In his thirty-one years of life, Alexander had never felt as awkward as right now.
He stood there, and upon meeting Sophia’s alluring eyes, he froze.
Sophia was not interested in hearing his explanation either. Glancing at Joshua, who was proposing, she frowned and declared, “This place is fully-booked. Change a place if you are meeting someone here,” before entering the venue.
She gave Alexander an excuse to make it less embarrassing for him, but she could not care less whether Alexander would go along with it.
As he looked at her walk past him, he noticed she was wearing a black dress.
The crossover neckline vaguely showed her cleavage, and the tight dress hugged her curves.
She looks gorgeous and sexy.
Desire coursed through him, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. Just when he was about to follow her, two attendants who suddenly appeared at the door stopped him. “Excuse me, sir, but this place is reserved today.”
Staring at Sophia, who had already made her way under the lights, he creased his brows. “I’m their friend.”
One of the attendants smiled politely. “I’m sorry, sir, but that lady asked us to stop you. She said you will affect Mr. Lewis’ proposal.”
Alexander fell silent.
Stopped by the attendants, he had no way of entering.
Upon hearing the attendant’s words, Alexander’s face turned sour.
When he glanced inside again, he noticed Stephen was present too, and his face darkened even more.
He did not try to barge into the venue and instead turned and walked to a corner. Taking his phone out, he called Samuel.
Stephen is related to the Schild family, so I can ask Samuel to take Stephen away. That guy is an eyesore.
However, the instant Samuel picked up, he asked Alexander, “Since you’re calling me at this hour, does it mean Sophia accepted Mr. Lewis’ proposal?”
What nonsense is he spouting?
“Joshua is Katherine’s boyfriend.”
Realizing he had given Alexander the wrong piece of information, Samuel felt a shiver run down his spine. “Uh, I suddenly remembered my mom asked me to give my cousin—”
“Put that aside first. Find an excuse and get Stephen out of here,” Alexander interjected.
Not bothering to expose Samuel’s lie, Alexander immediately explained the purpose of his call.
“What does Stephen have to do with it?”
Samuel had only known Stephen was the godson of his aunt recently.
“Since you have so many questions, why don’t you become a reporter?” Not in the mood to continue talking, Alexander ordered, “If Stephen doesn’t leave within five minutes, we’re going to have a little talk about what happened tonight.”
Upon hearing those words, Samuel was terrified. “Don’t worry, that’s not difficult. I will get him to leave immediately!”
Alexander hung up the phone and looked in again.
The proposal was a success, and everyone who had been hiding revealed themselves. Stephen was standing beside Sophia and chatting with her. Though Alexander did not know what they were talking about, Sophia did not stop smiling.
After the divorce, Sophia had always stared at him coldly.
Instantly, Alexander’s face darkened, and he tightened his grip around his phone in displeasure.
However, there was nothing he could do. Despite the polite smiles on the faces of the two attendants at the door, it was obvious they were keeping their eyes on him to prevent him from entering.
Remembering it was on Sophia’s orders, Alexander felt fury boil up in him.
Meanwhile, Sophia was listening to Stephen talk about how Joshua bought the flowers.
Unlike most women, Katherine did not like roses but yellow daffodils originating in Epea. However, she loved fresh flowers like many women.
When she was fifteen, she watched a movie where the female lead was touched by a field of yellow daffodils the male lead had prepared.
That was the first time Katherine understood the concept of romanticism and love, so she had loved yellow daffodils ever since.
Although there were domestically-cultivated yellow daffodils, the flowers looked vastly different from those grown in Epea. In order to fill the stage with yellow daffodils, Joshua had spent lots of manpower and money to transport the flowers by air from Epea.
Thus, Stephen had been busy recently as he had to help Joshua buy the flowers and transport them back to the country.
“I always felt it was nice to stay single, but when I was on the plane, thinking about the favor Joshua asked of me, I realized it is amazing to be able to find someone who you would go to such lengths for.”
Sophia arched her eyebrows. “All these couples are why us single people are crying.”
Stephen was confused for a moment before understanding her meaning. “You’re right! We even have to see them being lovey-dovey now. I hope during the wedding, you can be more ruthless and don’t let Joshua marry Katherine so easily,” he said, laughing.
Chuckling, Sophia replied, “Don’t worry. I’ve thought about what I’m going to do that day ever since they got together.”
Just then, Stephen’s phone rang.
Lowering his head, he glanced at her. “Let me take this call first.”
Sophia nodded and raised her head to look at the couple on the stage before curling her lips slightly.
Mason walked over and asked, “Soph, do you feel envious?”
Looking up at him, she asked back, “What about you?”
“Of course I’m envious! Tsk! What is Katherine thinking? Why is she making us look at them being all lovey-dovey?”
Suddenly, Mason bent his head to look at her. “Yes, but my future girlfriend hasn’t agreed to date me yet,” he answered with an innocent and sincere look.
The corners of Sophia’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “I’m not going to satisfy your wish of retiring twenty years early.”
Her tactful rejection made things less awkward for him.
“That’s all right. Dreams are what separate us from other creatures,” Mason responded casually.
“Tsk. You may want to change a dream.”
“How can I change a dream so easily?”
Just then, Stephen walked over and informed her, “I have to attend to something, so I need to leave first. Help me tell Joshua.”
“Sure,” Sophia agreed.
Before leaving, Stephen flashed her a smile. Then, he turned and walked off.
Narrowing his eyes, Mason asked, “Soph, does he want to pursue you?”
Sophia walked away to get a drink. “I can’t read his thoughts. How would I know?”
However, since Mason could tell, Sophia naturally knew too.
The fact that she did not admit it meant she was not interested in Stephen.
Mason tactfully changed the topic. “Soph, you will be attending our company’s annual dinner, right?”
Snorting, Sophia asked, “Why? Are you planning to make me witness another special event?”
As she had seen through him, Mason rubbed his nose awkwardly. “I only want to see you more often. After all, you’re dazzling. Even a few more looks at you makes me feel lucky.”
Like all women, Sophia enjoyed listening to praise.
She laughed and responded, “Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”
While they chatted, dinner began. As it was one of the rare instances everyone could relax, Sophia drank some alcohol. When the clock struck twelve, she leaned against the railing of the balcony and stared at the fireworks in the sky. She could not help but smile.
How wonderful. It’s the start of a new year.
