“Sophia, Alex,” Samuel greeted them as he made his way over with a glass of wine in his hand. When a waiter walked past them with a tray of drinks, he reached out to take a glass of juice and red wine each, before passing the glass of wine to Alexander. Just when Samuel was about to pass the glass of fruit juice to Sophia, his gaze met Alexander’s cold stare. Trembling slightly, Samuel added, “Ah, I was feeling a bit parched.”
Sophia quirked a brow and turned to Alexander with an amused expression. “What should I drink, then?”
Alexander then went directly to the waiter and brought her a glass of juice. “Grape juice.”
Sophia smiled and replied, “Thanks.”
“Ms. Yarrow.”
Just then, Kayla appeared with a glass of wine and said in a sarcastic voice, “Did you come here with Mr. Xenos?”
As Sophia knew Kayla wouldn’t be able to get complacent later, she didn’t mind her showing off her might now. “The Fletcher family does not allow a plus one to the banquet?”
“Not exactly. I was just casually asking.”
As she spoke, Kayla’s gaze landed on Alexander. “Mr. Xenos, I’ve never heard of your preference for bringing female companions before.”
Her message was obvious. Kayla had implied that Sophia was merely an accessory to Alexander.
Sophia remained unfazed as she swept a glance toward the brooch on Kayla’s dress. She then asked in an ambiguous voice, “You’re fond of children, aren’t you, Ms. Fletcher?”
Kayla’s expression darkened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sophia smiled and imitated Kayla’s tone. “Don’t get me wrong, Ms. Fletcher. I just thought your brooch was quite cute. I was just casually asking as well.”
Since Kayla mentioned she was casually asking, Sophia did the same as well.
What’s the matter with that? Does she think only she can make a casual remark to me? Am I not allowed to do the same?
Feeling guilty, Kayla was unable to find fault with Sophia any further after that remark. “Enjoy yourself then, Ms. Yarrow.”
With that said, Kayla left with her glass of wine.
Sophia took a sip of her grape juice and smiled as she stared at Kayla’s retreating figure silently.
Samuel clicked his tongue and said, “Kayla still refuses to give up on you, Alex.”
Samuel cast a glance toward Sophia after finishing his words, obviously expecting some drama to unfold.
However, Sophia merely glanced briefly at Samuel and smiled lightly. “You know quite a lot, Mr. Schild.”
After a short pause, she continued, “Nevertheless, those who know too much will end up with nothing good.”
Samuel was rendered speechless at her words.
It’s just a joke! She doesn’t have to come up with such a vicious comment, does she?
Meanwhile, Alexander looked at Samuel indifferently, and yet his eyes conveyed an obvious message. Get lost. Don’t be an eyesore here.
Samuel snorted, “Fine, I won’t bother you guys then.”
Tsk, tsk, tsk! The sappy affection you two are displaying is simply intolerable!
As he returned to where Charles and Justin were, Samuel regained his confidence and said, “We shouldn’t disturb Alex anymore. He’s too busy entertaining Sophia now.”
However, Charles merely stared at Samuel as if he was looking at a fool, while Justin chuckled. “Can’t you see that we’ve been sitting here all this while?”
You’re the fool who went over to disturb them!
Samuel replied meekly, “I-I only went there to greet them…”
“Yeah, sure you did,” Justin replied languidly, not wanting to waste another breath talking to a fool like Samuel.
The Fletcher family was still a very reputable family in Jadeborough. Otherwise, Kayla would never have had the chance to marry Casper.
Leland’s eightieth birthday banquet was attended by almost all the reputable figures in Jadeborough.
Quite a number of guests had noticed both Alexander and Sophia as they entered the venue together.
Only a few people had actually taken Kayla’s vicious remarks seriously. Furthermore, news regarding Alexander wanting to pursue Sophia again from half a year ago could still be found on the Internet. Now that the two of them were seen attending the banquet together, many people speculated whether Alexander and Sophia had rekindled their relationship.
Regardless of whether the rumor was true, they were both envious and jealous of Sophia.
