Chapter 31 Julian Sterling’s Rare Thoughtfulness?

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Julian Sterling’s Rare Thoughtfulness?

Sophie Winslow didn’t think she was overreacting.

Her soon-to-be ex-husband was standing right there, yet his heart was entirely focused on another woman. If she didn’t stand her ground, she would have been trampled into the dirt long ago. She had no one to count on and no one to rely on. Even if she had nothing left to lose and had to go for broke, it was her only way out.

Clearly, no one expected Sophie to be this forceful.

A fleeting flash of annoyance crossed Stella Sutton’s eyes. She had assumed Sophie would obediently tuck her tail between her legs. Hadn’t she always been a submissive pushover who never fought for anything? If the security footage was actually released, wouldn’t she be maliciously painted by Sophie as the one framing her?

"Sophie, you should learn to forgive and forget. Stella was willing to let you off the hook just now, so why are you still making a fuss?" Finn Lockwood felt that Stella had been more than accommodating to Sophie. Yet, the woman remained completely ungrateful.

Sophie looked at Finn, who was charging into battle solely for Stella. She didn’t even know if he was acting this way because Stella was the woman Julian Sterling held dearest to his heart, or if Stella was simply born lucky—destined to be loved and protected by everyone. It only made Sophie’s own isolation all the more glaring.

Her nose stung with unshed tears. She was only twenty-six, after all. Facing such unfair, concentrated hostility, she couldn’t remain entirely unaffected.

"I stand by what I said. Pull the security footage," Sophie repeated, enunciating every word.

Only then did Stella’s expression shift. If the footage was exposed, what would people think of her?

She instinctively cast her gaze toward Julian, who had yet to express his stance. The man stood just two steps away from Sophie. From Stella’s angle, it almost looked as if Julian was standing on a united front with his wife. Stella pursed her lips and frowned.

"Julian," she called out, wanting to draw the man back to her side. She knew full well that he was the only one who could resolve this situation.

Sophie also looked coldly at Julian.

Julian’s clear, piercing gaze rested on Sophie. A few seconds later, he spoke in a profoundly indifferent tone. "That’s enough."

That short, commanding sentence brought the matter to an abrupt and indisputable end.

Sophie’s chest tightened violently, a dull ache spreading outward. She met his eyes in sheer disbelief.

Julian lowered his gaze. "The resort has its own rules, and no one is allowed to break them. If everyone demanded to pull the security footage, what would become of our regulations?"

His voice remained perfectly steady, but to Sophie’s ears, it felt like an ice pick driving straight into her stomach. She understood the underlying meaning perfectly. This was a blatant defense of Stella.

Perhaps Julian had already guessed that she hadn’t pushed Stella. That was why he refused to let the truth come to light—he didn’t want anyone looking at Stella through a tainted lens. Therefore, he chose to sacrifice Sophie, allowing everyone present to continue believing she was capable of such a vicious act.

After all, no one had actually seen the truth. As long as Julian didn’t give the nod, the footage would never see the light of day. Consequently, everyone would gladly take Stella’s side, blindly believing her words and joining together to condemn Sophie. And since Julian was the owner of the resort, naturally, no one would question his decision.

Stella’s expression immediately softened. A confident smile returned to her lips as she walked elegantly to Julian’s side. She reached out to hook her arm through his, then turned back to Sophie. "When I say I’m letting it go, I mean it. We’re both women; we should help each other. As long as no fundamental boundaries are crossed, nothing else matters. You don’t need to feel guilty."

Sophie stared at the man and woman standing shoulder-to-shoulder in front of her, displaying an intimate, united front against her. She thought mockingly, "Who would ever imagine that the man currently being held by another woman is my husband?"

"Boundaries? Do you even have any?" Destroying another person’s family was her so-called boundary?

Stella’s eyes darkened.

Julian gave Sophie an impassive look before speaking up. "Escort Miss Winslow back to her room."

A staff member quickly stepped forward, gesturing politely. "Right this way, please."

Stella was extremely pleased with Julian’s attitude and his choice of address for Sophie. *Miss Winslow*—how distant and alienated! It was music to her ears. Tightening her grip on his arm, she curled her lips into a smile at Sophie. "Julian, you shouldn’t be so cold and harsh toward a lady. You’ll break her heart."

