Chapter 246 Straight To Alendor
Winter’s heart was well and truly shattered. How could it not be when the one who she fancied regarded her as nothing more than a nuisance?
“Winter—” Charles immediately stopped her. Why is she doing this? Must she really force herself into a point of no return?
Taking a step back, Winter directed a finger toward Sophie. “Do you know what sort of person she is, Mr. Tristan? The sort that had a pregnancy terminated while she was still in middle school. Are you going to reject me in favor of such a woman?”
Coming to that point, Winter was no longer able to contain the rage she felt inside, and that was evidently reflected in the degree of viciousness in her words.
The entire place fell into complete silence once she was done talking. Tristan had a terrifying look in his eyes and at that very moment, those who were closest to him instinctively knew what that expression on his face meant to convey.
Tristan had already done his best to restrain himself, but he had already been pushed past his breaking point. “I think you might as well forget about meeting up with that Mr. Etienne, as there won’t be any place left for you in all of Jipsdale.”
“Haha. Right now, I really do have to wonder what exactly it is that this woman has done to you to have you turn out this way, Mr. Tristan.”
“Stop it, Winter.” Outraged by the way Winter spoke about Sophie, Ysabelle could no longer remain silent. “Someone is obviously out to hurt Sophie by spreading these malicious rumors, so you shouldn’t repeat them like that.”
“Am I simply running my mouth? Have none of you heard any of these things concerning Sophie that has been circulating around within Jipsdale? As the most trusted people around Mr. Tristan, all of you are just being willfully ignorant. Only I really have Mr. Tristan’s interest at heart, because everything I said is the truth.”
“Are you done yet, Winter?” Charles slapped Winter’s face.
Does she even realize what she’s doing? Has she not noticed what sort of mood Mr. Tristan is already in?
“Aren’t you in the middle of expanding our operations in Alendor, Charles? Just send her straight over there!”
Tristan did not even bother to cast an eye in Winter’s direction.
“Mr. Tristan—”
In spite of everything, Winter was still his sister. Thus, Charles was still hopeful for Tristan to show her some clemency.
“Mr. Tristan is already being considerate enough of your position, Charles,” said Felix, speaking up on Tristan’s behalf. “Also, don’t think too highly of yourself, Winter. All along, it has been wishful thinking on your own part. With that being the case, what right do you have to blame it on anyone else? Mr. Tristan has never said that he liked you!”
“Not you too, Felix! I’ve been together with you guys for so long, so all of you must know how much I love Mr. Tristan.”
“Could that even be considered love?” Charles was rendered speechless. “I’ll send her home first, Mr. Tristan.”
There was little more he could do if Winter really did have a death wish.
It was as Felix described; Tristan was already being merciful, or what awaited her would surely be a fate far worse than exile.
“I don’t want to go back home, and I don’t want to go to Alendor either.”
With that, Winter charged toward Sophie.
“Today, I’m going to rip that mask off your face and show everyone who you really are!”
Winter then went on to try and tussle with Sophie.
All the while, Sophie had tried to ignore Winter’s unreasonableness, but with things coming to a head, she was no longer going to continue turning a blind eye to it.
Seizing Winter by the wrist, she then tugged her over forcefully.
“You—” Winter had not expected that Sophie would turn aggressive in front of everyone else.
“Don’t piss me off. Don’t you know what I can do to you if you offend me?” At that very moment, Sophie did not look like someone that could be trifled with.
The look on Tristan’s face was one of severity.
“How dare you, Winter. Trying to hurt her in front of me,” Tristan raged.
“I’m so sorry about this. She merely acted rashly, Sophie, so please, allow me to apologize to you on her behalf.”
Knowing that Tristan was truly upset now, Charles immediately spoke to intercede.
With a light shove, Sophie sent Winter flailing into Charles’ arms.
“Let this be the end of it. If you ever let me catch you mentioning my name again, I’ll rip your tongue out.”
“See to it that she’s sent to Alendor within three days, Charles.”
“No. I don’t want to.” Winter was still struggling away. “I’m the one who has grown up alongside you, so how could you guys do this to me? For how long have any of you actually known Sophie? You have been brainwashed by her, all of you.”
Charles straight up had Winter hauled out and at that moment, she seemed to have completely lost her sense of propriety to her own shrew-like conduct.
As Tristan was still seething, Sophie went and fetched him a piece of fruit.
“There’s no need to be upset anymore, so just calm down now.” We’re just dealing with a person of no real significance. Since that has already been sorted out, there’s no more reason to continue to be upset!
Tristan, who was still throwing a fit, instantly calmed down because of that one gesture from her.
“I’m sorry that you had to go through all that.”
He could only make such a decision on the account of Charles.
“But don’t worry. From now on, Winter will no longer be able to monkey around in front of you. Ten years. I’d definitely have her retained in Alendor for ten years.”
“Actually, Mr. Tristan, it doesn’t matter where she is.” She was never going to allow Winter to affect her.
However, being aware of the ties between the Lombards and the Quigleys, she had some concerns about how sending Winter off to Alendor would impact the relationship between the two families.
“That, you don’t have to worry about at all. Charles is not an unreasonable man.”
On top of that, he himself had already made a considerable compromise.
“As far as I can tell, you don’t seem to be bothered by Winter at all, Sophie.”
He was actually hoping that the presence of other women would rouse at least a bit of jealousy from within her.
“Bothered? Why should I be?” she asked. She’s just a nobody.
“Good. That’s good to know.”
On the other end, Charles handed Winter over to the Quigley family’s driver.
“Send Ms. Winter straight home. I’ll explain everything else to Old Mr. Quigley myself tomorrow.”
As Walter was very fond of Winter, Charles would have to get through him first if he wanted to have her flown out to Alendor.
“Would you plea with Mr. Tristan on my behalf, Charles? I don’t want to go to Alendor. I don’t want to.” If she was really sent out there, she knew that would effectively put her out of contention in the future.
“You should understand Mr. Tristan’s temperament, Winter.”
Once Tristan had spoken, there would be no getting out of it.
Winter grabbed Charles by the arm. “I’m your sister, Charles, so don’t tell me that you’re going to take Sophie’s side as well? You know that you will stand to gain from me being together with Mr. Tristan too!” Winter simply could not understand why Charles was so unsupportive of her.
“You still don’t get it, do you? This has nothing to do with anyone else, to begin with. Even without Sophie, there’ll still be others. You didn’t lose to her. You lost to the fact that Mr. Tristan just doesn’t fancy you! Now send her back!” Not willing to continue this banal exchange, Charles got the driver to take her away.
It was only after the Quigley family’s vehicle disappeared from view that Charles returned back inside.
When Charles saw that Tristan was not beside Sophie, he wondered where Tristan went off to as he approached her.
“I’m sorry, Sophie. Please allow me to apologize on Winter’s behalf. She has simply been spoilt rotten!” Pouring himself a glass of alcohol, Charles went on to empty it in one gulp.
“It’s okay. I didn’t take it to heart,” replied Sophie, demonstrating her magnanimity.
Sophie’s reaction prompted Charles to say, “Now I finally understand why Mr. Tristan is so fond of you!”
“And why is that?” It was a question that even she was unable to answer for herself.
“Because you really are something special.”
