Chapter 38 My Husband Died and Was Still Forced Into a Ghost Marriage

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: My Husband Died and Was Still Forced Into a Ghost Marriage

Sophie Winslow’s voice was quite calm. She suddenly called out, "Hubby."

Everyone at the large table stopped their chopsticks and looked over. Even Stella Sutton’s expression changed slightly.

Only Julian Sterling remained unmoved, his dark, placid eyes fixed on Sophie, offering no response.

Evan York also looked at Sophie in surprise.

However, Sophie smiled at the group again, pausing dramatically before continuing.

"My husband...

"To be honest with you all.

"I’m a widow, and my husband was even posthumously married off to someone."

The spacious private room fell silent for several seconds before someone finally reacted, asking, "Huh? Really?"

Sophie nodded and said in feigned distress, "His grave was dug up. But we weren’t divorced when he kicked the bucket. Tell me, does that count as cheating?"

Everyone had almost believed her. But when Sophie delivered this dark joke, there was another few seconds of silence before the room suddenly erupted into roaring laughter. Everyone was in stitches.

Instantly realizing that Sophie was just joking, they eagerly played along. "It counts! How could it not! He has no morals left. What kind of dirty old ghost insists on digging up a married man’s bones? Are they that desperate?"

"Hahahaha, desperate to get married even as a ghost? Maybe there’s a shortage of men down there."

Stella’s face darkened. Her lips pressed into a tight line as she glared at Sophie sitting opposite her. How could she not know? Sophie was actually cursing both her and Julian.

Julian rested his arm on the table, his slender fingers tapping the surface at a leisurely pace. His long eyelashes fluttered up as his gaze lingered on Sophie’s face for several seconds.

His eyes betrayed no emotion. Yet, even without speaking, his mere gaze was intensely oppressive. Sophie pretended not to notice. They were the ones who provoked her first.

Evan was now certain of one thing. Sophie was not only rude to him, but she was equally merciless to Julian. Propping his chin on his hand, he wondered if she was trying a new tactic.

Thinking of this, Evan tilted his head and whispered into Julian’s ear, "If she really wanted to make a scene, she would have exposed your relationship completely. Going about it in such a roundabout way... she probably just wants you to coax her."

It wasn’t a tantrum at all. She was just acting coy!

Julian indifferently withdrew his gaze, rubbing the rim of his cup with his thumb. "Does it matter?"

Evan raised an eyebrow, understanding Julian’s meaning. Sophie’s antics and fuss were likely all in vain. Julian simply wasn’t taking the bait.

The meal concluded. Professor Rowland of Kingsford University led his team in thanking Julian and Stella for their hospitality. Sophie couldn’t be bothered to listen to them gush about how enviable the couple’s relationship was. She greeted her team members and headed outside.

She had received a WhatsApp message from Peter Preston. He was coming to pick her up.

Sophie went downstairs to find Peter already waiting. Seeing her dressed so thinly, he immediately took off his coat and began to nag, "Do you think you have a constitution of iron? Don’t you know how cold it is?"

When Sophie gave birth to Lydia, she had suffered a severe hemorrhage. Had Peter not been there to take charge and mobilize the hospital’s specialists to deliver the baby, things could have gone terribly wrong.

Since then, Sophie’s health had been severely depleted, leaving her much frailer than the average person.

Mr. Caldwell had originally intended to nurse her back to health, but Sophie was incredibly stubborn. She hated taking medicine and would secretly pour the finest tonics into the flower pots. It had infuriated Mr. Caldwell so much that he grumbled about it for years.

Sophie’s ears had grown calluses from all the nagging. Peter simply treated her too much like a little girl.

"Okay, okay, Tristan Preston, stop your nagging," she said, obediently pulling the coat tighter around herself.

"Get in."

Peter couldn’t be bothered to greet Julian and Evan; he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Little did they know, this scene was perfectly witnessed by the group coming out of the restaurant.

Evan watched Peter’s considerate gesture of wrapping Sophie in his coat. He frowned inexplicably, a strange feeling welling up inside him. He asked subconsciously, "What’s going on with them? Why is Peter so close to Sophie?"

He looked at Julian, whose expression remained indifferent. "Aren’t you going to do something? How many men out there are actually decent? Has Sophie forgotten she’s a married woman, letting another man take care of her like that?"

Julian turned his head. At that exact moment, Sophie got into the car and turned back to give Peter a sweet smile.

Her smile for Peter was completely unguarded and sincere. Her eyes curved into crescents, and the beautiful dimples at the corners of her mouth outlined a delicate sweetness.

He used to see this kind of smile often. Sophie had once been a girl who loved to smile.

Especially the first time she had called him "Hubby." He had merely looked at her quietly, offering no response. To avoid the awkwardness, she had immediately flashed that very smile, trying to smooth things over.

Those memories surfaced for only a fleeting moment, failing to stir up any significant ripples.

Julian’s eyes remained impassive. He indifferently withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes, and lit a cigarette. "It doesn’t matter."

This remark was perfectly overheard by Stella, who was just walking over. Her lips curved upward slightly, but she quickly narrowed her eyes. "Now I understand why she was able to join Helios, and why Mr. Preston rejected my application to join the Helios team."

She didn’t state it explicitly.

Evan looked at her. "Are you saying Peter was so dazzled by her beauty that he handed her a golden opportunity to pad her resume, and was even swayed by her words to reject you?"

Stella didn’t give a clear answer. But she was already certain. Sophie was simply using her looks to serve men, exchanging favors for a chance to join the R&D team and secure a marginal co-authorship. Was Sophie truly that terrified of competing on the same track as her?

Julian flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Let’s go back first."

He had no interest in Sophie’s affairs.

Stella smiled, however. No man could accept his wife being unfaithful. Even if he didn’t love her, and even if he had other female confidantes, he would never allow his wife to do the same. But Julian didn’t care. His disgust for Sophie was already beyond words. He didn’t even possess a basic sense of possessiveness over her. Sophie? She would never have the chance to shake Julian’s heart again!

***

The new drug being jointly developed with Kingsford University this time focused on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Influenced by modern lifestyle habits in recent years, there had been a high incidence of these diseases, with many acute cases. The related drugs currently available could only slow the onset speed at best, offering minimal efficacy. She wanted to optimize the medication to prevent acute, irreversible situations as much as possible.

The next step required close consultation and meetings with Kingsford University. Sophie arrived at Helios early in the morning and prepared the experimental data for the meeting.

The meeting was intended for the two teams to undergo initial integration. By the time Sophie arrived, more than half the people were already there. Professor Rowland had also arrived with his students. However... Stella was nowhere to be seen.

Sophie sat down and waited quietly, her expression remaining composed. Yet... Stella never showed up.

Sophie’s patience ran out, and she directly announced the start of the meeting.

Professor Rowland and the others were also completely puzzled; logically, Stella wasn’t the type of person to be late.

The collaboration went very smoothly. Sophie felt it made no difference whether Stella was there or not. She took the data and returned to the experimental center.

Before she could even test the drugs, Peter walked in with a dark expression. "We just got a reply from Stella."

Sophie looked over at him.

"She said her absence wasn’t on purpose. It’s because there’s someone in the team who got in through the back door, and she doesn’t approve. She’s demanding that you be kicked out before she agrees to participate."