Chapter 1045
Needless to say, one’s beauty would fade after 28 years. Besides, Jordan had grown older—so much so
that his hair was starting to grey. However, Sophiapared the two men’s photos side by side and
discovered that aside from their ages, both men were vastly different.
28 years ago, Jordan had a sharp aura, a steely gaze, and a towering arrogance. He had a frivolous and
domineering attitude that looked down on others. However, the man she met 28 yearster was a sly
and wretched little old man with arge potbelly. No matter how she looked at them, she had the feeling
that they were not the same person.
All things aside, Jordan owned a BMW back then. More importantly, he was also Cooper’s greatest
enemy. ording to Cooper, he was just an underaged boy 30 years ago. On the other hand, Jordan
was already the head of the Edwards Family by then. Even so, he felt jealousy and hatred for a child 10
years younger than himself. He was the kind of man who would eradicate all his potential enemies, even
if the opponent was just a child. As a result, many promising young geniuses in Bayside City met an
untimely end, and he was the mastermind behind their deaths.
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Although Jordan and Sam were brothers, they constantlypeted with each other. Back when Sam
was still active in the political scene, he nearly became president at one time. However, he was only one
step away from bing the president when he suddenly retired from politics and returned to doing
business. It was rumored that Jordan was behind that incident too.
Sam and Cooper were Jordan’s enemies. Even if those two were just teenagers at the time, Jordan
would not hesitate to take action against them. If the bigshot who had taken Annabel away from the
Johnsons turned out to be Jordan… Sophia suddenly felt a chill running down her back. Her heart
pounded wildly, and her eyes were filled with horror and disbelief—her hand holding the photos started
trembling. If… Annabel was already acquainted with Jordan before she started working, and Jordan
was the one to introduce her to her workce…
Annabel was taken away by Jordan when she was 15. Upon turning 16, she appeared at Sam’s first
independently-run business—the restaurant known as the Crimson House—as part of his first batch of
employees… Not only that, but she also met Sam and fell in love with Cooper through her connection
with Jordan.
At the time, Jordan must have begun to fear Cooper’s existence. After all, Cooper was already starting to
show his extraordinary talents. He was in the process of writing the world’s first online game and
developing the world’s first USB sh disk. He was a genius with unlimited potential as well as the future
head of the Mitchell Family.
On the other hand, Sophia had never heard Cooper and Sam mentioning the fact that Annabel was
already acquainted with Jordan before meeting them. It was highly possible that they werepletely
unaware of that fact. Moreover, Cooperter gave up on his promising future, eloped with Annabel to the
South, and even encountered assassins along the way…
The deeper Sophia dug into the matter, the more frightened she became—it felt as if she was about to
unravel a terrible truth. From the start to the end, it was all a conspiracy! It was a huge conspiracy!
“Sophia, what’s the matter?” Justin suddenly put his hand on her shoulder when he noticed her staring at
Jordan’s photo in a daze.
She quickly snapped back to the present and smiled stiffly. “It’s nothing. I was just taking a second look.”
Stanley nced at Jordan’s handsome picture on theputer and said in disgust, “Look at you; your
eyes must have gone blind after staring so hard at these handsome guys! Tsk!”
She did not respond. Instead, she silently crossed Jordan’s name from the list of suspects. She was
scared. She didn’t dare to question the authenticity of her parents’ love—she did not have the courage to
do so. If the person who took Annabel away back then turned out to be Jordan, it would be a hugely
painful and shocking blow for both Cooper and her. Cooper could never ept it, and neither could I…
For the moment, Justin put the matter of searching for Cooper’s long-lost son aside and focused all his
efforts on helping Sophia locate her mother. Thus, he went back to Johnson Family Vige to look for
clues. Before returning to the city, he avoided everyone else as he went to the house of the woman who
once worked with Annabel at the noodle restaurant.
As soon as the woman opened the door, she was very surprised to see him. However, he did not waste
time on pleasantries. Taking out a photo, he showed it to the woman. “The bigshot that took Annabel
away back then; was it this man?”
