Chapter 897


    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 hisposure. 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 ownpetency first!"


    Sonia smirked. "It doesn''t matter if I''mpetent 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 thating


    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 middlingpany that it was now.


    She was in a rtionship 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 be 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 herpany, she should have seized this chance. He had delivered


    it to her on a silver tter, but she actually refused him! Just for the sake of getting her revenge,


    she chose to forego this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    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 ying 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 toote 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. Anyamitted 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 pped 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 rxed. 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


    t 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 ufortable.


    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 herposure 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!"