?


    As the old man named Johnny basked in his glory, As''s clear voice cut through the air.


    "That doesn''t mean you can leverage the close friendship between the But and the Pierce families to act like you''re in charge here and point fingers at me. Do you think you''re entitled to that?"


    As''s words stunned everyone. No one expected him to rebuke Johnny so harshly.


    Johnny was taken aback. ring at As, he gulped several times before finally spitting out a word. "You!"


    "You did everything for your own selfish gain. You caused your own brother to be paralyzed so you could be the head of the family, and you joined forces and formed an alliance with Celine!


    "You manipted public opinion, colluded with shareholders, and pressured my dad to relinquish control of Pierce Corporation. Have you forgotten all that? Did you think I didn''t know? Or is it that you simply don''t think much of the Pierce Corporation?"


    Asunched a barrage of questions, each more relentless than thest.


    "DoText property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    you really think I didn''t know about that? Your reward was a mere 0.5% stake in the Pierce Corporation. After achieving your goal, you couldn''t get enough, and you knew that you could easily obtain it, so you stepped up your schemes and devised a n to gain another 0.5%..."


    As''s dark eyes bore into Johnny''s, causing him to retreat step by step without knowing what to say.


    "You audacious old fool! You dared to y tricks on the Pierce family, but you still had the audacity to im to be close family friends with us. Who do you think you are? Do you think all of us are idiots?"


    "You!" Johnny gulped, pointing at As. He couldn''t seem to find a suitable rebuttal, so he dared not speak any further.


    "Consider this your notice. I''ll make you pay for how you got those things and what you said about me earlier."


    "You''re young and arrogant! Don''t


    forget who I am." Johnny still had a good reputation in this circle, so he had shamelessly stepped forward today as Celine''s spokesperson.


    Swn


    But he had unexpectedly been publicly humiliated by As.


    e


    The people present were all shocked and somewhat unsettled. They all looked at Celine, not quite


    understanding the situation.


    Celine pressed her lips into a thin line. "As, mind your manners. Ms. Chloe was


    but you shouldn''t..." shouldn''t met


    "She''s my wife. Call her Mrs. Chloe," As demanded harshly.


    Celine looked at him coldly. "Your wife? Do you think she''s worthy of that title?"


    "She was born to be my wife."


    Celine was rendered speechless by his retort.


    "How outrageous! You should ask if I agreed for you to marry her!"


    A stern reprimand sounded from the crowd, and I immediately recognized that voice.


    The crowd parted, and there stood Adeline, striding toward us confidently with a disdainful gaze fixed on me.