That woman leaned closer and studied the hooked-nosed man in the photo. The man in the photo was
unusually handsome and noble. Looking at it, she thought back to the man in her memories. Finally, she
said affirmatively, “It’s him! He was so good-looking that I still remember him now.”
Upon hearing those words, Justin’s expression suddenly became somber. Sure enough; it’s him… Then,
he rushed back to the Edwards Residence with this information. However, he did not know how to bring
this information up with Sophia. The further they looked into this matter, the more he realized that what
they might discover could potentially be an uneptable truth for all the parties involved. Seeing as this
matter took ce such a long time ago, and the person involved has already been dead for 28 years
now… Perhaps… what happened back then isn’t so important anymore… Perhaps, it doesn’t matter
anymore…
Pondering over what he should say when he met Sophiater, he drove toward the Edwards Residence.
To his surprise, he saw Linus as he walked out of the garage. It seemed like Linus had been waiting for
him for a long time. He hesitated slightly upon noticing Linus. Avoiding his gaze, he did not greet Linus
immediately. Although Linus was very weed at this house, he knew that Linus was not to be taken
lightly. Justin had not forgotten that he once worked with the Phantom Wolf to spy on the Fletcher
Family’s situation.
Based on Michael’s progress, Linus should have joined Cooper’s household registry by now. However,
Justin had been helping Sophia search for Annabel over the past few days—so much so that he forgot
about the preparations to remove Cooper’s son from the household registry. He had to be smart and
careful about it throughout the process. If it was done in a way that was unnatural and was discovered by
Cooper or Linus as a result, Michael would be digging his own grave. Not only would Michael be
punished severely, but it would also drag Justin down with him too. Therefore, Justin had to make careful
preparations to ensure everything went naturally. Still, he had been too busy these past few days and
had been postponing the issue as a result.
Mulling over it, he walked toward Linus. “Mr. Michel, why are you here?”
Linus stood without moving. His handsome face had an unspeakably lonely and worried expression.
“Recently, Fass has been extremely upset over Annabel’s affairs. He haspletely copsed
mentally… He seems… emotionless, but he’s actually just the most determined. The shock he
experienced this time around is too huge.”
Justin did not understand what Linus was trying to say and chose to remain silent.
Then, Linus continued, “Thank you for your hard work during this period. I’m very sorry that I couldn’t
help you with anything.”
Cooper had given all authority to Justin and Sophia, be it in the search for Annabel or the search for his
son. For some reason, Linus had not been involved in these endeavors. Perhaps he felt that he shouldn’t
trouble Linus with his personal matters. Thus, Justin calmly replied, “Mr. Michel, you’re a busy man. I can
deal with these matters myself. Besides, I’ve been doing tasks like these for the past few years.
After the two exchanged greetings, Justin entered the Edwards Residence. He decided to keep quiet
about that for now and went to meet Celine first. Celine had been very anxious recently because she
couldn’t get a hold of Michael. Therefore, Justin wanted to rush back to keep herpany. To his
surprise, he received a phone call while he was on his way to her…
It was 10 PM as Sophia anxiously paced about in her room. Justin mentioned that he was heading to
Johnson Family Vige today to search for other leads, but he had yet to return. Logically speaking, he
should have arrived home before dark. However, it was already 10 PM, and he was nowhere to be seen.
When she tried calling his phone, it was switched off. His Dragon Eye phone had been fully charged
before he left the house. Even if he gamed on his phone the entire day, it should not have run out of
power. Moreover, the management system did not disy any relevant prompts.
Pacing about in her room, she couldn’t get through to Justin’s phone. When she tried Michael’s phone,
the signal on the other side was so terrible that it kept breaking up throughout the call. In the end, the call
dropped before she could tell him about her discovery today.
After hanging up the call with Michael, Sophiay on the bed and stared at the ceiling in a daze. If Justin
found something during his investigation today and confirmed my suspicions… won’t it be extremely
cruel to Cooper?