After leaving the hotel, Sophia drove back to her mansion. She had just parked the car inside the garage when someone rang her doorbell.
Sophia raised her brows as she stepped out of the garage, wondering who would visit her at this hour.
The surveillance camera feed was located upstairs, and Sophia was too lazy to head up to look at it, so she opened the door and stepped outside.
It had been sunny in Jadeborough for the past two days, but the wind at night was still rather chilly.
The lamps in the garden lit up the flagstone path as she walked toward the gate.
After realizing it was Alexander standing outside the gate, Sophia was startled for a moment. “What are you doing here?”
She thought he would still be at the hotel.
Ever since that day, Alexander had never shown up in front of her again.
She thought Alexander would have given up after they had been at an impasse for that long. However, reality proved that she had underestimated him.
Alexander sped all the way to her house. He had not appeared before Sophia after that day because he had wanted to give her more space.
One should be flexible to achieve their goal. Alexander knew that if he was too aggressive, he might only worsen things.
If it weren’t for Melissa, who had appeared from nowhere, and them being seen together by Sophia earlier that day, Alexander would have never expected to see Sophia again this soon.
On the day he learned his and Melissa’s names were trending on the internet, he did not tell anyone to remove the rumors because he wanted to make Sophia jealous. However, that did not mean he was actually in a relationship with Melissa.
Samuel told him Sophia had been nearby when he and Melissa stepped out of the elevator. Thus, Sophia must have heard what Melissa said.
Alexander dared not take the risk and immediately drove to Sophia’s place from the hotel.
Now, they were facing each other through the gate. Sophia could not tell from his expression if he was in a good or bad mood.
Alexander frowned a little. “I miss you.”
The weather that night was terrific, and the moon was shining brightly in the sky.
Being inexperienced in love, Sophia could not help her heart from skipping a beat when she heard Alexander’s straightforward confession.
However, she did not take too long to react. “Now that you’ve seen me, I guess you can leave.”
“Sophia,” he called out to her. There was a hint of helplessness and adoration in his tone as he said, “Things are not like what you think.”
Hearing that, Sophia chuckled. “That’s a little out of the blue. Do you mind enlightening me on what I should be thinking?”
Alexander stared at her. His eyes flickered as he said, “It’s about Melissa.”
Sophia’s right hand trembled a little when she heard the name, but the smile on her face remained unfazed. “I’m not bothered about those things.”
In other words, she was implying that his affairs had nothing to do with her.
Alexander stared at Sophia for a while before asking, “Can you invite me inside?”
Sophia did not want to do that. “Just tell me what you want to say. I’m alone at home, and it will spark misunderstandings if others find out we’re alone in a house together.”
“I want to use the washroom.”
That was unexpected, so Sophia said, “Fine. Come in.”
She unlocked the gate and stepped backward. After pulling open the gate, Sophia turned around and walked toward the mansion.
She led him inside and stood on the stairs as she looked at Alexander. “There is a washroom on the first floor. It’s over there.”
With that, she pointed to the left.
Alexander did not walk in that direction since the washroom was not why he truly wanted to come inside her house.
After arriving on the second floor, Sophia realized Alexander had followed her up the stairs. Subconsciously, she turned around and was immediately pulled into his embrace.
“There is nothing between Melissa and me. I wasn’t hugging her. She stumbled and nearly fell but crashed into my arms instead.”
Sophia’s expression darkened. She stared at him and said calmly, “Let go of me.”
To her surprise, Alexander obediently let her go. He took an accessory box out of his pocket and said, “I saw this at an auction the night before yesterday, and I was reminded of you when I first saw it.”
He opened the accessory box as he spoke, revealing a Camellia silver bracelet inside.
Sophia was not as enthusiastic about jewelry and accessories as Katherine. She had less than ten bracelets in her wardrobe, but she was not short of that.
“Thanks, but I don’t need another bracelet.”
“Okay.”
Alexander closed the box and placed it back inside his pocket.
“I did not send her the flowers. Melissa asked Felix to bring her the flowers instead.” After saying that, Alexander then said, “I’ll go to the washroom now.”
Staring at his back, Sophia went aside and poured herself a glass of water before taking a few sips.
It did not take long for Alexander to step out of the washroom. He walked over to her. “Although I miss you, I know you might not let me kiss you yet.”
He suddenly reached out and touched her face.
It was just a quick touch as Alexander swiftly retracted his hand. “I’ll leave now.”
With that, he really turned around and walked away.
Sophia clutched her glass of water tightly as she watched Alexander’s back disappear down the stairs. A moment later, she snapped back to her senses.
What happened to Alexander? He did not even cause a scene here!
The next morning when Sophia woke up, she saw she had received a bunch of messages and news articles from Katherine.
Last night, a little past eight o’clock—which was not long after Alexander left her house—his and Odyssey’s official Twitter accounts had released the same statement. Through the post, he denied being in a relationship with Melissa. It also warned people that he would take legal action if they continued making up stories about his relationship with Melissa.
Due to this incident, Alexander and Melissa’s names were again trending.
Unlike before, their names did not appear on the trending list simultaneously. Most of the posts related to Melissa’s name were making fun of her for failing to trick Alexander. In contrast, most commenters praised Alexander for his strong and swift reaction to the scandals.
After freshening up, Sophia clicked open Katherine’s voice message that said, “Soph, I have to say Alexander has changed my mind on him because of his swift response! I heard Odyssey’s subsidiary company was in talks to sign an endorsement contract with Melissa. Yet, Alexander has taken things into his own hands to deny having any connections with Melissa a day after the rumor! That’s not bad at all. At least he knows what he should and should not do.”
Sophia snorted and replied with a voice message, “Is that so? Who was the one who called Alexander a huge jerk yesterday?”
She was unsure if Katherine was busy or feeling guilty as the latter did not reply to her message after that.
Sophia was not bothered by that either. After having breakfast, she drove to Sunshine Group. She had a conference in the morning.
After stepping out of the elevator, Yvonne approached her with a troubled expression. “Ms. Yarrow.”
Sophia glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”
Before Yvonne could explain herself, Sophia heard Finn’s voice saying, “Ms. Yarrow, I hope you can give me three minutes of your time.”
Sophia raised her brows, finally understanding why her secretary looked troubled this early in the morning.
She looked at Finn and smiled. “Mr. Penley, do you know what I like least?”
Finn was stunned to hear that, and he was about to explain himself when Sophia cut him off by saying, “I hate it the most when people try to force me to do something.”
She did not want to see him, yet he came to her office to wait for an opportunity to talk to her.
Sophia’s smile faded a little as she looked at Yvonne and said, “Ms. Leighton, call security and help escort Mr. Penley downstairs.”
Yvonne had already called for the security guards even before Sophia told her so. The elevator door opened right after Sophia finished talking, and two security guards stepped out. “Ms. Leighton, what’s the matter?”
Expressionless, Yvonne looked at Finn. “Please help escort Mr. Penley out of the building.”
Finn was unwilling to be escorted away. “Ms. Yarrow, please hear me out. I only wish to see Suny in person!”
Without looking at him, Sophia walked toward her office. She did not like presumptuous people.
