After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 100: A Laughingstock

Lily Dalton’s face flushed beet-red, cornered by Claire Mercer and Roxanne Peyton.

"You..."

She glared at the two, sputtering "You..." for a long moment before finally managing to choke out a sentence.

"You can’t keep your man, so you blame the other woman."

"Why do men cheat and find a mistress? Isn’t it because their wives at home are useless?"

Lily Dalton’s lackeys immediately chimed in.

"Right, Lily has a point."

"Stop calling people a mistress all the time. Maybe you should look for the reason within yourself."

"Exactly. I think some people are just jealous that Lily has won the favor of the Mercer Family’s daughter, right?"

"Lily, with the Mercer Family’s daughter as your designer, you’ll definitely win the model division championship."

"Right, right, right! With the Mercer Family’s daughter backing you, you’ll be soaring in no time."

Hearing this, Lily Dalton could already picture herself on stage, accepting the award as the champion of the model division.

She curled her lips into a haughty smile and pretended to elegantly smooth her hair.

Her gaze swept disdainfully over Claire Mercer and her two friends as she spoke.

"Whether Miss Mercer is a mistress or not, she’s ultimately not someone you lowly commoners can compare yourselves to."

"This competition is about skill, and it’s about money."

"Forget it. I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on a few paupers."

After speaking, she shot another harsh glare at Stella Thorne and Claire Mercer.

Then, she stalked out of the dressing room with a proud gait.

Roxanne Peyton’s eyes widened as she stared at Lily Dalton’s retreating back. Pointing at herself, she asked:

"What did she just call me...?"

Stella Thorne laughed. "She called us paupers."

"Holy shit..." Roxanne Peyton couldn’t help but let out a curse.

She, the great daughter of the Peyton Family, had actually been called a pauper by someone.

The Peyton Family’s connections and financial power were, in reality, on par with the Sinclair Family’s.

It was just that the Sinclair Family was excessively high-profile, while the Peyton Family was far too low-key.

That’s why, compared to the Peyton Family, the Sinclair Family had a bigger name publicly.

’But no matter how you look at it, there’s no way I’d be considered a pauper, right?’

"That Lily Dalton really doesn’t know her place," she said angrily.

Claire Mercer, on the other hand, put on a hurt expression.

She blinked her sparkling eyes and asked.

"Roxanne, if you and Stella are paupers, then what does that make me?"

’Compared to Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne, I’m the real pauper.’

’Right now, I’m the definition of having nothing: no father, no mother, no car, and no house.’

’I’m practically homeless.’

’My adoptive parents used to treat me like a living blood bank, and the Sinclair Family played me for a fool.’

’The worst part is, Julian Mercer and Judith Caldwell still refuse to sign the Adoption Dissolution Agreement.’

’So, legally, I’m still a member of the Mercer Family.’

’Even though they were incredibly harsh to me before, and even tried to sell me off to some other company’s boss.’

’I’m still nominally the daughter of Julian Mercer and Judith Caldwell—their pitiful, exploited tool.’

Stella Thorne’s family was considered nouveau riche, pretty much on the same level as the Mercer Family used to be.

But Stella’s parents were very good at business; both husband and wife were powerhouses in the commercial world.

Under their leadership, the Thorne Family was now on a steady rise.

The Mercer Family, however, only looked like a wealthy family on the outside. In reality, under Julian Mercer’s management, it was strong in appearance but weak in substance.

Coupled with the recent storm of negative press, the Mercer Family had taken a huge hit.

It was said that many business partners had bailed, and investors were pulling their funding one after another.

The Mercer Family of today was just a sham, a wealthy family in name only.

After all this, according to Adrian Sutton, the Mercer Family was already on the brink of bankruptcy.

Julian Mercer and Judith Caldwell were arguing all day, their lives in complete chaos.

Like headless flies, the two of them were still desperately trying to revive the Mercer Group.

’I just hope that, at a time like this, the Mercer Family won’t come after me again.’

But things rarely go as planned.

It seems the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.

Although she had already had a major falling out with the Mercer Family, they didn’t seem willing to let her go so easily.

At lunchtime, while Claire Mercer and Adrian Sutton were eating, a call came in from a strange local number.

Worried it might be the organizers of the CZ Group competition, Claire Mercer answered it.

The moment she picked up, Judith Caldwell’s shrill voice came through the phone.

"Claire Mercer, the Mercer Family raised you for over twenty years."

"Right now, the family is facing its biggest crisis in decades."

"As our adoptive daughter, don’t even think about staying out of this at such a critical time."

"Your father and I have already found a new candidate for you."

"As long as you agree to marry him, he’s willing to give the Mercer Group a helping hand."

Claire Mercer said coldly, "Don’t you dare think you can use my lifelong happiness to pay for your stupidity."

"Claire Mercer!" Judith Caldwell roared.

"As long as that ’Adoption Dissolution Agreement’ isn’t signed, you are still a member of this family."

"Whether you marry him or not isn’t up to you."

Claire Mercer sneered and asked:

"What, are you going to lock me in a dark room and force me to marry him?"

Judith Caldwell ground her teeth. "Let me tell you, no matter how much of a scene you make this time, even if you take it to the internet again..."

"...you will marry him. This is what you owe the Mercer Family."

"In Rhonia, you, Claire Mercer, have no say in the matter."

"Don’t think that just because you’re hiding from us, we can’t do anything to you."

"I have plenty of ways to find you."

After saying that, Judith Caldwell laughed. "I hear you’re planning to enter some kind of modeling competition?"

Claire Mercer’s heart sank.

’I ran into Scarlett Jewel at the model training class today.’

’It must have been Scarlett who told them about running into me.’

She took a deep breath and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

"If you don’t want us to get desperate and blow this whole thing up, you’d better cooperate."

"After all, our Mercer Family has almost nothing left to lose."

"If you don’t cooperate, I won’t let you have an easy time either."

"You know what I’m like. If you push me too far, I’m capable of anything."

With that, Judith Caldwell hung up the phone.

Claire Mercer instantly lost her appetite.

Julian Mercer and Judith Caldwell were like leeches, determined to cling to her to the very end.

If she didn’t cooperate, they would definitely not let her compete in peace.

They might even cause a scene at the competition venue, making her a laughingstock.

Judith Caldwell’s personality was such that she was truly capable of anything.

’But why should I have to cooperate with them?’

’Why should I have to sacrifice my entire life to marry someone I don’t even know?’

’I thought that by exposing what they did online, they would finally back off.’

’After all, wealthy families care about their reputation. They can’t just be a perpetual laughingstock and topic of gossip.’

’But the people of the Mercer Family were clearly shameless.’

’What should I do?’

Claire Mercer’s brow was furrowed with worry, her mood sinking to rock bottom.

Seeing her expression, Adrian Sutton spoke up hesitantly.

"Claire, I have a way to help you solve this problem."