Even though Sophia had never told Perrin what Susan had previously done to her, the experienced Perrin clearly saw through Susan’s little schemes.
When Sophia helped Perrin downstairs and encountered Susan, Perrin’s brows slightly furrowed. “Susan, why didn’t you go home for dinner?”
Susan, who was just about to ingratiate herself with Perrin, froze momentarily before she eked out a reply. “There’s no food at home.”
Perrin threw Susan a glance. “Fine. It’s not like we can’t afford to spare some.”
Despite his answer, it was clear that Perrin was implicitly showing her the door.
At that moment, Susan’s two brothers’ faces reddened in embarrassment. The Dawson family clearly wanted to sever ties with them. Nonetheless, if they were to leave now, they would end up being further ridiculed.
They were caught in the middle, trapped between a rock and a hard place.
Susan was consequently lost for words.
After helping Perrin to his seat, Sophia sat down right beside him.
The sight elicited a drastic change in Susan’s expression. “Ms. Yarrow, isn’t that Lukas’ seat?”
Sophia didn’t reply. Instead, it was Lukas who responded, “We don’t have such unnecessary rules in the family.”
Having been humiliated again, Susan gave Sophia a deathly stare.
Susan’s brothers, Zander and Julian, were filled with indignance after watching their sister being sniped time and again. Julian couldn’t help but voice his dissatisfaction. “Granduncle, who is Ms. Yarrow?”
“My granddaughter whom I have recently acknowledged.”
Even though Perrin spoke the truth, it was evident that Susan and her brothers didn’t believe it.
Upon hearing Perrin’s reply, Susan gave Sophia another look, wondering how the latter got so lucky to have caught Perrin’s eye.
At that moment, Kylie tried to change the topic. “Today’s fish is very fresh.”
While speaking, she used the serving spoon to pick up a serving of fish.
Susan subconsciously bought her empty plate forward with the intention of letting Kylie place it there.
However, the moment she raised her plate, Kylie served the fish to Sophia instead. “Sophia, why don’t you give it a try? Everyone says that my fish is delicious.”
Sophia responded with a smile. “Thank you, Aunt Kylie.”
Upon retracting her plate awkwardly, the seething Susan bit her fork as she glowered in Sophia’s direction.
What is wrong with the Dawson family? Regardless of my intentions, I’m still a Dawson who has spent so many years with them. Why are they focusing all their attention on Sophia ever since she appeared out of nowhere? After all, she’s just an adopted granddaughter and not a real one! So why are they treating her as if she’s the apple of their eye?
It was beyond Susan’s wildest imagination that Sophia was a Dawson true and true. In fact, she was more of a Dawson than Susan actually was.
Obviously, Susan never thought that it was possible and wouldn’t have believed it. Therefore, when she saw the fish being placed on Sophia’s plate, she gritted her teeth in indignance. “Aunt Kylie, I enjoy eating fish too.”
Upon hearing her words, Kylie flashed a smile and moved the entire plate toward her. “Don’t be a stranger. Help yourself.”
Susan, who wanted Kylie to serve her, was rendered speechless.
Sophia found the fish to be delicious the moment she took a bite. A subsequent glance at the scowling Susan further enhanced the taste in her mouth.
Hmm, no wonder the concubines in ancient times loved to vie with each other for attention. It’s actually kind of interesting.
While Sophia enjoyed the meal, Susan barely had any appetite to eat. All she did was watch members of the Dawson family chat happily with Sophia.
Before Sophia’s emergence, she was the one everyone talked to, whereas Kylie would also constantly serve her food.
But now, not only did Kylie stop doing so, but she also paid no heed to Susan, causing the latter to wonder what she had done wrong.
All this while, Kylie had wanted a daughter, but her health prevented her from conceiving after having Lukas. As age began to catch up, she was forced to give up the idea. That was the reason why Susan tried to endear herself to Kylie by going shopping with the latter as if she were her daughter. During those times, she received many “presents” from Kylie and even received huge monetary gifts during the holidays.
Due to the special treatment accorded to her by Kylie, everyone in Doveston respected Susan even though the two Dawson families had long been separated.
Given that the Dawson family only had one son in Lukas, Susan figured that currying favor with Kylie was the right strategy. When Sophia’s appearance threw her into panic, she plotted to have Kylie hate Sophia. Unfortunately, her schemes only resulted in increasing the resentment Kylie felt toward her.
Can it be that Kylie knows about my past deeds?
The thought caused Susan’s expression to freeze.
Meanwhile, Sophia was saying something to Perrin that resulted in him bursting into hearty laughter.
As for Susan, she had spent five years ingratiating herself with Perrin, but never once did he ever smile at her.
While Kylie was leaning over to speak to Sophia, Lukas passed the fruit plate over to them, as if Sophia was really part of their family.
Susan clenched her teeth. “Sophia, can you walk me out?”
Her sudden words drew the attention of everyone on the couch.
Despite how shameless the request was, she still made it unabashedly.
As it would be rude of Sophia to decline, she grinned in response. “Sure.”
With that, she got up from the couch.
Susan then smiled obediently at Kylie and the others. “Aunt Kylie, Granduncle, Lukas, I’ll be taking my leave now. I’ll visit you again when I have the time.”
Once Susan was done bidding goodbye, Sophia had come up to her side. “Ms. Dawson.”
Retracting her gaze, Susan threw Sophia a glance. “Sorry for the trouble, but there’s something I would like to ask you.”
As both of them walked down the stairs together, Sophia responded with an indiscernible smile. “What would you like to know, Ms. Dawson?”
As they reached the turn of the staircase, Kylie and the others were no longer in sight.
It wasn’t until Susan had walked down to the next floor that she asked, “I heard that you have reconciled with Mr. Xenos?”
Sophia cocked a curious brow. “Do you have a problem with it?”
Breaking out a grin, Susan walked toward the fish pond in the garden instead of heading to the exit. “It’s not my place to object.”
Although the lights in the garden were dim, Sophia could clearly see that Susan had wiped the smile off her face.
She stared at Sophia, seething through her teeth. “My question is, why did you come to Doveston to ingratiate yourself with the Dawson family when you have such a wonderful life in Jadeborough?”
Sophia gave her a curious look. “What do you think I’m after, Ms. Dawson?”
Susan obviously had no idea what Sophia’s objective was. From her perspective, if she had half the life that Sophia enjoyed, she wouldn’t even need to ingratiate herself with Kylie and the Dawson family.
Although the Dawson family was decent, Perrin was like a stubborn old rock that was impossible to please.
Nonetheless, Sophia’s nonchalant expression only served to infuriate Susan further. “I don’t know what you’re doing this for! However, if something were to happen to me today, do you still think the Dawson family will treat you this well?”
Sophia raised her brow in surprise. “What are you up to, Ms. Dawson?”
Thinking that she had succeeded in scaring Sophia, Susan flashed a smug smile. “The fish pond is right behind me.”
“Oh, in that case, go ahead and jump.”
Unflustered, Sophia let out a snort as she continued to stare at Susan.
Having initially thought that she had managed to give Sophia a scare, Susan trembled in rage when she saw Sophia’s response. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be worth it if she were to jump into the pond alone. Hence, she gave the latter a quick glance before reaching out to grab her, hoping to pull Sophia into the pond together.
