Chapter 29: Must Proactively Bait Her to Take the Hook

"Either cash flow, or enough commercial real estate. Unfortunately, I don't really have any assets under my name anymore, so this membership card can't be used. If it could be used, you would be able to get your face done beautifully. Forget it, let's just throw this card away."

Vivian Hale spoke as she made a gesture to throw the membership card into the trash.

She knew that Eleanor Cross was a naturally suspicious person, so she couldn't proactively bring up the commercial storefront properties.

She had to proactively bait her to take the hook!

Sure enough, seeing this, Eleanor grew anxious in an instant. She rapidly snatched the membership card from Vivian’s hand, "Throw it away for what? Isn't it just assets? Money... I don't have that much cash, but..."

Her eyes rolled with calculation: "Don't I have a few commercial storefront properties under my hand? I'll just transfer them under your name first. That should be enough, right?"

This permanent membership card for Star Source was more than enough for her to brag to her social circle for a long time.

It was impossible for her to give up cash, and real estate couldn't just run away.

Merely passing it through Vivian's hands in exchange for a free membership card was an exceptionally lucrative bargain.

Standing to the side, Tiffany Rose was completely stunned upon hearing these words.

Her face still throbbed with a burning pain—a result of the slaps delivered by Eleanor.

Clearly, it was all Vivian’s fault.

She had brought Eleanor here to settle scores with Vivian, yet this tramp came out of it completely unscathed and even gained several commercial storefront properties for nothing?

On what grounds?

A powerful wave of resentment instantly flooded her heart, causing her to lose all her calculated composure. Without even thinking, she blurted out, "No! This is absolutely out of the question! What if you take the storefronts and don't give the card to Auntie?"

Eleanor and Vivian both looked straight at her. Tiffany bit her lip, only then realizing she had acted too impulsively. She hurriedly wrapped her arms around Eleanor’s, putting on a front of acting solely for Eleanor’s benefit.

"Auntie, it's not that I'm overthinking things, but if these commercial storefront properties are transferred under Miss Hale's name, she won't even know how to manage them. What if something goes wrong? How about I find another way to handle the membership card for you?"

Hearing this, Vivian sneered in her heart, but on the surface, she gave an understanding nod.

"That's true, Mom. Since Miss Rose feels it's inappropriate, let's just forget it. Just let Miss Rose find a way for you."

But in the next second, Eleanor directly yanked her arm free, shoving Tiffany aside with a face full of absolute disgust.

"Save it! Let you find a way? Just to have me hauled into the police station again? I can't afford to lose face like that!"

She had completely thought things through by now. Previously, she believed Tiffany was wonderful and capable.

Looking at it now, this woman was merely a bit skilled in her professional technical field; in every other aspect, she wasn't even a patch on Vivian Hale.

Vivian was still the better one, at least she was a virtuous wife and mother.

Furthermore, those commercial storefront properties had been personally selected by Vivian for her back then. What kind of devious intentions could Vivian possibly harbor?

Thinking of this, Eleanor stepped forward, grabbing Vivian’s hand as she spoke, "It's decided. I'll have someone draw up the contract right now."

Gazing at her impatient demeanor, a profound darkness glinted through Vivian's eyes as she offered a few more soothing words.

Following that, her gaze landed on Tiffany, whose expression was hideously twisted, before she continued speaking with a half-smile.

"Mom, right, there's one more thing I forgot to mention. They only issued this membership card for me as a special exception. Passing the asset verification alone isn't enough; I previously promised them I would work shifts there, but because of my poor health, I haven't gone at all. What should we do about this? How about letting Miss Rose do the work in my place?"

"Speaking of which, Miss Rose caused Mom to suffer such a massive grievance, so working shifts for a couple of days can be considered her compensation. What do you think, Miss Rose?"

Tiffany’s little face turned deathly pale in an instant.

What? Asking her to go to a beauty salon to rub people's feet and massage their shoulders?

Vomit...

Without even thinking, she refused, "I won't—"

But before her words could fully fall.

Eleanor’s eyes swept over, laced with absolute frost, "Can't even accomplish a single task. There is no need for such an incompetent subordinate by our Adrian's side."

The words at the tip of Tiffany's tongue could only be forced back down into her throat.

Her current position by Adrian Cross's side was far from secure.

If she failed to secure Eleanor's approval on top of that, marrying into the wealthy family would be an event hundreds of years in the future.

Everything was for the sake of her future...

