Chapter 281 Tiffany's Grief
The national clothing competition scandal about judges abusing their power for personal gain and tampering with scores was finally resolved.
An official statement was released.
It was confirmed that Randall and another judge with the last name Zark had colluded to maliciously give low scores to a contestant, disrupting the scoring rules. Both were stripped of their judging privileges.
This announcement had a significant impact on Randall.
He had relied on his credibility to be a judge, and now, his reputation was utterly trampled upon.
Randall glared at his phone, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.
When he heard that an anonymous report had led to the formation of an investigation team, he remained calm, using his connections to try to conceal the affair.
However, the investigation team was incorruptible, and all his influences were to no avail.
He even had the feeling that someone was behind the scenes, pushing the investigation forward.
Randall grabbed a beer bottle and guzzled it down, his eyes bloodshot, a mix of rage and hatred twisting his features into something fierce.
"I won't accept this!" he declared, furious.
Sophia, a nobody with no background or influence, whom he could crush with a mere flick of his finger, had dealt him a heavy blow.
How could Randall be content with that?
After slamming down a bottle of beer, he grabbed his cell phone and made a call.
"You said Sophia had no backing. If there wasn't someone helping her behind the scenes, how could I have been removed from my position?" he questioned.
A cold laugh came from the other end of the phone, followed by a woman's crisp voice, chilling as it came through.
"Randall, you underestimated her."
"I warned you not to cause trouble during the competition," the voice on the phone was stern. "She's a designer for the Lancaster Group. Her success and failure in the competition are closely tied to them. Do you honestly think the Lancaster Group would stand by while she's bullied?"
Randall fell silent.
So, the Lancaster Group was backing Sophia!
"I don't have time to deal with you now. Watch yourself," the voice said coldly before hanging up, leaving Randall grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Watch my back? If you hadn't offered me a sweet deal to mess with Sophia, would I even be in this mess?" he thought bitterly, his gaze hardening.
At the hospital, Tiffany arrived with a spring in her step, carrying a thermos food jar to visit Emma.
"Emma, your auntie made you some nourishing chicken soup," she announced cheerily as she beelined for Emma's hospital bed, her face beaming like a helpful older sister.
She poured two bowls of chicken soup—one for Emma and one for Gabriel.
"Gabriel, have some too. You've had a rough time here at the hospital. You need to keep your strength up," she said.
"I even added a bunch of nutritious ingredients," she added proudly.
"I consulted with Professor Lancaster on how to make this medicinal chicken soup," Tiffany boasted.
"Just set it aside for now," Gabriel said, busy with his iPad, perusing a document.
"Sure, I'll leave it here," Tiffany complied, before taking the other bowl, scooping a spoonful, blowing on it gently, and bringing it to Emma's lips.
"Come on, say 'Ahh...'" Tiffany urged.
Emma looked at her as though she were crazy. Was this wicked woman out of her mind?
Emma kept her mouth shut, but Tiffany continued to coax her. "This is a medicinal soup. Drink it, and you'll get better faster. Be a good girl, say 'Ahh...'" she insisted.
As the spoon touched Emma's lips, she made a face of disgust and swatted the spoon away.
"Ahh!" Tiffany screamed as the bowl slipped from her grip, the soup spilling all over the blanket.
At the noise, Gabriel immediately set his iPad aside and came over.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned.
"Boo-hoo, mean daddy, she's trying to hurt me!" Emma sobbed, attempting to leap into Gabriel's arms.
Gabriel lifted her, comforting her.
"That's not true. Emma suddenly knocked the bowl from my hands," Tiffany quickly explained.
"That soup was so hot; it nearly burned Emma's mouth," Emma cried more, tears streaming down her face.
Upon seeing the redness around her mouth, Gabriel's expression darkened, and his piercing gaze shot toward Tiffany, causing her to tense up with dread.
"The chicken soup isn’t hot anymore, really, it’s not hot. Look, I’m drinking it and it’s fine." Tiffany picked up another bowl and drank it down in one go.
The chicken soup was lukewarm, but the rascally child insisted on calling it scalding just to play tricks on her and make Gabriel turn against her.
"Bad Daddy, get rid of her now!" Emma sobbed into Gabriel's shoulder, her voice growing hoarse from crying.
"Gabriel…" Tiffany’s voice was filled with genuine hurt.
She had slaved over the chicken soup all morning, only to have it spoiled by the child and to be chased away.
Tiffany couldn't bear it.
"You, out," Gabriel commanded coldly.
Tiffany protested, "I honestly didn’t burn Emma.”
"Out!" he commanded.
With eyes brimming with tears, Tiffany couldn't stand being dismissed. She reluctantly grabbed her purse.
As she turned to leave, Emma stuck her tongue out at her.
Tiffany was so angry that she was ready to curse on the spot.
"Whimper, whimper, when is Mommy coming?" wailed Emma.
Gabriel soothed tenderly, "Soon, Daddy will play a game with you."
Tiffany stood outside the hospital room, stewing in her anger for a while before she could calm the rage inside her.
Dealing with one Sam was a headache enough, and now there were two more to contend with, especially this little girl who was even more troublesome.
And to make matters worse, Gabriel was utterly bewitched by his daughter.
After all her striving over the years, Tiffany had nothing to show for it, and she was still being mistreated.
Her grievances and anger surged anew, and tears began to fall.
Sophia emerged from the elevator.
She said, surprised, "Oh wow."
Tiffany was crying here.
Had she missed some juicy drama?
Tiffany quickly wiped her tears away, shot a glare at Sophia, and dashed into the elevator to close the door behind her.
As she passed by Sophia, she gave the man with her a look.
Sophia's mood suddenly became wonderful, so delightful she felt like singing.
Jake Hughes saw Sophia, a smile playing on his lips, tinged with adoration.
He had dressed casually today, planning to swing by Sophia's place to snag a meal. It was only when he bumped into her on her way downstairs that he learned about Emma's mishap.
He quickly accompanied Sophia to the hospital to check on Emma.
The nurse was tidying up the bed, removing the dirty sheets, and replacing them with fresh ones.
"Mommy!" Emma reached for her mother's embrace and then noticed Jake Hughes, exclaiming with joy, "Big brother!"
Jake extended his hands gently intending to hug Emma.
But Gabriel scooped her away in an instant.
Emma was left speechless...
Jake Hughes arched an eyebrow, his voice laced with irony as he spoke, "CEO Lancaster sure is devoted to protecting his daughter."
"Of course. I must keep my daughter safe from those with ulterior motives," Gabriel remarked pointedly, giving Sophia a probing glance.
Jake clenched his fist in frustration.
It just so happened that he had been away on a business trip during those critical days, or else he would have undoubtedly been by Sophia's side.
He would have been the first to rescue Emma.
Now that Gabriel and Emma had recognized each other, and Emma seemed to have accepted Gabriel, Jake felt a tightness in his chest as a sense of crisis slowly emerged.
"Mommy." Ethan held Sam's hand as they approached, with David trailing behind them.
Upon seeing their mom, the two little ones dashed up to embrace her. Sophia smiled, gently touching their heads.
"Hey, big brother!" Ethan saw Jake Hughes and approached him with sheer delight.
Jake lifted Ethan in his arms.
"Haven't seen you in a while, eh? Grown any taller?" Jake asked, playfully.
Ethan proudly stated, "Yeah, by an inch and a quarter."
"That's awesome!" Jake praised.
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