Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Married for Seven Years, and He Didn’t Know Her Relationship with Chad Jennings

Vincent Grant wasn’t angry, either. He stood ramrod straight, his gaze sincere as he looked at Sophia Shaw.

Sophia Shaw hummed in acknowledgment. "As it happens, my mentor wants to invest in ten aerospace museums in the impoverished regions of Cathan, and my uncle is completely on board with the idea. However, my uncle is still short on funds..."

To an outsider, Sophia’s hum sounded like she was being exceptionally obedient to Levin Sawyer.

The way everyone looked at the pair took on a new meaning.

Vincent Grant squinted, as if his eyes had been stung, but still replied, "I’ll put up fifty million to help your uncle."

"Impressive!" said Levin Sawyer.

With the matter finally settled, Representative Jacobs let out a long sigh of relief.

Mr. Owen, President Reed, and President Morgan repeatedly clasped their hands in gratitude, their eyes red.

If this hadn’t been settled, they would have been too ashamed to continue working at their companies.

Only Joanna Sherman was digging her nails into her palms, her eyes completely red.

"Let me be blunt," Sophia said as they were signing the contract. "Satellite launches have many variables. I can’t guarantee a one-hundred-percent success rate."

"Sign only if you can accept the potential consequences."

Although dozens of safety protocols were in place for the launch process, Sophia was still unwilling to make an absolute promise.

"If even Lead Aerospace can’t guarantee it, then no company in the world can. We accept the risk!"

Mr. Owen took the lead and was the first to sign his name.

President Reed and President Morgan agreed and signed their names as well.

Watching everyone agree so readily, Joanna Sherman’s sense of grievance peaked.

’They can accept Sophia failing, but not me?’

’What a bunch of snobs!’

Before leaving, Sophia went to the restroom.

When she came out, she saw Joanna Sherman standing at the exit, glaring at her viciously. "You’re shameless! You already extorted ten million from my dad, and now you’re asking Vincent Grant for money!"

Sophia slowly and deliberately straightened her cuffs, her piercingly clear eyes looking at Joanna. "Did you not hear me clearly? The ten million from your father was compensation for my mentor, for the harm your mother caused. The fifty million I asked from Vincent is restitution for my uncle."

"He aided the enemy, investing a total of fifty million in your father to use against my uncle."

Joanna Sherman was speechless.

’I really underestimated this woman!’

’She looks weak, incompetent, and harmless, but she remembers every single debt with perfect clarity.’

’And now she’s collecting on them, one by one!’

Sophia smiled at her. It was such a gentle smile, yet Joanna felt as if ice had been plunged into her body, and she shivered from the bone-deep chill.

Behind them, Vincent Grant had heard every word Sophia said. A helpless, bitter smile touched his lips.

’She didn’t want the compensation I offered for Old Master Sloan. It turns out she only wanted to take it from Chad Jennings.’

Sophia and Joanna saw Vincent at the same time.

Joanna froze for a moment, then walked away without a word, her eyes red.

Sophia merely gave him a cold, polite nod and started to walk past him.

A firm grip on her arm stopped her.

Vincent Grant’s handsome, aristocratic face darkened. His voice was low, magnetic, and earnest. "Faye, back then, I invested in Mr. Jennings because he was your father."

Sophia turned her head to look at him.

The corners of her mouth curled into a chilling smile. "When have I ever said I had a father?"

With that, she pulled her arm free and walked away.

Behind her, Vincent remained standing in the same spot, motionless.

Sophia strode forward quickly, her upturned face colored with deep emotion.

’Vincent only said that to show he cared about her, his ex-wife.’

’But he didn’t even know I had a bad relationship with Chad Jennings. What right did he have to say he cared?’

Vincent was efficient. Before she even got home, the fifty million had arrived in her account.

’Of course, that also indirectly proves how much he cares about Joanna Sherman.’

’He was afraid if the money was late, I wouldn’t let Joanna join the project team.’

Sophia gave a faint smile.

Whether he cared about Joanna or not had nothing to do with her.

Sophia transferred the money to Yancy Shaw’s account and gave him a call. "Uncle, you were interested in doing charity, weren’t you? I just transferred fifty million to you. Go ahead and use this money."

Her uncle and her mother were both kind people. Whenever they had money, they always thought about others struggling in impoverished areas.

