Vivian Morton: “…”
Her face burned, and she bit her lip, too embarrassed to know how to respond.
‘This sister-in-law…
Does she think she grew up in a wealthy family or something?’
‘Just a country bumpkin from the mountains.
I give her clothes, and she complains they’re not good enough, being all picky.’
‘So unlikable!’
Iris Dalton glanced at the boxes and shoe boxes, then gestured with her chin toward Mindy, who was standing in the hallway.
“Throw this trash in the garbage bin.
Then, go to the kitchen and get me something to eat.
Four dishes and a soup, with extra meat.
Thanks for your hard work.”
Mindy’s eyes lit up.
She found the Third Miss’s straightforward retort refreshing.
Seeing the look of pure frustration on Vivian Morton’s face, she couldn’t help but suppress a laugh, nodding repeatedly.
“Yes, Third Miss.”
*
After the Vaughn couple left, Simon Sherwood and Leona Vaughn hurried to the old Sherwood family home, while Vivian Morton returned to her parents’ house to discuss her brother’s situation.
Tristan Sherwood silently chain-smoked two cigarettes in the living room before heading upstairs to find Iris Dalton.
“Your sister-in-law’s brother has gotten into a bit of trouble, and we need your help.
You can name any price,” Tristan Sherwood said, his gaze faltering as he looked at the young woman leaning against the doorway.
He guiltily looked away.
He didn’t dare to look her straight in the eye.
The young woman was slightly taken aback.
Her clear eyes stared at him, her distinct dark irises filled with complex emotions.
Tristan Sherwood lowered his head, his heart inexplicably softening.
He didn’t need to spell out what would happen if he sent her to a club tonight to pour drinks for a difficult, untouchable, and mysterious mogul.
Any man would understand.
But he had already made the offer.
There was no turning back now.
Besides, Ray Morgan was his brother-in-law, and Serena Sherwood was his own sister.
As the eldest brother, he couldn’t just ignore their safety…
‘He had no other choice.’
Iris Dalton’s gaze gradually turned cold, and a chill, indifferent air settled over her fair, delicate face.
With the AI’s real-time surveillance, she already knew the whole story.
Ray Morgan had been hitting on a beautiful woman at the club, who, unexpectedly, turned out to belong to a mysterious mogul.
The man wasn’t about to let him off easy.
Upon learning he was Tristan Sherwood’s brother-in-law, the man made a demand: have Serena Sherwood come and pour drinks as an apology.
If they didn’t agree, he would break both of Ray Morgan’s legs tonight!
So…
‘Tristan Sherwood came to find me now because he wants me to take Serena Sherwood’s place and pour drinks?’
Iris Dalton smiled.
A complex mix of emotions churned within her.
“What’s in it for me?” After a moment of silence, the young woman finally spoke.
Tristan Sherwood froze for a second, then looked up at her.
After a brief daze, a softer emotion appeared in his eyes.
“I told you, you can name your price.
As long as it’s within my power, I’ll agree to anything!”
His tone was rushed as he looked at her with a face full of sincerity, as if he were coaxing a doted-on little sister.
In that moment, he truly felt that way.
Even if Iris Dalton were to ask for shares in his company, he would agree without hesitation!
“Let me name my price, huh…” Iris Dalton tilted her head, her soft, pink lips forming a slight pout.
She furrowed her brow, feigning deep thought.
Tristan Sherwood’s gaze swept over her fair, delicate face, which seemed to hold a faint trace of sorrow.
The guilt in his heart deepened.
‘Sigh…’
‘As long as this issue is resolved, I’ll definitely make it up to her in the future.’
‘I could even treat her like my own dear sister…’
“You will provide me, free of charge, with ten excavators, ten bulldozers, and ten tractors, as well as five plows, five seeders, five fertilizer spreaders, and five harvesters.
Delivery within one week,” Iris Dalton said, counting on her fingers.
Tristan Sherwood: “…!”
After a long moment, he clenched his jaw and forced out the words, “Fine, I agree!”
“Arrange for it right now.” Iris Dalton lifted her chin, her expression a perfect picture of the arrogance and willfulness of a spoiled brat.
She looked every bit the part of a pampered heiress.
Tristan Sherwood stared blankly for a moment, then frowned.
“You don’t trust me?”
Iris Dalton scoffed.
Her expression instantly became lively and radiant as she shot him a provocative glance.
“Your character is questionable.