Finn chuckled. "Do you think everyone gets treated like you? Not just anyone gets to be an exception for Julian."

Sophie understood Stella’s underlying meaning, just as she understood Finn’s thinly veiled sarcasm. She also understood that Julian was effectively evicting her. He was likely terrified that she would publicly expose Stella’s true status.

He was worrying over nothing. Until the divorce papers were finalized, she wasn’t going to act impulsively out of spite.

Without another word, Sophie turned on her heel and walked out. The gazes burning into her back were filled with ridicule. They probably all saw her as a clown who had suffered a crushing, humiliating defeat.

Sophie didn’t rush back to her room. Instead, she wandered aimlessly around the resort’s massive artificial lake. The lingering ache in her lower back refused to fade, serving as a constant reminder of what had just transpired.

The temperature up in the mountains was a good seven or eight degrees Celsius colder than indoors. The distant peaks were blanketed in white, and the bleak moonlight spilled down, utterly failing to illuminate the path ahead.

Sophie didn’t feel overwhelmingly sad, but an immense sense of loneliness shrouded her. A person’s sense of loss and emotional pain wasn’t born from thin air; it came from contrast. It turned out that some people could do absolutely nothing and still be handed all the candy in the world.

Sophie sniffled her freezing, reddened nose and wiped the dry corners of her eyes. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want the kind of candy that she had to wait for someone else to give—candy that could be snatched back at any moment. She would earn her own sweets. Sooner or later, she absolutely would.

She walked around the lake for over half an hour until her turbulent thoughts finally settled, then headed back to the hotel.

Just as she reached the park below the hotel, Sophie spotted a tall, slender silhouette standing in the moonlight.

She had always known that Julian was exceptionally good-looking in every conceivable way. At this moment, he wore a simple white dress shirt. His broad shoulders and subtle, lean muscles were striking. Thanks to a lifetime of ingrained habits, his posture was both relaxed and perfectly upright. With his head slightly bowed, his jawline was sharp and impeccably defined. Simply standing there, he looked like a living painting. Anyone who didn’t know better would assume he was a famous movie star.

Julian wasn’t wearing his suit jacket; it was casually draped over his forearm. He had lit a cigarette, the cherry glowing intermittently in the dark. He radiated a proud, aloof aura that kept people thousands of miles away.

Hearing her approach, he turned his head.

"Where did you go this late?" His tone was perfectly calm, bearing not a single trace of the explosive tension from just a short while ago.

Sophie withdrew her gaze. "I went to jump into the lake. Too bad it was frozen over, so I couldn’t."

The untimely joke was incredibly sharp and entirely dripping with sarcasm.

Julian clearly caught the bite in her words. He snubbed out the cigarette between his fingertips, turned, and walked over to her. Taking in her frost-reddened face, he completely ignored her morbid quip. Instead, he draped the jacket from his arm over her shoulders, his tone indifferent. "It’s late and it’s cold. The mountains aren’t like the city."

Caught off guard, Sophie found herself enveloped in the crisp, woody scent lingering on his coat. Faced with this sudden display of thoughtfulness, she felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of cognitive dissonance.

She looked up at him. "Is this an apology?" Was this for what happened at Finn’s birthday party?

Julian lowered his eyes, answering her question with one of his own. "For the family banquet the day after tomorrow, what time do you finish work? I’ll come pick you up."

Sophie paused, instantly realizing the truth. Worrying about her coming back late, showing concern by draping his jacket over her—all of this was just for the Sterling Family banquet? He didn’t think for a single second that playing favorites with Stella at the birthday party was wrong.

A bitter twitch pulled at the corner of Sophie’s mouth. A deep, bone-chilling cold swept through her limbs, making her tremble faintly. She didn’t act out or throw away the jacket he was using as a bargaining chip. Instead, she looked at him quietly. "Is it really appropriate for me to go back?"

After all, they were getting a divorce. Did the Sterling Family banquet even have anything to do with her anymore? Was he still treating her as the Sterling Family’s daughter-in-law? Besides, she had already resigned from her former hospital, yet Julian remained completely oblivious. To be a husband to this extent truly showed how "devoted" he was.

Julian helped her adjust the collar of the coat. "If you don’t go back, the old madam will assume Stella is the reason why. It will inevitably cause some trouble."