“Don’t push your luck, Sophia!”
“Are you so sure that the vase is authentic, Ms. Queen?”
“Of course!”
Megan scoffed, “You’ve been deceived by the others, Sophia. Our vase couldn’t be more genuine!”
Curling her fingers slightly, Sophia suggested, “Why don’t we place a bet then, Ms. Queen?”
“On?”
Thalia tugged at Megan’s arm, but the latter gestured a meaningful gaze back at her, whispering, “I have the upper hand. She can’t bluff me.”
“On the authenticity of the vase.”
Sophia gave the duo the cold shoulder as she leisurely poured herself a cup of coffee.
Bursting into laughter, Megan asked, “What’s the wager?”
“If it was genuine, I’d offer full compensation for it. In addition, I’d live-stream a public apology to you and your parents.”
As she spoke, she paused for a bit before continuing, “But if it was a fake, you—”
“Great! It’s settled, then.”
Megan firmly believed that the vase is authentic, so much so that she didn’t even bother to hear Sophia’s term should the vase happen to be a counterfeit.
“But words don’t amount to much, Ms. Queen.” Sophia flashed a smile.
“What do you want, then?”
Upon throwing out that question, Megan tilted her head and pointed a look at Thalia. “Just wait and see. She’ll make a fool out of herself in front of our nation.”
Thalia had much to look forward to. Deep down, she knew that Sophia could never hold a candle to the Queen family.
That vase has been Megan’s father’s object of affection, so how could it be an imitation?
“We ought to have something as evidence.”
Sophia cast a peek at Thalia upon making the statement. “Since we have Ms. Xenos with us today, things will be much simpler. Let’s create a video recording as our testament.”
In truth, Megan was afraid that Sophia might go back on her own words. Since the latter proposed to have a video recording, Megan couldn’t be more glad to oblige. “Well, whatever.”
“Anyway, I think it’s still necessary for me to inform you, Ms. Queen, that if that vase was a replica, I hope you would do the same by live-streaming a public apology to me. Would this be fair enough?”
“Yes!”
Megan huffed to feign exasperation while eagerly fishing out her phone and handing it to Thalia to start the recording. “Okay, let’s each make an attestation of our claims.”
Nodding, Sophia began her statement, “I, Sophia Yarrow, hereby bet on the authenticity of the Queen family’s vase that I’ve broken on the night of first January. If it was genuine, I’d make full compensation for it. Also, I’d live-stream in a live room of not less than one hundred thousand viewers and apologize to Megan Queen and her parents.”
After finishing the sentence, Sophia turned to look at Megan.
The latter let out a snort and followed Sophia’s words to make her statement as well. “I, Megan Queen, hereby bet on the authenticity of our Queen family’s vase that Sophia has broken on the night of first January. If it was a fake, I’d live-stream in a live room of not less than one hundred thousand viewers and apologize to Sophia Yarrow.”
As soon as they finished recording the video, the waiter brought over the dishes.
Sophia showed her phone to Megan and requested, “Please send me a copy of the video.”
Instead of declining it, Megan connected her phone to Sophia’s via Bluetooth and sent the video over.
It turned out that the banquet wasn’t at all horrifying as Sophia had imagined. When she took her leave, Megan was even smiling at her.
Of course, Sophia would know that Megan was laughing at her.
As Sophia exited Golden Sun, the fifty sets of lunchboxes that she had ordered had been placed in the trunk of her car.
Just nice! All fifty of them.
Contented, Sophia departed from Golden Sun and drove directly back to Specter Entertainment.
Soon, Sophia arrived at Specter Entertainment. Jonice was slightly surprised to see her. “What brings you here at this hour, Ms. Yarrow?”
Wearing a grin, Sophia replied, “There are fifty lunchboxes from Golden Sun in the trunk of my car. Since it’s lunchtime now, get our guys to my car and distribute the lunchboxes to our staff members.”
Jonice was all the more shocked. “Did you pack them specifically for us, Ms. Yarrow?
“Yeah.”
Megan did say that she’s never short of money, didn’t she?
Since a lot of Specter Entertainment’s employees had never tasted Golden Sun’s food, Sophia had no reason to stand on ceremony.
