Chapter 897 Sonia Survives the Storm
Sonia was not angered by his attitude toward her. She snorted to herself and said, “You’re indeed a generous man, Mr. Salzburg. Fine, since you’re offering, then I demand the entire Salzburg Group in exchange. Would that be alright with you?”
She gave Connor a pleasant smile.
Connor’s expression hardened. “What? Salzburg Group?”
“Yes.” Sonia was still smiling as she nodded.
Connor’s lips twitched as he stared at her incredulously. He never thought that she had the audacity to request for the entire Salzburg Group.
There was a smug glint in Sonia’s eyes when she saw that Connor had fallen silent, and she probed once more, “So, is that okay with you, Mr. Salzburg?”
Certainly not! Salzburg Group is the foundation of the entire Salzburg Family!
Connor was on the verge of going ballistic, and he could barely keep his face straight.
However, Connor’s assistant was far less capable of keeping his composure. He marched forward and rebuked Sonia, “What a shameless woman you are! How can you possibly even think about asking for Salzburg Group? You should take a good look at your own competency first!”
Sonia smirked. “It doesn’t matter if I’m competent or not. The point is, are you willing to hand over Salzburg Group? Mr. Salzburg, you’re the one who said that I could make any request at all. I’m asking for Salzburg Group, but are you willing to give it to me?”
She fixed her eyes on Connor.
He stared her in the eye for a while before he finally sneered. “I get it now. Miss Reed, you never had any intention of letting my daughter go, so you decided to ask for Salzburg Group because you knew that I would never use it to exchange for my daughter’s freedom.”
Sonia was not surprised that he had seen right through her. She simply smiled back at him. After all, it was obvious that she had no intention of letting Anya go free, and anyone could see that coming from a mile away. It was not like he would really give up Salzburg Group in exchange for Anya, right? If he had agreed to it, then she would have been dumbfounded.
For a man like Connor Salzburg, the family’s foundation was of the utmost importance. Even a simpleton would know how to choose between those options. Therefore, she purposely requested that he hand over Salzburg Group. In a way, she was letting him know that there was no room for negotiation, and she would never let Anya off scot-free.
When Connor saw her meaningful smile, his face darkened as his grip on the walking cane tightened further. He never would have predicted that after all his years of living, he would still fall for a young woman’s trick. Indeed, he had been certain that she would not refuse his offer.
After all, a cursory search on the web was enough for him to know how Paradigm Co. was doing. If she had taken up his offer, she could have used his help to build Paradigm Co. up, and it would not remain the middling company that it was now.
She was in a relationship with Toby Fuller, and if he had been willing to give her a hand, Paradigm Co. would not be doing so poorly. It would have reentered the market and become one of the top companies by now. However, Toby did not do so. This surely meant that he did not love her all that much, because otherwise, it was unlikely that he would just sit idly by.
If she really wanted to expand her company, she should have seized this chance. He had delivered it to her on a silver platter, but she actually refused him! Just for the sake of getting her revenge, she chose to forego this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Connor had no idea if she was blind or stupid.
As for him, the head of the Salzburg Family, who had never fought a losing battle, had actually been fooled by such a stupid woman.
She had made a mockery out of him.
What he had assumed was a done deal was actually an illusion, and the thought of this made him livid.
“Miss Reed, aren’t you afraid that I’ll be displeased by your actions today?” Connor finally shed his mask of courteous civility and eyed Sonia with a neutral expression that made him seem like a venomous snake.
Sonia could tell that he was referring to both the fact that she refused to forgive Anya, and also the fact that she had just fooled him. True enough, she realized that she was playing with fire when she did that. After all, he was the head of the Salzburg Family, and a lot more dangerous than the people she had faced in the past, like Anya Steinfeld, Tina Gray, or even Titus Gray.
She did not know the kind of person that Connor was, so she should not be treating him the same way she treated the others earlier on. There was no way of knowing what he might do if she pushed him too far. However, it was too late now. She had already had her fun fooling him, so she could only bite the bullet and continue down this path.
Having thought that, Sonia exhaled discreetly and stared straight into Connor’s cunning eyes. “Mr. Salzburg, haven’t I already offended you? There’s no point in dwelling on what I do or do not fear. I’ll be honest with you. If I make the decision that pleases you, then it will only make me unhappy. I love myself the most, so naturally, I will only do the things that make me happy, even if it means that others will just have to be unhappy as a result.”
“So, Miss Reed, what you’re saying is that there’s no way you’re willing to let this slide just this once?” Connor narrowed his eyes.
Sonia’s fists tightened as she steeled herself and announced, “Exactly. Anya committed a crime, and she deserves to be punished for it. It’s for her own good.”
“For her own good, huh.” Connor had an insincere smile on his face as he clapped his hands slowly, but he quickly stopped and began to look a little thoughtful. “However, Miss Reed, I must advise you to not be so hasty with your decision of wanting to punish my daughter. I think you should take the time to consider your options carefully. Who knows, you may very well change your mind.”
“Consider my options?” Sonia furrowed her brows.
What was there for her to consider in this situation? Did he think that she would really let Anya off after giving it more thought? Hah, what a joke!
Even if it meant offending Connor Salzburg, she did not care. She was never going to let Anya get out of this unscathed. So what if she could not go up against Connor herself? She had Toby’s help, and therefore, she had nothing to fear.
Sonia opened her mouth to reject his suggestion.
However, Connor interrupted her before she could speak. “I’ll give you two days to reconsider, Miss Reed. I’ll see you again in two days’ time, and hopefully, I’ll hear a satisfactory answer from you when I do. I’ve taken up enough of your time today, Miss Reed. Good day!”
After saying that, Connor resumed his mask of cordial civility and smiled at her, then nodded at her before walking off.
Mr. Little hurried behind him, but after taking a few steps, he quickly threw a dark look at Sonia before he continued making his way out. Soon enough, both of their silhouettes disappeared from her sight.
Finally, Sonia was able to breathe a sigh of relief as she relaxed. She had been tightly wound up, so now that she released all of her tension, her legs turned to jelly and she nearly stumbled to the ground. Thankfully, she managed to support herself with the furniture next to her and avoided falling flat on her butt.
Even though she had not crumbled to a heap on the ground, her back was soaked through from cold sweat. It was a rather chilly day today, so by now, her clothes were sticking to her and it felt a little uncomfortable.
This was the result of the pressure she felt in her stand-off with Connor. She had met her share of intimidating people in her life, but none of them were half as intimidating as Connor was today.
The pressure she felt from those people never instilled a sense of fear in her, and she never felt like she was in any danger around them. However, Connor’s presence made her feel like she had fallen prey to a venomous snake who was about to sink its fangs into her.
Even Sonia had no idea how she managed to stand her ground in his presence, but she managed to ignore her fear and the pressure that she felt and kept her composure the entire time.
Thankfully, the storm was over.
Sonia massaged her temples and felt behind her. Her trip to Paradigm Co. would have to wait, as she needed to get changed and inform Toby about Connor’s unexpected visit. She turned around and headed for the apartment, and along the way, she gave Toby a call.
Toby picked up the phone almost immediately. He was smiling and was about to speak, but Sonia beat him to it. “Toby, I have something very important to tell you!”
