Although the two had left the bustling city center, they were within the open range of the beach, so there would still be people occasionally walking past them.
The loud music and bustling crowd were some distance away, whereas the sound of waves hitting the rocks was very near to them. Sophia felt her heartbeat thumping wilder and wilder.
Not long after Alexander let go of her, another couple walked in their direction.
There were no lights around, and the night was dark, so they could barely see each other under the dim moonlight.
Sophia glanced at Alexander and pinched his waist. “You’re shameless!”
He lowered his head and looked at her with something flickering in his eyes. “It’s not like we’re having an affair.”
How am I shameless?
Sophia chuckled. “Alexander!”
How is he not shameless to kiss me in public?
As the man sensed that she was pretending to be angry, his expression softened, and there was a rare hint of laughter in his dark eyes. Alexander took her soft hand in his huge palm and asked, “Then, can I kiss you when we go back?”
Sophia let out an angry snort at that. “Aren’t you afraid of my granddad?”
At the mention of Perrin, Alexander could not help but dim his expression a little.
It did feel like they were having an affair with Perrin watching them so closely.
Right then, Sophia let out a yawn. It was getting late. The scene was still bustling in the city center, but she felt sleepy already.
Alexander lowered his head and glanced at her. “Let’s go back now.”
“Okay,” Sophia agreed. They returned to the hotel hand in hand.
It was after seven the next morning when Sophia was awakened by her alarm.
The sun shone so brightly outside the full-length windows that the sunlight was faintly visible through the tightly shut curtains.
After Sophia and Alexander had breakfast, Perrin and John had already returned from walking on the beach.
Perrin’s expression darkened when he saw his precious granddaughter showing up with Alexander early in the morning. “Sophia.”
Sophia glanced at Alexander before walking over to Perrin. “Granddad, did you see the sunrise today?”
The sun rose before six in the morning during summer. It was too early for Sophia to wake up and watch it.
On the other hand, Perrin returned to his hotel room before eight o’clock last night and probably slept before nine.
Elderly people slept lesser than youngsters. Hence, it was not too difficult for him to wake up before six in the morning.
Moreover, Sophia also arranged a hotel room in the east for Perrin so that he could enjoy watching the sunrise. Behind the curtains, the full-length windows in his hotel room would enable him to enjoy the beautiful sunrise and the scenery of the sky and ocean blending into one impressive backdrop of blue.
“Of course! It was so beautiful!”
Sure enough, Perrin woke up before dawn. After freshening up, he sat on the balcony and watched the sun rise inch by inch.
That reminds me! I took pictures!
At that thought, Perrin quickly took out his phone to show Sophia the pictures.
Unfortunately, Perrin had no concept of exposure or white balance in photography. Thus, his photos were overexposed and blurry, which failed to capture the magnificent sunrise.
“I don’t know anything about photography. It would be different if you were there to take pictures for me instead.”
Sophia felt a little embarrassed. “Granddad, I’m sorry I couldn’t wake up in time.”
Standing on the side, John hesitated for a moment before saying, “Mr. Dawson, I actually took pictures of the sunrise. I can share those pictures with you if you don’t mind.”
Perrin intended to show off those pictures to Stanley. After hearing what John said, he immediately shifted his attention to his assistant.
Sophia smiled at that scene. Then, she felt someone suddenly holding her hand.
She raised her head and saw Alexander standing next to her. Seizing the opportunity that Perrin was distracted by John, he boldly took her hand.
Then, when Perrin was about to turn back around to face them, Sophia subconsciously wanted to retract her hand. However, as she exerted strength to withdraw her hand, Alexander had already let her go.
Sophia glared at Alexander before helping Perrin sit on the couch next to them. She and Perrin then browsed the pictures John shared with them.
Around nine in the morning, they returned to the yacht and prepared to return to the city.
It was already past noon when they arrived at the port. Alexander made a lunch reservation for them at a restaurant near the port. Although Perrin did not like Alexander, he still agreed to stay for lunch as he could not bear to starve Sophia.
After lunch, Sophia sent Perrin back to the hotel, whereas Alexander was picked up by Felix, who had called him several times during lunch.