In the meantime, Megan was about to pay the bill and leave the restaurant. The second she laid her eyes on the bill, her face fell. “What are these fifty lunchboxes for?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Queen. This takeaway was ordered by the other lady a while ago.”
The dishes sold at Golden Sun were not cheap at all. Sophia had ordered three dishes and a soup for every single serving. Moreover, each bowl of soup had a price tag of more than two hundred. As for the dishes, they were all renowned delicacies of the restaurant. Each set cost about one thousand; ergo, fifty sets of that would total about fifty thousand.
Gaping at the bill, Thalia also gasped in awe. “Has that Sophia gone crazy? Does she even have this many friends?”
Unfortunately, Sophia was long gone. Besides, they were the ones who had generously allowed her to order anything she liked.
They could grumble all they wanted, but they still had to foot the bill in the end.
Worst still, Harold had limited Megan’s allowance. Usually, she would have no problem paying up even such an astronomical amount. However, things were different then.
Ultimately, Megan had to open her mouth and ask for Thalia’s help to settle the bill.
Meanwhile, after Sophia let someone take all the lunchboxes from the trunk, she returned to the condominium. Just when she was pouring herself a cup of hot water, she received a call from Katherine.
“Soph, where did you get that kind of money to get us all lunchboxes from Golden Sun? Did you somehow rob the rich to help the poor?”
The news of Sophia bringing fifty sets of lunchboxes from Golden Sun to treat the employees spread like wildfire across the whole Specter Entertainment.
The moment the news reached Katherine’s ears, she had thought that she had a hearing problem due to her age catching up to her. Only after verifying it did she make the call to press for an answer.
As Sophia was in a good mood, she recounted the incident to her friend.
Listening to Sophia, Katherine kept mum for quite a long time on the other end of the line before finally piping up, “I have the greatest admiration for you. If it had been me, I would’ve never thought of it!”
Sophia arched a brow. “You may admire for all you want out of respect, but don’t you go into the romance department.”
Katherine let out a whine. “But I’d like to be in a relationship with someone like you. Care to join me?”
“Get lost,” said Sophia with laughter.
With that, she hung up the phone. She then replayed that video on her phone and watched it from beginning to end.
At first, Sophia had thought that Megan might have a trump card up her sleeve. Never would she expect the latter to walk straight into the trap that she had just laid.
Oh, well. How boring.
As Sophia put down her phone, her gaze landed on that bouquet of champagne roses that she had received before stepping out of the house earlier. She paced toward it and picked it up. Unfastening the bouquet, she wielded a pair of scissors to prune back a branch from it, thinking of growing one herself.
After all, it looked picturesque.
In a flash, the relaxing yet lazy afternoon had passed. At night, Sophia made a beeline for her favorite restaurant to have dinner alone.
After dinner, while Sophia was driving home, Jadeborough welcomed its first snowfall. Seeing that, she intentionally slowed down the vehicle.
It was still early when she reached home. So, she watched a movie until past nine before having her bath. At a quarter past ten, she went to bed.
Because there was a morning meeting at Sunshine Group, Sophia got up from bed around seven the next morning. The sky was still dark at that time. A tantalizing aroma coming from that bouquet of champagne roses was wafting through the whole room.
Sophia sneaked a glance at it. Most probably, it was due to the warmth emitted by the heater that the flowers had bloomed ever so beautifully.
At about eight, Sophia made her way to Sunshine Group to attend the meeting. As soon as the meeting ended, she exited the conference room, only to hear her phone ringing.
It was an unknown number.
She deliberated for a brief moment before answering, “Hello. Sophia Yarrow speaking.”
“Hello, Ms. Yarrow. I have a bouquet of roses with me. Are you home right now? Could you please make a trip downstairs to sign the acknowledgment of receipt?”
Immediately, Sophia recalled those roses the day before. She couldn’t help but furrow her brows. “I’m not at home. May I know who the sender is?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Yarrow. There’s no name under it.”
“Return it, then.”
“Uh…”
“I refuse to accept it, so please send it back.”
Her tone was resolute, and she ended the call right after that.
