Chapter 46 Who Do You Think You Are
“Is she really that pretty?” Winter asked gloomily as she felt a rush of jealousy surging from within her.
“Her good looks are beyond description. I never thought there’d be such a beautiful young girl in Jipsdale!” another of her friend chimed in admiringly.
“You guys go ahead. I don’t have any appetite.” Winter could not take it any longer. Don’t they know that I like Tristan? Are they complimenting that girl deliberately to irk me?
One of her friends grabbed her hand. “Don’t be mad. Regardless of how beautiful she is, she’s only a young girl. How’s it possible for her to be comparable to you, our fabled perfumer? All the products of your new perfume were sold out recently, right?”
Hearing that, the sullen look on Winter’s face softened.
“Come on! Fill up your stomach first, so that you would have the energy to pursue the man you like.” Her friend cheered her up and dragged her away.
Winter fell silent. Still keeping her eyes glued to Tristan, she walked away with her friends reluctantly. Yeah… She has a point! How can that young girl be comparable to me? I’m still the ideal woman for Tristan!
When Tristan led Sophie into the private room, Felix and Ysabelle were playing games on the phone. Like the gentleman he always was, Tristan pulled out a chair for Sophie.
Felix had placed an order for the food, so they only needed to wait for it to be served.
“I need to use the restroom.” After a while, Sophie stood up and walked out of the private room.
The moment she stepped into the restroom, she saw Winter touching up her makeup.
Out of courtesy, Sophie nodded at her slightly. Winter put away her lipstick, but she did not leave immediately.
By the time Sophie stepped out of the toilet, she was still there. Cutting to the chase, she asked, “You’re Sophie Tanner, right?”
Sophie looked up at her in response.
“Do you like Mr. Tristan?” Winter questioned directly.
Sophie whipped out a piece of gum from the pocket of her school uniform and stuffed it into her mouth. After that, she crumpled the wrapping paper before throwing it into the dustbin and asking, “Who are you?”
It never came across Winter’s mind that the young girl would act so arrogantly.
“Who am I? Sophie Tanner, are you pulling my leg? Don’t you know who I am? Nobody in Jipsdale dares to get on the Quigley family’s nerves!” Winter scoffed.
“The Quigley family? You mean one of the four major families?” Sophie pondered for a while before saying, “So, what does that have to do with me?”
“Hmph! What a naive girl! Heed my words. Stay away from Tristan. If not, you only have yourself to blame when I make you disappear without a trace,” Winter hissed. The only reason she had stayed in the restroom was to deliver that threat to Sophie.
As the heiress of the prominent Quigley family, Winter had always had a sense of superiority since she was young. She looked down at young girls like Sophie.
Sophie burst into laughter as she chewed her gum.
“What are you laughing at? There’s nothing the Quigley family can’t do in Jipsdale!” Winter snapped at her.
“Is that so? Just give it a try then.” Sophie shrugged. Is she threatening me? What a ridiculous woman!
“You…” Boiling with rage, Winter was about to lash out at her.
“What’s taking you so long? Our food is served. Let’s go back to have our meal now.” Tristan’s voice sounded abruptly outside the restroom.
“Okay.” Sophie stepped out and walked away with Tristan without sparing Winter another glance.
Instead, it was Tristan who shot Winter a meaningful glance before leaving.
“What’s the matter? Was she picking on you?” he asked on the way back to the private room.
Sophie could not resist letting out a laugh. “No. Do I look like someone others can easily pick on?”
“Of course not.” Tristan chuckled. Since Winter was Charles, his playmate’s younger sister, he would more or less exercise restraint for his sake.
Meanwhile, Winter clenched her fists in exasperation. It’s only been a short while, but Mr. Tristan already stepped out to look for her! Is he serious about her?
Back in the private room, all the dishes had been served. Felix and Ysabelle started scooping food onto Tristan and Sophie’s plates.
Seated facing a table of delicious dishes, Sophie did not have much appetite. She was low in spirits after taking a few mouthfuls.
Even so, Tristan continued to scoop food for her.
“Mr. Tristan, you don’t have to serve me. I’ll scoop the food myself.” Sophie turned him down nicely.
