Chapter 09
She looked at father and Sandra as if pleading for help, but Elijah violently pulled her back.
The fury in his eyes almost burned through her: “I pitied you, and you plotted against me?”
Father pushed Katia aside and walked over to Larry with a beaming face, shaking hands.
Larry suddenly chuckled: “Thanks too early.”
In the silence of the room, Justin took out his mother’s sealed will and read it aloud on the spot:
“According to Clause Seven of Mrs. Williams’ will, once abnormal transactions occur in the held shares, the trustee- ship is automatically terminated.”
“The proceeds from the shares sold by Gerald today belong to Sophia.”
Gerald slumped into the chair.
Sandra screamed even louder:
“Are you crazy? Sophia, you’re betraying your mother! You’re a traitor to the Williams Group!”
I found it laughable:
“Didn’t Gerald say he wanted to hand it over to more capable people? Why is he reluctant now?”
I announced word by word:
“I sever the father-daughter relationship with Gerald.”
The room erupted in uproar.
Gerald’s eyes widened, his lips trembling without uttering a word.
He was once the most prominent man in Los Angeles.
Now he slumped in his chair like an old dog with its spine removed.
Larry stood up and nodded to Justin.
The secretary immediately made a call, transferring a colossal sum into account.
Then before everyone, he knelt on one knee.
“Sophia, these are Williams Group shares I just acquired for you.”
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“From today onward, they belong to you.”
“I, Larry, vow to protect you and our child for the rest of my life.”
“Will you marry me?”
Dead silence engulfed the room.
Moments later, earth-shattering exclamations erupted.
Someone took photos, someone went live streaming.
Trending topics refreshed instantly:
[Prince of Houston Proposes to Williams Heiress, Lavish Dowry Stuns Los Angeles]
After that day, Larry deployed a dedicated legal team, swiftly suing Gerald and Sandra.
Every property, every bank deposit, even the vintage heirlooms collected by his mother were reclaimed one by one.
Each time Larry accompanied me for prenatal check-ups, the arrangements grew more extravagant than before.
A world-class medical team, privately customized luxury suites, even non-slip red carpet lining the hospital corridors.
Everyone in Los Angeles started envying me again, calling me a woman favored by fate.
All those earlier comments branding me the discarded daughter of the Williams family, who called me a mistress…
Long gone.
That day, just after my prenatal checkup, I stepped toward the Lincoln limousine.
“Sophia!”
The familiar voice made me pause mid-step, but I didn’t turn.
Only when he nearly roared it again: “Sophia!”
Did I slowly turn around.
The once-promising rising star of Los Angeles looked utterly haggard.
Sunken eyes, unkempt stubble.
As if he hadn’t slept properly in ages.
Understandable.
After the Williams Group lost that bidding war, multiple suppliers sued them. Their funding dried up long ago.
He stumbled toward me, brushing past the bodyguards, pulling a deed from his inner suit pocket.
The ownership papers for that private Maldivian island.
His voice turned gravelly:
“Sophia… last year when I taught you to dive… at ten meters deep… you suddenly ripped off your regulator a me… left us both gasping for air…”
