Sophia was right. That matter was not enough to drive Megan and Jessica crazy. Otherwise, they would have already been driven crazy by what she did previously.
However, it was certainly enough to cause them to lose their appetite for dinner, as Bruno called Harold to vent his rage.
Even though the old man had always doted on Megan, he could not resist criticizing his granddaughter over the phone.
It did not matter what Sophia’s gift to him was. Even if she had come empty-handed, none of the Queens should have commented on it.
However, not only had Megan done that, but she had also accused Sophia of keeping up appearances, even commenting that she should have gifted Bruno the authentic vase instead.
Megan was shameless beyond words.
It was actually courteous of Sophia to attend Bruno’s birthday celebration and say a few words of good wishes to him. In fact, she was under no obligation to present him with a gift.
Alas, with Megan showing Sophia’s gift contempt, everyone knew how unappreciative the Queen family was.
The incident was widely discussed online. Netizens mocked that if the Gold Helios, which was worth twenty thousand, were not considered an acceptable gift, then those gifts that ordinary folks usually bought that were worth only a few hundred or thousand would not be presentable at all.
Besides, Sophia was barely acquaintances with the Queen family. In fact, the two parties could be said to be on bad terms after the previous vase incident.
Being the bigger person, Sophia attended Bruno’s birthday celebration but ended up having scorn poured on her. That certainly did not reflect well on the Queen family, which had also affected their reputation in Jadeborough.
If not for Jessica’s involvement in the incident, Harold would have already punished Megan on the spot.
Never did Jessica expect Sophia to post the audio recording online after promising not to pursue the matter just the night before. Because of that, the Queen family became the laughingstock of Jadeborough overnight.
No matter how much she resented Sophia, she had to find a way to get her to take down the audio recording. As such, she called Samuel. “Samuel, I have a favor to ask of you.”
Truth be told, Samuel felt like he was put in an awkward position. However, he also thought that Sophia had gone slightly overboard. Since it was just a squabble, there was no need for her to post the audio recording online.
Knowing full well that he was the best person to mediate the situation, he nodded and replied, “Don’t worry, Aunt Jessica. I’ll give Alex a call right now.”
Samuel did not dare to approach Sophia directly, aware of how ruthless she was.
The conversation started off well. However, at the end of the call, he inadvertently shot himself in the foot by saying, “Actually, even though my aunt and Megan did behave inappropriately, Sophia shouldn’t have—”
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Alexander hung up before Samuel could finish his sentence.
The latter froze, thinking what a pain it was to be the middleman.
Samuel tried calling Alexander a few more times, but the line was busy every time. Clearly, his friend had blocked him.
Having no other choice, he could only contact Sophia.
Sophia had been expecting his call for a while. “Mr. Schild?” she called out.
“Ahem. Hey Sophia! Given how smart you are, I’m sure you would know the purpose of my call. My aunt and Megan did make a mistake, and I would like to apologize to you on their behalf. But it isn’t a good look to bring the matter online. Do you think you can put the matter behind you and delete the audio recording?”
Technically, it should have been very easy for the Schmidt family to remove the headlines since they were extensively involved in the entertainment industry. However, they were unable to do so as Planetary Media, Midway Media’s competitor, was behind it.
Samuel had to admit that Sophia was indeed merciless.
After listening to his words, Sophia smiled and replied, “Mr. Schild, why are you so sure that I was the one who uploaded the audio recording online?”
Samuel was momentarily stunned. A few seconds later, he snapped out of his shock and asked, “Wasn’t it you who recorded that audio recording?”
Sophia clucked her tongue before answering, “But I wasn’t the only person there at that time.”
Realization dawned on him at once. “It was Charlize who did that?”
“I guess so. Charlize was so upset that she even burst into tears last night.”
Samuel was speechless.
That does seem like what Charlize would do.
Since it was not Sophia’s doing, he hung up and called Charlize immediately. Unexpectedly, he got a scolding from the woman, who condemned him for trying so hard to be the Queen family’s mediator over such a trivial matter when he had not stood up for Sophia during the times the Queen family bullied her in the past.
Samuel was stumped for words after being scolded by Charlize. Left with no choice, he called Charles. Alas, the latter was extremely protective of his younger sister, so there was no way he would side with Samuel. “Charlize was so upset that she cried last night,” was all he said.
Samuel was bereft of words.
It was clear to him that Charles would not take down the headlines.
Having no other solutions, Samuel called Jessica to update her on the situation. “Aunt Jessica, it wasn’t Sophia who uploaded the audio recording.”
Unsurprisingly, his aunt refused to believe him. “Who else could it be other than her? She was the one who recorded it! She’s such an evil woman. Did she have to post it online when we merely made a few passing comments? Because of her, the Queen family has become the talk of the town! It’s ridiculous that Alexander’s in love with such a vicious woman. I think you should stay away from him in the future, Samuel, lest you become her next target!”
With that, he hung up. Staring into the distance, he let out a sigh.
Aunt Jessica used to be so wise and elegant. How did she become the way she is now? Charlize was right. Sophia had not harmed them in any way. Yet why do they dislike her so much? That’s strange.
Samuel could not make heads or tails of the matter. However, he could not reprimand Jessica as how Charlize had scolded him since the older woman was his aunt.
Why is my life so difficult?
Meanwhile, Jessica fell into a daze after hearing what Samuel had told her.
Charlize was the one who caused all this trouble? Hmm, to be honest, it’s rather believable. After all, Charlize’s eyes were red when she defended Sophia last night. In fact, she seemed like she was on the verge of tears. Had Sophia not stepped out of the restroom stall, Charlize probably would have cried. But we only criticized Sophia and didn’t do anything to Charlize. Did she get brainwashed by Sophia? And why did my nephew chide me? What the heck is going on?
After being told that it was Charlize’s doing, Jessica found herself at a loss. Moments later, she called her husband to tell him about it. When Harold heard that, he sighed and said, “Why are you two always going after Ms. Yarrow? Putting aside the fact that she has gotten back together with Alexander, she’s also Specter Entertainment’s chairperson and the major shareholder of Technology Innovations. Do you think an ordinary woman could accomplish all of that?”
In Harold’s opinion, Sophia was far better than what Jessica and Megan thought of her. In fact, he felt that she was much more outstanding than women like Jessica, who were born with a silver spoon and had everything handed to them on a silver platter. However, he could not possibly say that to his wife.
It is definitely no easy feat for a woman in her late twenties to own assets worth a few billion. Although she established Specter Entertainment for her celebrity friend and invested in Technology Innovations for Joshua, her childhood friend, it takes true capabilities, guts, and decisiveness to achieve that. Those are things even most men can not accomplish. On what grounds do Jessica and Megan have to look down on Sophia?
Embarrassed from being told off by her husband, Jessica said, “I just think Sophia is an expert at seducing men. When Stephen dated her previously, he even talked back to me because of her. I only made a few casual comments because I was upset. I didn’t have any ill intentions at all.”
Harold sighed again. “If you want this matter to be resolved, the only way is for you and Meg to apologize to her. But it’s entirely up to you whether you want to do it or not.”
The truth was anything else other than that would be useless.
Jessica was well aware of it too. As such, she agreed to offer an apology even though she was extremely unwilling to do it. “I’ll look for Ms. Yarrow tomorrow to apologize.”
Harold nodded and massaged his temples. “We should really do something about Megan. What would the Cooper family think of her if she continues behaving in such a willful manner after she marries Casper?”
Jessica dared not speak any further and merely nodded before replying, “You can do it your way. I won’t have any issues with it.”
