Surprisingly, the first man she met was Alexander. Sophia was not the only person who was stunned. Katherine, who was already half-drunk, was so shocked that she hurriedly buried her face in Joshua’s arms.
However, she did not mind adding fuel to the flame. As she hid in Joshua’s arms, she kept shooting glances at Sophia. “Go ahead! Do it!”
Meanwhile, Sophia’s mind blanked out. Even though she was married to Alexander for three years, the most intimate moment she experienced with him was probably holding his hand on their wedding day.
Yet, there she was in Alexander’s arms three months after their divorce. Furthermore, her hands were on his shoulders. Those unaware of the situation would assume that they were a loving couple.
Katherine shot glances at Sophia so many times that her eyes started hurting. The latter saw her signal and almost instantly made the decision.
Alexander was 188cm tall. Although Sophia was taller than the average woman and had a height of 168cm, she was much shorter than him. However, she was wearing high heels that day. With that, she stood on tiptoes and quickly kissed his thin lips.
Sophia only gave him a peck on the lips before she let go of him. “I hope you don’t mind. We are playing a game.”
She smiled as she spoke, and her voice was low and calm.
After that, she took a step back and smiled faintly as she shot a glance at him. Then, she turned to Katherine and raised her brows. “Didn’t you say you want to go somewhere else to drink?”
At that moment, Katherine was dumbfounded, and she thought her eyes had tricked her. Am I imagining things? What I just witnessed is unbelievable!
Seeing the woman in his arms not moving, Joshua raised his arm and tugged at her. “It’s time to go.”
Hearing that, Katherine looked up and saw that Sophia had already stridden away in her high heels. The trail of her long rose-pink gown swayed with her every step.
“Oh, okay.”
Since Sophia had drunk alcohol, she could not drive. Hence, she got into Joshua’s car.
Katherine was still shocked by what had just happened and decided not to sit in the front passenger seat. Instead, she joined Sophia in the back. Staring at Sophia, she reached out to touch the latter’s forehead. “That’s strange. You don’t have a fever.”
Sophia, who was looking out the window, huffily pulled Katherine’s hand down. “What are you doing?”
Instead of answering her question, Katherine uttered, “Do you know who you just kissed?”
Sophia narrowed her eyes at her friend, suddenly feeling annoyed. “Alexander. Why? Is there something wrong with that?”
Upon hearing that, Katherine nodded firmly. “Yes! It’s wrong! It’s very wrong! Soph, if I remember correctly, Alexander never even sat on your bed in the three years you were married to him! Yet, when the two of you are now divorced, you just kissed him! Oh my goodness! I cannot believe it!”
Her words were so heart-wrenching that Sophia felt hurt. “He’s just a pawn to help me win the challenge.”
Katherine was taken aback. When she came back to her senses, she gave Sophia a thumbs up. “Amazing! You’re incredible, Soph!”
Sophia massaged her temples. “Stop being noisy. Let me rest.”
“Understood!”
Tilting her head, Sophia chuckled. Katherine is such a silly girl. I wonder if her fans would cry if they find out her true nature.
On the flip side, Samuel had already drunk two glasses of red wine, but Alexander, who claimed that he had arrived in Corona, had not shown up yet.
Annoyed, he loosened his tie and poked Charles with his elbow. “Call Alex. He probably entered the wrong room and fell into the arms of a pretty lady. It’s been over ten minutes since he said he’s here, but where is he?”
As soon as he finished his sentence, the door of the private room was pushed open.
The person who entered the room was none other than Alexander, who was supposed to join them fifteen minutes ago. However, he looked grim.
Upon seeing him, Samuel directly handed him a glass of red wine. “Three glasses.”
“Get lost.”
Taking a seat, Alexander did not even bother to look at Samuel.
After he sat down, he sunk into the couch and lowered his gaze. It was obvious that he was not in the mood to talk to anyone.
When Sophia kissed him a moment ago, he felt a strange sensation. It felt like excitement and joy, but the kiss ended before he could figure out the feeling.
At first, he thought it was just a physical reaction, so he tried to calm himself by smoking a cigarette in the smoking room. However, as smoke surrounded him, all he could think about was Sophia’s enchanting look when she raised her brows to ask whether she could kiss him.
Samuel and Charles had been friends with Alexander for a long time, but it was the first time they saw the latter look so troubled.
The two exchanged glances to signal each other to ask what Alexander had on his mind. Even so, in the end, neither of them dared to ask.
At that moment, the private room was extremely silent. A while later, Alexander suddenly looked up at Samuel. “Aren’t you usually super talkative? Why are you so quiet today? Are your lips glued together?”
Hearing that, Samuel felt annoyed. “Weren’t you the one who told me to get lost?”
“Oh, really?”
Leaning forward, he poured himself a glass of water. Seeing that, Samuel and Charles started to wonder if he was the Alexander they knew.
Alexander glanced at them coldly and questioned, “Is there a problem?”
“N-No…”
Samuel was frightened, but he was sensible, so he knew not to question Alexander any further. With that, he changed the topic. “Alex, do you know that idiot CEO of New Dawn Publishing? The film and television department of my company went to purchase the copyright of a web novel under their company to make it into a movie. The price and the contract details were all set. We were supposed to sign the contract today, but they called me this morning and told me they are no longer interested! I’m not mad that they refused to work with us. After all, my life doesn’t depend on it! However, they immediately signed a copyright contract with Planetary Media. Those b*stards…”
Hearing that, Charles chuckled. “Is it possible that the person in charge of the negotiation has a bad attitude?”
“That’s impossible. Your sister was the one who recommended me the novel. I asked my secretary and the senior executives of my company to write some comments and unique points about the novel. After that, I even read it myself. It was a good novel, so I personally handpicked the person to be in charge of the negotiation.”
The person who he had handpicked naturally would not be foolish or arrogant.
Thus, Samuel was puzzled. No matter how much he thought about it, he still could not figure out why New Dawn Publishing suddenly rejected them and signed with another company.
Glancing at Samuel, Alexander stated, “If I’m not mistaken, New Dawn Publishing was founded five years ago and did equity finance three years ago. Back then, Sunshine Group invested more than two million in Series A funding and they also continued to invest in Series B. If your employee didn’t offend New Dawn Publishing, you have to think whether you have ever offended someone from Sunshine Group.”
Hearing that, Samuel had an instant realization and cursed repeatedly. Why have I never thought of this?
However, he was still a little skeptical. “Does Sunshine Group really have that much power?”
“All they have to do is object during the voting.”
Hearing that, Samuel frowned. “Who owns Sunshine Group?”
Even Alexander did not know the answer to that. “I don’t know. Nobody in the industry knows the person behind Sunshine Group.”
Hearing that, Samuel exclaimed, “The owner of Sunshine Group is really despicable! I’ll ask my secretary to talk to New Dawn Publishing.”
I have never felt so humiliated!
Alexander said nothing. For some reason, he had a vague feeling that Samuel would regret his decision in the future.
