Chapter 6

Gasps filled the office again. "Mr. Howard!"

Sophia slowly opened her eyes. She never expected Robert would stop Victoria.

Victoria's face showed displeasure. "Robert, why are you stopping me?" Her gaze was full of scrutiny.

Robert smoothly took Victoria's hand, his fingertips gently brushing against her palm. "Don't want you hurting your hand."

That simple sentence mollified Victoria while making Sophia's heart sink to rock bottom. She lowered her eyes slightly, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. What the hell was she still hoping for?

The assistant seized the opportunity. "I'll do it for Ms. Brown!" Without waiting for Robert or Victoria to respond, she slapped Sophia twice across the face.

Sophia's body went limp and she collapsed to the floor. But the assistant still wouldn't stop. She grabbed Sophia's hair, forcing her head up. The scene was too brutal—some of the secretarial staff looked away, unable to watch.

Robert coughed heavily, his tone displeased. "That's enough. This is a company, not the place to settle personal grudges. You want to sort things out, do it outside." Then he looked at Victoria, his tone a few degrees colder. "Still not satisfied?"

Victoria was smart enough to quit while she was ahead. She linked her arm through Robert's and said sweetly, "I get it. We do need to be mindful of appearances at the office! Let's go!"

Robert and Victoria left the secretary office side by side. Sprawled on the floor, Sophia could only see a pair of men's dress shoes and high heels moving away in perfect sync, looking like such a perfect match.

She coughed forcefully twice, forcing herself to swallow the metallic taste of blood in her throat. In that moment, Sophia made up her mind to resign from the Howard Group. Not just the Howard Group—she didn't want to go back to the Windsor Family either.

Sophia spent two evenings finding a new place to rent. During those two days, she didn't go home. Her parents never called to ask about her, and Robert sent no messages either. Though he'd refused to end things with Sophia, his engagement to Victoria clearly occupied all his energy, leaving him no time to come looking for her.

However, contrary to Sophia's expectations, on the very first day she moved into her new place, Vincent and Bianca showed up at her door.

They didn't come empty-handed. Vincent brought some premium beef and lamb, while Bianca carried a few changes of clothes. Like normal parents concerned about their daughter, they sat down on the sofa despite Sophia's confused, questioning gaze.

"Sophia, since you don't like living with Margaret, it's good you moved out! This card has a few ten thousand dollars on it. Take it and use it for now."

Vincent pulled out a bank card and placed it on the coffee table.

For some reason, faced with her suddenly gentle and caring parents, Sophia didn't feel happy at all. She looked quietly at Vincent and Bianca. "How did you know I lived here? What do you want from me?"

Bianca was an impatient person. Seeing Sophia's lack of appreciation, she immediately glared. Vincent patted Bianca's hand soothingly, then turned to Sophia with tears streaming down his face.

"Sophia, we raised you for over twenty years. How could we not love you? You've always been so understanding, but Margaret's constantly causing problems. We couldn't help but give her more attention—it couldn't be helped!" Vincent was crying. That usually silent, serious man was actually crying. The realization had a huge impact on Sophia.

Beside him, Bianca was also affected by Vincent's emotion and became somewhat sentimental. "Sophia, maybe we did wrong by you in the past, but blood is blood. You're living alone out here—how could we not worry?"

Sophia pressed her lips together without speaking, but her eyes had already softened a bit.

Sensing Sophia's change, Vincent struck while the iron was hot. "Your mother and I already scolded Margaret about the fake death thing. She was definitely wrong—she let you down! Sophia, once this is all over, we'll send her abroad. What do you think?"

She hadn't expected Vincent to actually admit to Margaret's fake death. But thinking about it, it made sense. The excuse he'd made up before couldn't even convince Sophia, who'd always been obedient to them. How could it possibly convince anyone else? Unless they planned to keep Margaret hidden from public view forever.

As for the punishment of sending her abroad, it really wasn't much of anything. But it was already the biggest concession these biased parents could make.

Sophia sighed and stood up to pour her parents some hot water. Vincent and Bianca exchanged a glance.

"Sophia, I've been thinking. Even though Margaret's the older sister, she's not mature or stable—not smart like you. I'm planning to let you inherit the company!"

Sophia, in the middle of pouring water, was so shocked by Vincent's statement that the kettle fell to the floor. Hot water splashed everywhere. She immediately stood up to clean it, but Vincent rushed to the bathroom first. "I'll do it, I'll do it. Your mother has more to say to you."

Today, her parents were unusually abnormal. Too good to be true.

Sophia looked anxiously at Bianca.

"Sophia!" Bianca wasn't as smooth-talking as Vincent. She cut straight to the chase. "Mom has one more thing to ask of you."

Sophia had an ominous premonition. She slowly pulled herself out of the rare emotional warmth of her parents' concern and silently met Bianca's eyes.

"Even though Margaret did wrong, she's still family. If her reputation is bad, your father, me, and you will all be affected. You understand that, right? So Mom hopes you can take responsibility for Margaret's fake death this time."

Sophia's brow furrowed tightly. Why could she understand every single word Bianca said, but when strung together into a sentence, she couldn't make sense of it?

What did "take responsibility for Margaret's fake death" mean? That's what Sophia was thinking, and that's what she asked out loud.

Bianca reached out to touch Sophia's hair, trying to seem affectionate, but Sophia dodged. Bianca got angry again and spoke bluntly. "We've discussed it. Next month we'll hold a party to officially announce that Margaret is still alive. At that time, we'll say Margaret faked her death because she had a fight with you. She was so upset she did this impulsively. Then you'll apologize to Margaret in front of everyone, and the whole thing will be over!"

Sophia couldn't believe her ears. So this was what they meant by taking responsibility?

Had they even thought about how she was supposed to live after being labeled as someone who drove her own sister to fake her death?

The tears she'd been holding back for so long finally fell, soaking her clothes.

But Bianca paid no attention to Sophia's tears. Instead, she grew more impatient. "I'm talking to you here. Answer me already!"