The True Lady Strikes Back by Susanna Lucius - Season 2 Episode 24

Christopher looked at Cecilia, who was brimming with confidence, and asked softly, “Ceci, how many hidden skills do you have?”

He felt that she was precious, just like a treasure. As

Christopher got to know Cecilia better, he became increasingly attracted to her.

Cecilia’s rosy lips curled up. Her hair was partially covering her face, and her eyes glimmered. It was as if they contained the galaxy, dazzling and enchanting.

“I have many more. You’ll find out in the future,” she answered. After being adopted by the Shaw family, Elaine sent Cecilia to a top–secret elite school because of the latter’s exceptional intelligence.

The school’s teachers were experts in various fields and were adept at uncovering students‘ potential. Then, they would customize the students‘ education accordingly.

They could learn anything as long as they had the energy and talent.

Graduates from there all had their own expertise. Their skills were remarkable. Moreover, they needed to serve the country for a decade.

After that, they could choose their own path.

However, because of the Shaw family, Cecilia was an exception. She attended the school just to learn. There were no additional conditions or constraints.

And most of her skills were acquired at that elite school.

After graduating, she joined the Peacekeeping Forces.

If it were not for the accident three years ago, she would still be living amidst fierce battles.

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Cecilia’s smile disappeared at the thought of that. “Good night, Christopher.”

After saying that, she lay down to rest and covered her head with the blanket, concealing the hatred in her eyes.

Christopher moved his lips but did not say anything in the end. He turned off the ceiling light, leaving only the dim bedside lamp.

Meanwhile, at the Yancey residence, Jayden returned in a disheveled state after a shoot.

Seeing the egg stains on his clothes, Sophia asked in shock, “Jayden, what happened to you?”

Since no outsiders were in the living room, Jayden

immediately removed his filthy coat, threw it angrily on the ground, and yelled, “Juliana has ruined my life!”

When Juliana orchestrated a kidnapping case and shifted the blame onto Cecilia, he supported Juliana fully. Jayden even used his reputation as collateral.

After that, he used his connections to secure several acting roles for Juliana.

But then, the truth about Juliana was exposed. Thus, not only did Jayden shoulder a massive debt from her breach of contract, but his popularity also plummeted.

At present, fans began to question his integrity, and his scandals were being revealed one after another.

Of course, many of these allegations were baseless. However, onlookers cared little for the truth. They were simply mindlessly joining in to criticize Jayden.

As a result, his commercials were taken down. His upcoming TV shows and movies were canceled, too. Furthermore, Jayden was replaced in the ongoing variety shows in which he had a role.

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To make things worse, his loyal fans, who had supported him since his debut, had turned into anti–fans. They brought Jayden’s fan club and caused a scene at the filming site, completely disrupting that day’s shoot.

If Jayden could not turn the situation around, his acting career would be over.

Upon hearing the name “Juliana,” Sophia was furious and shouted, “I warned you all from the beginning to be cautious! Yet not one of you listened to me!”

Previously, Sophia had noticed Juliana’s act. The latter was just playing the victim. Hence, she was indifferent toward Juliana. However, Sophia had thought it was just Juliana’s tactic to vie for favor and did not take it to heart.

Little did she know, Juliana had been scheming all along. The thought that she had raised her enemy’s daughter as her own while her biological daughter had been sold to human traffickers made Sophia wish she could end the lives of everyone in the Quigley family.

Especially Juliana!

“That Lopez guy is a fool! He can’t even end a person’s life!” After complaining, Sophia looked at Gordon, who remained silent, and reprimanded, “It’s all your fault for trusting Juliana so much! You’re the one who caused Ceci to become estranged from us.”

When Gordon did not know Juliana’s true colors, he truly liked and trusted her.

He had been particularly impatient and even annoyed at Cecilia.

However, he was not the only one. Everyone in the family felt the same.

Nevertheless, seeing his wife in a fit of anger, he chose not to

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refute, saying, “Sophie, I truly owe Ceci an apology. But now is not the time to talk about it. We must figure out how to solve Jeremiah and Jayden’s problem.”

