Chapter 4: Leo's Responsibility

"Try to keep the situation under control; I'll be there right away." Jessica hung up the phone and immediately barked orders at Leo, "Leo, get the car out and take me to Sophia's company!"

"Aunt Jessica, what's wrong with Sophia?" Gilbert got up from the floor, cast a hostile glance at Leo, then showed a concerned expression.

"I'm not sure, but something seems to have happened." Jessica, seeing Leo standing still, shouted, "Are you stupid? Move!"

Without a word, Leo left the villa's main hall to get the car.

As the group came outside, Gilbert reassured Jessica, "Aunt Jessica, don't worry. I know some big shots in the city. If anyone dares to cause trouble at Sophia's company, I'll teach them a lesson."

Hearing this, Jessica felt slightly relieved. By this time, Leo had already parked the car in front of them.

Sophia's cosmetics company was located in the bustling Golden Leaf Shopping Plaza downtown. About half an hour later, the four arrived at the company's entrance.

A large crowd had gathered outside, craning their necks to peer inside.

From the lobby, a woman's angry voice could be heard.

"No explanations! Just look at my face. Since I used your cosmetics, it turned into this! You unscrupulous merchants dare sell substandard products!"

The angry woman, around forty years old, wore loose casual clothing. Her once-pretty face was now covered in dreadful rashes.

Sophia, dressed in a white professional outfit, stood in front of her, looking a bit helpless. "Ma'am, this product is imported, and there should be no problem with it. We can have it tested at any authoritative institution in Langstel..."

"Test my foot! The evidence is right here. If you don't fix my face, I'll bankrupt your company and make sure you rot in jail!"

"Ma'am, why don't we go to the hospital first?" Sophia suggested. After all, the woman indeed held one of their products, and her attire and demeanor suggested she wasn't here just to extort money. Thus, Sophia couldn't be too forceful.

Just then, Jessica and her group squeezed in.

"Mom, why are you here?" Sophia asked, surprised.

"How could I not come when such a big issue happened? What's going on?" Seeing the horrible rash on the woman's face, Jessica knew this would be tough to handle.

Sophia briefly explained the situation.

The woman had bought a bottle of moisturizer here yesterday, and after using it this morning, her face broke out in rashes. She then came back to complain.

This moisturizer had sold very well domestically and had never had such issues before.

"Ma'am, please calm down. Since this has happened, the important thing is to find a solution. Don't you agree?" Jessica said politely.

The woman sneered, retorting, "Solve it? Fine. Since your daughter's cosmetics ruined my face, let's disfigure her face and compensate me 30 million dollars, and I'll drop it."

"Thirty million?" Jessica gasped. The woman was making an outrageous demand.

Gilbert stepped forward, saying, "Ma'am, let's be reasonable. This product isn't sold only to you. Others have no issues using it, so it's not the product's fault."

"You brat! Are you saying I'm here to extort you?" The woman glared at Gilbert.

Gilbert instinctively stepped back but tried to stay calm. "That's not what I mean. How about this: I know the director at Langstel Plastic Surgery Hospital. Come with me, and I guarantee they'll restore your face."

"You're saying I need plastic surgery?" The woman hurled the moisturizer at Gilbert. "Get lost!"

"Hey, how can you use violence!" Gilbert shouted, now angry. "If you keep this up, I'll call the police!"

"Police? You are funny!" The woman laughed as if hearing the funniest joke. "Do you know who I am?"

"Who are you?" Gilbert asked, looking her up and down.

"The richest man in Langstel is my brother!"

"What..." Gilbert was dumbfounded and didn't dare speak again.

Jessica and Sophia were also stunned. How had they offended such a big shot? What should they do now?

"Ma'am, please calm down. If I can make the rashes on your face disappear, can we consider this matter settled?" A man's voice suddenly interrupted the tense standoff.

Everyone looked to see who dared to make such a bold statement.

Sophia saw that it was Leo who had come along and was surprised.

She wasn't astonished by Leo standing up, but rather by the fact that he suddenly spoke.

Just as she was about to ask why Leo was no longer mute, Jessica shouted, "Leo, shut up! This isn't your business!"

Jessica didn't want her worthless son-in-law to make things worse.

"Leo, who knew you could treat rashes? Tell us, how did a freeloading loser like you learn such a skill?" Gilbert spoke, quickly seizing the chance to belittle Leo.

"Gilbert!" Jessica frowned and said. Gilbert should have picked a better time to mock Leo.

"Leo, stay out of this. We are handling it; don't interfere," Tina said, waving Leo away in annoyance.

Leo ignored their remarks and walked directly to the woman. "I can really help with your face. Trust me."

Looking into Leo's sincere eyes, the woman wavered a bit. Money wasn't the issue; her face was.

Sophia quickly pulled him aside, using a commanding tone, "Leo, don't interfere. I'll handle my own problems!"

Sophia wasn't grateful for Leo's intervention. She knew his capabilities all too well.

The unfolding events in the lobby led to whispers among the crowd.

"That guy's impressive, living off the female CEO of the cosmetics company. Well, well."

"He just claimed he could cure that woman's rashes. Do you think he's for real?"

"Not a chance. If he could do that, he wouldn't have such an infamous reputation."

"Exactly, I think he's just putting on a show..."

The murmuring made the woman even more impatient. "I don't care about your family drama. Now you have two choices: either restore my face to its original state, or pay me 30 million dollars in damages and let me disfigure this woman!"

The woman pointed at Sophia. "Otherwise, it's like I said: your company will go bankrupt, and you'll end up in jail!"