Chapter 224 Speculation
Tristan returned after getting his things and saw Ysabelle and Sophie huddled before his computer. Confused, he asked, “What’s going on?”
“Uncle Tristan, Sophie wants to use your computer. I tried a couple of birthdays, but none of them were correct.”
“Do you think everyone uses birthdays as their password like you?”
Tristan strode toward them and typed quickly on his keyboard. He pressed the Enter key and unlocked the computer with a flourish.
Sophie muttered, “Actually, I don’t have to use it right now.” A computer was considered a rather private possession, let alone one in Lombard Group’s headquarters. Tristan’s computer probably holds a ton of secrets!
He reassured her, “Don’t worry. Just use it. There are no secrets in there that you can’t know about.”
“Really?” Ysabelle continued excitedly, “So what’s your password, Uncle Tristan?”
He shot his niece a look, and she immediately dropped the topic.
Fine! Just take it that I didn’t say anything! I didn’t do that on purpose! I was just curious.
“Have fun,” Tristan said to Sophie before leaving the office.
Ysabelle perked up right after her uncle’s departure.
She complained pettily, “It’s just a password. What’s the big deal?”
Then, she went one step further and backstabbed Tristan, claiming, “It must be some ex-girlfriend’s birthday or something. That’s why he doesn’t want you to know!” That must be it!
Sophie was unbothered by her assumption. So what if it is? Tristan isn’t that young. It won’t be strange if he has ex-girlfriends.
Her reaction took the wind out of Ysabelle’s sails.
Ysabelle whined, “Sophie Tanner! Why do you look so unaffected? Don’t you care at all?” She should show a smidge of emotion!
“What kind of reaction should I be showing?” asked Sophie.
“Jealousy! Aren’t you even the least bit jealous when I’m talking about my uncle’s ex-girlfriend? Perhaps, you don’t like my uncle at all!”
Or you wouldn’t be displaying such a lackluster response! Oh, my poor Uncle Tristan!
Sophie explained, “What’s the use in being jealous? What’s done is done. Don’t you think it’s a waste of time to brood over the unchangeable past?”
“Fine! You win.” In hindsight, Ysabelle wondered why she had bothered to argue with a person as logical as Sophie.
Meanwhile, Sophie downloaded a piece of software on Tristan’s computer and was satisfied with its running speed.
“What are you doing?” Ysabelle who was playing a game on her mobile phone stared at the screen out of curiosity.
Sophie had agreed to write a song for The Wheelers. Since she was free today, she decided to get the job over and done with.
“You’re writing a song?” Ysabelle was stunned.
We’re both in high school. How is Sophie so talented?
Sophie wondered if she somehow looked like the farthest thing from a songwriter. “Why? Can’t I write songs?”
Ysabelle pulled a chair over and sat beside her, praising, “No, Sophie. You’re a freaking genius. I would never doubt you, even if you claimed you knew how to steer a spaceship.”
She added, “Why don’t you start? Don’t worry! I promise I won’t disturb you.”
“Okay.”
Sophie did not put on any airs as she got down to work. She had already thought of a melody over the past few days.
All she had to do was to write it out, make some edits, and put in the lyrics.
She worked efficiently and almost produced the complete song in no time.
“Do you want to listen to it?” Sophie asked an expectant Ysabelle.
Ysabelle nodded immediately. “Of course! I want to!”
Why would I give up such a precious opportunity?
Sophie made some final edits before playing the song out.
She had composed a rock song, a far cry from The Wheelers’ typical genre.
However, once the music played, its addictive tune immediately had its listeners’ bodies pumping with adrenaline.
The passion and exhilaration of the song stayed with its audience long after the song ended.
More impressively, the piece was already a hit even without any lyrics.
“What do you think of it?” Sophie asked Ysabelle.
“Sophie, you’re the most enviable talent on the face of this earth. I swear.”
Ysabelle really meant every word of her praise.
Sophie smiled and said, “I guess you liked it!”
Suddenly, Ysabelle grabbed her friend’s wrist and suggested, “Sophie, you should enter the entertainment industry! I guarantee you’ll become a global hit!”
“Nah. I don’t want to do that.”
“Fine. But you better write songs for me in the future, especially my debut song.”
Sophie agreed. “That works.”
She wanted to help her friends as much as she could before she left for the International Medical Association.
Ysabelle hugged her gratefully and declared dramatically, “Sophie, what would I have done if I never met you?”
I’ve met my lucky star! Sophie is my lucky star!
“You’ll be fine even without me.” Ysabelle’s identity as a Lombard would still open many doors for her in the future.
Surprisingly, Ysabelle shook her head and said, “No. If I didn’t know you, my life would surely be a mess right now.”
Without Sophie, she would not have mustered the courage to pursue her dreams.
In fact, she probably would have followed her father’s wishes and became the Lombard family’s young and unambitious daughter.
Ysabelle played Sophie’s freshly composed piece over and over again.
She asked, “What about the lyrics? Aren’t you planning to write the lyrics, Soph?”
Sophie wrote the best essays in school, and the language teachers even used her essays as model answers. Writing lyrics should be a piece of cake for her.
“I’ll fill it in in a couple of days. There’s no rush. The Wheelers are overseas right now.”
She had barely finished her sentence when Mark video-called her.
Sophie answered the call, and Mark’s handsome face immediately appeared on her phone screen.
“Hey, look at me, Sophie!” Sunny shoved Mark aside barely a second later and stuck his face before the camera.
Sophie greeted them and asked, “How’s everything? Are you adapting well?”
Sunny shot her a radiant smile and replied, “We’re used to being on the road. Adapting to a different country is as easy as pie for us. Don’t worry! And hey, don’t fret over the contract termination. Take it slow. If nothing can be done about it, we’ll just get blacklisted. It’s no big deal.”
The band prioritized Sophie’s well-being above everything else.
To Sunny’s displeasure, Sophie replied, “Hand the phone to Mark.”
He wailed, “Why? Are you sick of me just after our extremely brief conversation? You’re too much, Sophie!”
“Play nice.”
Her simple response immediately soothed Sunny’s ruffled feathers.
He asked, “Aren’t you on your holidays now, Sophie? Why don’t you meet us here?”
“I can’t. I need to handle some matters in Chanaea.” After attending to some business in Jipsdale, she still had a difficult situation to solve in Horington. She definitely did not have the luxury to go on a vacation with The Wheelers overseas.
Finally, Mark grabbed the phone from Sunny and got down to business.
“What’s going on? Are there still issues with the contract?” He knew it was going to be a tricky situation to deal with.
