Sophie Winslow didn’t answer.
It was obvious. Julian Sterling was only willing to speak to her when no one else was paying attention. In public, he always maintained a strict "avoiding suspicion" mode.
"Have you taken your medicine?" Julian asked again, not caring whether she answered or not.
Sophie didn’t even turn her head. "Yes."
"Liar." Julian’s tone remained unchanged. He understood her well, yet there was no trace of genuine concern in his voice—he was merely stating a fact.
Sophie fell silent. She had almost forgotten. When they first got married, even though Julian didn’t love her, he still had manners. Whenever she was sick, she would refuse to take even a sip of medicine. Instead, she would just lie in bed and sleep, barely moving for a day or two like she was hibernating. He had learned about her stubborn refusal to take medication back then.
Once, just to get her to take it, he had brewed a bitterly astringent herbal soup, dug her out of the blankets, and pinched her cheeks with his fingers while she was still groggy. Forced to open her mouth, she was spoon-fed the liquid drop by drop. They had been married for less than a month at the time.
Afterward, Julian had said, "If you actually die of sickness in our first month of marriage, I’ll get a reputation for being a curse to my wife."
Sophie had never felt the dozen-floor elevator ride down to be so excruciating. Julian’s sudden show of concern made her especially uncomfortable.
"This is a powdered cold medicine prescribed by this hospital. Try it." Julian reached out and effortlessly stuffed a brown paper bag into Sophie’s arms.
Forced to hold it, she furrowed her brow. "I don’t need it. Thanks."
She hadn’t expected this. At the very end, in the final stages of their divorce, Julian was actually acting human again.
Seeing her refusal, Julian slightly lifted his narrow gaze. "I remember you have an intolerance to certain medications. Seth also has a cold, and his condition is similar to yours. Since you know a bit about medicinal herbs, you can test the ingredients and efficacy of the hospital’s prescription. It kills two birds with one stone."
Sophie stared up at him in disbelief. "You want me to be a guinea pig for Stella Sutton’s brother?"
She had thought too much of him again.
Julian’s expression was indifferent. "It cures your illness too, doesn’t it?"
What a high-sounding excuse! Sophie almost laughed out of sheer anger. A dull ache swelled in her chest. Even now, this man could still easily and unexpectedly stab her in the heart. She wanted to throw the large bag of herbal medicine powder right back at him, but just as she raised her hand, Julian seemed to remember something else. He looked at her quietly.
"I recall that you used to join some Kingsford social groups as Mrs. Sterling. Quite a few people have your WhatsApp."
Sophie looked at him almost defensively. "And so?"
She had joined those groups when they first got married, back when she was immensely happy. She had wanted to get closer to Julian’s life, as that was his social circle. However, she had never shown her face. Some people knew of her existence, but they knew absolutely nothing about her personal details.
"If you haven’t left those groups, you’ve probably seen some negative remarks about me buying a house for Stella."
"Are they wrong?" Sophie retorted.
Julian clearly had no intention of arguing with her over right and wrong. He looked at her with a calm that bordered on apathy. "I want you to clarify the situation."
Sophie thought she had misheard. "What?"
Julian glanced at the elevator display screen. There were only three floors left until they reached their destination.
"She needs to build connections in high society, and she’ll be appearing on television programs. Her image cannot be tarnished, let alone plagued by rumors." His dark eyes swept over the new phone Sophie had casually slipped into her pocket.
Then, he snatched her phone away once more. Taking advantage of the fact that her hands were full, he unlocked the brand-new device, which didn’t even have a passcode set up yet, and opened her WhatsApp.
Without sparing a single glance at her private messages, he went straight to her Instagram feed. Julian moved incredibly fast. Sophie’s expression shifted, but just as she freed up a hand to grab it back, he had already returned the phone to her. Unlike last time, he didn’t pry into her privacy. It seemed he felt it was beneath him to even look.
The elevator arrived at that exact moment. Julian walked past a scowling Sophie, taking with him a waft of fir and ebony agarwood scent. She didn’t even know what he had just done. She only felt deeply suffocated by the way he treated her so casually!
Sophie took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator. She found a quiet corner to set down the bag of herbal medicine powder before checking her phone.
After the last time Julian nearly saw Lydia’s photos, she had gotten smart and hidden all of Lydia’s albums. She tapped straight into her own Instagram feed, only to freeze in shock. Her hands trembled as she held the phone.
Just a minute ago, Julian had posted a status in her Instagram under her name.
— [There’s no need to speculate, everyone. Stella Sutton is my biological sister. The property Julian Sterling and I purchased under our joint names was for the Sutton Family, not just for Stella alone. Rumors stop with the wise.]
Seeing the words "biological sister," Sophie felt a chill run through her entire body. Julian knew... He knew everything. He knew about her grudges with the Sutton Family, knew that Stella was the one who had stolen everything from her, and knew that Stella was the daughter of the mistress Isaiah Sutton had brazenly brought into their home.
Yet, for the sake of Stella’s reputation, he had still forced her to post this status. Julian was far too ruthless! Sophie deleted it instantly. Even if no one had seen it yet, the feeling still lingered like maggots feeding on her bones. Forcing her to call her enemy her sister, making her whitewash Stella’s image—it was the most nauseating thing she could imagine.
Sophie looked at the bag of herbal medicine. No wonder he had shown "concern" for her. He had planned to give her a little sweetness first so that she would willingly clear the name of his unforgettable first love.
Expressionless, she scooped up the bag of medicine, walked over to a trash can at the corner, and threw it in without a moment’s hesitation.
For the rest of the afternoon, Sophie was in a terrible mood. Some people were simply unavoidable calamities in her life, impossibly difficult to shake off. Now, she was even more desperate for the day she could finally get her divorce certificate. She just wanted to rid herself of all these nauseating ties as soon as possible.
If Lydia weren’t her weakness, she would have lashed out in retaliation regardless of the consequences. But reality was stark and cruel. Offending Julian and the Sterling Family before she had firmly established herself would only doom her to an irredeemable fate. She understood the value of lying low.
Towards evening, there was a change in Sophie’s bank account.
She saw a string of countless zeros and felt a bit dazed. It was an astronomical figure. Furthermore, it wasn’t the thirty million dollars she and Julian had agreed upon. It was... fifty million? She knew Julian didn’t lack money, but this wasn’t just a hundred or two hundred dollars; he had casually thrown in an extra twenty million.
However, after her initial astonishment, her brain sorted out the logic behind it. It was probably because he had used her phone to post that status in her Instagram today. Was this twenty million... a reward? Compensation?
Sophie couldn’t help but sneer. Julian truly spared no expense and didn’t hesitate to use others for Stella’s sake. He was considerate and generous to a fault.
The prenuptial agreement that Chairman Sterling had previously forced her to sign was no longer binding. She hadn’t demanded a share of Julian’s assets; it was Julian who felt compelled to compensate her because of another woman. If it were in the past, she wouldn’t have gotten a single dime when their marriage term expired. But now, money was steadily flowing in for her to raise her little one?