It was indeed difficult for people of the same gender to admit how excellent the other was. Even though Sophia’s excellence and talents were obvious, and her achievements were even on the trending topic two days ago, everyone would still hope that she was nothing but ordinary. Thus, none of the socialites would ever pass up the opportunity to gossip or make snide comments about Sophia.
On such occasions, the restroom had always been the perfect place to hear sincere and honest comments.
Barely two minutes after entering the restroom, Sophia had already heard quite a few truthful statements.
“I can’t believe Alexander would actually prefer someone like Sophia! What’s so good about her anyway? Isn’t she just a pretty face?”
“I don’t think you should put it that way…”
“Hey, which side are you on, anyway? What if she’s good in bed?”
“Hahaha! You’re right! It seems she’s dated quite a few men. Have you seen how she sashays when she moves? She also enjoys winking and flirting with other men. Oh my! How could someone be so flirtatious?”
“I don’t think you understand, do you? Men are crazy over women like her! They might seem innocent and pure, but in fact, they are wild in bed! Look how prim and proper her outfit is today. It will contrast with how feisty she will be in bed that way, right?”
“Oh, you’re such a meanie! How do you know all this stuff?”
Upon hearing that, Sophia raised her brows and came out of her stall. “Excuse me.”
Squeezing past the two women, Sophia walked toward the sink and watched as their faces went pale immediately. After turning off the tap, she then took a piece of tissue and proceeded to wipe her hands nonchalantly. “Firstly, thank you for complimenting my beauty.”
After a brief pause, she threw the tissue into the waste bin before adding, “Secondly, it’s not a commendable trait to speak ill of others behind their backs. Now that I’m standing in front of you, go ahead if there is anything else you’d like to badmouth on me.”
With that, she looked at both women in amusement.
Embarrassed by her words, one of the ladies flew into a rage. “You’re crazy!”
“Just ignore her. Let’s go!”
Sophia wasn’t there to pick fights with anyone that night. She was merely attending the event to see the drama unfold later.
In spite of that, it was hard to predict how furious Leland would get later.
Besides saying a few words to the large crowd of guests, Leland even specifically mentioned his future grandson-in-law, Casper’s name as well.
However, Casper seemed to decline Leland’s kind gesture as he said bluntly, “Old Mr. Fletcher, I don’t think I’m worthy of becoming a part of the Fletcher family.”
At the same time, a scream could be heard inside the hall. Suddenly, the large screen showed an illicit sexual video, in which some intimate body parts were blurred out, but the faces of the two people were clearly visible.
It was evident that Kayla was the female lead in the video, but Casper was not the man filmed alongside her.
After a few seconds, the video cut to a different scene. Kayla was still seen in the video, but this time, it was another man who appeared next to her.
The Fletcher family was dumbfounded by the sudden revelation. Warren then yelled at the staff to turn the video off immediately.
Unfortunately, the hotel’s video player had already been hacked. There was no way of turning it off until the end of the video.
Approximately eight seconds later, another man emerged in the following scene. The female in the video was still, of course, Kayla.
Between all the commotion, Leland fainted out of rage, prompting the guests to erupt into whispers.
Since there were many young children in the hall, some of the parents left quickly with their kids in tow.
Meanwhile, Alexander had already covered Sophia’s eyes as soon as the video began to play.
Sophia raised her hand to pull his hand away from her eyes but to no avail. “Alexander!”
“Don’t look.”
Why should she stare at other men’s nude bodies when she hadn’t even seen him naked?
“If you’re allowed to watch, why can’t I do the same?”
The hand that had been covering her eyes lifted immediately after she spoke. As soon as she raised her head, Sophia’s gaze met with Alexander’s dark eyes.
He stood in front of Sophia and looked at her with a stern expression. “I wasn’t looking, Sophia.”
Looking at him, Sophia broke into a smile. “All right, then.”
The entire hall became chaotic. Unable to turn off the screen projector, Kayla caught a glimpse of Casper standing on stage. She rushed on stage immediately and yelled, “It was you who did this, didn’t you? Why are you doing this to me? Casper, why must you do this to me?”
