Scar glanced at Sophia, then shifted his gaze to Teresa. “Ma’am, don’t worry. I’m not a bad guy. They call me Scar on the streets.”
Hearing the name “Scar,” some of the Henley family relatives in the room grew uneasy. Clearly, they had heard of Scar’s reputation.
Why had this guy barged in here?
Teresa regained some composure and looked at Scar, asking, “Why have you come here?”
Scar’s face twisted into an unpleasant smile. “Well, here’s the thing. I’ve helped your Henley family out of a big problem. I’ve come today for a little compensation.”
Teresa was well aware of the kind of people Scar represented. If they could avoid trouble by spending money, she’d rather do that.
She responded, “I’m curious. What problem did you solve for the Henley family, and what compensation do you want?”
“Ma’am, please take a look,” Scar said, pulling off the hood of the man beside him.
When Bruno saw the man’s face, his expression turned ashen. Philip, how could he have ended up in the hands of this scarred man?
And Philip looked terrible, not at all like his usual self. This didn’t make sense!
“Philip, what have you done? Speak up,” Scar ordered.
Philip remained silent.
Scar kicked him and yelled, “You goddamn mute! I’ll kill you right now if you don’t start talking!”
The present-day Philip was nothing like the powerful figure he used to be on the streets. Not only did he have a swollen face, but his expensive clothes were also tattered. Plus, he had spent the night hungry after being locked up yesterday.
The pain he felt all over his body combined with hunger made him genuinely fearful of Scar. So, when he heard Scar’s threat, he hurriedly spoke, “Fine, I’ll talk. Everything I did against Sophia was orchestrated by Bruno.”
Originally cooperation, Philip had twisted the story into manipulation, trying to minimize his own responsibility.
Unable to sit still any longer, Bruno abruptly stood and pointed at Philip, shouting, “You’re talking nonsense! I’ve never seen you before, don’t know you at all! Why would I frame you?”
Philip stared at Bruno, his expression twisted. Apart from Leo, the person he hated the most now was Bruno.
If not for this guy’s terrible ideas, how could he have ended up in this mess?
Philip also realized why Scar had no fear of the forces behind him. It was because last night, despite his capture, the Flying Dragon Business Association hadn’t come to rescue him.
So, there was only one possible explanation: the Flying Dragon Business Association had abandoned him like a pawn.
Philip was no longer the influential figure from the streets. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to submit to Scar.
With these thoughts, he couldn’t control his emotions any longer and angrily cursed, “Bruno, you bastard! If it weren’t for your stupid idea, I wouldn’t be in this situation!”
Seeing Philip’s twisted expression, Bruno was completely panicked. Once Teresa believed Philip’s words, he would become the target of everyone’s scorn within the Henley family. His position as chairman was out of the question, and even staying in the family would be doubtful.
What was supposed to be about expelling Sophia and her useless husband from the Henley family had backfired.
No, absolutely not!
Bruno glared at Sophia, his anger evident. “Sophia, you and Philip conspired last night to suddenly have him show up here and accuse me, didn’t you?”
Seeing Bruno twist facts and spew nonsense, Sophia sneered, “Bruno, are you out of your mind? You’re the one who arranged my meeting with Philip. In other words, you contacted him to meet me. So, you’re saying you set up a meeting between Philip and me just to accuse yourself? Your logic seems rather unique.”
Sophia’s words indeed pointed out a logical flaw in Bruno’s argument.
Feeling the icy stares of the people around him, Bruno, in desperation, turned to Teresa. “Grandma, I’ve never seen Philip in person before. The meeting between Philip and Sophia was arranged by someone else. Sophia is my cousin. We’re family. How could I harm her?”
With his fate within the family hanging in the balance, Bruno finally remembered his blood relationship with Sophia.
Teresa had maintained a grim expression all along. Though she was old, her clarity of mind surpassed anyone’s. Reflecting on Bruno and Fanny’s joint smear campaign against Sophia earlier, she felt a pang of pain.
Bruno was the Henley family’s heir, and Teresa had pinned the family’s future on him. But he had done something so despicable to a member of the family, leaving her deeply disheartened. How could he steer the Henley family ship?
Philip had no other choice now but to seal Bruno’s fate. So, he continued, “Bruno instructed me to do everything against Sophia, even had me take incriminating photos. His aim was to use that as evidence to oust her from the Henley family.”
Bruno, at this point, was utterly defeated. In his eyes, his seemingly perfect plan had completely fallen apart!
Why had Scar intervened in this matter? Sophia couldn’t possibly know him!
The Henley family relatives in the meeting room saw the sudden turn of events and were pretty clear. With the imminent punishment for Bruno by Teresa, they couldn’t afford to be on the wrong side.
“Bruno, you’re capable of such malicious deeds? Sophia is your cousin! How could you sink so low?”
“After all, Sophia is family, so how you can hurt her like this? Have you lost your conscience?”
Fanny also stood up from her chair, looking at Bruno as she shouted, “Bruno, I can’t believe you would do such a thing to Sophia. You deceived me too, making me join you in attacking Sophia. You’ve gone too far!”
Having spent time with Bruno, Fanny had learned a thing or two about adapting to the situation. Although she had known about the situation from the start, now the priority was to distance herself from it. Otherwise, her position as the General Manager of Breeze Cosmetics would surely be stripped away by Teresa.
After speaking, Fanny looked at Teresa, her expression innocent. “Grandma, I had no idea about this matter. I was deceived by Bruno too, which is why I sided with him against Sophia.”
Feeling the imminent crisis, Sean, who had been sitting quietly, quickly intervened, “Mom, Bruno made a mistake in this matter. Please don’t be angry. I’ll make sure to punish him properly when we get back.””