Chapter 229 Intimate Photos Exposed

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Intimate Photos Exposed

This possibility was enough to make Sophie Winslow restless.

Lydia was still so young. If she found out now that her father was having an extramarital affair, it would severely damage her fragile little worldview. Sophie didn’t want to destroy Lydia’s beautiful innocence.

Ivy Hawthorne lowered her voice. "With these photos leaked to the media at this crucial juncture, how are you supposed to draw a line between yourself and Julian Sterling? Before, your marriage was only known to a small circle in this social echelon. Now, everyone knows he’s married."

Sophie ran her fingers through her hair, staring at the news article on the screen in frustration. Any news related to Julian Sterling naturally garnered an unusually high level of attention. She scrolled down and saw the top comments.

-[Mr. Sterling is actually married? Married for years, and they still look so loving and protective in this photo. So gentle!]

-[Even the kiss has no raw, animalistic lust; you can tell he truly cherishes his wife.]

-[It’s just a pity they didn’t catch Mrs. Sterling’s face. This photo is wallpaper material.]

-[Then who was the woman previously rumored to be with Mr. Sterling? Am I remembering wrong? She seemed to constantly hint that she was the official partner...]

Sophie stared at the comment mentioning Stella Sutton. Stella had already faced a certain amount of skepticism within their circle about being the "other woman." Now, this secret had been laid bare to the public.

Sophie didn’t care what Stella would have to face. She had her own headaches right now, like the public release of this photo. Julian’s true intention at the time was to mislead the media so they wouldn’t catch wind of Tristan Thorne, thereby saving the Sterling Family’s reputation.

"I even stalked Stella Sutton’s social media account," Ivy said, taking some satisfaction in the situation. "Her fans are actually asking about it—asking if she’s the one in the photo, asking what her relationship with Julian Sterling really is. She’s playing dead right now. I bet she’s stressed out of her mind."

People who cared the most about public opinion were often the most anxious at times like this. One wrong move, and their public image would completely collapse. Stella had built her persona so high that the backlash would be equally immense. Working in this industry, Ivy was well-versed in the rules of the circle.

Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me talk to Julian first."

She needed to get him to take down this news. Checking the time, Sophie realized she had only unpacked a portion of the luggage she had moved back last night. She stood up immediately, grabbed her car keys, and headed straight to the matrimonial home.

Today was the weekend. Julian generally returned to the house on weekends; it was his habit. She just needed to head over and wait.

Arriving at the gate, Sophie noticed the guard was absent, so she got out of the car to punch in the code herself.

BEEP BEEP—

Incorrect passcode.

Sophie froze slightly and tried again. Still incorrect.

Julian had changed the passcode to the house... right after she moved out. If he hadn’t planned this all along, how could he have thought of such a trivial detail amidst his busy schedule? It was as if he couldn’t wait for her to leave, terrified she might return.

Sophie quietly stared at the keypad. She couldn’t muster any particular emotion. She had already witnessed Julian’s heartlessness; one more instance like this didn’t mean much.

Sophie didn’t force it. Nor did she call Ms. Coleman to open the door. She turned around, got back into the car, and abandoned the idea of entering the place she had lived in for seven years—a place that was never truly her home.

Pulling out her phone, she called Julian directly. It rang for a long time. Sophie waited patiently.

He picked up, but he didn’t speak. It was so quiet it felt like the call hadn’t connected at all.

Sophie ignored his silence and spoke anyway. "Can we talk?

"Have you seen the news? Those intimate photos showing our ’affection’—they are highly inappropriate for us right now. I think you’d agree. Please arrange to have them taken down. It just takes one word from you..."

Before she could finish.

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

He had hung up. He hadn’t said a single word from start to finish.

Sophie suddenly felt a heavy tightness in her chest. The sense of powerlessness bred a kind of anger—the anger of being utterly disrespected. When she called back, it wouldn’t connect. She suddenly felt the urge to curse him out.

Instead, she decided to send Hector Caldwell a quick reminder to strictly keep Lydia off her phone today.

Meanwhile, in the tearoom.

A server bringing desserts accidentally bumped Julian’s elbow. His thumb inadvertently grazed the hang-up button. His expression remained unruffled as he simply set the phone down on the table, with no intention of calling back.

The server quickly apologized. "I’m so sorry, Mr. Sterling. I was careless..."

"It’s fine," Julian said, taking a shallow sip from his cup.

Sitting nearby, Finn Lockwood looked heavily preoccupied and was in a foul mood. He had just finished his confinement. His grandfather was the most impartial patriarch, clear in his rewards and punishments, and ruthless even toward his own biological grandson.

Finn was truly overwhelmed right now. He had been demoted and "exiled" to a branch company. If he didn’t want to be swallowed whole by the other branches of the Lockwood Family, he needed to find a way back. That alone was enough to make his head pound. The only person capable of helping him strategize was Julian.

He glanced at Julian’s phone. "Sophie? She wants the news taken down? How rare."

He was sitting close enough to hear a few keywords. Logically, Sophie should have been thrilled by this public exposure.

"Is she afraid of someone misunderstanding?" Finn considered a second possibility. "Like Mr. Hawthorne? After all, it’s blowing up so much domestically, Mr. Hawthorne might catch wind of it abroad."

He didn’t know the exact story behind that photo. Julian hadn’t said, and Evan York never brought it up either. But the fact that such a photo had leaked was simply unbelievable. As far as he knew, Julian had never been this intimate with Sophie; they had never acted like a real married couple.

Julian’s expression remained indifferent, offering no explanation.

Finn glanced at Stella Sutton sitting across from them. "Did Sophie set a trap? Had someone take the photo on purpose? It must make Stella uncomfortable too."

He knew he had been punished recently because of Stella’s project, but there was nothing he could do about it. Investment risks were inherently relative. His real mistake was hiding the matter from his grandfather, so he was also at fault. He couldn’t blame Stella entirely.

Stella had actually seen the news early on. She had disabled the comments on her social media, but the impact was still significant. She was fuming inside.

In truth, she had tried to subtly probe Evan York about what happened the night of the banquet since Evan had gone upstairs with Julian. She hadn’t seen the specific details herself. Yet Evan had only said, "Nothing happened. It was a misunderstanding." Her intuition told her that Evan wasn’t being completely honest with her.

Keeping her frustrations in check, she took a silent, deep breath and looked at Julian. "It’s fine, I’m not that petty." Probing further, she added, "It must be an issue with the camera angle, or a misunderstanding. You’ve never had this kind of ’scandal’ before, Julian. Will this negatively affect you? Should you consider having it taken down?"

Of course, she was incredibly annoyed by it. To this day, she couldn’t figure out how Tristan Thorne had completely vanished from the incident. It was as if he had never been involved at all! Not a single picture of him was taken!

Instead, they had photographed Julian and Sophie? Ridiculous!