Chapter 0168
“What are you staring at?”
Sophia’s belly had deflated, and having recently lost the support of two wealthy patrons, she had become particularly haggard. Not a trace remained of the once radiant starlet.
Her claws came out as soon as she opened her mouth, any semblance of convalescence gone.
Amelia stepped back two paces, arms crossed, a look of gleeful anticipation on her face as she watched the drama unfold.
Melissa, meanwhile, had been the target of Sophia’s tirade and was now approaching her with an expression of stoic indifference.
Lucas, in his hurry to check on his nose at the emergency room- being just as vain about his appearance as his sister-wanted nothing more than to escape the scene. But Sophia was clinging to his clothes with a grip that wouldn’t slacken.
It took Melissa only a few steps to stand before Sophia.
“What? Looking for a fight?” Sophia squared up with attitude. “Let me tell you, I’m still legally married to Lucas! I’m the legitimate one, you’re just a homewrecker, get it?”
“And you, Lucas,” she spat, “I’ll see you penniless!”
Money issues got Lucas frantic. He shoved her hand away, his voic rising in confrontation, “The nerve! You have the audacity to talk of leaving me broke when I haven’t even begun to settle scores for your deceit!”
To this, Sophia titled her head, brazenly claiming, “Did I deceive you? It was you who willingly agreed to raise the child with me! You told
me even if the child wasn’t yours, you’d still marry me, still love me! Now that you’ve found someone better, you want to kick me to the
curb? Dream on!”
Even Amelia had to resist the urge to give a standing ovation for such thick-skinned bravado.
“You’re coming with me to the police station!” Sophia yelled, as if possessed, gripping Lucas with one hand and trying to pull Melissa with the other, intent on marching them away.
But when she applied force, she realized she couldn’t budge the woman beside her.
Melissa was still, then she tilted her head, “Your eyes, that nearsighted, why don’t you wear glasses?”
Sophia was taken aback by the non sequitur.
“What are you babbling about?”
With a flick, Melissa freed her hand from Sophia’s grasp, pointed at Lucas, then disdainfully at her own face.
The contempt in her tone seemed to pierce the sky, “How blind would I have to be to get involved with him?”
Even Lucas was taken aback.
It was the first time he’d heard someone so explicitly express disgust for him. His dignity felt like it had hit the floor, sending tremors that shook Sophia too.
Melissa looked Lucas up and down, “Short, unattractive, greasy.”
“Dumb.”
“??????”
She turned to Sophia, her earnestness almost tangible, “Marrying
him was your bad luck, and even worse vision.”
Sophia’s rage seemed to ebb, if only for a moment.
But then,
Melissa turned to Lucas, “And you. Why on earth would you marry a woman with a built-in rage system? Is it because you crave that dark
thrill?”
“Ha…”
Amelia couldn’t contain herself any longer, “Hahaha!”
Now there were two green-faced individuals.
“Say that again?!” Sophia raised her hand, poised to strike.
Lucas, too, glared at Melissa with fiery eyes.
Melissa didn’t flinch, shaking her head in pity, “Your union, in a way, is quite fitting.”
“Isn’t that right, Teacher Zhuo?”
Amelia, dragged unexpectedly into the fray, had her laughter stifled.
“Amelia!!!!!!” Lucas bellowed.
Amelia quickly pulled Melissa by her side, standing tall, “Are you done? If not, I’m leaving. I don’t have the time to waste with you in the middle of the night. My time is extremely precious.”
“You…” Lucas trembled with fury, turning on his heel and march into the emergency room.
As he left, Sophia followed in hot pursuit, “Don’t you dare run away! You won’t shake me off that easily!”
Once they disappeared from sight, Amelia didn’t accompany them, instead, she wrapped an arm around Melissa’s shoulders, “Our work
here is done. Let’s go!”
“Go where?” Melissa looked utterly lost.
“Where else but back to our dear boss to claim our credit!”
By the time they met Ethan, Madison had already left.
“Weren’t we going later because of the hand injury?” Amelia was puzzled.
“Just a small cut, a certification will do.” Jessica came over, eager for the scoop, “So? How did it go?”
Amelia, arms still crossed with pride, beamed, “When have I ever failed at a task?”
Behind his desk, Ethan was paging through the photos Amelia had snapped, his brow furrowing ever deeper.
Just that morning, he had learned that Shihua had been released.
He hadn’t planned to pursue her to the bitter end, just to send her back overseas when the time was right.
But now, she had aligned herself with Lucas, and not just that, at certain Mason had joined their ranks.
Recalling the intel William had gathered, Ethan felt an urge to commit parricide.
Jessica was half-leaning on the desk, “Big brother, so what if Shihua’s out? Why are you so mad? Just send her abroad now.”
“It’s too late,” Ethan said.
By the time he received the message, Shihua had already left.
She was likely meeting the numerous pilots at the ranking base by
now.
Indeed, Ethan wasn’t wrong.
In a foreign land.
The final destination for the ranking was not within their home
country.
The flight team from Mukino Airline had arrived in droves, followed by pilots from other companies.
Though it was called a ranking, in reality, it wasn’t much different from an assessment or a competition.
Thousands of pilots from various countries, mostly donning similar uniforms, differentiated only by color, surreptitiously sized each other up, each silently assessing the other’s strength.
Though not a one-on-one contest, with an S-tier ranking at stake, who would be content with a C?
The first batch of arrivals were the chief pilots from various nations. Each airline assigned half their team to the base, leaving the rest to continue with flights back home.
After this batch was done and returned, the other half would take. their place.
Coincidentally, the first wave included the strongest pilots from the respective companies.
Overtly and covertly, everyone was competing; no one wanted to
lose.
With so many gathered, just verifying personal details consumed a considerable amount of time.
As idle chatter filled the air, pilots from Mukino Airline suddenly heard a name that caught their attention.
“Shihua, from the domestic Huanmei Airline.”
All eyes instinctively turned towards the record-keeper.
At the same time, Shihua, under the brim of her black cap, was peering out at them through the dim light.
Just a few days apart, but they felt something different about Shihua, especially her chilling gaze.
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