The Dandy's Unexpected Abs of Steel

At the most high-end bar in the city of Gontan, a woman wearing a mask and a washed-out shirt walked straight to the bar and sat down.

"A glass of whiskey, please." Her voice was pleasant, and even though she wore loose clothes, her exquisite figure was still evident.

Compared to the delicate women who dressed in sexy clothes around her, men's attention was immediately drawn to her, eagerly approaching.

"Beautiful, why are you drinking such strong liquor alone, what if you get drunk?" A middle-aged man with rough features and a scar on his face took the initiative to sit next to her, his eyes fixed on her mask, reaching out as if to embrace her.

Emma did not stop his action. When she picked up the drink, she casually removed her mask, revealing a scar that almost covered her entire face, more terrifying than the scar-faced man's.

The people around gasped.

The woman's face was decent, but the scar completely ruined any beauty she had. Coupled with the freckles all over her face, she could only be described as ugly no matter how one looked at her.

The scar-faced man immediately withdrew his hand, turning his head and running away without looking back.

Emma Smith seemed to ignore the shocked gazes of the people around her and calmly continued drinking. When she saw the people entering from the main entrance, she paused slightly.

The people coming in were all famous playboy heirs from Gontan. The man at the center of the crowd looked cold and noble, completely different from the carefree people around him, but no one felt that he was out of place.

A person said, "James, you're getting married in a few days, so you must enjoy yourself today!"

Another person said, "I heard that the daughter of the Smith family who just returned is from the countryside, ugly, and has a bad temper. If she is stingy after being married to you, you won't have anything to do with beautiful women for the rest of your life."

Someone else said, "I think James is really unlucky. He was lucky enough to get engaged to the Smith family, but then, fate played a trick on him. The real daughter of the Smith family suddenly emerged. My mother went to see her a few days ago. She said she's really average-looking. It's said that even the ugliest girl in Gontan is better looking than her, and she dropped out of elementary school."

Everyone expressed pity in their words, but there was a hint of schadenfreude in each tone, and their gazes toward James Anderson were mocking.

Everyone knew that the newly returned daughter of the Smith family was an ugly and bad-tempered village woman, but James wasn't much better than her. He was kicked out of the Anderson family's heir list right after birth. Although he was from the wealthy Anderson family, in reality, he was just a dependent who couldn't do anything, even more useless than these playboys.

Moreover, James never touched women whenever he went out with them. Everyone thought he was not able to perform sexually.

"Whatever." James's tone was indifferent as if he didn't care at all.

Emma put down her glass and mask and walked towards the crowd.

Wherever she passed, there were gasps everywhere, and everyone quickly averted their eyes, afraid to look at her for too long, fearing nightmares.

The group of playboys was the same, "Damn, where did such an ugly person come from!"

Emma seemed to be unaware, and she went straight into James's arms, speaking in a coquettish tone. "James, so you're my fiancé, I'm Emma, you can call me darling.”

The melodious voice matched with an extremely ugly face was unacceptable to anyone, and a few of the men couldn't help but start to retch.

James had no power or influence, but he was exceptionally handsome, with features like those of a deity. Now, holding an ugly woman, it was like a real-life version of Beauty and the Beast.

Emma didn't wait for him to push her away with disgust. Unable to help herself, she backed away slightly to see James's expression, but there was nothing in his eyes except coldness, and his voice was equally cold. "You're from the Smith family?"

“Yes.” Emma nodded coyly, with a blush on her face, making her even more nauseating alongside the scar that covered half her face.

She was waiting for James to show his disgust for her.

With this face, she couldn't even look at herself in the mirror. Even if James was a playboy, Emma believed that he would do everything to cancel the engagement with the Smith family, leaving the Smith family's plans in vain. Then her promise to her master would be fulfilled.

Before James could speak again, a voice sounded from the group of playboys. "So it's Miss Smith, long admired, you are really as ugly as the rumors, but with a good figure."

Wesley Coleman's eyes were full of disdain and contempt.

Others laughed heartily beside him, looking down on James and Emma even more.

They didn’t think Emma would show any attitude since she was a country pumpkin.

