“Tsk, tsk, tsk! I think Old Mr. Swain still has designs on Sophia. This tactic of pledging Sophia to be his goddaughter was just a part of his plan. What he actually wants is Sophia as his daughter-in-law!”
Samuel sighed as he watched Sophia being led away by Darrell.
From the start, Alexander wasn’t that happy with how things were going. However, the moment Samuel mentioned that, Alexander’s heart sank.
Looking at the silent Alexander, Samuel took a sip of his red wine before nudging the brooding man. “What are you thinking?”
Alexander shot him a cold glare. “Do you think I can’t find a boxing gym in Alenvista?”
Samuel was speechless.
Honestly, it was just a harmless joke! Please don’t do this to me!
Meanwhile, Darrell had already brought Sophia onto the stage. Because of what Darrell said just now, Sophia had become the center of everyone’s attention.
When Alexander approached the stage, he could hear the surrounding people discussing her.
“Old Mr. Swain has been around long enough to be a good judge of character. If a person like him cherishes Sophia that much, then I think she isn’t as despicable as they all say. Moreover, look at her! Even though the stage she’s standing on is so big, she looks very confident, as if she belongs there!”
“Among other things, what’s most striking about her is her looks! No wonder Horatius, who is known to be promiscuous, has fallen for her. If I were a man, I would definitely go after someone who looks as angelic as Sophia!”
“Actually, I heard from a friend in Jadeborough that Sophia is a nice woman. Even after she divorced Alexander and became a trending topic several times, she didn’t do anything to him. This makes me think she really wanted that divorce from him, in contrast with what the media said—that she was playing hard to get or wanting more money.”
Alexander immersed himself in the moment. While he listened to the hushed discussions of Sophia by the people surrounding him, his eyes were focused on the woman standing on stage.
Today, Sophia wore a dress embroidered with flowers. She had tied her hair into a bun, which exposed her pale white neck that looked as elegant as a swan’s. Horatius was standing beside her. Then, as Horatius said something to her, she tilted her head slightly and smiled, her lovely eyes sparkling brilliantly.
Alexander recalled the moment when Sophia had just married him in the past. He remembered she was like that too when she talked to him; her lovely eyes stared straight into his with a hint of a smile. Moreover, he could see his reflection reflecting back clearly through her glossy black eyes.
At that time, the only man Sophia had eyes for was him.
However, after they divorced, she never looked at him gently or affectionately anymore.
Sometimes, one would only understand the difference and know the value of something after one makes a comparison.
In her heart, he was nothing to her now since she didn’t love him anymore.
From the moment she was in trouble till she was brought away by the Swain father and son duo, she had not given him any of her attention. The only time she had even glanced at him was when he first spoke up for her and approached her.
After that, her gaze never fell upon him ever again.
Although he had felt hope rekindling after Sophia’s silence the other night, it was completely snuffed out tonight.
She was beautiful, intelligent, gentle, and generous. Moreover, her suitors were not losing out to him.
At one point, Alexander doubted whether he would ever have the chance to woo her back.
After exchanging pleasantries with his acquaintances, Samuel noticed Alexander standing below the stage as he looked intently at Sophia on the stage. From his angle, Alexander looked miserable, like an abandoned puppy.
Honestly, he was tempted to go over there and ridicule his friend.
However, the moment Samuel arrived next to Alexander, the words died in his mouth.
The reason for that was that he suddenly realized just how pitiable Alexander truly was.
He looked so pathetic that Samuel didn’t have the heart to laugh at him. Hence, his ridicule changed into words of comfort. “Cheer up! At least you have had the experience of being husband and wife with a fine woman like Sophia!”
Alas, his words were like arrows hitting the bullseye, piercing Alexander’s heart with a sudden bout of pain.
Instead of being offended by Samuel’s remark, Alexander was dejected. He withdrew his gaze from the woman on the stage and lowered his eyes, and his whole figure seemed to retreat into the shadows. “She’s truly gone.”
