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Listening to Dixie's mom trying her best to convince her of the absolute genius of her plan, Emilia could already feel a headache forming.
Thankfully, she had a very cute little angel in her arms, and resting her chin on the girl's golden blonde hair and breathing in her faint strawberry scent greatly helped soothe Emilia's nerves.
Looking at the docile little heroine snuggling against her chest, Emilia smiled. "Auntie, you do realize how difficult it would be to sneak in a bunch of gigolos in a hotel owned by the Black Tiger, when he would already be monitoring the room the meeting is arranged in? Not to mention, they would also have their own guards."
Emilia may look down on the hero to an extent, but she would never be stupid enough to just assume everything he did would be sloppy. Wasn't the fact that Mr. Black insisted that the meeting be in his own hotel already a big red sign?
Replacing Emilia with a bunch of gigolos wasn't a big deal, but doing it in that sort of place without Mr. Black ever knowing? And then to trap him in his hotel's room? She could only shake her head at Mrs. Brown's audacity.
Of course, Mrs. Brown had already taken all of that into consideration. "W-Why yes, but I already shared my plan for that—"
Recalling all the details of Mr. Black's staff and what Dixie's mom had planned to do to get them replaced, Emilia could only smile wryly. "Yes, but isn't there a good chance we'll get discovered?"
Mrs. Brown cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, I won't deny that, we do need some luck… and a lot of firepower."
Emilia sighed. "So the downsides are too many, and even the slim chance of success gives us little result."
Mrs. Brown couldn't help but feel a little aggravated. 'What little result? How can dealing the humiliation of the century to Mr. Black as revenge be measured in terms of money?'
Suddenly, she realized another possibility, and the woman's eyes lit up in enlightenment. 'Ah, I see it now. My daughter-in-law is playing hard to get. I'm sure that if I promise her a kiss or something, she'll agree right away. But although I hate to pass such an opportunity, I can't handle being the mother of a cuck, even if I'm the one doing the cucking!'
Dixie's mom couldn't help but shake her head with a grin. "Emilia, baby, you don't know, but that Mr. Black is likely the most homophobic man I've ever met! The way I had it planned, he would be doing all the cover-up himself! There's absolutely no risk for us, none at all! Well, except for when we're handling the guards, but I trust the strength of White Deer's men!"
With their means, it really wasn't impossible to do as Mrs. Brown said. In that sense, she had a terrifying grasp of both the behemoth corporations' capabilities.
But the risks they would be taking would be too great, and Emilia wasn't willing to accept that.
Not to mention anything else, to ensure that whatever security personnel were personally protecting Mr. Black or his son were taken care of, they would have to send in their own top level experts, including Noelle.
In case something went wrong, they wouldn't be getting off with a light wound.
It was unfortunate that the woman was Dixie's mother, or Emilia would have already scolded her for not valuing her subordinates enough. To Emilia, people like Noelle weren't disposable pawns, but precious limbs. Very useful, yes, but definitely not something she would be willing to dispose of for some 'profit'.
Even Crystal could tell that although her tone remained cordial, Emilia was well and truly starting to get angry. Feeling the grasp around her waist tighten, the blonde couldn't help but gulp. 'Dixie's mom, don't be stupid… stop arguing with her, or I might be the one suffering.'
"Auntie… I'm thrilled that you got so angry for my sake, and that you wish to take revenge. But isn't it better to just take as many benefits as we can? Spending all this extra effort and taking all these chances, just to hurt Mr. Black's ego? It doesn't help us at all."
Emilia waited a moment for the woman to comprehend her words before smiling coldly. "If things go wrong, we'll just end up getting splashed with mud, while Mr. Black moves to a favorable position both publicly and under the law. Do you understand?"
Emilia's meaning was clear to anyone willing to hear it, even if the woman was Dixie's mother, would she be able to bear that responsibility?
Mrs. Brown, who thought that Emilia had a huge crush on herself, never considered her words as a threat, though.
Considering Amos would definitely have done all sorts of things with Emilia if she was the one falling into their trap, Mrs. Brown felt that this was the least they should do. Sadly, her daughter-in-law was unwilling to cooperate.
"AHHH! Emilia, dear… are you a saint?! I hate to say it, but do you even realize what he planned to do? If I wasn't on your side and his plan succeeded, your fate would have been far, far worse. And whatever your family managed to do later… would never be able to undo what had already been done."
Had her goal been to get revenge on the hero's father or even the hero himself, maybe she could have weighed the pros and cons a little more. But that had never been her goal from the start.
To her, the hero was just an annoying bug, and not worth the time to torture specifically for any 'revenge'.
Emilia could only roll her eyes. "Auntie is right. Don't worry, I… have my own way of taking revenge. But since auntie thought about me so much, I'm so happy, I really have to express my gratitude in person later."
"A-Ahhh…"
Emilia had thought that the woman would be relieved and laugh out loud, or even joke, but her awkward silence confused her. "Auntie?"
Mrs. Brown gulped. Her daughter-in-law really didn't like beating around the bush, did she? But meeting her in person after knowing her true nature… it was best to avoid it. "Emilia dear, you focus on your own things for now. You know how hectic things have been with taking over all the trouble Mr. Black's deal caused, so... yeah. Don't worry, we can always arrange a dinner or lunch later."
Emilia blinked. "O-Okay?"
Even after the call disconnected and she put the phone aside, she still felt a little confused. In the end, she could only shake her head, giving up on trying to understand what went on in Mrs. Brown's head.
With the distraction finally gone, however, Emilia could completely focus on 'more important' things.
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Although she had remained silent throughout their conversation, despite all of Emilia's teasing, the heroine had been attentively listening.
Since Emilia had decided to trust her with such information, wasn't it best to pay attention and maybe help give her some insight if needed?
Of course, she hadn't been prepared to hear what she did, at all.
To know that Amos actually planned to have Emilia kidnapped…
She had never liked the boy. Deep down, he had always disgusted her with his constant obsession over Emilia. But she never would have expected that he'd have the guts to directly try to have Emilia kidnapped.
The blonde girl couldn't help but grit her teeth in rage. 'That bastard!'
Of course, all her rage evaporated like smoke the moment that Emilia dragged her further into the bed with a giggle.
"E-Emilia!"
Emilia's intention had been to play around with Crystal for a while, but the girl wasn't exactly being cooperative as she kept turning her head this way and that, making most of her kisses land on her cheeks.
"E-Emilia, w-wait! There's something I have to tell you!"
In the end, Emilia could only sigh and stop, but she didn't let Crystal go as she grinned. "Alright, I'll listen."
"Uh…"
Looking at the blonde girl's hesitation, Emilia couldn't help but tilt her head curiously.
After wavering for a while, in the end, the heroine could only grit her teeth and reiterate her encounter with Randy before, admitting how she had scared him off for her.
Emilia blinked, feeling a mixture of surprise, pride, and amusement. She had no idea if she should start teasing Crystal... or praise her.
In the end, she could only giggle as she patted the embarrassed heroine's head. "Alright, Crystal, don't be so shy. I just wanna ask one thing... why?"
Crystal's face turned red as she tried to hide it behind her hands, refusing to look at Emilia. "B-Because... h-he doesn't deserve you!"
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