Chapter 183: Chapter 183: A Tech Guy’s Hardcore Stunt, Auntie Frost is So Pathetic

Tech guys are the best at pulling crazy stunts.

In no time at all, a few AI programs launched a coordinated attack, seizing on any online comment aimed at Sophia Shaw and hitting back from all sides!

For every insult they threw, the AI shot back with a hundred, a thousand!

It hit back until they started questioning their existence.

It hit back until they forgot who brought them into this world!

Sophia Shaw worked nonstop until the afternoon.

Her phone suddenly blared a special ringtone.

There weren’t many people she had assigned this ringtone to.

One was Vincent Grant.

The other was for people connected to Cedric Grant.

Vincent Grant wouldn’t deign to call her. Cedric Grant was highly self-sufficient and could handle most things on his own. And ever since he had become infatuated with Joanna Sherman, it was even more unlikely that he’d have someone contact her.

This ringtone hadn’t gone off in a very, very long time.

Still, Sophia Shaw picked up her phone and saw the number belonged to Cedric Grant’s homeroom teacher.

Unsure why the teacher was calling, Sophia Shaw answered, "Hello, Ms. Lane."

"Hello, Cedric’s mother." Ms. Lane’s tone was polite. "Here’s the situation. The school has an important event that requires a guardian’s attendance. According to our records, you are listed as Cedric’s only guardian, so we’ll have to trouble you to make a trip to the school."

Sophia Shaw then remembered. Back then, she had worried that Vincent Grant was too busy and that it would interfere with his work, so she had listed only herself as Cedric’s guardian.

Now that they were divorced, it was no longer appropriate for her to be Cedric Grant’s guardian.

Sophia Shaw asked, "Can the guardianship information be changed?"

"It can, but you’ll have to come in person to make the change."

"Alright. But I’ll have to trouble you to notify the other guardian to attend the event. From now on, these matters are no longer my concern."

"You mean his father? Of course."

The teacher wasn’t surprised by what Sophia Shaw said. Vincent Grant had brought Joanna Sherman to the school far too many times; she already had a sense of what was going on.

Not wanting to run into Vincent Grant, Sophia Shaw deliberately went to the school early. After updating the records, she rushed to leave.

"Mom!"

Just as she passed through the archway, Sophia Shaw saw Cedric Grant standing on the steps, holding a ball and looking down at her.

He seemed to be looking down on her, both literally and figuratively.

He dribbled the ball as he walked down the steps. "You must be here for the school event."

Sophia was about to open her mouth to tell him he was mistaken, but Cedric spoke first. "I saw all that stuff they’re saying about you online. Don’t worry, Dad and I won’t look down on you for it."

"Dad already said he’s going to transfer me back to a school in Crestfall soon, and that he’ll make things work with you."

Sophia Shaw was speechless.

’No wonder.’

’Not long ago, he was acting like it was the end of the world because of my indifference. Now he’s acting so self-important. It’s all because of what’s happening online.’

Cedric Grant looked at Sophia Shaw.

He’d originally been terrified of losing his mother, but seeing her get savaged so badly online had suddenly erased that fear.

’For the rest of her life, she’ll have to rely on Dad and me to get by. All that coldness before was just an act.’

The more convinced he became that Sophia Shaw was just pretending, the deeper his contempt grew.

’Auntie Joanna is so much more genuine than Mom,’ he thought. ’She never pretends. What you see is what you get.’

Cedric reverted to his old, lecturing tone. "But Mom, seriously. You took on something you knew you couldn’t handle just to get some attention. Don’t do that again!"

"From now on, just stay home and take care of me. Cooking my meals is enough."

He did actually quite enjoy being taken care of by Sophia Shaw.

He loved her cooking, too.

"Dad and I can protect you once, but we can’t do it every single time. It’s just embarrassing."

Sophia Shaw just smiled.

She glanced at the classmates standing behind Cedric.

The only reason she hadn’t ignored him and walked away was to save him some face in front of his friends.

He, however, showed no such courtesy.

Sophia Shaw retorted softly, "And how exactly did you and your father ’protect’ me? With so many people slandering me online, did you sue them? Did you get the posts taken down?"

