Chapter 49 When Are We Moving In Together?

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: When Are We Moving In Together?

That crisp little voice was startlingly abrupt. Everyone’s gaze landed on the rolled-down car window.

Julian Sterling’s dark eyes locked onto the little girl. Following her line of sight, his pitch-black pupils reflected Sophie Winslow’s pale face, drained of color by the biting wind.

The world seemed to mute itself. Sophie almost forgot how to react. The blood in her veins rushed backward in that instant, shooting straight to her head and leaving her limbs incredibly stiff.

Suddenly, Ivy Hawthorne took a huge stride forward and grabbed Lydia’s small hand. "Oh, be a good girl, baby. Go home and rest first. When we’re done working, we’ll take you to Cosmosphere Park to play, okay?"

Ivy’s body blocked Julian’s probing gaze. Lydia had originally wanted to act spoiled with Sophie and ask her to sleep over for the night, but with Ivy’s interruption, the little girl’s eyes darted around. Finally, she nodded in half-understanding. "Oh, okay. You have to video call me!"

Ivy smiled so hard the corners of her eyes went stiff.

The car window rolled up again. Hector Caldwell knew it wasn’t appropriate for him to stay and keep cursing people out. Knowing that Sophie hadn’t officially cut ties with the Sterling family yet and couldn’t afford any unexpected hiccups, he swiftly got into the car and ordered the driver to leave.

Ivy turned around as if a heavy burden had been lifted. She deliberately raised her voice, making a show of it. "Whenever the baby gets sick, she fusses for her mom and calls everyone ’Mommy’."

Sophie dug her nails into her fingertips. "I understand. Kids are all like that."

Julian’s gaze remained fixed on Sophie, who stood there as if none of this concerned her. Stella Sutton noticed his focused attention. Her lips tightened before she wrapped her arms around Julian’s arm. "Julian, it seems she really wants a child..."

Everyone could hear the hidden meaning in Stella’s words. Finn Lockwood naturally understood as well. He raised an eyebrow. "You don’t need to worry about that. Julian wouldn’t let a woman he doesn’t love have his child just to blackmail him."

Hearing this, the corners of Stella’s mouth gradually curled upward. She didn’t hide that sweet, triumphant smile from Sophie at all, acting as if she had just won the whole world.

Finn hadn’t bothered to lower his voice, either. Sophie heard him perfectly clearly. Her gaze subconsciously fell on Julian’s face. He didn’t deny the statement.

For seven years, Julian had absolutely refused to mention having a child. Was this the reason? Even when rumors constantly circulated that he was sterile, he never explained himself, nor did he ever suggest she try IVF, take injections, or undergo treatments to increase their chances of conceiving.

Sophie suddenly felt so humiliated that she wanted to laugh. Even if he was sterile, he would rather have nothing than have a child with her? It was utterly absurd!

Ivy grabbed Sophie’s ice-cold hand and glared at Finn. "Is that so? Then let his beloved woman have one. But does she have the legal status to register the child? Or should we award his illegitimate kid a plaque for ’pure and chaste’ morals?"

The sarcasm was completely undisguised. Sophie, of course, approved of Ivy’s aggressiveness. It also shattered the suffocating oppression in her heart. Feeling much lighter, she squeezed Ivy’s hand back and didn’t spare Julian another glance. "Might as well plate it in gold for good fortune."

Stella’s expression shifted. Sophie was making a veiled jab at her!

Sophie didn’t give the other woman a chance to lash out. She pulled Ivy along and walked away. She could certainly feel Julian’s deep, chilling gaze fixed on her back, but she didn’t slow her pace. She strode forward, never looking back.

A faint ripple appeared between Julian’s brows. Sophie had grown quite a few thorns recently. She hadn’t thrown a hysterical tantrum, yet she still managed to sting people when they least expected it.

"Sophie is better at saving face than I thought," Finn said, shaking his head after a moment of surprise. "The agreement she gave you yesterday still demanded a child from you, and today she acts like she doesn’t care. Is she playing hard to get?"

"What agreement?" Stella caught the key detail.

Finn looked surprised. "Julian didn’t mention it?"

Julian slowly withdrew his gaze and shot Finn a mild sideways glance.

Finn suddenly realized his slip. "I get it now. Julian was afraid of ruining your mood. Sophie said the prerequisite for a divorce is that Julian has a child with her. She wants to use the process to foster feelings and then use the child to continue blackmailing him."

