Chapter 203 Sophie Winslow, You’re Such a Sore Loser

Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Sophie Winslow, You’re Such a Sore Loser

Almost the exact moment Sophie Winslow finished speaking, the door swung open. The man’s tall, imposing stature was strikingly conspicuous even in her peripheral vision.

Sophie turned around, her gaze turning cold, and collided forcefully with Julian Sterling’s bottomless dark eyes.

Beside him stood Stella Sutton, wearing an elegant smile. Behind them was Finn Lockwood, chatting with a middle-aged man in a white lab coat. The group exuded a harmonious aura, as if they had just reached a mutual consensus. Their conversation and laughter rang exceptionally clear.

Julian paused his long strides and cast a sideways glance at Sophie.

Upon seeing Sophie, Mercywell’s executive, Director Linton, feigned a look of regret. "Miss Winslow, I’m so sorry. Something urgent came up on my end. Have you been waiting long?"

At this point, his words were clearly insincere.

Sophie looked over. "Are you available to talk now?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Director Linton’s face predictably flashed with embarrassment. "My apologies, but regarding the introduction of your company’s surgical robots... we won’t be considering it for now. Our hospital has decided to bring in Miss Sutton’s smart medical equipment instead."

Sophie was hardly surprised. She simply cast a cold glance at Julian.

Her meeting with Director Linton had been scheduled to finalize a partnership that was practically set in stone. Yet, she had been left hanging out to dry, only to be outright rejected for any further negotiations. Aside from Julian’s interference, she couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Stella sensed Sophie’s mood. After all, not just anyone could remain calm after being inexplicably sidelined for over an hour. She smiled. "Director Linton and I have already reached a mutual agreement for collaboration. He probably isn’t considering any other smart medical equipment."

Helios’s prospective partner had been poached and handed over to Stella. That was the definitive answer Sophie received.

Mercywell had been at the very top of Helios’s list of potential partners. Securing them would have greatly facilitated the popularization and promotion of their smart devices, directly impacting their final sales volume. This absolutely crucial link had been forcefully ripped away by Julian and grafted onto Stella, just to pave the way for her!

If it had been fair competition, she wouldn’t have said a word. But Julian had blatantly used his connections and power to sever the verbal agreement Helios had recently secured with Mercywell, deliberately sabotaging this final confirmation meeting! This was nothing short of robbery!

"Since you had already decided to cut Helios out, why didn’t you inform me earlier?" Sophie’s face grew unusually cold. Canceling the partnership would have only taken a single sentence, yet they had left her sitting here on the cold bench.

Director Linton, disliking Sophie’s aggressive tone, was about to speak up when Julian slowly and deliberately interjected. "If you’re so hung up on this client partnership, I can introduce Helios to other medical institutions."

His breezy tone sounded exactly like a condescending handout after an unreasonable slight, as if warning her not to be so petty and ungrateful.

Sophie stared at his face as if looking at a stranger, almost laughing out of sheer anger. "It seems Mr. Sterling knows exactly what he’s doing."

Who didn’t know the multitude of benefits that came with partnering with Mercywell? He had snatched away the absolute powerhouse that would benefit Stella, only to compensate her with some measly scraps?

Julian didn’t mind Sophie’s biting sarcasm. Stepping up to her, he casually slipped a business card into the inner compartment of her bag. "If you need to, you can contact them."

It felt like charity. He was lightly brushing her off, expecting her to drop the matter and let it go.

Stella was visibly in high spirits. An unknown institution was being used to dismiss Sophie and Helios, while she herself had just signed a contract with Mercywell. Her smart medical equipment would soon be put into use.

She cast a sideways glance at Sophie. "I know you desperately needed to negotiate this partnership with Director Linton to get a promotion and secure your footing at Helios. But these are matters for the upper management. You just need to admit that you lack the capability to secure the deal."

