Lucy showed him the phone, "Look, it’s all over the news."
Jacob reached out to take it, and then saw that Weibo was exploding.
The shop assistant had taken a picture of the ripped receipt taped back together and posted it online, publicly claiming Jacob went to the shop to buy lots of women’s lingerie and lipstick.
Driven by curiosity, everyone was guessing who Jacob’s girlfriend might be.
Guesses ranged from high-ranking Green Group department ministers to company employees, covering a wide scope of entertainment industry actresses, but there was no definitive conclusion.
Jacob himself wasn’t bothered by this controversy, but the elders of the Green Family were furious.
Especially Mrs. Green.
"Absolutely shameful! That rascal has gone too far! He actually went himself to buy such private things for that woman, is her hand broken or crippled?! And spent so much money! That woman surely isn’t easy!"
"Grandma always sees her grandsons only as the pillars of the Green Group, overlooking the fact he’s also a man." Lily slowly fed an orange slice into her mouth, "If you ask me, this is probably that rascal’s own decision."
"Do you know any inside information?" Mrs. Green pursued, "Lily, if you’ve seen that woman, you mustn’t hide it from us."
"How could I have seen her?" Lily denied, "But that rascal did tell me some things about the girl privately. To put it simply, she’s a completely different type from Stellan."
"What about her family background?"
"She grew up in the countryside but is a strong, independent, and brave person."
Mrs. Green automatically ignored the latter part, "Grew up in the countryside?! With that kind of background, she dares to be with that rascal? Who gave her the nerve?!"
"Grandma, what you said is wrong." Lily argued, "No one can choose their birth background. It’s predominantly about the person, isn’t it?"
"Lily makes sense," her mother concurred, "Family background shouldn’t be the criterion for evaluating someone. As long as this girl is great in other aspects and if that rascal likes her, it’s not impossible."
"Ignoring so many celebrities and elite women to find one from the countryside, truly puzzling what he’s thinking."
"It’s called everyone has their preferences, Grandma, don’t go acting as a stick to break up the lovebirds." Lily reminded, "Besides, my brother has a much worse temper than my cousin."
"No need to use your brother’s case to warn me." Mrs. Green snorted, "Your brother is a doctor now, he loves choosing whomever he wants, we’re not interfering anymore, but that rascal’s wife is the future mistress of the Green Household, how can we allow someone unsuitable?"
Mother and daughter exchanged a glance, not discussing this further since they hadn’t even seen the person yet, commenting more wouldn’t be wise.
"She said it’s inconvenient for me to visit Blossom Haven," Grace replied to Stellan nearby, "So don’t even think about entering Blossom Haven."
"In my opinion, Lucy never really wants to be friends with you. I constantly feel she handles the distance in your relationship just right, neither far nor close, it seems unchanged."
Grace pondered for a few seconds, "Indeed, I’ve felt that too. Continuing this way clearly won’t get us the result we desire."
"Then don’t waste efforts on her anymore." Stellan seemed to have a fire burning in his heart, "Partnering with the detective agency, I refuse to believe we can’t find the woman involved with Jacob!"
Grace noted her tone was sharp and asked, "Why do you look so angry?!"
"I am merely furious at Jacob; he single-handedly wrecked my reputation. Those disgraceful photos flying around are all courtesy of him; I want to see him writhing in pain myself."
"Indeed, Stellan, your bright future was all ruined by him; as your best friend, I also can’t swallow this anger, if I don’t vent it for you, I’d truly lose sleep at night."
Stellan was touched by her words, "Grace, you’re the best to me, I truly didn’t form this friendship for nothing."
"Who else would I be good to if not you?" Grace softly said, "About working with the detective agency you just mentioned, I think it’s doable, though we definitely need a lot of money, which you don’t have much of, where’s this fund coming from?"
"I’ll ask my mom for it."
"Will your mom agree knowing about it?" Grace rather thought it unwise, "She and your dad definitely won’t let us further retaliate against Jacob, they’ll surely obstruct us."
"But if I don’t take from my family, I have nowhere else to gather money."
"Doesn’t your family have a collection room? With so many collectibles inside, just selling one would fetch a good sum."
Stellan slapped her thigh, "Yeah, why didn’t I think of that? Grace, you’re brilliant!"
Grace smiled slightly, "You handle taking the items, I’ll handle finding buyers." Googlᴇ search novel~fire~net
"All right, it’s agreed."
Stellan readily agreed.
That night, she secretly took several collectibles from the collection room, giving them to Grace for sale.
It took several days to sell them all.
With this money, the two contacted a renowned investigative agency, requesting to identify Jacob’s girlfriend within a month.
The other party took the money, signed a contract, and began execution immediately.
They would never know this agency’s secret owner was Jacob himself.
Jacob had over thirty such agencies, both domestically and internationally.
Upon receiving this order, the agency staff immediately reported to Nathaniel, seeking instructions, Nathaniel approved the offer.
Upon returning to Blossom Haven, Lucy heard Nathaniel’s report.
Upon hearing, she almost laughed herself to death.
"More money sent, well, if you don’t want it for free then take it." Lucy inquired, "How did your master instruct you to handle it?"
"Master said to discuss further upon his return. Young Madam, how’s the MV shoot with Mr. Shen going?"
"Today’s shooting wrapped up. Car keys? I want to practice driving."
"You’re not waiting for the master anymore?"
"I’ve been practicing for several hours every day these days, almost learning enough."
Nathaniel took out car keys from his pocket to hand her, "Here."
She headed straight for the garage.
When Jacob drove back, he saw her driving one of his other vehicles in the vast courtyard, fast like the wind, seemingly out of control.
Nathaniel chased after the car, hot and bothered, running while anxiously shouting for her to stop.
Witnessing this, Jacob wanted to laugh.
It seemed upon seeing him return, Lucy finally stopped the car.
"Young Madam, you’re scaring me to death!" Nathaniel, clutching his chest, panting heavily, seemed exhausted from the chase.
"Didn’t I tell you not to follow me around? Why were you running?"
"I was worried for your safety." Nathaniel took back the car keys, "If anything happens to you, Master will skin me alive."