Her uncle had originally planned to build a Hope Primary School, but Vincent Grant invested fifty million in Chad Jennings and Yvonne Sherman. The two used that money to suppress her uncle, bribing people around him and ruining several of his major business deals.

The plan to build the school thus fell through.

Sophia had asked Vincent for this money precisely to make him compensate for this loss.

She briefly explained the origin of the money. "Uncle, Vincent owed you this from the start, so just take it. But don’t build a Hope Primary School. Work with my mentor to set up the aerospace museums instead."

Many people build Hope Primary Schools, but no one builds aerospace museums.

Sophia hoped the children studying in those schools would have a chance to see the world beyond their own, planting the seeds of aerospace ambition in them from a young age.

So that one day in the future, they could contribute to Cathan’s aerospace industry.

Yancy Shaw, of course, was all for it. He sighed emotionally over the phone, "My dear Faye is so much more capable than her uncle. When you were wronged, your uncle couldn’t help. But when your uncle was wronged, you got justice for me, piece by piece."

As he spoke, his eyes grew red.

"As your elder, I’ve failed you. I’ve failed your mother."

"Uncle, don’t say that!" Sophia couldn’t bear to hear him talk like this. "If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be alive today. You and Auntie have been incredibly kind to me!"

"Besides, I was the one who brought you all this trouble. It was my responsibility to fix it!"

"If anything, I’m the one who has let you down, Uncle..."

Afraid she would bring up painful memories again, Yancy Shaw quickly changed the subject.

The two chatted about the aerospace museums, and by the time they were done, more than half an hour had passed.

Sophia had also arrived downstairs at her apartment building.

Levin Sawyer had something come up at the last minute and had entrusted Jacobs with driving her home.

Just as she hung up, Chad Jennings’s call came in.

Sophia chose to ignore it again, casually adding his number to her blocklist.

After getting out of the car, Sophia gave the keys to Jacobs and told her to drive the car home and pick her up again tomorrow.

She started walking toward her building, her pace unusually fast.

She hadn’t seen her little Bun all day and missed him terribly.

Just as she reached the lobby entrance, a figure blocked her path.

"Sophia Shaw!"

Chad Jennings glared at her, his face dark. "I called you so many times, why didn’t you answer!"

Sophia didn’t speak, only watched him coldly.

Chad Jennings waved his hand impatiently. "We’ll put that aside for now. I want to ask you, what kind of mother are you? Why are you making things difficult for your own son?"

"Cedric goes to school, and you show up to play mother to some other kid, handing out cookies? What do you expect him to think? How is he supposed to show his face?"

"He’s at home crying right now!"

Chad Jennings was furious, as if he were some paragon of justice.

"Hurry up and go comfort him! Don’t break his heart, or you’ll live to regret it!"

"He’s Vincent Grant’s son. You can tell Vincent to go comfort him," Sophia said, not wanting to waste time with him. She reached for the door.

Chad Jennings blocked her way. "What are you talking about! We can’t let Vincent know about this! He’d definitely cause trouble for you!"

"I’m reminding you for your own good!"

"Since when have you ever done anything for my good?" The very idea was laughable to Sophia. "Growing up, I only remember you having eyes for Joanna Sherman."

"That’s different... Back then, Joanna and her mother only had each other. They had it too hard, so I just doted on her a little more."

"Had it hard?"

"Leeching off my mother, your whole family got to live well without lifting a finger. What part of that was hard?"

Sophia’s words were so blunt that Chad Jennings’s face fell.

"What do you mean, leeching? Your mother and I just had different roles. She handled the outside world..."

"And you were responsible for finding other women, having children with them, and spending her money together?"

Whatever he said, Sophia had a retort. Chad Jennings was cornered and felt extremely uncomfortable.

If he didn’t need something from her, he would have exploded in anger.

"Sophia, I’m your father. Do you have to make every sentence so harsh?"

After his outburst, Chad Jennings switched to a softer approach.

"No matter what, we’re family. You can’t break the bonds of blood."

"You’re always targeting me, your own father, and now you’re abandoning your son. If word gets out, what will people think?"

"If your character is flawed, no one will respect you, no matter how capable you are. When that time comes, even if Levin Sawyer wants to marry you, the Sawyer Family can’t afford that kind of embarrassment!"

"So, Sophia, I advise you to tone it down. Don’t push me to a dead end over a mere ten million. Be a good girl and come with me to see Cedric tonight."

In the end, it was still about the ten million.

Seeing Cedric was just a convenient excuse.