"Everyone says a village girl's waist is like a water bucket. Let me see if it's true," Wesley said so, but looking at Emma's slender waist under the light, he had different thoughts and reached out his hand.

There were cheers from the crowd.

Someone said, "Wesley, you are really horny, wanting to taste everything. Admirable, admirable."

Everyone present was playboys, often indulging in extravagance, so they didn't find it strange.

Emma glanced at James again and thought, ‘How useless is this man? He is not reacting to this at all.’

James's eyes were beautiful, as if filled with countless stars, making Emma feel honored to be looked at by him.

Emma then felt her thoughts were ridiculous.

Everyone present was there for the show. Everyone knew James was useless, and now his supposed fiancée was being publicly harassed. People felt that he probably wouldn't care.

Emma didn't expect anything from James. She was prepared to fight back.

In the moment Emma was about to act, James acted first, grabbing Wesley's hand. "Who gave you permission to touch my wife?"

Emma was stunned. She thought, ‘Did he just call me his wife? Shouldn't he be repulsed by me?’

The next moment, James raised his hand and directly hit Wesley, causing one of his eyes to turn black.

"This is what you get for thinking of taking advantage of my wife," James's cold handsome face carried a hint of dominance and unruliness. “Your family is going to suffer for this.”

Wesley, who was just about to erupt in anger, turned pale at the words. "James, I'm sorry, I was just joking around, how would I dare to have any thoughts about your wife?"

Everyone only realized at this point that no matter how useless James was, he was still a member of the super-rich Anderson family. Taking down any one of them was as easy as pie for James.

James just sneered coldly and left with Emma.

Emma didn't expect things to turn out like this. James even kindly offered to take her home.

"Mr. Anderson, thank you for what happened at the bar." Emma deliberately approached, wanting to evoke disgust from James with her appalling face. But to her surprise, James didn't even flinch, he just kept looking at her face.

Emma couldn't see any disgust or disdain in his eyes, as if it were all just a matter of course.

There seemed to be a hint of complexity in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by coldness, as if it were all her imagination.

"Of course," James said indifferently.

Emma asked, "You... do you really intend to marry me?"

James said, "Yes."

Emma was suddenly speechless, feeling that saying anything was pointless.

James's group of friends had all told him that she had no education, no background, and her appearance was truly ugly. Even with all that, he didn't find her repulsive. So it seemed she had to accept this marriage.

They arrived at the Smith family's house without speaking for the rest of the way. Before opening the car door, they heard a woman's voice not far away, light and angelic. "Mom is so good to me, you specifically retrieved your biological daughter so now I finally don't have to marry that trash. It's just that I feel bad that my sister has to suffer now."

Kayla Smith's voice was very gentle. "My good daughter, don't feel bad. It’s a good thing that Emma, that ugly monster, is marrying into the Anderson family.”

Emma and James in the car exchanged a glance. Emma wasn't embarrassed at all but was rather curious about James's thoughts.

Unfortunately, James had been expressionless all along.

When the car stopped outside the villa, Emma got out, and James suddenly approached.

A cool and particularly refreshing cologne scent wafted over, very pleasant to smell, but Emma instinctively wanted to step back.

According to reason, she felt that James shouldn't be interested in her current appearance, but there was already a pervert among his friends who was interested in her. Emma was worried that James was another pervert.

Fortunately, James kept some distance, took out a bank card from his pocket, and when Emma was hesitating to refuse, he glanced at her cheap clothes.

"Buy whatever you want." His tone held no disgust at all, and even a hint of sincerity.

Emma was a little surprised. She thought, ‘This playboy is unexpectedly so generous to his not-yet-married wife. I might be stepping over the line if I keep refusing this marriage. What should I do?’

She said, "You don’t have to do this."

"Take it." James frowned, directly throwing the card into her pocket, closing the car door decisively, and driving away without hesitation.

Emma couldn't keep up with the series of actions.

She thought, ‘Fine. After the divorce, I will return the card to him.’

The sound of the car was very loud. When Kayla and Zoe Smith came out, they just happened to see James's luxury car leaving.

The limited edition Son of Wind wasn't something one could buy with just money.