At worst, when she arrived at Star Source, she could just have a proper talk with that manager. Could they truly make her perform actual massages?

Tiffany gritted her teeth, leaving her no choice but to agree, "Fine, I'll go in Miss Hale's place."

Eleanor let out a sigh of relief, reclaiming her arrogant satisfaction.

Vivian also displayed an immense amount of pleasant surprise, "That truly is wonderful. Then I must trouble you, Miss Rose. I will definitely tell Adrian about your hard work."

Hearing this, Tiffany’s expression grew even more hideous.

Why were things turning out completely different from what she had imagined?

And the feeling Vivian gave her was entirely unlike that of an ordinary housewife.

She constantly felt that something was amiss with this matter, but before she could ponder it thoroughly, Vivian clutched her own chest, knitting her brows as she let out a groan of pain.

"My chest hurts so much... Mom, could you help pour me some water..."

Seeing that the situation was turning south, Eleanor simply turned on her heel to leave.

"Oh my, if you're physically unwell, rest early. I'll have the contract delivered to you this afternoon!"

Then she spun around and left.

Absolute quiet blanketed the villa once more.

Vivian let out a cold sneer, straightened her posture, and returned to the kitchen to finish brewing the chicken soup, drinking it to warm her stomach.

Eleanor moved remarkably fast. By the afternoon, the transfer agreement for the commercial storefront properties was delivered.

The exact millisecond Vivian signed her name onto the document, it became legally binding.

She let out a cold laugh, then placed a call to the real estate agent.

"Hello? I have a few more commercial storefront properties under my name that I also wish to offload. Can you handle them together?"

The agent was absolutely thrilled, "Of course I can. Right, Miss Hale, I've already finished processing all the previous real estate properties under your name, and the funds have been remitted into your account. Please verify the receipt."

Almost the exact moment his words fell, her phone displayed a notification for a massive bank deposit.

Staring at that long string of numbers, Vivian felt a wave of absolute refreshment.

This card wasn't an account opened under her own credentials; when the time came, Adrian wouldn't be able to track it even if he investigated.

Right now, she held more and more chips in her hand, and her control over her own life was growing increasingly absolute.

Vivian took a deep breath, speaking into the receiver, "The same rules apply as before: I want absolute confidentiality. I will pay you an extra five percent in commission fees. You've worked hard during this period."

Overwhelmed by the unexpected generosity, the agent naturally chorused his agreement repeatedly.

The call disconnected, leaving Vivian’s heart filled with absolute lightness.

However, three days later, she received a phone call from the beauty salon.

While her mind was still somewhat groggy from sleep, Pearl on the other end was exceptionally ecstatic.

"Oh my, let me tell you, I've been watching an absolute masterpiece of a show these past few days! Didn't that Tiffany Rose come over? I made sure to give her a wonderful reception..."

"Following your arrangements, I told her to go do a foot massage, but she refused and even started bargaining with me. In the end, she smashed everything inside the private room and even splashed foot-soaking water all over one of our 'distinguished guests.' Naturally, the 'distinguished guest' refused to let it slide and has already started making a massive scene. However, your cheap excuse of a husband arrived and escorted her away."

Speaking up to this point, Pearl couldn't restrain herself from bursting into laughter.

Hearing this, Vivian cleared a fair amount of the sleep from her mind.

She sat up from the bed, her ink-black hair cascading over her shoulders, her pure white silk nightgown draping loosely over her collarbone, exuding a distinct flavor of lazy beauty.

She curled her lips into a smile, speaking, "Thank you for your help this time. However, the clothes on that 'distinguished guest' ought to be worth a substantial amount of money, right? Furthermore, the 'Green Submariner' watch on his wrist accidentally suffered water damage—I've heard that item is worth tens of millions. The items she smashed also seemed to be antiques, which carry an astronomical price tag..."

Pearl instantly caught Vivian’s meaning, laughing so hard she bent over backward.

"Exactly. This time she'll have to pay a staggering amount of compensation, and it will even involve you. Those commercial storefront properties you used for the asset verification can only be utilized to compensate the losses of the distinguished guest and our establishment..."

Vivian accepted the explanation with a laugh.

After exchanging a couple more sentences, she got out of bed to wash up.

Right now, the items Eleanor Cross had taken from her were already virtually non-existent.

Next, it would be Tiffany Rose's turn.

She had already performed a rough calculation: over such a long period, Adrian had invested at least twenty million dollars into Tiffany.

Every cent of that constituted their marital assets.