"I'm just following Mr. Victor's orders," John said with a meaningful smile. "About the intentions behind
his actions, I do not know of."
…… In a cafe downtown...
Sophia sipped on her coffee as she looked solemnly at Emily Yu.
"Are you sure you want to go abroad?" Sophia asked indifferently, but there was a touch of sadness in
her eyes.
Emily You was her best friend from college. She was the only one Sophia could openly talk to, and it
seemed as if she, too, was going to leave her life. Just recently, Emily Yu had decided to go study
abroad.
"Yup, that's the plan." Emily nodded. "My cousin is working in the YS Group. He has a job for me there
but I don't quite fit the requirements just yet, which is why I want to study abroad for a while."
'The YS Group again?!' Every time Sophia heard this name, she felt her heart tightening in her chest.
The coffee cup she was holding started to tremble in her hand.
"Why? What's wrong?" Emily Yu asked when she noticed that there was something wrong with Sophia.
"It's nothing," Sophia said with a forced smile. "Just go on right ahead. I'll just wait for you to come
back."
"Is it because of Peter--"
"No, it's not. Don't mention him anymore." Sophia already knew what Emily Yu was going to say. Right
now, she didn't want to hear his name anymore. What's more, it really had nothing to do with Peter.
Just at that moment, Sophia's phone rang. Upon looking as the screen, she saw that it was Jenny who
was calling.
Rolling her eyes, Sophia muted the call and put her phone back in her bag. Just as soon as she did, it
started ringing again. With a frown, she picked it up and muted it again, throwing it back into her bag.
"Are you sure you're not going to answer that?" Emily Yu asked, raising her eyebrows at Sophia.
"Of course I'm sure." Taking a sip of coffee, Sophia tried to calm herself down.
Jenny betrayed her and seduced her boyfriend. Sophia just refused to answer her phone call. Of
course, Sophia knew that Jenny would get her into a lot of trouble once they got home.
Soon after, Sophia and Emily Yu parted way. As expected, the moment Sophia got home, she was
greeted by Jenny's loud and obnoxious voice.
'Well, might as well get this over with, ' Sophia thought with a frown.
"You have the nerve to come back here! I've been trying to contact you for countless times! Why didn't
you answer any of my calls! I asked you to wait for me. You weren't there anymore when I got out!!"
Jenny was at hysterics. The makeup she was wearing was now smudged and runny, and her hair was
a tangled mess. Without her princess facade, she looked nothing more than a whiny and annoying girl!
"I don't think I ever promised that I would wait for you," Sophia said matter-of-factly as she shrugged
her shoulders.
Hearing this, Jenny's mouth fell slack in shock and indignation. 'Tch! This bitch has no right to tell me
what to do!' Sophia sneered to herself.
At that moment, Caspar walked in. Sophia braced herself to get scolded at, but to her surprise, he
pushed Jenny aside. Walking up to her, Caspar looked at Sophia wide-eyed. "How do you know Victor?
When Jenny went to the YS Group to see John, he told her that Victor wanted to see you."
'My god! This is the third time this day I've heard about that bastard's company! When will he be out of
my life!' Sophia thought as she gritted her teeth.
"I don't know him, nor will I go to see him," Sophia decisive refused.
"Huh..." Stellar snorted. With a hand on her hip, she walked over beside Caspar and narrowed her
eyes at Sophia. "Sophia, you are a part of this family, aren't you? Your father has devoted his whole life
to the JH Group. Can you really bear to see the JH Group fall into the hands of another and make your
father sad? Do you know how much pressure your father has received from the YS Group? Pretty
soon, there will be not enough time for help!"
"Mom's right. We've been a good family to you, haven't we? Do you think you can live a happy life
without us? We have thought highly of you. I don't think we ever expected that you would turn out to be
such a heartless and ungrateful person! It looks as if you're so ready to roll into a poor and sad place!"
Jenny chimed in, as sharp-tongue as her mother.
"You were all so optimistic about using my body to get Wade to help. Did you all really think that was in
my best interest?! Don't think for even a second that I give a damn about this place! !" Sophia retorted
back, laughing coldly at the three.
If only Sophia wasn't related to Caspar, no matter how rich he might be, she would have left that place
long ago!
"Sophia, you have it all wrong. Don't you know how worried your father was when you didn't come back
that day?" Stellar said, acting all motherly all of a sudden.
Seeing and hearing Stellar like this made Sophia cringe in disgust.
"Stellar, take Jenny back to her room," said Caspar.
Without another word, Stellar reluctantly took Jenny back to her bedroom. Just before leaving, Jenny
cast a bitter sidelong glance at Sophia.
With his hands in his pockets, Caspar walked over to the sofa. Looking up at Sophia, he patted the
seat beside him. "Come here and tell me everything." It was rare for Caspar to be so kind to Sophia.
After all, Caspar was her biological father. Sophia couldn't be cold-blooded and ruthless. After
hesitating for a while, she walked over and sat from across Caspar.