After saying that, Gordon massaged his temples in frustration. At the thought of over 2 billion dollars having gone down the drain, Sophia patted her chest to calm herself down.

She turned her gaze to Jonathan, who was calculating the funds, and asked, “Jonathan, how much can our family come up with?”

Jonathan stared at the computer screen. Without lifting his head, he replied, “About 400 million dollars, with a shortfall of more than 1.2 billion dollars.”

The Yancey family had assets worth more than 2 billion dollars. However, most of it was in real estate and investment projects. There was not much cash available.

Raising 2 billion dollars would not be difficult, but selling off assets below the market value was not worth it.

Most importantly, if the Yancey family resorted to selling assets, their status as a prominent family would be compromised.

Suddenly, Sophia had an idea. “More than 1.2 billion dollars is the same as the price of the herb plantation. Why don’t we…” But before she could finish her sentence, Jonathan interrupted her, “Mom, I’ve already given the herb plantation to Ceci.” “When did you give it to her? Why didn’t I know about it? Why did you suddenly give it to her?”

Jonathan looked up. Instead of answering Sophia, he

countered, “Mom, our family owes Ceci so much. Isn’t giving her the herb plantation the right thing to do?”

After all, the money the Yancey family spent on Juliana over the years was definitely more than 1.2 billion dollars.

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Jonathan was now consumed by regret. He wanted to treat Cecilia as well as possible.

Sophia replied immediately, “Of course, it’s the right thing to do. However, the herb plantation is a significant asset. You should have informed me earlier.”

With that 1.2 billion dollars, the Yancey family’s difficulties could have been easily overcome.

Jonathan knew what his mother was thinking and gave a wry smile. “Mom, you know the current situation with the herb plantation,” he said. “As long as Ceci remains silent, those herbs worth hundreds of millions of dollars are merely worthless weeds to us.”

He had even tried to sell the herb plantation under market value, offering it at 800 million dollars. Jonathan wanted to sell the herbs at half price, too, thinking that a loss was better than holding on to it.

But no one dared to take over.

At first, he thought the herb merchants were succumbing to Christopher’s pressure.

However, it was still futile when Jonathan tried to find buyers from other regions.

That was when he realized Cecilia was the one truly pressuring the herb merchants.

Seeing that his mother said nothing, Jonathan continued, “Mom, Ceci is not an ordinary person. We’ve underestimated her.”

Sophia was well aware of Cecilia’s capabilities. That was why the former blamed herself and was filled with so much regret. Sophia did not bring up the topic of the herb plantation any further. Instead, she mentioned another substantial sum. “Everything we gave to Juliana was illegally obtained. We can reclaim it. Can you calculate approximately how much is that?”

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Jonathan looked into all the assets under Juliana’s and the Quigley family’s name. He already had a rough estimate. “Juliana has been quietly selling off the real estate. The remaining assets under her name are not much, at most 40 million dollars. Including the jewelries we gifted her, we might barely get 80 million dollars,” Jonathan explained.

Sophia was shocked upon hearing that.

She thought Juliana had at least 800 million dollars in assets, but it turned out to be a lot less than that.

Jonathan, too, did not anticipate such a meager amount. “Mom, Juliana probably transferred her assets. The police might be able to recover some of it. But those demanding breach of contract penalties won’t give us much time,” Jonathan commented.

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that the most considerable portion of the penalty was from the Yates family. Jonathan then turned to Jayden. “Jay, how’s your relationship with Fiona so far? Can you ask her to talk to Calvin about not pressuring us on the breach of contract penalties?”

As long as Yates Corporation was willing to lead the way in granting an extension, it would be easier to negotiate with others.

Jayden did not want to approach Fiona. However, there were no better options.

After all, the penalty for breach of contract was undertaken by him on behalf of Juliana.

“Fiona and I are still in the getting–to–know–each–other phase. I can only try but don’t get your hopes too high,” Jayden replied.

After saying that, he took out his phone and called Fiona.