And besides…
‘A man’s mouth is a deceiving ghost’!”
Ryan told her that.
Tristan Sherwood: “…”
He clenched his phone, the veins on the back of his hand popping out.
After a moment, he took a deep breath and called his special assistant, Isaac Sutton, right in front of her.
“Place an express order for me.
Excavators…
yes, that’s right.
Arrange it immediately.
Make sure they’re shipped within a week!”
*
「Elysium Club.」
Inside a luxurious VIP room, Vincent Thorne, Shaun Adler, and Xavier Kendrick sat facing each other on a large, soft sofa.
Next to them were Shaun Adler’s manager, Agent Thorne, and Vincent Thorne’s secretary.
The group was gathered to discuss how to get the trending topics taken down.
Foreign liquor sat on the table, but no one was in the mood to drink.
The room was quiet, the lighting dim.
The atmosphere was oppressive and tense.
The secretary, with a grave expression, handed a report to Vincent Thorne.
“President Thorne, this is the data from the PR department.
The ten trending topics are still on the list, and the public opinion is very unfavorable for you.”
Previously, to strongly support his brother and boost Shaun Adler’s popularity, President Thorne had reposted one of Serena Sherwood’s Weibo posts.
No one at the company had thought much of it.
Their President Thorne had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, fiercely loyal to those he cared for and utterly ruthless to those he disliked.
It was his usual style.
But who would have thought that Vincent Thorne’s earlier Weibo post would be immediately contradicted—and made to look foolish—by two videos.
Instead of helping his friend, he ended up getting dragged into the mess himself!
Countless netizens flocked to the company’s official website, starting flame wars and demanding that Vincent Thorne apologize.
The company’s upper management held an emergency meeting.
Some said they shouldn’t care about this idle rabble with nothing better to do, and that things would quiet down once the hype died.
But others were worried about the company’s stock.
Today was the weekend, so the stock market was closed.
If they didn’t resolve this and turn public opinion around, Elysian World’s stock would drop by at least a few points the moment the market opened tomorrow morning.
Serena Sherwood and Shaun Adler were artists signed with Elysian World, and Vincent Thorne was the president.
This incident had truly caused the company to take a major tumble!
The company investigated the burner account that posted the videos but found no leads.
All they knew was that the person was a hacker, capable of mobilizing a million virtual IDs in a matter of minutes.
“If you think about it, this whole thing started with Serena Sherwood fighting with her sister who just returned to the family.
Both videos were filmed at the Sherwood Villa, so why did they end up online?”
Xavier Kendrick, legs crossed and lounging lazily on the sofa, looked at Vincent Thorne and Shaun Adler and voiced his doubts.
“Could it be…
that sister of hers?” Shaun Adler’s manager, Agent Thorne, interjected.
Because of Serena Sherwood’s trending scandal, Shaun Adler had also been implicated, losing two million followers in a single day.
Even though many of them were paid-for bot followers, Agent Thorne was still frustrated.
As a top-tier manager, she couldn’t allow such a “bug” to appear in her track record.
So, the trouble had to be dealt with at its source!
“Impossible!” the secretary said, shaking his head.
“President Thorne already had someone investigate.
The girl really did grow up in the mountains and has been in Stellan for less than a week.
She doesn’t know hacking, much less have access to a network of hackers.”
Besides, hiring a hacker to keep topics trending costs a lot of money.
To have millions of user IDs swarm Weibo and keep ten topics locked at the top of the trending list—the cost would have to be over ten million!
Shaun Adler grew more agitated listening to this, running his hands through his hair until it looked like a bird’s nest.
Serena Sherwood was now hiding in her hotel, refusing to see anyone.
Every half hour, she would call him, whimpering and crying.
He was starting to find his girlfriend annoying.
She was the one who started this mess, and now she was making them clean it up while she hid away, doing nothing but cry!
But Shaun Adler was even more annoyed with Serena Sherwood’s sister.
‘How dare she call them “simps” online!’
‘That bitch, she’s really no good!’
Vincent Thorne remained silent the entire time, his cold, heavy gaze fixed on the data in the report, his face as dark as ink.
“Zane, you have an UmbraNet account.
Go ask which master was behind this.
I’ll pay double their price to hire them.” He looked up at Xavier Kendrick, who was sitting across from him.
Xavier Kendrick, fiddling with a deck of cards, smiled.
“Alright, I’ll ask.”