Chapter 197 Face-Slapping?

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Face-Slapping?

At formal occasions, seating arrangements could be a trivial matter or a major issue, but they were always a symbol of status and identity. Finn Lockwood felt that Sophie Winslow certainly didn’t have the qualifications to sit in such a prime spot. After all, they knew Sophie well. How could a complete unknown even introduce herself?

Naturally, Sophie could feel Finn’s unconcealed doubt and disdain. He clearly believed she didn’t deserve this seat.

"As for Stella," Finn said, shooting a glance at Sophie before turning back to Peter Preston. "Stella was also a student at Kingsford University, and she can now be considered an honorary alumna. Besides, Stella is here today as Julian’s date. It only makes sense for them to sit together. I think Sophie’s name card must have been misplaced."

He couldn’t think of any other possibility besides a simple mix-up. Finn’s words helped ease the slight embarrassment on Stella Sutton’s face. Earlier, when Peter insisted on making a fuss over the seating, she had felt awkward, but now she also thought it might just be a genuine misunderstanding.

Evan York, on the other hand, remained silent. He didn’t care about such trivial matters. He was only curious about one thing: if Sophie cared so much about her seat, she was fundamentally caring about Julian Sterling. But if that was the case, how much sincerity could she possibly have for Adrian Hawthorne?

"Mr. Preston, it’s about to begin. Let’s not obsess over this. Julian doesn’t object to me sitting here, so why should you?" Stella smiled. She was now practically certain it was just a mistake. After all, she was here as Julian’s date. The university would naturally arrange for them to sit together. Perhaps Sophie had even tampered with the name cards before she arrived.

Sophie no longer felt there was anything worth getting angry about. When she spoke, they would cover their ears; when she acted, they would cover their eyes. They harbored nothing but immense prejudice against her. However, Stella had frequently appeared in the public eye over the years. The few students who had just come over to greet Stella cast baffling glances at Sophie.

Someone even muttered, "Who is she? Why is she fighting with our senior for a seat?"

"Never heard of her, but that fake fall she did just now was pretty deliberate. I heard Mr. Sterling is our senior’s boyfriend..."

"Ah, I get it now... Tsk."

The voices were kept low, mingling with the noisy environment, yet Sophie caught them clearly. They were sharp needles aimed directly at her.

Peter was genuinely exasperated by their self-righteous attitudes. Every single one of them was so narrow-minded! They were blindly ignorant fools, yet they stubbornly believed Sophie wasn’t worthy to sit at the table. He curled his lips. "It’s a pity there are still so many things you people don’t know..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a Kingsford University staff member hurried over.

"Hello," Stella said with a polite smile. "There was a mix-up with this seat, right?" She wanted to confirm if Sophie had secretly swapped the name cards.

The staff member had actually noticed Sophie’s name card tossed to the back the moment he approached. He quickly walked over, picked it up, and placed it right back next to Julian Sterling. In one smooth motion, he moved Stella’s card to the row behind.

Oblivious to Stella’s instantly chilling expression, he turned to Sophie with profound apologies. "Mrs. Sterling, I am so truly sorry. Someone clumsy must have mixed up the seating. You are seated in the front row, right next to Professor Philip Preston. The university specifically instructed me that your designated seat must not be mistaken."

The staff member’s unexpectedly respectful apology to Sophie instantly caused everyone’s expressions to change.

Julian, who had been sitting quietly and staying out of the verbal dispute, slightly raised his gaze. With his legs elegantly crossed, his deep, boundless eyes locked onto Sophie. After a brief moment of unknown contemplation, he spoke faintly, "Let’s take our seats then."

Stella tightened her grip, shooting Sophie a look of pure mockery. Mrs. Sterling? Sophie was indeed deeply manipulative! She usually acted so aloof and above it all, yet now she had directly revealed her status to the university authorities, using the title of Mrs. Sterling to show off and throw her weight around!

Finn frowned as well, never expecting things to turn out this way.

Evan was the first to react. He took his seat directly and told them, "Let’s just follow the university’s arrangement."

It was glaringly obvious that the university had made these arrangements independently. If they kept harping on it, it went without saying who would end up looking more humiliated. Besides, Stella’s situation wasn’t exactly glorious to begin with.

Peter simply pulled Sophie down into her chair. "Take a seat. You’re sitting next to my dad, not anyone else."

He wanted to remind everyone that Sophie wasn’t riding on Julian’s coattails. The key takeaway was what the staff member had just mentioned—the university specifically instructed her to sit next to his father because they would be working together in the future!

Once seated, Sophie didn’t even spare a glance at the man beside her. Julian slowly withdrew his gaze, and both of them looked straight ahead. The married couple showed no obvious signs of intimacy.

Stella pursed her lips and cast a final sidelong glance at Sophie before taking her seat in the row behind.

"You heard him," Finn muttered. "Sophie only got this special treatment by hiding behind her title as Mrs. Sterling. Without pulling cheap tricks like that, she could never snatch things that don’t belong to her."

Stella hummed in agreement, her expression gradually returning to normal. "It’s just a seat. I don’t care."

Only an incompetent woman like Sophie would have to rely on exposing her identity as Mrs. Sterling to act as a parasite and mere accessory just to scrape together some respect and glory. That prestige never belonged to Sophie; it was solely the glory brought by the label of being Mrs. Sterling.

Now that she was seated, the back of Sophie’s heels felt much better. High heels were beautiful torture devices—every time she wore them, she ended up bleeding, but out of habit, she always wore them for formal occasions.

She bent down to touch the blistered skin. When she straightened back up, a Band-Aid had miraculously appeared by her hand. Since she had just been looking under the table, she hadn’t noticed who placed it there. Sophie glanced around before her eyes finally landed on Julian.

A staff member was speaking to him, and he gave a brief nod. Sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Sophie immediately averted her eyes and tore open the Band-Aid wrapper. "Nothing."

She applied the bandage, instantly feeling a wave of relief.

Soon after, many students began arriving at the venue and gathered around to chat.

"I heard from my dad that our medical school will publicly announce a specially appointed professor next semester. They have a massive background, and my dad said they’re incredibly young."

Stella heard the chatter as well. She couldn’t help but feel surprised. No matter how young a professor was, there had to be a limit, right? Logically, they would be around forty? For a Kingsford University professor, that was indeed considered young. But to be specially appointed, it had to be a talent with truly outstanding achievements. That put them in the same tier as Philip Preston, so she didn’t need to concern herself too much with it.

Evan looked back over his shoulder. "A specially appointed professor... They must be an absolute titan in the medical field. After all, it’s exceedingly rare for Kingsford University to make exceptional appointments like this."

"How come no information about this person has leaked?" Finn asked, equally surprised. Logically, a special honor of this magnitude should have had a massive promotional buildup well in advance. "If this specially appointed professor gets super popular, Stella, should you face any hiccups with Dean Philip Preston, you can always settle for this new professor as a backup plan. You’d still reap the benefits."

"There won’t be any hiccups," Stella replied confidently.

However, she knew full well that this specially appointed professor was no ordinary figure. If, by some unforeseen accident, she wasn’t accepted by Philip, seeking out this new professor would still be a highly lucrative fallback.