The moment Sophia stepped foot into the classroom, she was pulled away by Isabel to somewhere where they would be alone.Isabel examined her. “Are you alright, Sophia?”Sophia was confused. “I’m fine. What’s wrong?”Isabel hugged her tightly. “That’s great. I’m sorry. You got hurt because of me.”Sophia said, “It’s fine. I’m curious, though. What were you doing with someone like Ezekiel?”Isabel looked embarrassed. “I happened to see him in his car on my way back after school. He said he knew me and wanted to give me a lift. I told him it was fine, but he was adamant about it. “I couldn’t resist and took his offer, but he didn’t do anything to me. He asked about my school life and said he had noticed me when I was on stage. He asked about you too. I told him we were friends. “Then he sent me home and said goodbye. I ran into him again the next day. He said he’d give me a ride to school. I thought he had a crush on me, but he brought me to his mansion instead…”Isabel’s voice
In Nanny’s room, Sophia gave her the cake. “Happy birthday, Nanny.”Nanny looked at the cake and forced a smile. “There was no need to bring me a cake. They already made one for me.”Sophia said, “It’s different. I bought this for you!”“Okay. I’ll eat it later.” Nanny poured her a cup of tea. “Here. Have something to drink.”Sophia nodded. She was about to drink when she caught a whiff of a strange scent. It did not smell like tea. Sophia dealt with these medicines all the time, and had honed her sense of smell so finely that she could identify medicines with just a whiff.There was clearly an aphrodisiac in the tea. She wondered if someone else had unintentionally put it in there. Or had Nanny spiked it?Sophia met Nanny’s panicked glance when she looked at her. How disappointing. She was about to lose it when she realized that someone else must have ordered Nanny to do it.Sharon and Sadie were the prime suspects. She put the cup down without a single word. Nanny asked,
Sharon had forgotten about Charles’s insults. That was what mattered tonight. Her servant was running toward her as she got up, saying, “Ms. Sharon, your grandmother was asking for you.”Sharon nodded and excitedly headed to Louie’s room. The former forgot about Charles for now and knew she would win his heart someday. Sharon dashed through the main hall, wanting to ensure everything went smoothly.Louie was all alone as Sharon sat across from her with a mischievous grin. “Did you do it, Grandma?”Louie mumbled, “What was the drug you gave me? Why did it overwhelm her in just a second? I asked someone to take her to the room you told me about.”Sharon smiled. “You don’t have to know, Grandma. It won’t do you any good. You should just play dumb so the others can’t trace it back to you.”Louie nodded. “I guess you’re right. You should take a break. Here, drink something.” She poured Sharon a cup of tea.Sharon was too excited. “No, thanks. I’ll go and take a look.”She motioned to
Out in the hall, the Buck family’s servants rushed to report to Lawrence, “Elliot Patton is here, Master.”Lawrence was surprised to hear that, “Elliot Patton?”He did not invite Elliot, but it was not that he did not want to. It was the other way around instead. Elliot was such a prestigious figure, so it was strange that he would want to attend Lawrence’s birthday party.Sadie shook Lawrence’s arm, “Why did they say Elliot Patton’s here, honey? Did you invite any of the Pattons?”Lawrence spoke in a daze, “I didn’t. I have no idea what he’s doing here.”Sadie pushed him. “That doesn’t matter. We should check out what’s going on. Don’t leave him alone.”The two rushed outside and saw the infamous Elliot Patton. However, they never expected him to be the guy in the wheelchair. Sadie felt a little awkward because she had insulted him in Dorothy’s ward that day. She did not know he had such an impressive background.They greeted Elliot and welcomed him to their villa.The guests
Lawrence was outraged as he questioned Sophia, “What on earth are you thinking? You flirted with four men in the bedroom. Are you here to get back at me?”Sophia glared at him. “Whenever each of you was mean to me, I’d remember that you’re my father. You might be the only family I have left in the world soon, so I constantly put up with it.“Although you’ve never shown me any trust, I have never stopped giving you chances. I wouldn’t have to do this if you had trusted me just once. You did this to yourself, Lawrence!” Sophia brushed past him. Lawrence did not understand her. He wanted to block her, but she was already going down. He had no choice but to give chase. Then, Lawrence saw Elliot approaching Sophia.He feared his daughter would offend Elliot. Hence, Lawrence had no time to think before catching up to her and whispering threateningly, “Go home, Sophia. Stop embarrassing me.”He pulled her backward, causing her to stagger. She clenched her fists, looking pitiable as Elli
Sophia did not respond to Lawrence. Instead, she looked at Elliot and asked, “Do you think I set up the whole thing?”Elliot said, “That’s impossible.”Sophia turned and looked at her father. “Elliot could instantly tell I wasn’t the girl in the footage. You, on the other hand, slapped me without even asking me a single question. “He wasn’t here for the whole night but believed I wasn’t behind it. Yet, here you are, questioning my motives as if I’m the bad guy. Why, indeed. I’m asking you to love me as a father should.”Lawrence was stunned and remained quiet for a while.‘It seems I’ve gotten too used to treating her so poorly.’Sophia took a few steps toward him and stared him down. “You sent people to pick Sharon up when the school ended, but not for me. She wore the same school uniform, yet you assumed it was me in the feed. “There are simply too many cases like this. You’ve always subconsciously protected Sharon and assumed I was the bad guy without giving me the benefit
The servants quickly called the police and closed the doors. Lawrence was furious to see Sadie acting so arrogant. He had half a mind to ask Sophia to smack Sadie. Sadie should have thought before speaking.‘When did I ever protect Sophia? If only I had room in my heart for her, even just a little, then today wouldn’t have happened.’Lawrence had lost all interest now. It did not matter what he did, as his reputation was already dragged through the mud. He was annoyed, saying, “Fine. Do what you want. Make a scene.”He sat on a chair, regretting his actions. He was even mad at himself, thinking Donald was probably right. Sophia did not want things to be this way, but Lawrence had slapped her without finding out the truth again.Sophia looked at Sadie coldly. “Didn’t you ask Sharon the whole story when you were up there?”Then, she realized something, “Oh. That’s right. She was under the influence. Why would I expect her to say anything? That’s fine. I’ll say it.”Sadie pointed at
Sadie could not help but panic. This was not what she had thought would happen. She assumed that her daughter had plotted against Sophia, but she lost her composure when she discovered that was not the case. Seeing four men lay hands on her daughter made her panic, too.She did not care that she would be embarrassed. She insisted on dragging Sophia into trouble. But she did not realize that she would end up incriminating herself completely.She pushed the men forward and asked, "And what about these guys? I heard them call you Soph. Are these your accomplices?"Sophia looked up nonchalantly and looked at her. "Why don't you ask them what's going on?"Sadie did not know how to feel. She turned her suspicious gaze toward the four men."What is this? Whose side are you on?" Sophia warned, looking at the four men.The four men answered like elementary school students responding to a teacher's question, eager to speak.The first one said, "We work for Sharon. She hired us to kill Sop