Chapter 167 Sophie Winslow, Consider Me

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Sophie Winslow, Consider Me

What Sophie Winslow could deduce, the others naturally realized as well.

After Julian Sterling said those words, Stella Sutton—who had initially been displeased by Julian stepping forward to protect Sophie and initiating physical contact—instantly softened her expression. She even shot Sophie a lightly mocking glance as a sweet smile spread to the corners of her eyes.

To put it bluntly, Julian was acting entirely out of consideration for Stella. He was stopping Evan York from irrationally exposing certain things, protecting her pristine reputation from any damage.

As for Sophie? She held absolutely no weight in the matter.

"That’s right, don’t fall into someone else’s trap. Some people are just dying for you to reveal something that benefits them," Finn Lockwood said, finally snapping out of his daze and casting a sharp glance at Sophie.

He was genuinely shocked that Adrian Hawthorne had claimed to like Sophie. He even wondered exactly when she had secretly latched onto him.

His gaze toward Sophie grew increasingly filled with distaste. "Some people have lost all basic decency. They haven’t even cleaned up their own private relationships before rushing to latch onto someone powerful."

What right did Sophie have? Her divorce wasn’t even finalized, yet she couldn’t wait to find her next target, even aiming as high as Adrian Hawthorne? Wasn’t this a blatant betrayal of Julian?

Hearing this from the doorway, Ivy Hawthorne instantly sneered. "Are you blind, or are you just missing a brain stem? There’s a cheap homewrecker standing right next to you, yet you’re playing these double standards so flawlessly. What’s the plan here? Are you hoping to simp your way to the top? Or do you just genuinely think a piece of shit smells sweet?"

Ivy was not someone to be trifled with. Every word out of her mouth was utterly abrasive.

Finn had never been thoroughly dressed down like this before, and his face instantly darkened.

Stella knew Ivy was cursing her out as well. She just assumed that since Ivy knew Sophie was in the wrong today and had made a fool of herself, she was deliberately acting unreasonable to deflect. She looked coldly at Ivy. "Miss Hawthorne, please don’t lash out at the innocent. Finn meant no malice."

Sophie had recovered herself by now. Standing firm, she pulled her hand out of Julian’s grasp as if avoiding a venomous snake.

Adrian was the first to let go. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

Julian lowered his eyes to look at Sophie’s action, his expression entirely unruffled.

Sophie turned to Stella. "Of course he means no malice to you. After all, he’s your loyal guard dog. Speaking up for him like this just shows how well you train your subordinates."

Stella seemed to be standing up for Finn, but in reality, she was just buying his loyalty.

"Sophie, you—!" Finn knitted his brows fiercely.

When it came to cursing people out, Sophie was just as ruthless, if not more so!

"Picking a fight with a woman to vent your frustration, Mr. Lockwood—it’s a rather ugly look," Adrian said, stepping in front of Sophie. His tone was enough to make anyone want to crawl into a hole.

Finn was instantly choked with indignation.

Adrian then looked over at the still-fuming Evan. "Chairman Hayes has already spoken, Mr. York. It would be best to end this and let everyone keep their dignity."

Evan’s face turned icy.

Adrian turned back to Sophie. "Shall we leave first?"

Without giving Julian another glance, Sophie nodded. "Okay."

It was as if they were strangers from now on. Worse than strangers, even—he wasn’t even worth a simple greeting.

Julian did not stop her from leaving. With the residual warmth of Sophie’s arm still lingering on his fingertips, he shoved his hands into his pockets. His pitch-black pupils watched the tall and petite figures walking away side by side.

He actually found them to be somewhat subtly... well-matched.

Julian’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze dark and unfathomable.

"It seems she’s genuinely confident that she can hook up with Mr. Hawthorne," Stella remarked breezily.

Julian said nothing.

Evan looked even more displeased. The veins at his temples throbbed with anger. To think he had actually felt a moment of softness toward Sophie earlier, only for her to be the one pulling a fast one on him.

"Is she doing this on purpose? Using such extreme methods to go against Julian?" Finn frowned. "Is she trying to prove she’s still in high demand? Or is she just deliberately provoking him?"

