Mr. CEO's Substitute Bride

Chapter 1347 - 1342: Verdict (3000+)

In the end, Nicholas Croft did not purchase the Hargrave Family’s villa. After returning home, Sophie Foster changed her mind.Since Henry Hargrave was not her father, that mansion had lost its significance. After locking herself in her room for most of the day, Sophie Foster decided to investigate her own background.

When she was a child, she lived in a city not far from T City with her mother. She had lived there since she could remember, and although she moved to T City and didn’t go back, the neighbors from her mother’s small supermarket should still be there. Perhaps she could gather some clues from them.

Sophie Foster’s decision, made after thinking the whole afternoon, was easily dismissed by Nicholas Croft.

He held her hand and patiently persuaded her, "Lara, Uncle has many things to attend to here and can’t accompany you back. Why not leave it to a private detective for now?"

"Even if you go back, your former neighbors might not know which hospital your mother gave birth to you in. If Uncle remembers correctly, it seems you haven’t even mentioned your grandparents."

"I’ve been living with my mother since I can remember, never seen them," Sophie Foster spoke truthfully. When she was a child, she asked her mother why other children had grandparents, but she didn’t. She remembered her mother saying she was an orphan.

Whether or not her mother was an orphan, Sophie didn’t know. However, she had never seen them and had lived depending on each other without seeing a single relative.

"So, Lara, you don’t know which city you were born in. How can you investigate your background? By asking around? Do you think you could find anything?" Nicholas Croft gently persuaded her.

"Then what should I do? Should I never look for them and let them raise someone else’s child as their own for a lifetime?"

Sophie Foster posed a realistic question, but Nicholas Croft curved his lips and didn’t answer her directly. He asked instead, "Lara, what do you think knowing your mother isn’t your biological parent?"

"Whether she is or not, she’s my mom! She raised me from childhood with such effort..." As she said this, Sophie seemed to understand Nicholas’s intention and lowered her eyes, saying, "But I still want to know who my biological parents are. I don’t want to spend my life not knowing my background."

Sophie’s voice grew quieter and softer until it became a murmur at the end.

Nicholas Croft’s heart ached for this vulnerable Sophie, so he wrapped her in his arms, kissed the top of her head, and sighed, "What would it achieve even if you found your biological parents? It’s been so many years; it would only bring unnecessary troubles."

"But I want to find them."

"Alright, Uncle will have a private detective investigate."

...

Before Hannah Hargrave’s sentencing, Nicholas Croft divorced her. The household register contained only his name and Genevieve Croft’s, with the relationship column still stating "adopted daughter."

The case was quickly judged. With Harry Zachary stepping forward to testify and Zhou Qiang changing his testimony, openly admitting to deliberately injuring others with his car, the court handed the final judgment—a suspended death sentence, the most severe punishment for hiring a hitman with intent to murder.

As predicted, Harry Zachary was not spared either; as a co-conspirator, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. On the day of the verdict, Nicholas Croft accompanied Sophie Foster to the hearing. Before Hannah Hargrave was taken away by the police, Sophie Foster coldly uttered a sentence to her.

"Hannah, you killed my baby; today’s outcome is what you deserve!"

Hannah went mad at once, continuously screaming at the judge, "Your Honor, she didn’t die, Sophie didn’t die, I shouldn’t be sentenced this heavily, she didn’t die..."

The judges had already left the bench; no one heard her plea. Witnessing Hannah being forcibly taken away by the police, Sophie Foster’s lips curled into a cold smile.

On the third day after Hannah Hargrave’s sentencing, Sophie Foster visited Josephine Hawthorne’s new home.

Nicholas Croft was not at ease with her being alone, so he instructed Agnes to accompany her, along with a bodyguard.

A run-down apartment building resembling the rented flat she had as a club singer, the building entrance didn’t have a lock, allowing anyone to come and go freely. The corridor was also cluttered with all sorts of random objects.

Standing outside the rental flat, Agnes raised her hand and knocked on the door, with the bodyguard standing like a guardian spirit behind Sophie Foster.

Inside, a woman’s loud voice rang out, "Coming, coming, who is it? Why the knocking!"

Opening the door and seeing Agnes standing there, Josephine Hawthorne paused for a moment, "Who are you looking for?"

Looking at a woman dressed similarly to a marketplace auntie, Agnes let out a small laugh and said, "It’s our lady who is looking for you."