Cedric’s face flushed with embarrassment. "I just told you, didn’t I? We won’t abandon you!"

"You won’t abandon me? Did you ever bother to ask my opinion on the matter?"

Sophia suddenly thought her son was an utter fool. She enunciated each word clearly, "My opinion is, you’re welcome to abandon me!"

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Cedric to stomp his feet in frustration.

Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman approached from the opposite direction.

The two of them were an inseparable pair, constantly together as if terrified people might not know how close they were.

The sight of them made Sophia Shaw’s stomach turn.

The corner of her mouth curled into a mocking smile in Vincent Grant’s direction.

’He kept saying he wanted to make things work with me. Is this what "making things work" looks like?’

’Leaving a fool like me at home while he’s out being lovey-dovey with Joanna Sherman?’

Sophia Shaw truly had no desire to see him. She turned on her heel and left the way she came.

"Dad! Auntie Joanna!"

Cedric’s mood finally improved a little when he saw them.

He ran over and took them by the hand, one on his left and one on his right.

Vincent Grant was a major entrepreneur, and Joanna Sherman was a chief rocket engineer—not to mention the star of the sensational "group-buy rocket launch" that was all over the news.

Cedric Grant felt incredibly proud.

After escorting the pair to the activity room, he made sure to boast to his classmates, "That’s Auntie Joanna. She’s amazing—a rocket expert! She’s about to launch two satellites into space. Two at the same time!"

"Is that your stepmom?" the class president, a little girl with pigtails, asked loudly as she walked over.

"Of course not!" Cedric Grant quickly denied. "She’s my Auntie Joanna! The one who just left was my mom. I don’t have a stepmom."

"I think your mom is way prettier. Her skin is so fair, her eyes crinkle when she smiles, and her mouth is really nice, too," the class president said with the unfiltered honesty of a child. "This auntie... she’s so skinny and cold. She’s like a block of ice!"

The class president looked utterly disgusted.

She felt that calling her a block of ice was an insult to actual blocks of wood.

"But he was just lecturing his mom and acting all high-and-mighty with her!" Chubby, who had been playing with them, tattled.

Their conversation had been a bit roundabout, but that was the gist of it.

"Hmph! You’re so ungrateful!" The class president thought Cedric Grant must be completely blind.

’How could he not want a great mom like that and be obsessed with this Auntie Frost all day?’

Her own father wouldn’t even give an auntie like that a second glance!

The class president had always had a bit of a crush on Cedric Grant, but now she didn’t like him anymore. He was always fawning over some other woman and was mean to his own mom!

The class president tossed her pigtails. "Cedric Grant, don’t you come near my desk ever again!"

For a little kid, being forbidden from visiting someone’s desk was the ultimate form of rejection.

Chubby called out, "Can I still come, Class President?"

"Of course."

"Oh yeah!"

Seeing the class president reject him in favor of Chubby, Cedric’s eyes grew red, and he silently clenched his small fists.

Another little girl tugged on his sleeve.

Cedric Grant looked up and saw it was Tina Lawson, the youngest girl in class, who looked like a delicate little princess. His expression softened a little.

Tina Lawson pointed to Joanna Sherman, who was sitting inside. "I know her, and I know your mom. Your mom is way cooler! She sent five stars into the sky at once. That Auntie Frost only sent two."

The little girl had a late birthday at the end of August. She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and her schoolwork was a complete mess.

She lifted her little chin proudly. "Five is bigger than two. I got that right, didn’t I?"

Apparently, Cedric Grant was even dumber than her; he couldn’t even figure that out.

Cedric Grant was speechless.

"That’s different. My mom’s thing... didn’t you see how everyone is yelling at her online?"

If he wasn’t trying to defend himself, he would have been too embarrassed to bring up the fact that his own mother was being attacked.

"I haven’t seen that."

Tina Lawson stuck out her short, pale little fingers and pulled a tiny pink phone from the folds of her princess dress. Tapping here and there, she said, "Look. Everyone is saying bad things about Auntie Frost!"