"Young Master Cyril is here!"A loud announcement shattered the stifling silence in the hall.
"My son is here." A doting smile appeared on Old Mistress Denise"s face as she cast her gaze toward the entrance.
Expressions of elation also appeared on the faces of Aviva, Herty, and Hernie as they also turned in the same direction.
The derisive sneer on Aurora"s face became even more p.r.o.nounced, and she slumped back into her seat as if she were an audience member awaiting the commencement of a good show.
Cyril appeared at the entrance with a triumphant smile on his face as if everything were under his control.
A relieved smile appeared on Herty"s and Hernie"s face upon seeing this. Cyril"s confidence made the result of this contest quite apparent to them.
"Father," Cyril said in a respectful voice as he hurriedly strode into the hall.
Jeffree merely nodded expressionlessly in response.
Cyril turned to Lance with a derisive sneer on his face, and said, "Big Brother, you should really discipline your daughter; she doesn"t even know what it means to respect her elders now."
Lance looked into Cyril"s eyes, and calmly replied, "You should find someone to teach your daughters humility first so they don"t have to learn from you."
A hint of fear suddenly flashed through Cyril"s eyes as he met Lance"s steely gaze. From a young age, his big brother had always been better than him at everything that they did, and he still couldn"t help but feel traumatized by the gulf that had always existed between them.
Herty"s and Hernie"s expression changed in unison upon hearing this. They had always looked down on Lance"s family, and they"d certainly made no effort to keep that a secret. However, Lance was now accusing them of lacking humility. If it weren"t for the fact that Jeffree were present at the scene, they would"ve definitely retaliated with a barrage of insults.
Mickey"s eyes lit up, and he turned to Lance with a hint of surprise and wonder in his eyes.
In contrast, a concerned look appeared on Debra"s face, but she wasn"t all that surprised by his reaction. After all, if there was one person that he would cast aside all pleasantries and risk his life for, then it was definitely Gloria.
Denise glared at Lance, and scolded, "Lance, how could you say that to Herty and Hernie? Look at how adorable and obedient they are. If you have time to be disciplining others, then you should be disciplining your own daughter. I hear she"s hallucinating about becoming the heir of the Moreton Family? Has she gone insane?"
"Heh…" Aurora pursed her lips as the derision in her smile grew even more p.r.o.nounced.
Right at this moment, another loud announcement sounded from outside. "Young Mistress Gloria is here!"
Gloria slowly strode in through the entrance in a graceful and refined manner. She stood beside Cyril, and extended a curtsey toward Jeffree as she said, "Greetings, Grandfather."
Jeffree nodded expressionlessly again in response.
Gloria then turned to Denise with a calm expression, and said, "I haven"t gone insane, Grandma; it"s just that women are capable of doing everything that men can. People who think otherwise are, ironically, mostly women, and narrow-minded women at that."
Denise"s expression immediately stiffened, and she turned to Gloria with incredulity in her eyes. In this family, no one dared to speak to her like this aside from Jeffree.
Herty"s and Hernie"s eyes were also filled with astonishment, as well as envy and jealousy at the sight of Gloria"s exquisite beauty and gorgeous dress.
They had always insulted her for hiding her appearance beneath a veil, but who would"ve thought that the veil would be obscuring such a set of breathtaking features? Furthermore, she had completely risen above them, and left them in the dust to compete with their father.
Now, she was even directly rebuking their grandmother"s words, and that was absolutely incredible to them.
She"s dead for sure! A gloating expression appeared on Herty"s and Hernie"s face as that thought occurred to them.
In contrast, Lance was looking at Gloria with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but mostly approval and gratification.
Meanwhile, Mickey"s eyes were filled with glittering admiration as if he were getting to know his big sister again for the first time.
Aurora"s eyes also lit up as she reflexively straightened up in her seat. She stared directly at Gloria with an intense unblinking gaze as if she were seeing something completely unbelievable to her.
"You… You…" Denise"s cheeks were flushed with rage as she pointed a trembling finger at Gloria, at a complete loss for words.
Cyril turned to Gloria with a cold expression, and was just about to say something when Jeffree suddenly said in a stern voice, "That"s enough, everyone, be quiet."
He cast a fleeting glance at Gloria with a hint of approval in his eyes, but quickly turned toward the rest of the people in the hall.
Everyone instantly fell silent, and Old Mistress Denise immediately closed her mouth, not daring to utter another sound.
Cyril still wanted to say something, but the sight of Jeffree"s steely expression made him swallow his words in the end.
A hint of amus.e.m.e.nt flashed through Gloria"s eyes. She had been wanting to say that for a long time, and getting that off her chest was very satisfying, but she had also felt a little uneasy during the process. However, it seemed that Jeffree was siding with her in this regard, and that came as quite a surprise to her.
The entire hall fell silent again, and Jeffree turned toward the butler standing beside the entrance before instructing, "Tell the verification teams to come in."
The two leaders of the verification teams soon made their way into the hall, each carrying a metal box in their hands as they stood beside Gloria and Cyril, respectively.
Heh, let"s see how long you can keep up that c.o.c.ky att.i.tude. Cyril glanced at Gloria with a disdainful sneer on his face.
Filthy b*tch! When Father becomes the leader of the Moreton Family, I"ll kick all of you out and sell you to the brothels! Hernie thought to herself as she glowered at Gloria with a resentful expression.
A vicious light also flashed through Herty"s eyes. Hmph, let"s see who"ll continue to protect a filthy b*tch like you after Grandpa dies! When that time comes, I"m going to scar your face 100 times so you have to wear that veil of yours for the rest of your life!
A cold smile had also appeared on Denise"s face. She had already made up her mind: after the result was declared, she was going to banish Gloria from this family. No one could speak to her like that aside from Jeffree, and anyone who dared to do so had to pay a price for their insolence!
Jeffree turned to the two middle-aged men, and said, "Announce the results."
The man standing beside Cyril opened the box in his hands, and produced an accounts book as he announced, "Last month, Kerry"s Forge had a negative income of 30,000 copper coins, which has turned into 1,550,000 copper coins in earnings this month. Among those earnings, 500,000 copper coins are in the form of deposits for orders due in the next month, and after deducting the 500,000 copper coins of costs, there has been a total profit of 1,050,000 copper coins."
An elated look appeared on Denise"s face as she exclaimed, "Flipping a deficit of 30,000 to a profit of 1,050,000? My son is a genius businessman!"
"Yes!" Herty and Hernie were also ecstatic as they turned to Gloria with disdain in their eyes. She hadn"t even come into contact with let alone run a shop on her own, so how could she possibly have made more than 1,000,000 copper coins of profit in just a month? It would be a minor miracle if she didn"t incur any losses!
Cyril also wore a smug smile on his face as he awaited the announcement of the final result from Jeffree.
Right at this moment, the man standing beside Gloria also produced an accounts book in a calm manner, and announced, "The Blue Suede clothing shop run by Young Mistress Gloria incurred a loss of 50,000 copper coins last month, which has turned into 4,020,000 copper coins in total earnings this month. After deducting the 850,000 copper coins of costs, the shop made a profit of 3,170,000 copper coins this month, none of which has come from deposits."
The entire hall instantly fell deathly silent.