Chapter 54 Are You Pregnant?

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Are You Pregnant?

Julian Sterling sat on the leather sofa, glancing at the suitcase she had placed on the carpet. "What are you doing here?"

"I’m here to inspect the traditional Chinese medicine base," Sophie Winslow replied, her lips pressed into a tight line.

He lifted his long eyelashes, a faint, mocking smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Since it’s for work, how did I trick you?"

"..."

Sophie was speechless. Although she and Julian rarely argued, she had always known that he had a sharp tongue. When necessary, his words could be exceptionally suffocating.

She couldn’t even fathom his intentions in forcing her to come here to spend the New Year with the Sterling family. Was their relationship as husband and wife really good enough that they had to be joined at the hip? Putting on such an act was entirely unnecessary.

"Then where are you sleeping tonight?" Sophie asked, unable to hold back the question. She was on her period, and the cramps drained her of any energy to argue with him.

Julian lowered his eyes to reply to a message on his phone. As he looked at the screen, a faint smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. Then, he looked up at her, his gaze relaxed. "Where do you think I should be?" The question was casually tossed out, seemingly laced with a hint of mockery.

Sophie, of course, noticed the good mood he was in while chatting with whoever was on the other end of his phone. She felt a fracturing sense of frustration, barely able to maintain her polite facade. But what could she do? The other two branches of the Sterling family had probably arrived by now, and she had promised the old madam to keep their impending divorce a secret. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Do whatever you want," Sophie said, too tired to make a fuss. It was obvious that Julian had sponsored this business trip just to cut off any route of retreat. Everyone was more than happy to work during the New Year holiday for the hefty overtime pay, and naturally, she had to follow the crowd and come along. But as long as she was within the circle of the Sterling family, she couldn’t act as she pleased.

She dragged her suitcase into one of the bedrooms and took out her pajamas to take a shower. It was getting late, and with a team meeting scheduled for tomorrow, she needed to get to sleep. Her hair was only half-dry when Sophie became so drowsy her vision blurred. She collapsed onto the bed, quickly bundled herself into the blanket, and curled up around her aching abdomen, falling fast asleep.

In her daze, she felt the mattress dip. Thinking it was just a dream, she rolled over and continued to sleep.

The following day.

Sophie was awakened by the ringing of her phone. Squinting, she reached for the nightstand and answered it blindly. "Hello..."

"Sophie, we’re starting at ten. When are you coming down?" The voice on the phone belonged to Renee Coleman, the youngest girl on the Helios R&D team.

Sophie abruptly checked the time. It was nine-thirty. She had never slept in this late before. Where was her alarm? Why hadn’t it gone off? She hurriedly replied, "I’ll be quick, I’ll be right..."

Just as she was about to turn over, a heavy weight pressing against her waist suddenly tightened. An arm hooked around her, pulling her backward, and in an instant, she was drawn into a scorching embrace. A chin nuzzled into the crook of her neck. The tickling sensation caused Sophie’s brain to short-circuit.

The man’s morning voice was gravelly and sexy. "Baby, let me hold you a little longer."

Sophie stiffened violently. From her back and waist all the way down to her hips, she could feel the hard, muscular contours of the person behind her. She turned her head and saw Julian’s handsome face inches from her own.

A shriek erupted from the phone. "Sophie, is there a man with you?! Who did you sleep with last night?!" Renee’s voice pitched an octave higher, echoing sharply through the quiet, dim bedroom. Julian, who had been half-asleep, slowly opened his eyes.

Sophie’s mind instantly cleared. Looking mortified, she frantically scrambled to hang up the phone. Just as she was about to raise her foot to kick him away, Julian stared at her. His pupils slowly focused, as if he had finally realized what was happening, and he suddenly frowned. Quickly withdrawing the arm wrapped around her waist, he ran a hand through his dark hair and sat up. "I’m going to wash up." He got out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom.

It took Sophie only two seconds to sort out her thoughts. Julian had... mistaken her for someone else. In all their years of marriage, he had never called her by such an intimate pet name as "baby." How many passionate, deeply entangled nights must he have spent with Stella Sutton to be able to utter such a phrase so tenderly and naturally while half-asleep?

