Chapter 246: You Had a Daughter, Right?

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: You Had a Daughter, Right?

Sophie Winslow’s temples throbbed violently for no apparent reason.

She turned around, only to meet Julian Sterling’s calm, dark eyes. He had directed the topic right at her. Could this be considered a veiled mockery of the fact that she had a child? Or was he just protecting Stella Sutton? Was he returning the barb because Adrian Hawthorne had refused to give Stella any face?

She couldn’t help but look over. For the first time since walking through the door, her eyes met Julian’s.

She honestly couldn’t find a single trace of resentment over her betrayal in his demeanor. If Adrian hadn’t exposed the true intention behind Stella’s words, Julian probably wouldn’t have bothered to chime in.

Adrian subtly narrowed his eyes.

"Instead of asking me," Sophie replied in a casual tone, "Stella has a brother who’s much younger than her. She has more experience than anyone else here, so there’s no need for her to ask around for advice."

Stella’s expression shifted slightly. Her perpetually perfect smile froze for a second before she shot Sophie a cold glare. Stella wondered what Sophie meant by that.

Sophie didn’t look at their faces again. The parents were still chatting; the meeting hadn’t officially started yet.

When her phone rang, Sophie quietly slipped out of the classroom and stepped into the hallway to answer it. It was Philip Preston.

"Philip, what’s wrong?" Sophie asked, lowering her voice.

Philip was likely running an experiment. "I sent you a student’s profile," he said. "She wants to study under you. Take a look and see if she seems like a good fit. If not, we’ll figure out another arrangement on our end."

Sophie was slightly surprised. She had just taken up the position and had yet to truly demonstrate her abilities. Someone already wanted to be her student?

"Sure."

"Is it too much trouble?"

"Not at all. I should be prepared for this now that I’m a professor." Although she was initially told there were no strict requirements for teaching hours or mentoring students, it was still a matter of personal choice.

Philip chuckled. "Alright. She’s a good student, so just get to know her profile a bit."

After hanging up, Sophie logged into her email and took a quick look. The attached profile belonged to a young woman who looked slightly shy on camera, with a very sweet and well-behaved appearance. She was a direct-track Ph.D. student at Kingsford University. Her name was Chloe York.

Sophie took another close look at the name. Once she had a decent grasp of the student’s background, she turned to head back into the classroom, only to bump into Julian, who was walking toward her while on a call.

He had left his suit jacket inside. His white dress shirt outlined his broad, straight shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the silver watch on his wrist caught the light, making him exude a cold, unapproachable aura. He noticed her as well. After saying a few more words to the person on the other end, he hung up.

The hallway wasn’t particularly spacious. Julian’s clear, sharp gaze drifted downward, inadvertently landing on the phone in Sophie’s hand. It seemed as though everything had started with a phone. His gaze lingered for a couple of seconds when he saw the stickers on the back of her phone case. Many young women nowadays liked to decorate their things with cute stickers, but Sophie had never been the type to care about such trivial details.

His eyes shifted back to her face. "Is it a girl?"

Sophie’s steps faltered abruptly. Her heart plummeted at his words. Though she revealed nothing on her face, a tempest raged within her. She had always known that Julian was highly intelligent and hard to fool, but facing his sharp intuition head-on still left her palpitating. He had actually guessed it right away. Unconsciously gripping her phone, she slipped it back into her pocket.

Julian paid no mind to her subtle movements. His tone was exceedingly cold. "You’ve already had a child together. Why didn’t you rekindle things with the biological father?"

Emotions swirled in the depths of Sophie’s eyes. Meeting his gaze, she suddenly replied, "He died. It was a severe illness."

A heartless, ruthless man was no different from a dead one anyway.

Julian’s expression remained unchanged, though he stared at her intently. It was unclear whether he believed her or not. Ultimately, he merely let out a soft scoff, turned around, and walked back into the classroom.

Sophie waited a full minute before following him inside. By unspoken agreement, neither of them said another word to each other.

Adrian cast a sideways glance at her. "What happened?" he asked in a low voice.

"Nothing," Sophie replied with a faint smile.

Right then, the teacher spoke up from the front of the room. "Parents, to make future communication easier, please join our class WhatsApp group. I’ll post any important notices there."

