Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Will Vincent Grant Spare Joanna Sherman?

Zachary Hale rarely got into arguments with people. Sophia Shaw paused for a moment, then quickened her pace.

Only when she got closer did she see that the person at the center of the commotion was Yvonne Sherman’s mother, Patricia Holloway.

Patricia Holloway stood opposite Zachary Hale, craning her neck and shouting with the arrogance of age, "How am I framing her? One of your own people filmed that video. You’re the one who gave her that pigeon’s egg diamond, right?"

Patricia Holloway waved her phone, which was playing a video—the same one Leah Evans had posted on her social media feed a short while ago.

"The video makes it perfectly clear! The boss told us which stocks to buy, we made money, and we bought the pigeon’s egg diamond to thank her!" Zachary Hale argued, trying to reason with her.

"Hmph! Made money on stocks, so you buy her a pigeon’s egg diamond? Who would believe that!" Patricia Holloway was used to being brutish and unreasonable.

"Who knows what kind of sordid things you two are up to behind closed doors! You’re obviously just using the stock market earnings as an excuse!"

"No wonder she, a woman, gets along so well with a group of men like you!"

"If you ask me, even that whole ’rocket genius’ title of hers came from sweet-talking men!"

"I heard she used to work surrounded by men, and her mentor was a widower!"

The video had been filmed in a straightforward manner and explained everything clearly, but Patricia Holloway’s distortion twisted it into something completely different, immediately making people’s minds wander to sordid places.

Those who were initially disbelieving were now beginning to have their doubts.

Zachary Hale could have tolerated Patricia Holloway slandering him, but she had even dragged Old Master Sloan into it. He was furious. "You’d better explain yourself!"

He instinctively reached out to grab her.

Sophia Shaw ran over quickly and, in the nick of time, grabbed Zachary Hale.

Before she could even speak, she saw Patricia Holloway fall to the ground.

"Aiya, he’s hitting me! An engineer from Lead Aerospace is having an affair with a married woman, and now he’s hitting people!"

Patricia Holloway’s voice was loud, drawing an even larger crowd.

A tour bus happened to be parked nearby, and a group of old ladies was disembarking.

Hearing that an engineer was involved with a married woman, the old ladies’ eyes lit up like lightbulbs. They looked around as if they were catching a thief, searching for the people involved.

Zachary Hale looked at his hands, then at Sophia Shaw. "Chief Engineer Shaw... I didn’t even touch her."

"I know."

Patricia Holloway had given birth to a daughter like Yvonne Sherman; naturally, she was no pushover herself.

How could a straightforward tech guy like Zachary Hale be a match for her?

Seeing so many people gathering around, Patricia Holloway grew bolder. She pointed at Zachary Hale and Sophia Shaw. "It’s those two!"

"Using ’making money from stocks’ as an excuse, he gave this woman a pigeon’s egg diamond worth millions without batting an eye!"

"And this woman is married! She even has a child!"

The old ladies’ gazes shot toward Sophia Shaw and Zachary Hale like daggers.

They rarely paid attention to rockets, so of course, they didn’t know who Sophia Shaw was.

Seeing her beauty, one of them scoffed, "She looks all gentle and sweet, but who knew she was a homewrecker!"

"She has a husband and a child but still isn’t satisfied. Seducing other men, shameless!"

"Young man, you’re so young and rich. You could find any nice girl you want. Why would you go for a married woman?"

Zachary Hale had always respected Sophia Shaw. Hearing everyone talk about her like this, his fists clenched so tight his lungs felt like they were about to burst.

He roared, "Shut up! Shut up! You’re not allowed to talk about my boss! Don’t you dare talk about her!"

Patricia Holloway grew even more smug. "See? The young man is completely bewitched by her! This woman is a real piece of work!"

"Many others at their company have fallen for her tricks, too! They’re all fighting over who gets to give her their bank cards!"

The crowd hadn’t seen the video and was stunned by these claims.

"This woman is absolutely shameless."

"Expose her!"

"Right, we can’t let any more men fall for her tricks!"

Zachary Hale lunged forward to snatch the phone.

Sophia Shaw pushed him out of the circle and said to the security guards, "Take him back inside and keep an eye on him!"

The security guards had wanted to help Sophia Shaw, but seeing that she was surrounded by a group of old ladies, they were afraid of making things worse and hadn’t dared to intervene.

Hearing her shout, they quickly supported Zachary Hale and retreated into the Lead Aerospace building.

The old ladies, afraid the commotion wasn’t big enough, chased after them, unwilling to let it go. "Don’t let Phelan get away! Quick, film it!"