"Emma, you are quite impressive. You have just returned home not long ago and already made friends with wealthy people. I hope you are not using the Smith family's name to cheat people outside." Zoe said sourly. She hadn't even sat in that car before. It was clear that Emma had just gotten out of it.

Kayla hadn't thought much about it at first, but upon hearing this, her expression immediately darkened. "Emma, the Smith family has already done more than enough by taking you in. You know how ugly you are. Don't disgrace our family's name outside."

Emma chuckled lightly. "Mrs. Smith, you are quite funny. Did you forget where this ugly scar on my face came from?"

The main reason Emma was taken in by the Smith family was because the scar on her face was too obvious. It was caused by Austin Smith, the eldest son of the Smith family, when he accidentally cut her with a knife when they were little. The injury was deep enough to see bone, and the doctor said that even with the best plastic surgery techniques, it couldn't be restored.

However, before the surgery could happen, Emma went missing, and the injury became incurable.

Kayla also remembered the incident, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She looked at Emma with a slightly softer gaze. "What happened back then was Austin's fault. The Smith family won't mistreat you in the future. But you should keep a low profile and not attract attention. Don't embarrass our family."

Emma sneered and felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She couldn't be bothered to chat with these people and headed straight out.

The phone kept ringing, so she had no choice but to respond as she walked.

Ace sent a message to her. [Boss, help! SOS! Someone has hacked into the system I built! Please save me, Boss!]

He has sent dozens of this kind of messages.

Emma was speechless. She had taken in so many apprentices, but this one was the most useless.

She used the name of Viola to reply. [Got it.]

A: [Boss, you finally replied to me!]

Viola was Emma's international code name. She had spent many years on the mountain, where her master didn't allow her to leave casually. She could only do what she wanted through the internet and had made many acquaintances, some of whom were not very smart and insisted on becoming her disciples. In the end, she took them as her apprentices, including this Ace.

Kayla watched Emma's retreating figure as she typed, her brows furrowing even deeper. "This girl has no manners at all. We were still talking to her, and she already went to play with her phone.”

Zoe saw the heavy, old-fashioned black phone in Emma's hand with physical buttons and felt a trace of disdain. She thought, ‘Isn't this phone an obsolete relic from the last century? Emma is only worthy of using such rubbish.’

She affectionately shook Kayla’s hand. "Mom, don't say that. Emma grew up in the countryside since she was young. It's said she didn't even learn all the alphabet. Should we find her an etiquette teacher since she's about to get married soon so she doesn't embarrass herself at the Anderson family?"

Kayla's face softened, patting her adopted daughter's hand. "You are right. It's fortunate that we adopted you. You're truly my darling."

Zoe smiled sweetly, but her eyes were full of shrewdness and calculation.

Emma returned to the villa and encountered many servants along the way, each either rolling their eyes at her or keeping their distance.

Emma's room was on the ground floor, and except for her, the floor was occupied by the servants, while the Smith family members lived upstairs.

Everyone could see that the Smith family didn't treat Emma well.

Emma entered her room and took out her laptop. Her slender, white fingers danced on the keyboard, and half an hour later, she finally fixed the mistake made by her apprentice.

Ace: [Boss, thank you so much. I almost embarrassed you.]

Ace had been learning hacking techniques from Emma and was quite famous internationally. Of course, he couldn't compare to Emma's record of defeating the top ten hackers in the world by herself. Everyone knew that Ace was Emma's apprentice.

Ace: [Boss, today is my birthday banquet. Will you come? It's at the Imperial Hotel in Gontan. I can send someone to pick you up.]

Emma remembered that today was Ace's birthday. Her gift for him was already prepared. Before she could reply to him, the door was opened directly. Zoe strutted in on high heels, followed by several servants carrying clothes. "Tomorrow, there will be an etiquette teacher coming. Mom is worried you'll embarrass yourself, so she asked me to give you some clothes. These are all high-end goods. Don’t thank us too much."

Emma glanced briefly and saw that they were indeed all luxury brands, but they were the ugliest ones, and some of the clothes even had dust on them, obviously from years ago.