Finn Lockwood, another friend sitting nearby, smiled and asked, "Yeah, why the long face?"
After Evan York took his seat, he glanced across the table at Stella Sutton. The woman was graceful and poised. She always knew her boundaries when interacting with them, and her manners were impeccable. Yet, Sophie Winslow had the nerve to badmouth her behind her back!
"Guess who I saw downstairs? Sophie Winslow."
Hearing this, Julian Sterling’s sharp, handsome features remained completely impassive, his fingers tapping absentmindedly on the tabletop. He clearly had zero interest in anything concerning his wife, Sophie.
Stella poured Evan a cup of tea and said calmly, "Did you two have a falling out? Don’t lower yourself to argue with a woman."
Seeing Stella actually speak up for Sophie, Evan felt the contrast between the two women was even more striking. He leaned back in his chair, shrugged, and scoffed.
"Guess what she said about you? It was incredibly nasty. I never thought a jealous woman could be so despicable."
He then repeated everything he had overheard downstairs from Ivy Hawthorne.
Julian, who had initially been completely uninterested in any topic regarding Sophie, narrowed his deep eyes. His brows finally furrowed.
"Sophie said this herself?" he asked, looking over. His tone betrayed no emotion.
Stella’s expression darkened even further.
"Since Mr. York heard it with his own ears, it can’t be fake," she answered on Evan’s behalf, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Finn immediately cursed. "Isn’t this just spreading malicious rumors about Stella?! Sophie is a woman herself. No wonder she’s such a failure. She trailed after Julian like a lost puppy for seven years and still couldn’t get him to love her. Is her head filled with nothing but toxic female rivalry?
"You can’t just let her smear your name for no reason. We need to demand an explanation," he added after a moment’s thought.
At Finn’s words, Stella took a deep breath and cast a questioning glance at the silent Julian.
Julian didn’t express an opinion. Instead, he grabbed his phone and stood up to take a call. He wasn’t going to participate, but he wasn’t going to stop them either.
Finn and Evan exchanged a look, instantly understanding Julian’s stance. Seeing Julian’s utter indifference toward Sophie, Stella lowered her eyes, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.
Meanwhile, downstairs, the food had just been served. Sophie hadn’t even managed a few bites when a waiter rushed over. "Is there a doctor here? A customer upstairs is having a medical emergency!"
Sophie frowned. Her doctor’s instinct kicking in, she stood up immediately. "Take me to them."
Ivy Hawthorne didn’t join the commotion; she was busy replying to work emails.
Sophie was led to the door of a private room. Anxious about the patient, she pushed the door open in a hurry. She hadn’t expected someone to be right on the other side. As the door swung open, the person inside stumbled, and the scalding hot copper pot in their hands tipped directly toward her.
Sophie scrambled backward, unexpectedly bumping into a firm, broad chest. A strong arm lightly wrapped around her waist, pulling her further back. She caught a whiff of a familiar faint fir scent—the scent she used to know so intimately during their closest moments.
Julian had already raised his hand, swiftly blocking the falling copper pot before it could hit Sophie.
The waiter turned as pale as a sheet and hurriedly took back the pot, stammering apologies.
Sophie never expected to run into Julian here. Just as she was about to say thank you, she noticed Stella standing right behind him. Stella was shielded securely behind Julian’s imposing frame. She wore a visible look of displeasure at the accidental physical contact between Sophie and Julian.
Sophie immediately stepped away as if avoiding a plague, completely removing herself from Julian’s embrace. This reaction made Julian cast a thoughtful glance her way.
"So you’re afraid of getting hurt too? I thought Miss Winslow had such thick skin that she was impervious to damage," Finn laughed, watching the scene unfold. "It’s a good thing Julian has quick reflexes and was worried about Stella getting caught in the crossfire. Don’t go getting the wrong idea and think he was trying to protect you, Sophie. That would just be embarrassing for everyone."
Julian’s expression remained detached, and he made no attempt to deny Finn’s words.
Sophie understood. If that pot had fallen, it was highly likely it would have splashed Stella as well. Julian hadn’t been trying to help her; he was protecting Stella, and saving Sophie was just an incidental byproduct. Nothing more than a coincidence.
Naturally, Sophie wasn’t going to read too much into it. She wasn’t that delusional.
Evan didn’t say anything, but his eyes were filled with unmistakable disdain. Although Sophie had no idea what was going on, her sharp intuition made her feel incredibly uneasy. She turned to leave, not wanting to tangle with them.
Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed. The friction of his long, bony fingers against her wristbone made her heart skip a heavy beat. She turned around, meeting Julian’s cold, abyssal gaze. He looked at her, his chilly voice piercing straight into her most vulnerable spot.
"Apologize to Stella," he demanded.
Sophie felt as if she had been force-fed a mouthful of sulfuric acid, the agonizing burn shattering her heart and lungs. She met Julian’s eyes with an icy stare. "Give me a reason."
"I think you know exactly why."
Julian seemed unwilling to repeat the nasty rumors about Stella. Then, as if to avoid any suspicion, he quickly released his grip on Sophie’s wrist.
Sophie could guess why. He was probably afraid Stella would mind him touching her. She wasn’t stupid. Looking at the situation, she instantly pieced together what had happened. Evan must have embellished and relayed whatever Ivy had told her. These people had deliberately tricked her into coming upstairs just to ambush her.
"Sophie, if you did something wrong, just own up to it," Finn said.
"If you were upfront about it, you wouldn’t look quite so pathetic," Evan chimed in smoothly, tapping his fingers on the table.
"Exactly. Stella isn’t pregnant. She has nothing to hide, so stop trying to drag her name through the mud." Finn had no idea what was wrong with Sophie, to the point where she would fabricate such baseless rumors out of thin air.
They all knew that Sophie had received a great favor from the Sterling Family in her youth. It was a prominent figure within the Sterling Family who had taken her in. Logically speaking, Sophie should have been considered Julian’s younger sister. Yet, this shameless woman had climbed into Julian’s bed the moment she turned twenty. She had forced her way into an enviable marriage, dragging Julian down into the abyss to sink alongside her. Naturally, none of them were going to treat her with any respect!
Stella looked at Sophie and spoke with magnanimous grace. "Sophie, if you have a grievance with me, I hope you can say it to my face instead of using such underhanded tactics. As a fellow woman, I won’t make things difficult for you. But an apology in front of everyone? I believe I deserve at least that much."
Sophie was quite surprised to hear that Stella wasn’t pregnant. She furrowed her brow, but the confusion quickly dissipated into indifference. She didn’t care about the specifics anymore. Besides, Julian was famously known to be sterile; it was probably genuinely difficult for him to get someone pregnant. Trash was trash, and betrayal was betrayal, no matter the severity.
Looking at Stella, Sophie marveled at the woman’s sheer audacity before answering, "Fine."
Stella genuinely hadn’t expected Sophie to be so compliant. Julian lowered his gaze, looking at Sophie as well. He, too, seemed to think this was exactly what she ought to do.
But in the very next second, they heard her say, "I can set up a few social media accounts and publicly apologize to Miss Sutton. I’ll apologize for trying to stop his buddy’s girl from sleeping with my husband. It’s my fault for being so narrow-minded and petty. I’m just not like Miss Sutton, who is so eager to play the mistress, and I’m certainly not like Mr. Sterling, who is perfectly happy to juggle a wife and a lover."