Sophie felt a rush of excitement. In the past, she had been extremely careful not to leave any clues, avoiding any activities exclusively meant for parents.

Adrian tilted his head to look at her, a silent smile playing on his lips. "I’m already in. Let me invite you."

Sophie had completely let go of her reservations by now. She was going to register Lydia under her own household soon anyway, so there was no need to hold back anymore. As soon as she joined the group, Sophie saw that Adrian had already changed his nickname to "Lydia’s Dad". Her heart skipped a beat.

Adrian’s voice drifted to her ear. "Lydia really wants a mother, Sophie. If you change your name to ’Lydia’s Mom,’ she’ll be thrilled."

A warm feeling spread across Sophie’s chest. Meeting Adrian’s gaze, she understood that he was deliberately giving her an out, an excuse to do it without seeming too abrupt.

Someone nearby overheard Adrian’s words. Stella couldn’t help but turn her head, looking somewhat astounded. With that kind of attitude, was Adrian really going to let Sophie become his child’s stepmother? She instinctively glanced at Julian, but he wasn’t paying any attention to Sophie’s side of the room. Only then did a satisfied smile touch Stella’s lips.

Sophie updated her group nickname. Almost the very second she finished, a new notification popped up at the bottom of the screen: "S has joined the group." She recognized the account immediately—it was Julian’s WhatsApp.

The next moment, Stella’s soft voice drifted over as she spoke to Julian. "My parents are older and don’t really understand these things. Even though Seth is young, he still has his own pride. He wants to look good in front of the other kids and hopes to have a handsome, impressive dad to show off. Using ’Sister’ might be a bit awkward. Why don’t we both use ’Mom’ and ’Dad’ for our nicknames, too?"

Her request was downright bizarre. Even Adrian glanced over, his brow furrowing slightly.

Sophie didn’t react until Julian’s indifferent voice replied, "Whatever you want."

Stella’s smile grew even sweeter, radiating a sense of happiness that was impossible to ignore. A hint of mockery flickered in Sophie’s eyes. Julian truly spoiled Stella without any boundaries. Still, Sophie kept her thoughts to herself; it had absolutely nothing to do with her.

The parent-teacher meeting proceeded exactly as Sophie had expected. About an hour and a half later, the meeting was suddenly interrupted.

A teacher rushed into the room in a panic. "This is bad! We don’t know what the kids ate, but they’ve all started throwing up and running a fever!"

Sophie shot to her feet. The parents swarmed out of the classroom in a chaotic rush. Julian and Stella were equally fast on their feet.

As Julian entered the children’s room, he spotted Lydia sitting near the door. The little girl was curled up in a tiny ball on her chair. She was behaving so well, neither crying nor throwing a tantrum. Her cheeks were flushed from the fever, and her eyes were brimming with tears, likely from throwing up just moments before.

For some inexplicable reason, Julian’s footsteps slowed. As he stared intently at Lydia, a chill crept into his limbs. An unnameable emotion welled up inside him, tugging at his heartstrings over and over again.

"Julian! Seth isn’t doing well, and he’s too heavy for me to carry!" Stella cried out.

The very next second, Adrian stepped up. "Excuse me, Mr. Sterling," he said in a calm, steady tone. "My daughter needs to go to the hospital."

Julian turned around. Adrian gave him a brief glance before swiftly stepping forward to scoop Lydia into his arms. Sophie didn’t spare Julian a single extra glance.

An entire class of children falling ill all at once was no trivial matter. The school immediately dispatched their own vans, which were equipped with medical instruments and emergency medication.

As Julian carried Seth outside, a teacher yelled from one of the vans, "There are two seats left in this one!"

Burning with anxiety over Lydia’s illness, Sophie dragged Adrian toward the van. Lydia had a fragile constitution; even the slightest ailment could easily escalate into something severe. She had to get the little girl to a doctor immediately.

However, just as Sophie reached the doors, a dark figure beat her to it. Stella darted ahead and scrambled into the van. A second later, Julian climbed in right behind her, still carrying Seth in his arms. He didn’t even turn his head as he brushed past Sophie and Adrian.

The doors slid shut, and the van sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

Sophie stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned.