My Dreamy Old Husband

Chapter 22

If Michael dared to have Sophia by his side, he must have investigated her background, including the part where her future was almost ruined after someone framed her and her textbook-like scumbag of an ex-boyfriend.

However, it intrigued him even more. If I can convince her to lower her guard and accept me with her scarred heart, what an accomplishment that will be! I will protect her forever and use my gentle hand to touch her heart so that it won’t be scarred again.

Sophia remained asleep during the return journey home. When Michael threw her on the bed, she opened her eyes slightly and saw the two big eels Michael reared in the fish tank. She was so scared that she sat up immediately.

He knew that she was tired, so he decided not to torture her any longer. “I have something else to do tonight. Remember to change your tampon before returning to sleep.”

He grabbed some stuff and went out the door, but he was gone for a few days afterward. She did not know what crimes he committed as long as she was satisfied with her freedom.

The schoolwork at Bayside University had drained her—it was as busy as her final year in high school. She was so busy that she barely had time to rest during the day.

She left home early and returned late everyday, so she really wanted to search for a house near campus, but was also afraid that Michael would insist on living with her. That will be embarrassing. News about me being a married woman will definitely be exposed sooner or later.

On the other side, the Harper Family was in utter despair.

Kayla’s lawsuit became a problem for them because the attorney representing the plaintiff was Mr. Fields.

The first verdict had already been given—Kayla was ordered to apologize to Sophia and pay a compensation of 5 million to her for mental damages.

5 million was nothing for the Harper Family, but how could Kayla, the precious daughter of the Harper Family, admit to the public that she had framed a poor student like Sophia, seeing that they had to protect their reputation?

However, the opponent was coming at them in full force because they had the best attorney in Bayside City to defend them—Calvin Fields!

Mr. Fields was a notorious attorney and the so-called elite attorney that the Harpers engaged was no match for him. He lost after only two rounds, causing him to withdraw without collecting the agency fees.

Now, they were unable to engage an attorney who was willing to take on this case because when all of the attorneys heard that their opposing counsel was Mr. Fields, they rejected the case immediately.

By the looks of it, they could only ask Kayla to apologize to Sophia and pay the compensation.

Ever since the first judgment had been handed down, Kayla lacked the courage to go to school for the past few days, so she stayed at home and smashed things in her rage. “I’ve said it. I didn’t do it! I didn’t frame that b*tch. She was the one who framed me!”

In Harper’s Mansion, Kayla was angrily smashing everything that she could get her hands on. Even the female helper who came to clean up the mess was terrified by Kayla’s hideous and angry face, so she stood aside motionlessly and allowed the latter to continue smashing things.

Mrs. Harper advised her daughter. “Kayla, you need to calm down. It’s just an apology…”

“No way. I will not apologize to that b*tch!” Kayla’s eyes were reddened like an angry, grotesque beast with messy hair. If she actually admitted to her wrongdoings, she foresaw spending the rest of her days in school being despised by everyone.

However, Mrs. Harper still tried her best at persuasion. “Kayla, you need to listen to me. It’s almost your 19th birthday. Why don’t I plan an unprecedented birthday party for you? You can celebrate your birthday in a glorious fashion so that those haters will shut up!”

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I don’t want to!” Kayla screamed before she continued to smash anything that she saw.

Then, Richard and Xyla also came to persuade her.

After his genuine confession, the ‘considerate’ Xyla still chose to be together with him. Even though she knew in her heart that Sophia was still in his heart, she was still willing to be with him—even though that meant being the mistress.

Therefore, how could Richard abandon such a ‘kind’ girl like Xyla?

Just like that, both of them reconciled and as the future daughter-in-law of the Harper Family, Xyla had already won over Mrs. Harper’s heart.

Xyla risked being injured by a vase to persuade Kayla. “Kayla, you need to listen to me. Do you really think that Sophia has the power to hurt the Harpers? She is merely a pawn used by someone. The real person who is going against us is the mastermind behind her!”

Richard and Mrs. Harper thought about it for a while, but they just couldn’t understand why they would get themselves entangled in this lawsuit. Why does Sophia have the capability and fund to file a lawsuit toward us?

Finally, they figured it out. Sophia alone could never hire someone like Mr. Fields, so there must be someone backing her financially.

The Harper Family had a huge enterprise that provoked many enemies. Some people were jealous of their family fortune and tried to stab them from the back.

Apart from that, the Harper Group was preparing to be listed on the stock exchange. Therefore, if Kayla actually admitted to committing such a scandal, it might directly affect the public listing of the Harper Group. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

When that thought came to mind, everything else made sense.

In the face of the Harper Family’s overall interest, Kayla’s personal reputation didn’t seem to be that important.

Thus, Mrs. Harper tried to persuade her again. “When this matter is over, we will hold your birthday party as a fundraising dinner and use your name to make a 5 million donation to charity.

Then, you can pretend to apologize so that everything will be over. They won’t have anything to hold against us after that.”

However, Kayla still refused to do so as red sparks flew out of her eyes together with huge teardrops. “I know that the priority of the family is our interest, but I really can’t bring myself to apologize to that b*tch. I just can’t!”

She hugged Mrs. Harper and cried. On the sidelines, Richard was observing them and clenched his fists before loosening them.

Sophia, you hate me, so you want to take revenge on me, but do you really think you can do that? No, you are merely a pawn! A pathetic pawn!

However, in Richard’s mind, he still could not forget Sophia’s gorgeous looks. She captivated him like a poison, making him long to have her one more time.

In the end, Kayla compromised and withdrew her appeal. She then published a public apology to Sophia in the newspapers and gave her the 5 million compensation.

After she admitted to framing Sophia’s pregnancy and almost ruining her future, the entire Bayside University went into an uproar.

The rich elites valued their reputation the most. Therefore, this incident seemed like a huge slap to the Harpers and anyone related to them would not dare to show their faces in Bayside University.

In addition, the topic of campus bullying was becoming popular and due to the Harper Family’s special identity, they had provoked a section of the public that hated the wealthy and immediately was under heavy scrutiny.

However, it was only short-lived because the Harper Family immediately went into action with their public reactions. Firstly, they employed someone to post on the internet to stir up some conversation, focusing on Kayla’s underage status at that time.

Kayla was quite a talented girl who received elite education from a young age and always had good grades, apart from receiving lots of awards in many international piano competitions. During her summer vacation, she even visited third-world countries and Africa to do volunteer work.

With that information, they abruptly painted her as an innocent and lovely top student who learned a huge lesson as a result of her youthful ignorance and a friendly joke that went wrong.

The head of Harper Group—Kayla’s parents—held a press conference to publicly apologize, saying that it was their fault for not providing their daughter with the proper education.

As a result, they were willing to donate another 5 million to charity as a way to atone for their daughter’s sins.

As for the university, the board did not inflict any punishment on her due to her underage status at that time, so they only gave her a credit deduction. However, if she studied hard for the rest of the semester, she would still be able to earn that credit sooner or later.

All the chaos ended just like that, but it also seemed that it was the beginning of something else…