“Why are you taking so little?” Tristan knitted his brows. To him, the amount that Sophie was eating was barely enough to feed a kitten.
Sophie could not help but heave a sigh.
She could only give in by swallowing some more of the food and finishing a half bowl of mushroom soup.
“Ysabelle, your birthday is around the corner. How do you plan to celebrate it?” Felix asked enthusiastically. Her eighteenth birthday was the red-letter day she stepped into her adulthood. As such, he minded a lot about it.
“I’ll celebrate it with Soph,” Ysabelle replied casually.
Hearing that, Felix fell silent and he could feel his temples start to throb. That’s one of the most momentous moments in her lifetime. Doesn’t she know she should spend it with someone important to her? Whatever… I could only say that she’s one dumb girl.
“Soph, you must attend my birthday celebration, okay? Otherwise, I’ll cut ties with you!” Ysabelle said.
“Sure. I’ll be there on time,” Sophie replied.
After the meal, the foursome stepped out of the private room and ran into Eustace Sheppard.
Eustace had been wanting to meet Sophie ever since she helped him with Dr. Yarren’s matter. However, no matter how hard he looked, he could not find any information about her.
He never expected that he would bump into her while stepping out for a meal with his friends.
“Ms. Tanner, can I have a few words with you?” Eustace asked politely. There was even an unmissable hint of respect in his tone.
Sophie, too, did not expect that she would bump into Eustace again. After all, Jipsdale was a huge place, and the probability of bumping into someone by chance was fairly small. Nonetheless, she was not repulsed by him.
“You guys go ahead first. I’ll go to school myself later,” she told the others.
Tristan only flashed Eustace a look before descending the stairs without saying anything.
Meanwhile, Ysabelle fastened her gaze on Eustace. Who is he? And how did he know Soph? He doesn’t look like an average Joe…
Felix dragged her away, breaking her reverie. “What are you looking at? Is he more good-looking than me?”
“Yeah. He’s more good-looking than you. No, this won’t do. I must turn back to find out why he’s looking for Soph. Ahh… it seems like my dear Sophie is too eye-catching. That being said, they do look like a perfect match for each other,” Ysabelle blabbered.
Rendered speechless, Felix flashed a glance at the man walking ahead. Huh? A perfect match?
He could hardly refrain from shouting at her. My goodness! She’s indeed slow-witted. Can’t she sense that her Uncle Tristan has feelings toward Soph? How could she have the audacity to say that?
“Felix, send Ysabelle back to school,” Tristan instructed.
“Sure. I’ll definitely send her back safely,” Felix replied, heaving a sigh of relief after seeing that Tristan was not mad.
“Uncle Tristan, I’ll wait for Sophie,” Ysabelle protested.
Tristan threw her a warning glance.
Fine! Intimidated by his imposing aura, Ysabelle had no choice but to walk away sheepishly.
“Mr. Sheppard, do you have any more questions?” Sophie asked.
“I wish to request your help, but I don’t have your phone number. Would you mind giving it to me?”
Coincidentally, one of his friends stepped out for some fresh air. Overhearing Eustace’s words, he could not resist laughing heartily and teasing him, “Captain Sheppard, you should speak up if you have feelings for her. My, my. What a beautiful young girl!”
“Get lost!” came Eustace’s reply.
“All right, all right! I’ll get lost right away! I won’t want to be the third wheel now,” the man uttered ambiguously before walking away.
Eustace was undoubtedly mature for his age. Even though he was only twenty-eight years old, he was already holding such a high position. In fact, his competence was known to everyone.
Surprisingly, he could not help blushing in front of the eighteen-year-old girl.
“Don’t take it to heart. He’s only joking. There’s really something I need to ask you,” Eustace muttered.
To that, Sophie replied, “Give me your phone.”
Eustace passed it to her as requested, and she keyed in her phone number right away.
“Sophie, are you interested in joining our SWAT team?” he asked eagerly. He needed a competent member like her.
Sophie shook her head. “I’m not interested.”
“Well, I really hope you can think it through and join the SWAT team.”
