. When you die, you wonât be buried in the Edwardsâ ancestral graveyard; youâll have to be buried with the Mitchells.â
Just as she expected, Ian hesitated after hearing this. An elite family that spanned generations like the Edwards had strong feelings about blood ties. Obviously, they wouldnât agree to one of their male descendants marrying into another family.
Besides, women in Cethos never changed their family names upon marriage, let alone a man.
To top it off, Ian stood at the top of the Edwardsâ hierarchy. If he changed his family name and married into the Mitchells, he would definitely anger the Edwards; they would strip everything away from him.
Even if he really did marry Lucile, he would just be a son-in-law who brought nothing material to his new family.