Later that night, Perrin had a reunion dinner with his old comrades. At around ten o’clock the next day, Sophia sent Perrin to the airport for him to fly back to Doveston.
Not long after Perrin arrived back in Doveston, Sophia received an antique painting and vase from a representative sent by Perrin.
The latter appointed someone professional to send her the painting and vase. After handing the antiques to Sophia, that person also passed along a message from Perrin. “Ms. Yarrow, Mr. Dawson wants me to tell you that the late Mrs. Dawson loved collecting antiques, and he has a vast collection at home, so you can call him anytime if you need one.”
Sophia was rendered speechless for a moment. Upon hearing that, she instantly understood why Perrin would appoint someone to send her these antiques.
The other day at the entrance to the mall where Jessica gave her the invitation card, Perrin was there to witness how disdainful her tone was toward Sophia. Although Perrin did not ask Sophia the details after that, she figured he must have asked Lukas. Otherwise, Lukas would not have called her out of the blue that night.
However, Sophia believed she should not give away such precious antiques to the Queen family.
“I understand. Thanks for sending them to me.” Sophia then looked at Yvonne and said, “Ms. Leighton, please help me send off our guest.”
“Sure, Ms. Yarrow.”
Yvonne walked over and sent out the representative who sent Sophia the antiques.
Later, when Yvonne returned to the office, Sophia asked her to help purchase separate insurance coverage plans for the painting and the vase.
After all, those antiques were worth several millions each.
Having worked for Sophia for so long, Yvonne could read through the hidden implication behind her smile. “Sure. Should I prepare a bag of Gold Helios coffee beans for him?”
The Gold Helios coffee bean was expensive due to its low production volume. Half a kilogram of top-grade Gold Helios could cost nearly ten thousand. It tasted flavorsome and aromatic, with a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, making it an excellent gift for the elderly.
It was certainly not disgraceful for Sophia to follow what Yvonne had suggested and prepare the coffee beans as his birthday gift.
People who enjoyed drinking coffee would appreciate the choice of beans, whereas those who could not understand the beauty of coffee would not understand her choice.
Everyone in the upper circle was aware that Bruno loved drinking coffee. There were people who gifted him coffee beans in the past too, but most of them prepared Red Hibernia, the more common coffee beans, for him instead.
Sophia attended Bruno’s birthday banquet once before and had the opportunity to drink the coffee he roasted. She could tell from the taste that it was Gold Helios. Thus, preparing that as his gift would certainly cater to his liking. At least Sophia could prove that she was more attentive than those who prepared Red Hibernia for Bruno after learning that he loved coffee.
Yvonne suggested gifting Bruno coffee beans as she could see Sophia did not want to prepare a gift that was too lavish for the Queen family. A pack of coffee beans was good enough.
Sophia glanced at Yvonne in amusement and said, “Ms. Leighton, you’re getting wiser and wiser.”
Her beautiful eyes were so captivating that Yvonne could feel her heart skipping a beat. She quickly said, “Ms. Yarrow, I’ll get back to work then.”
“Sure.” Sophia laughed but did not bother to tease Yvonne about running out of her office frantically.
Ms. Leighton is still as adorable.
Later, Sophia was left alone in her office. She had accumulated several documents for taking time off to keep Perrin company over the past two days. Fortunately, Sophia was a fast reader and great at memorization. She could finish reading a document by just flipping through the pages at once.
Right after she finished flipping through a document, Perrin’s call came through.
Sophia curled her lips and closed the document before answering the call, “Hi, Granddad.”
“Yes, it’s me. Sophia, did you receive the things I sent you?”
“I did.”
“I heard the other day you’re attending a birthday banquet soon. Your late granny collected many antiques, and they’re lying there on the display racks at home. I figure you can give the antiques away as gifts instead.”
Sophia chuckled at that. “I can’t bear to give away Granny’s collections that she left behind. Also…”
She hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Not everyone is qualified to receive Granny’s collection as a gift.”
Over the phone, Perrin heard the inexplicable sense of domineering presence from his precious granddaughter’s tone, and he was startled for a few seconds. “You’re right! You should decide what to do with them then!”