Sophie’s eyes gradually chilled. She found it utterly ridiculous. Mercywell had been the one to agree to the partnership, and Stella was the one who forcefully interjected and stole it away. Yet somehow, Sophie was the one being accused of forcing a sale?

Sophie’s lips curled into a slight sneer. "If Julian hadn’t pulled strings and elevated your status, what skills do you have to lecture me about capability? You speak so proudly about relying on a man—do you need me to present you with a pennant for it?"

Stella’s face frosted over, stung by Sophie’s words.

"Sophie, there’s really no need to take your anger out on me. It just makes you look like a sore loser." As she spoke, she gently raised her hand and looped it through Julian’s arm, her tone feigning helplessness.

Sophie didn’t want to get into a verbal spat with her. Mercywell had clearly made its choice. Wasting her breath was pointless. However, she suspected they had deliberately kept her in the dark and left her waiting just to curry favor with Stella and her group.

She turned to leave, but her phone rang at that exact moment.

Upon answering, the manager in charge of market deployment told her, "The several advertising slots we were supposed to sign for today... they all hit a snag."

Sophie immediately snapped her gaze toward Julian behind her. The man met her eyes with a cold, indifferent stare.

Finn likely knew the inside story. Catching Sophie’s expression, he guessed what had happened. Crossing his arms, he said, "Is this about the advertising slots? How unfortunate. Stella’s smart medical equipment needs to be heavily promoted recently. Julian is very invested in it and willing to fund the deployment. Did we clash with your plans?"

With a smile, Finn offered Sophie a tip. "Why don’t you have a nice chat with Stella? If you swallow your pride and say a few soft words, who knows? Stella might be willing to spare one or two slots so you can report back to Helios and claim some credit."

After all, Sophie couldn’t compare to Stella. As a mere ordinary researcher, she didn’t have much of a future.

Stella gave Finn a playful, reproachful look, then slightly raised her chin to smile at Sophie, waiting for her "soft words." As for what those soft words entailed... it was nothing more than begging in submission.

Sophie knew all too well that they were intentionally trying to trample her dignity underfoot. It was entirely deliberate.

And Julian... His demeanor was aloof, his cold, stern features betraying no emotion. He made no move to intervene.

Sophie gave a light scoff. "I’m afraid livestock wouldn’t understand human speech." Having delivered her parting shot, she turned and left without looking back.

Beg? Her projects never required begging anyone.

Finn was somewhat infuriated. With that mouth of hers, Sophie refused to lose even once! How could there be a woman like this?

Stella was equally disdainful of Sophie’s attitude. Regardless, she was going to be very busy soon. She was about to step into the limelight, so it was inevitable that Sophie would become increasingly aggressive out of sheer frustration.

She smiled at Julian. "Julian, thank you for today. Shall we grab a meal together?"

Finn clicked his tongue. "A table for two?"

Julian turned toward the elevator. "Sure."

***

As soon as Sophie returned to Helios, Peter Preston had already caught wind of the situation.

He frowned. "Did we offend Julian Sterling somehow? Our most important potential partner was snatched away. This feels far too targeted."

Sophie set her bag down. "Probably. A while ago, I revealed that Stella Sutton was his brother’s wife, which was bound to stir up rumors. He’s likely been waiting for this exact moment to settle the score with me."

Since she was currently working at Helios, if he blatantly targeted her, the company would easily notice. That would make it highly likely for Helios to abandon her, or at least carefully reconsider whether to keep employing her.

But they probably didn’t know that she wasn’t just an ordinary researcher. She was the project lead.

Peter noticed the business card that had slipped out of Sophie’s bag. "This medical institution... it’s foreign-funded. It’s been operating domestically for less than two years and isn’t very well-known, but rumor has it they’re very willing to invest in equipment."

Sophie finally glanced at it. "Julian gave it to me."

"A slap in the face followed by a piece of candy?" Peter frowned. "He gives Stella top-tier resources, but brushes you off with some unknown institution?"