Sophie didn’t even have the capacity to wonder why Julian still retained the marital habit of sleeping in the same bed with her. She only felt nauseated by the images flashing through her mind. Rolling over, she dry-heaved twice into the trash can. It was a visceral, physical revulsion! Just the thought of him and Stella engaging in those intimate acts was more than she could stomach.

When Julian came out, he happened to catch this scene. His dark eyes were deep and unreadable as his gaze slowly settled on her lower abdomen. "Are you pregnant?"

Sophie sat up, a lingering flush on her cheeks. "No." She couldn’t exactly say she was experiencing acid reflux triggered by mental images of human reproduction, could she?

Julian calmly withdrew his gaze, looking down as he fastened his emerald-green cufflinks. "I’ll make an appointment for you to get checked."

"..." Sophie didn’t know how to argue for a moment. After all, despite their recent turmoil over the divorce, they had been sexually active before all this started. It wasn’t surprising that Julian would be suspicious.

"Am I the doctor, or are you? Don’t worry." She stood up and met his eyes, dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth as she offered him a reassuring smile. "We aren’t going to have a child."

Therefore, Julian had no need to make a fuss and worry about such an issue. She certainly wouldn’t be narcissistic enough to think he was looking forward to it. It was simply because he feared it would affect his relationship with Stella Sutton.

Sophie went into the bathroom. Julian stood rooted to the spot, quietly staring at the door for a few seconds. Then, he turned on his heel, grabbed his coat, and left.

Later that morning.

Sophie had no idea if she had been drugged, but she had slept so heavily, spending over ten hours in a dreamless slumber.

After rushing downstairs, she headed to the private room provided by the hotel. The moment she pushed the door open and walked in, the dozens of people already waiting for the meeting turned to look at her in unison. Their gazes were laced with profound implications. Even Peter Preston was winking at her pointedly.

Sophie’s eyes snapped toward Renee. The younger girl stared at her, eyes brimming with gossip. "Sophie... we still have ten minutes before the meeting starts. How about you clear up our confusion first? Who was that man on the phone this morning, the one with the really nice voice calling you ’baby’?"

Everyone’s gossiping souls were practically burning with curiosity. After all, they had all arrived together yesterday. No one had seen Sophie bring a man or any family members along. How was it that after just one night, she had shared a bed with someone?

While the Helios team was merely curious, the expressions of the Kingsford University team sitting across the large conference table turned bizarre. They had previously heard Stella let slip that Sophie and Mr. Preston from Helios had a very close relationship, implying they were romantically involved. But when Renee made that phone call just now, Mr. Preston was already in the conference room. So who exactly was the man who slept with Sophie last night?

The people from Kingsford University already harbored prejudice against Sophie. Now, they were more than eager to watch the drama unfold.

"Miss Winslow, your luck with romance is booming, isn’t it? You just landed in this city of flings, and you’re already enjoying a night of passion?"

"Why not bring him over to hang out with us?"

"But aren’t you and Mr. Preston dating? What about Mr. Preston..."

Peter also picked up on their probing curiosity and their determination to embarrass Sophie by getting to the bottom of things. Before Sophie could speak, he tossed his documents onto the table. "Sophie and I have been friends for years. Who told you we were dating? Does having a man around automatically mean it’s a fling? Sophie has a husband; she’s been married for a long time."

As soon as these words were spoken, the dozen or so people from Kingsford University instantly froze. What was going on now? One girl refused to give up. "Sophie, then who is your husband? How come we’ve never seen you wearing a wedding ring? Since your husband is here too, would it be convenient to introduce him to everyone?" She refused to believe that Sophie hadn’t used her connections with Peter to get into this R&D team.

Sophie could read the animosity these people held against her. She was just about to speak when the conference room door was pushed open once again.

"I’m sorry, I’m a bit late."

Sophie looked over. At the doorway, Stella Sutton walked in, her arm linked with Julian Sterling’s—