Patricia Holloway looked at Sophia Shaw smugly. While everyone was busy chasing Zachary Hale, she got up and whispered, "Listen to me. Find a way to get my daughter out, and don’t you dare mention that ten million again!"

"Otherwise, I’ll blow this whole thing up and make sure everyone knows. Let’s see if you care about your reputation then!"

Patricia Holloway brandished her phone triumphantly. "You’re a married woman, and you have so many men throwing money at you in broad daylight. Who knows how many men you have improper relationships with behind the scenes!"

"In less than two days, you, the so-called rocket genius, will be drowned in public criticism!"

Sophia Shaw suppressed her anger and reached a hand toward Patricia Holloway.

Patricia Holloway thought she was about to be hit. She didn’t dodge; instead, she even leaned closer to Sophia Shaw.

Sophia Shaw grabbed the front of her shirt, dusted it off, then smoothly gripped her flabby shoulder and said in an equally low voice:

"There’s a secret I’ve never told anyone. I’m divorced."

"How is that possible!"

Patricia Holloway didn’t believe it for a second.

"Don’t try to fool me."

Sophia Shaw looked at her coldly. "There’s something else I haven’t said. Vincent Grant himself doesn’t know that we’re divorced. It was Joanna Sherman who used tricks to get him to sign the divorce papers."

"Obviously, the divorce certificate isn’t in his possession either."

"Should I announce it publicly? The moment I do, Vincent Grant will find out what Joanna Sherman did."

"Do you think Vincent Grant will let Joanna Sherman off the hook?"

The color drained from Patricia Holloway’s old face.

She was malicious, but she wasn’t stupid.

She knew better than anyone that the more powerful a man is, the less he can tolerate being deceived.

Joanna Sherman still had to rely on Vincent Grant for her rocket launch...

But this was just too absurd!

"Either you apologize to me and my mentor in front of everyone right now."

"Or I tell everyone the truth!"

Sophia Shaw’s expression was fearless. She didn’t look like she was joking at all.

Patricia Holloway was finally afraid. THUMP. She fell to her knees in front of the crowd. "I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have started trouble! I shouldn’t have framed you! And I shouldn’t have framed your mentor!"

The old ladies who hadn’t managed to film Zachary Hale running back: "..."

’We were just about to help Patricia Holloway, but she’s the one admitting she’s wrong?’

Sophia Shaw said lightly, "If you don’t say something more, everyone will think I forced you to apologize."

Her weak spot was being squeezed tightly; how could she dare to disobey?

She confessed everything in one breath.

"My daughter committed a crime and went to jail, and she also has to pay ten million in damages. My son-in-law had no other choice, so he told me to come... come make trouble for Sophia Shaw."

"He’s the one who gave me the video!"

Hearing this, Sophia Shaw laughed coldly to herself.

’Chad Jennings is really some father, to come up with such a malicious idea.’

The old ladies had wanted to uphold justice, but it turned out there was no justice to uphold. They were furious.

They unleashed a torrent of curses at Patricia Holloway.

How could Patricia Holloway dare to stay? She turned and ran.

The old ladies furiously chased after her, shouting and cursing the whole time, hounding her like a stray dog until she managed to hail a three-wheeled vehicle and escape.

The old ladies all came back to apologize to Sophia Shaw.

"Don’t be afraid, dear. We’ve filmed everything that old hag said. If she dares to frame you, we’ll expose her!"

Two of the old ladies taught ballroom dancing online, and they immediately posted the clip of Patricia Holloway’s confession to their private groups.

The other old ladies also had plenty of their own groups: for grocery shopping, leisure activities, qipao shows, and square dancing. Every single one of them posted the video, not forgetting to add a message: "Sisters, I was misled by this old bitch and almost hurt an innocent girl! Every last one of you, forward this video of that old hag!"

If there was one thing the old ladies had in abundance, it was a love for gossip and a sense of justice. They immediately rose to the occasion.

Sophia Shaw hadn’t really expected the old ladies to help her much, but seeing them so eager to right the wrong, she felt a warmth in her heart.

’It seems there are more good people in the world than not.’

Before long, the old ladies left, and the rest of the crowd dispersed as well.

Leah Evans stood to the side, her eyes red as she looked at Sophia Shaw. "I’m sorry, Ms. Shaw. I shouldn’t have sent that video everywhere. It’s because of me that Patricia Holloway came to bully you."

At that moment, she was dying of guilt.

Sophia Shaw patted her shoulder. "It has nothing to do with you. The Shermans are masters of making something out of nothing. Even if you hadn’t posted that video, they would have found some other reason to cause trouble."

"That’s how they framed my mother back then."

Thinking of how the Shermans had caused a city-wide scandal after her mother’s death, completely destroying her reputation, Sophia Shaw’s eyes reddened.