Stella immediately looked at Julian’s expression. It was calm and unperturbed—there was no sign of him caring at all. She let out a silent sigh of relief and smiled.

Sophie’s method was incredibly foolish. In the end, she would only wind up empty-handed on both sides. The Sterling family would sweep her out the door, and the Hawthorne family would never accept a twice-married woman discarded by the Sterlings.

It was simply naive and idiotic!

Julian, however, didn’t follow up on that topic. Instead, he looked at Evan. "You still haven’t found the biological mother of Adrian’s daughter?"

At his words, Evan’s brows twitched. "Not yet. I don’t know if Adrian has just hidden her too thoroughly."

Stella said nonchalantly, "I don’t think we need to be too pessimistic. The two families haven’t even officially talked yet, have they? Furthermore, whether Adrian is just using Sophie or actually sincere is pretty obvious. By letting Sophie become the target of Chairman Hayes’s anger and ruining the relationship between the two families, how could the Hawthorne elders ever tolerate her? Sooner or later, they’ll part on bad terms."

Of course, it would be Adrian unilaterally dumping Sophie. With a status like his, he had seen no shortage of outstanding women. Not to mention, he was acquainted with Stella as well. Compared to her, Sophie had zero shining qualities or redeeming features. Adrian was a businessman; he knew best how to pick the optimal choice.

Evan pinched the bridge of his nose, still indignant. "There’s a high probability that Adrian deliberately laid his cards on the table today. My grandmother is also a proud woman; seeing him act so resolutely, she wouldn’t want to force the issue either. But if I let him get his way so smoothly, I won’t be able to swallow this grievance."

Regardless of whether Adrian was sincere or just using Sophie, Evan wouldn’t let his plans proceed without a hitch. Even if the two families were likely to annul the engagement within the next month, he still had to find a way to disgust Adrian at least once.

As long as they found the biological mother of Adrian’s daughter, caused a scene, and forced him to give her a proper status, it would ruin all of his plans and calculations. Adrian would have a massive headache on his hands, and whatever he had with Sophie would naturally fizzle out.

"Relax, don’t let this upset you," Stella comforted.

Evan finally looked at her, recalling her recent endeavors. "How are your preparations for your PhD application coming along?"

Stella immediately curled her lips. "The materials are pretty much ready. Director Preston should be quite willing to admit me."

Finn scoffed. "You’re busy improving yourself, while Sophie’s busy gold-digging. No wonder she’s twenty-seven and hasn’t achieved a single thing."

Stella raised an eyebrow, tacitly agreeing with Finn’s statement.

That was Kingsford Medical University, after all. The dream of countless medical students, and the incubator for numerous leading experts. The prestige of a PhD from Kingsford Medical University was not something studying abroad could compare to.

Julian leaned against the edge of the table, absentmindedly flicking his lighter, and didn’t join in on the topic.

"Are you sure the copyright permissions for the traditional Chinese medicine database in Faye’s Digital Chinese Medicine software have been negotiated?" Evan asked, his mind troubled, probing a bit further.

Stella smiled even wider. "It’s settled. It’ll be a massive boost to our project. It’s just that..." She paused. "The licensing fees are incredibly steep. Though, the higher the academic value, the more unavoidable that is."

She was also annoyed by this matter. At over thirty million a year, if her project’s profits couldn’t cover the cost, she would purely be giving free money to Helios.

"It’s fine. Once you become Director Preston’s star pupil, Calyx will be your backing. Introducing the triage robots to over a dozen Calyx hospitals nationwide—that’s a massive market," Finn comforted her.

Stella’s mood finally eased. It was true. That was why she had been so persistent. If she couldn’t win over Hector Caldwell, she would win over Philip Preston.

When the time came, she would be crowned with glory, and the Sterling family would have no reason to block her from marrying in. And once Charles Sterling was officially released, he wouldn’t dare harass her too much either.

Later that day, Adrian dropped Ivy off at the television station first before driving Sophie back to Helios.

When they arrived downstairs, Sophie unbuckled her seatbelt.

Adrian looked over at her, his voice deep and steady. "Sophie, consider me."