Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 197: Chapter 197

The whole Ludwig family was already convinced that Sophia was behind this. The only reason Joseph hadn't gone straight to the police was out of respect for the years of friendship between the two families.
From that moment on, neither Joseph nor anyone else in the Ludwig family would ever regard Sophia as the right person for Shawn.
They might have liked Sophia and the White family before, and had looked down on Zoe, but they weren't fools.
Sophia tried to harm Amy, an act of attempted murder. No matter how dazzling or successful Sophia might be in the future, she could no longer be considered worthy of being part of the Ludwig family.
In the end, Sophia ran off in tears. She thought, 'I can't accept it. Even if I can't become Shawn's wife, I'll drag Zoe down with me. I want that bitch Zoe dead.
'Everything had been just fine before that bitch showed up. The Ludwig family still saw me as Shawn's future wife, and there was still hope. But now, it's all ruined.'
As soon as Sophia left, Joseph walked over to Zoe and Shawn. Looking at Zoe with guilt, he said, "I'm sorry. I should have trusted you two. You're both good kids."
Zoe didn't say anything. But Shawn spoke up, "Grandpa, you owe Zoe a proper apology."
"You..." Joseph was stunned. He hadn't expected Shawn to be so insistent.
Zoe was just as surprised. After all, getting Joseph to swallow his pride and apologize was unheard of. Joseph had always been stubborn, and probably never even knew what it meant to say sorry.
But in the end, Joseph let out a sigh and said to Zoe, "I'm sorry, Zoe. I was too hasty and ended up blaming you. If you're upset, just say so.
"If you have any requests, let me know. I'll do my best to make it up to you, and I promise to reflect on my actions."
Seeing even Joseph apologize, the rest of the Ludwig family members quickly offered their apologies. One said, "We're sorry."
Another chimed in, "We're sorry, Zoe. We shouldn't have doubted you."
Someone added, "It was all our fault."
Zoe didn't respond. She simply couldn't bring herself to accept their apologies so easily.
Just then, Amy chimed in, "Aren't you forgetting something? Shawn's not exactly young anymore. I think it's about time he settled down. Why don't we just pick a date for their engagement?"
Joseph nodded right away. He said, "You're right, dear. Let's go ahead and choose a good day for their engagement."
"Grandpa, there's no need to rush the engagement," Shawn suddenly spoke up.
Joseph frowned and said, "You've already announced your relationship to everyone, and you're still not in a hurry?"
Shawn replied, "I have my plans."
Shawn thought, 'If we got engaged now, Zoe definitely wouldn't mean it from the heart. I want her to marry me because she truly wants to, not for any other reason. That is going to take time.'
But Joseph had his thoughts. After Shawn and Zoe turned to leave, Joseph waved his hand at the rest of the Ludwig family members and said, "Spread the word, we're holding a press conference right away about the outcome of my bet with Zoe.
"I'm a man of my word. I'll do whatever it takes to protect the Ludwig family's reputation and keep my promise. From now on, whether Shawn and Zoe get married is entirely up to them."
Not long after Shawn and Zoe left, Joseph and Amy officially announced Zoe as Shawn's future wife.
The moment the news broke, Jelonsburg exploded. Media outlets were livestreaming, and the story was everywhere online and across all the major platforms.