After all these years that Samuel had been friends with Alexander, the former had never seen him this depressed before. Sighing, Samuel said, “Come on, cheer up! Let’s think about this from another angle. Do you know what it means now that Old Mr. Swain announced Sophia as his goddaughter instead of his daughter-in-law? The lady in question doesn’t want to be his daughter-in-law! On the same note, doesn’t this mean that Sophia rejected Horatius before? Looking on the bright side, at least this proves that although she doesn’t like you now, she’s not seeing anyone else either.”
Those words drove yet another knife into Alexander’s heart. But this time, Samuel had a point. Alexander lifted his head to look at Samuel before saying, “Other than me, who else used to bully Sophia?”
Although he had apologized, he knew the others hadn’t.
Samuel raised an eyebrow. “You’re fast on the uptake today!”
Alexander simply ignored him. “Make a list of those that bullied her and send it to me by tomorrow morning. If you fail to do that, you know the drill. I’ll meet you at the boxing gym the day after tomorrow.”
Samuel went quiet.
This slave-driver!
On the stage, the birthday cake had been cut. Darrell presented the first slice of the cake he cut himself to Sophia as proof of his sincerity and determination for her to be his goddaughter.
Sophia accepted the slice of cake and thanked him with a smile.
Alexander had been staring at Sophia for quite some time. Sensing the gaze, Sophia raised her head and turned to look at him.
And there he was, standing about seven meters from her, his eyes locked on her.
And there he was, standing about seven meters from her, his eyes locked on her.
Instantly, the smile on Sophia’s face faded slightly, and she looked away from him. Horatius noticed the change in her expression and asked if she was tired and whether she needed to go upstairs for a break.
She thought about it and said, “Okay.”
In truth, she wasn’t tired, but she didn’t want to stay there any longer.
Sophia shook her head. “It’s fine, Mr. Horatius. I can go there on my own. Please continue with what you were doing.”
In actuality, Sophia felt slightly awkward because she was overwhelmed by what Darrell had done for her today.
Horatius did not force her to stay. After all, he had to send off his family friends and relatives as well.
“Okay, take care of yourself. Call me if anything serious happens!”
Sophia chuckled. “I don’t think it’s that easy to get into an accident.”
Horatius snorted. “Don’t you know many people are aiming for you now? You never know if there are any idiots who dare to cause trouble!”
With that said, after waving goodbye to her, Horatius got off the stage to entertain the guests.
Sophia nodded. As she was about to leave for the lounge, she suddenly felt someone was looking at her.
She turned her head and saw it was a man who was talking with Darrell not far away from her.
Since Darrell was aware that the matter today was a little sudden for Sophia, he tactfully didn’t request her to accompany him to chat with the guests.
The man Darrell was talking to was Lukas Dawson.
The Dawsons were a powerful family full of capable people. Lukas’ grandfather was a retired army general. Lukas’ grandmother was the founder of Eastern Technologies, which Lukas’ father, Kasper Dawson, was currently in charge of. As for Lukas himself, he was a politician. At the young age of thirty-five, he was already the city council secretary.
Today, Lukas was the representative of the Dawson family at Darrell’s sixtieth birthday celebration.
When he saw Sophia looking at him, Lukas gave a slight nod before resuming his conversation with Darrell. Smiling, he said, “Old Mr. Swain, you have a good eye for people.”
The Swain and Dawson families were on good terms with each other. In fact, Darrell and Kasper were university mates. Naturally, Darrell had to inform the Dawson family when he pledged to take Sophia as his goddaughter so as not to undermine their friendship.
Earlier, he had been talking to Lukas about Sophia and expressing his thoughts on her.
Lukas was a true member of a powerful family. Although he treated everyone with warmth and grace, in truth, he was a patronizing person and also arrogant at his core. The praise just now was merely for formality’s sake, but Darrell didn’t mind the former’s comment and changed the topic.