Stella was stunned. She immediately looked at Julian, a hint of annoyance hidden in her eyes. "Julian, you wouldn’t really..."

How shameless could Sophie be? Throwing herself at him just to ruin Stella’s future with Julian?

Julian lifted his thin eyelids. His tone lacked any inflection, yet it was calm and resolute. "I won’t."

The brief answer softened Stella’s expression. She knew it. Julian already loathed Sophie to the absolute extreme. She had been wondering if Julian and Sophie still slept together. Now, it was clear that Sophie was just racking her brains trying to seduce him. Offering herself up like some sort of commodity—how incredibly cheap!

"Julian, when are you going to kick that bad woman out on the streets? Can my sister move into your house now?" Seth suddenly asked.

That way, he could go live in his brother-in-law’s big house. He would be bought a room full of toys, and he would become the envy of all the kids.

"Seth, don’t talk nonsense," Stella scolded gently. However, she couldn’t help but look at Julian with a smile.

Julian’s lips curled into a faint smile. "It’s fine."

Hector Caldwell’s residence was in the most highly confidential villa district in Kingsford. Most of the people living there were high-ranking, powerful figures in the political sphere. Sophie had originally planned to go over for a meal, but Peter Preston called her directly to the company.

"Didn’t the Winslow family have a lot of ancient treasures that got sold off?" Peter asked. "There’s a private antique appraisal event the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go take a look with me?"

Sophie nodded. "Since the antique shop was taken by Isaiah Sutton, quite a few things have been sold. Do you have a way in?"

Peter picked up two invitation cards from his desk. "You know Aegis Pharma under The Langley Group, right? One of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the country. They’re hosting this event. I plan to go meet Mr. Langley from Aegis, and it’s a good chance for you to mingle with the big shots in this industry. Aegis’s direction over the past two years has been cancer drug research and development. This is your chance to spread your wings."

His main goal was to bring Sophie into the public eye. Even though she possessed extraordinary talent and boasted the impressive achievement of Digital Chinese Medicine—making her resume and capabilities nothing short of stunning—she had been buried in obscurity for too many years. She needed to take it one step at a time.

Sophie naturally agreed with pleasure. Even if it wasn’t for the antiques, she would accept anything that was beneficial to Helios and her research.

The antique circle was incredibly deep. The Winslow family’s antique shop had sold off many ancient treasures, and she had just been worrying about not having enough channels to track them down. She would take back the antique shop that Isaiah had stolen; that belonged to the Winslow family. Even if it wouldn’t be easy, she refused to let so many of her family’s heirlooms be tainted and defiled.

The current progress with Kingsford University was going fairly smoothly. Since Stella’s side hadn’t caused any more trouble, Sophie couldn’t be bothered to care about her existence anymore.

On the day of the event.

Sophie and Peter arrived together at the Langley family’s private museum. The upper-class social circles had all sorts of ways to mingle, but no matter what kind of gathering it was, it was always built for networking and resources.

The Langley family’s private museum was quite large, spanning four entire floors. Just as Peter led Sophie into the hall, they saw a tall, long-legged young man walking toward them.

Lucas Langley extended a hand toward Peter. "Mr. Preston, thank you for gracing us with your presence."

Peter shook his hand. "It is my honor to accept your gracious invitation, Mr. Langley."

Lucas looked at Sophie, a flash of amazement crossing his eyes. "And this is?"

Sophie nodded gracefully and smiled. "Sophie Winslow, pharmaceutical researcher at Helios."

Peter raised an eyebrow. She was clearly the head director holding up the Helios Research Center, yet she introduced herself with such a low profile.

Looking at Sophie’s face, the interest in Lucas’s eyes deepened. "What field of research are you in, Miss Winslow?"

Sophie was just about to answer when someone approached from behind and whispered something in Lucas’s ear. He nodded and looked past Sophie.

Sophie couldn’t help but turn her head. When she met Julian’s gloomy dark eyes—and saw Stella walking shoulder-to-shoulder beside him—she subconsciously frowned.

Lucas didn’t notice anything amiss. He dipped his head and introduced them to Sophie, "Miss Winslow, you must have heard of Mr. Sterling from Sterling Corp, as well as Mr. Sterling’s girlfriend, Miss Sutton."