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Chapter 11 I’m not Useless

For the first time, Remington felt Charles's heartfelt words. He softly responded, "Thank you, Dad!"

Sophia rode her electric scooter to her office.

Just as she sat down, Lilly messaged her, "Sophia, Connor doesn't agree to me going back to work. We had a big fight last night. Can you talk to him and help me convince him? I want to go back to work."

Picking up her phone, Sophia went to a quiet place. "Lilly, what's going on?"

"Sophia..." Lilly's voice was hoarse, clearly from crying.

"Lilly, don't cry, speak properly, what happened?"

"Connor...," Lilly choked, "He said I don't know anything other than taking care of the children and told me not to embarrass myself by going back to work. I disagreed and we started arguing, and my mother-in-law joined in and scolded and berated me."

"Sophia, how is it possible that I don't know anything other than taking care of the children? I'm not useless."

"I know." Sophia hurriedly comforted her, "You graduated from college, you're excellent in Russian and English, and you even received a $50,000 bonus when you were in business. Connor started his company with that $50,000."

"That's true." Lilly felt wronged and pained, "Connor said he would divorce me if I insisted on going to work, and he even said he wouldn't give me custody of the children if we divorced."

Just as Sophia was about to say something comforting, the sound of a child crying came through the phone.

"Noah soiled his diaper, I need to wash his bottom and change his diaper. I'll call you later." Before Sophia could respond, Lilly hung up.

Sophia couldn't imagine what chaotic days Lilly must be living after getting married and having children. If she were Lilly's husband, she would definitely cherish Lilly even more. But unfortunately, Lilly ended up with a scoundrel like Connor.

If it weren't for Lilly having two children, Sophia really wanted to advise her to leave him. By the time Lilly finished taking care of the children, half an hour had passed. During that half hour, Sophia had been waiting for her call.

"Sorry, Sophia. I just finished washing Noah and feeding him. He fell asleep while drinking, but started crying when I put him in bed. I could only wait for him to sleep soundly before calling you."

"Don't apologize to me. Did you say that if you insisted on going to work, Connor would divorce you?"

"I'm fine with getting a divorce, but if it actually goes to court, I have no source of income and the children definitely won't be given to me."

"Mia and Noah are my life, I can't be separated from them."

Lilly was about to cry again, her voice filled with obvious choking and hoarseness. Sophia felt so heartbroken. But she couldn't find the right words to comfort Lilly.

Reality is just that cruel.

Dealing with a scoundrel like Connor, even if Lilly wanted a divorce, she was still burdened by her poor children. Though she hadn't been a mother herself, Sophia understood Lilly very well. A good mother in this world would never be willing to abandon her own flesh and blood.

Sophia thought of her own parents again.

If her mother could love and cherish her like Lilly did, how good would that be? There wasn't much time for sorrow, Sophia quickly consoled Lilly, "Lilly, you are a capable and strong woman. Don't let anyone make you doubt yourself. If things get tough, remember that you have people who care about you and will support you, including me. We will find a solution together. And most importantly, always remember that you are a wonderful mother to Mia and Noah. They are lucky to have you."

"You can't compromise because of Connor's threats. You must come out and work to earn money. Otherwise, if he really divorces you, and you have no source of income, you will really lose custody of the children. Don't worry. I handle the company's personnel and business matters. I will arrange for you to come back to work. Trust me."

Lilly found it reasonable. Connor, the despicable man, even targeted her best friend. Although Sophia rejected him, she knew that this unreliable man would eventually seek other women. When that happens, he would truly abandon her, the aging woman.

She had to rise.

The first step to rising was to go out and work hard to earn money, to have the ability to support herself and her children.

On that day, Sophia completed all the employment procedures for Lilly. Meanwhile, Connor was sitting in his office playing with his phone.

He opened a female college student's Tinder profile and the more he looked, the more attractive he found the girl. He recalled the day when the girl twisted her ankle and fell in front of him while wearing high heels. He still felt a little tingly inside from her delicate appearance.

He sent a message asking, "Sugar, what are you doing? A new movie is showing in theaters. Do you have time to go see it tonight?"

He waited for a few minutes, but "Sugar" did not reply to his message. He felt a little disappointed.

At that moment, Sophia pushed open the door, startling Connor who quickly turned off his phone screen.

"Why didn't you knock before coming in?" he asked.

"What guilty thing are you doing?" Sophia questioned, her expression full of panic and her eyes evasive. It was clear something was wrong.

But Connor remained defiant, "What guilty thing? I was looking at the financial reimbursement form."

"That's great. Sign this too," Sophia responded.

Connor looked at it and immediately frowned, "Did you ask Lily to come back to work or did Lily reach out to you?"

"I told you before, I needed to hire a business assistant who knows Russian and English. Lilly happened to be suitable," Sophia explained.

"She learned Russian and English when she was in college, but it's been years since she used them. She's not suitable," Connor argued.

"Lilly was able to analyze the product details in the Russian and English versions in just 15 minutes," Sophia countered firmly, handing over the printed materials, effectively silencing Connor.

Connor glanced over it briefly. Lilly hadn't used Russian and English in seven years, yet she was still so proficient!?

He had underestimated that aging woman.

He pondered for a moment and with a stern face said, "Who will take care of the two children if Lilly goes to work? Who will take care of my mom? She's physically weak and can't do any household chores. If she assigns the chores to my mom, will she exhaust her to death?"

Sophia's patience was once again tested to the limit.

She looked at Connor, absurdity and anger filling her expression, and sneered, "Your mom gets tired from doing household chores but Lilly won't? Enough with the excuses. I'm tired of it. I don't get your care and concern, yet you criticize her for not being well-groomed, being tacky and unfashionable, lacking ambition, and falling behind in society."

She added, "If you don't let her work, how can a housewife keep up with this society? How can she dress appropriately every day? You want her to be a free babysitter for your kids and take care of your mom, but also be a strong and capable woman with good taste. Do you think she's a superhero?"

Connor was initially speechless and his expression turned ugly.

But after a brief pause, Connor regained his confidence and said, "This is all Lilly's choice, isn't it? She wants it this way. Besides, our personal matters are none of your business. If I don't let her work, she won't work."

What a dog of a man!

Sophia clenched her fist and wished she could punch Connor to the heavens.

He was so detestable and worthless.

But she didn't want to cause a ruckus in the office, in front of the dozen or so employees. It would create the impression that the two bosses were at odds, affecting their work.

Besides, even hitting Connor would make her feel dirty. She slowly relaxed her fist, calmed her anger, and then got straight to the point:

"Connor, just now I made Lilly sign the contract and put the company seal on it. If you don't allow Lilly to work, I will have Lilly take the contract to court and sue you. After all, you are the legal representative of the company. The courts are very protective of employees in small companies. If you're not afraid of a lawsuit, then let Lilly stay home."

Connor knew this. He hadn't expected Lilly to be so determined this time.

Furious, he asked, "That bitch, did you tell Lilly about the business trip?"

Otherwise, why would Lilly suddenly insist on coming to work?

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