Chapter 107 What Is Her Relationship To Him
“That’s right. Who else could it be, aside from her?” Tristan was totally unabashed about his favoritism toward Sophie.
Hearing him say that gave Winter a feeling of tightness in her chest. It was as though she was suffocating from being throttled.
“It’s been a while, Mr. Tristan.”
Winter finally regained her own voice. No matter. It’s not too late so long as they are yet to marry.
Tristan merely acknowledge her with a nod.
“Let’s go and get this document signed then. A good thing that I got here in time too, as I wouldn’t know where else I’d be able to find you otherwise.”
“Stick around for a bit. I’ll drive you over later.” Tristan reiterated as he did not want her to leave on her own.
Only after he saw Sophie signal her agreement did Tristan take Charles upstairs. His personal seal had still been left on the ninetieth floor.
That left Winter and Sophie inside the lobby.
Not the chatty sort, to begin with, Sophie was not that fond of Winter either. Hence, she had no inclination to interact with the latter and simply sat there in silence while she waited.
That made Winter feel indignant.
A real snobbish one, aren’t you? You’re only getting to remain by Mr. Tristan’s side temporarily, and that’s it. What’s there for you to be so stuck up about?
“I heard that Transfix Cosmetics are making real progress under your stewardship, so congrats!” said Winter while she absentmindedly tousled her own hair.
Sophie merely grunted and made no attempt to build on the conversation.
“You’ve seen for yourself, Sophie. Mr. Tristan and you aren’t in the same league, no matter how much effort you put in. We ought to be aware of our own limitations so as not to make life any more difficult for ourselves than it needs to be.”
Hearing that elicited a chuckle from Sophie.
“Isn’t that the truth? Given your reputation, never mind the Lombard family, even the Laird family might not think much of you. Being as young as you are, you may not understand where I’m coming from, but I’m only saying this for your own good.”
“For my own good?” Sophie could not stifle a laugh. “Is it because you think that I’m young and impressionable, Ms. Quigley, or because you think I’m a moron? Aren’t you telling me these just to make me leave Mr. Tristan?”
That yielded a frown from Winter that the exquisite makeup on her face was unable to mask.
Yet, an instant later, she got that smile back up on her face.
“No. Sincerely, I only hope that you may be able to appreciate the reality of the situation for yourself.”
“Mr. Tristan, huh? Perhaps others may think that I’m unfit for him, but I, Sophie Tanner, am definitely good enough if that’s what I desire.”
Did she seriously believe that I’m some ignorant girl who could be brainwashed that easily?
“Don’t you know that there are many things in this world that are immutable and completely beyond your control, Ms. Tanner? Like, the status quo that you’re born into!”
“Ha!” replied Sophie with a sneer. “Are you that lacking in self-confidence? Having to bring in your family background to back you up even in matters of love?”
“Self-confidence? Do you believe that the people in high society do not care about these things? You did not strike me as such a naïve person, Ms. Tanner!”
A fling is something else, but when it comes to the question of marriage and having to spend the rest of your lives together, it will no longer be the concern of two individuals; It’s the business of two families.
“The Lombards are a family that you Tanners can never hope to get in with. Besides, you’re the notorious Ms. Sophie, an outcast even to your own family.”
“I see! It looks like I’m really not good enough for Mr. Tristan.” Sophie nodded as though in agreement. “But would you dare repeat what you’ve just said to Mr. Tristan? Why don’t you tell him that, and ask him to stop pestering me? To be honest, I’m still very undecided about whether I want to be with him! Now that you’ve mentioned it, it got me thinking whether I should seriously consider our possibilities.”
“Haha. Mr. Tristan, pestering you? I’m genuinely shocked, Sophie, by how far you’d go in making such outrageous claims.”
Sophie was generally unenthused about continuing with this exchange.
“You should know better than anyone whether there’s any truth to it. Have you ever been up to the ninetieth floor? It was Mr. Tristan who brought me there himself. Do you know the layout there?”
Initially, she did not want to bother with her, but the latter’s relentless prodding made her decide to pile onto her counterpart’s misery.
“You—”
That had Winter practically shaking with rage.
Sophie then firmly disengaged. When the receptionist who knew Sophie to be an important associate of Tristan saw that they were still there, she immediately brought her a glass of warm water.
“Have some water, Ms. Tanner.”
“Thank you.”
“I really wasn’t aware that you are Mr. Tristan’s girlfriend, Ms. Tanner, so please do not take it personally if I’d offended you in any way today.” The lady from the front desk looked at her in concern, for it was a well-paying job that she could not afford to lose.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Putting herself in her counterpart’s shoes, she understood that the receptionist was only doing her job, and thus she was not going to be petty about it.
“Then I shan’t continue to disturb you.” Hearing her response did much to set the receptionist’s mind at ease. “Oh, would you mind putting in a good word on my behalf in front of Mr. Tristan as well? I really didn’t mean to badmouth him.” Seeing that Sophie was being more approachable, the receptionist made yet another overture.
She thought she must have been out of her mind today, declaring that Tristan was not interested in women, and in front of his girlfriend, at that.
Sophie was thoroughly taken aback by that request.
“I’m not his girlfriend, actually.” Concerning that, Sophie thought it better to clarify.
The receptionist was baffled. Why would Mr. Tristan bring her up to the ninetieth floor if they weren’t dating?
“They’re not together,” Winter chimed in immediately when she heard her counterpart say so. So, Mr. Tristan has never regarded Sophie as his girlfriend.
What Sophie said came to her as some relief.
“Ms. Quigley—” The receptionist certainly recognized Winter but was also aware that Tristan did not regard the latter in any exceptional way.
At that moment, Tristan stepped out of the elevator alongside Charles.
“You don’t have to concern yourself with this matter anymore. I’d take care of it,” said Charles as he walked. “Winter’s really fond of you, Mr. Tristan. Though I know that you don’t feel the same way about her, I just hope that you’d be able to let things slide on my account, no matter what she might attempt to do in the future,” said Charles in disquietude when he saw how Winter and Sophie were, standing next to each other.
“We’re buddies, Charles, so there’s no need to say such things between us. I’d turn a blind eye, so long as she does not try to harm Sophie.”
Having grown up together with Charles, he had few qualms about agreeing to such a request, conditional to Winter not wishing ill upon Sophie.
“Of course.”
Charles remained uneasy even with such verbal assurances, as Winter was persistent and had proved unreceptive to his own repeated warnings.
“All right. Let’s go!” Tristan sounded a little different from usual when he came up beside Sophie, being much more gentle in his tone when he spoke to her.
That did not sit well with Winter who was quietly infuriated.
“I think we should be taking our leave as well.”
She had insisted on accompanying me to the Lombard Group only to catch a glimpse of Tristan, so that ought to make her give up now!
“Charles, I…”
Winter felt profoundly aggrieved. All the effort I had put in was for the sake of keeping up with him. Sleeping no more than a few hours a day and working hard to get myself into a top university; all that was to make myself good enough for him. But what of him? Not once had he recognized the sacrifices that I had made.
“You can’t force love, Winter, so you ought to just give it up.” With the exception of Sophie, Mr. Tristan has never brought any woman up to the ninetieth floor. Doesn’t this make the issue obvious?