"I don't care if you know Victor or not. He knows you. I'm still holding onto the hope that we can get him
to help the JH Group. You don't want to ruin Jian family's business, do you? You and your sister haven't
gotten married yet. I'm planning to give you a grand wedding and that can't be done if our legacy gets
run to the ground."
The sudden "warm father" approach made Sophia a little shocked. Although Sophia knew in her heart
that Caspar was saying this for the JH Group's sake, she had to admit that he was pulling at all the
right strings at that moment, and made her a bit empathetic towards him.
"I know what you are thinking. But really, I don't care about all the wealth. Besides, I don't know Victor
and I don't want to have anything to do with him."
"Are you still mad at me for slapping you? I admit that I was impulsive at that time, and I cannot tell you
how much I regretted doing that. How about this? If you are willing to just go see Victor, our beloved
company just might have a shot at getting through this hurdle. When that happens, I can assure that
you will have a high position at the JH Group. Earlier, your sister went over to the YS Group for the
sake of the JH Group. Why can't you do the same?"
Sophia smiled helplessly, an indescribable bitterness in her heart.
'Heh... If it weren't for what Victor had said, I highly doubt that my father would ever talk to me this
nicely. How ironic.'
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about this. You'd better come up with other solutions to save your
precious little company."
Then Sophia got up and went upstairs.
After Sophia freshened up, she went straight to bed. But she couldn't sleep, and tossed around her
bed. It was because she couldn't get her thoughts off of Victor. Sophia couldn't understand why a man
as powerful as Victor had anything to do with her and asked her to meet him.
'I won't go... I won't, ' Sophia reassured to herself over and over. Everything was so mixed up in her
mind that Sophia didn't fall asleep until the early morning.
The next morning, Sophia was awakened by a quick knock on the door.
Sophia wanted to get back to sleep, but the knock started to get louder and longer as the seconds
passed. The noise was driving her crazy!
Sophia dawdled for a while before she reluctantly dragged herself to open the door.
Stellar was standing outside the room with a big smile on her face! Having been used to Stellar's mean
attitude to her, Sophia got nervous. The sleepiness she felt had suddenly been replaced with alertness.
"What is it?" Sophia asked cautiously.
"Go and see Victor." The simple and imperative tone of Stellar made Sophia frown.
"I said I wouldn't go."
It seemed that Stellar had expected this to happen. She leisurely took out a photo from her pocket and
handed it to Sophia. With her brows furrowed, Sophia looked at the photo. Her heart nearly stopped in
her chest!
It was... A photograph of her mother! How could Stellar have a picture of her mother when she was
younger? Not even Sophia had one.
Sophia was about to get the picture, but Stellar quickly drew her hand back, putting the photo out of
reach.
"Give me that! Why do you have a photo of my mother? !" Sophia boomed, her trembling voice full of
anxiety.
"If you really want to know why, go and find Victor. Make sure you keep the JH up and running."
…… Sophia stood outside the YS Group's towering building, its logo big and bold. Sophia could feel
her hand sweating as she tightly held onto the Victor's business card.
Taking a deep breath in, she walked towards the front entrance.
As soon as Sophia stepped into the building, she could obviously feel that there were dozens of
strange glances at her, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
With timid steps, she went over to the receptionist's desk. "Uh... Hello, my name is Sophia. I'm here to
see--"
"Oh, it's you, Miss Sophia!" Before Sophia finished her words, the woman at the front desk interrupted
Sophia, as if she had been expecting her arrival. "The CEO is waiting for you in his office. I'll take you
to him now."
Sophia felt confused. How did she know that she was here for Victor? 'Maybe... Dose everyone here
know that I am going to see Victor?'
"This way, please." When Sophia was still wondering, the girl at the front desk politely gestured for
Sophia to follow her.
With a small and embarrassed smile, Sophia quickly followed the receptionist, keeping her head low as
others continued to gawk at her.
The moment she stepped into this building, she felt extremely uncomfortable. Every now and then, she
would remember some snippets of the shameful thing that had happened to her in the hotel that fateful
night.
'Damn it!
It was Victor who took advantage of me. Why should I be the one to feel this way!' When Sophia was
cursing herself, the receptionist suddenly stopped in front a wooden double door. "The CEO is inside.
Please, enter."
Then the receptionist left.
Raising her head, Sophia saw a sign on the door. 'Victor Yang, CEO's Office' it read.
The mixed feelings made Sophia's heart skip a beat. For several times, she reached out for the door,
but kept hesitating. Finally, she bit the bullet and knocked on the door.
The hollow knocking sounded crisply in the air.
"Come in," a deep, male voice said from inside.
Biting her lips, Sophia instantly recognized that it was Victor's voice.
Sophia swallowed hard, her heart racing.
With a determined nod, Sophia opened the door. What she saw at the other side of the door shocked
her...
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