Chapter 6

Another wave of shock echoed through the the office once again.

"Mr. Howard!"

Sophia slowly opened her eyes, she had never imagined that Robert would step in to stop Victoria.

Victoria expression darkened with clear dissatisfaction, "Robert, why are you stopping me?"

Her gaze was full of scrutiny.

Robert took the opportunity to reach for Victoria's hand, his fingertips gently rubbing against her palm.

"Don't hurt your own hand."

This simple words immediately calmed Victoria’s irritation, yet they caused Sophia's heart sink heavily.

She slowly lowered her eyes, a bitter smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

What was she still hoping for?

The assistant seized the opportunity to speak up, "Let me handle it for Ms. Brown!"

Without waiting for Robert and Victoria's response, she raised her hand and struck Sophia across the face twice.

Sophia's body weakened instantly, her strength leaving her as she collapsed onto the floor.

But the assistant showed no intention of stopping, grabbing Sophia's hair and forced her head upward.

The scene was too brutal, and some colleagues from the secretary's office couldn't bear to watch and turned their heads away.

Robert let out a heavy cough, his expression turning displeased, "That's enough. This is a company, not a place for you to settle personal grudges. If you want to settle scores, do it outside."

After that, he shifted his gaze to Victoria, his tone becoming somewhat colder, "Are you still not satisfied?"

Victoria was smart enough to know when to quit while she was ahead.

She wrapped her arm around Robert’s and spoke in a gentle, sweet voice, "I understand, we do need topay attention to our image in the company! Let's go!"

Robert and Victoria left the secretary's office side by side.

Lying on the floor, Sophia could only see a pair of leather shoes and high heels walking away in perfect sync, looking so well-matched.

She coughed hard twice,forcing herself to swallow the metallic taste of blood rising in her throat.

At this moment, a firm decision formed in Sophia’s heart. She would resign from the Howard Group.

Not just the Howard Group, she didn't want to return to the Windsor Family either.

Sophia spent two evenings finding and renting a new place.

During those two days, she never went back home, and her parents didn't call to check on her. Robert had no news either.

Although he said he didn't agree to ending things with Sophia, his engagement to Victoria was taking up all his energy, leaving him no time to look for Sophia.

However, to Sophia's surprise, on the first day of moving into her new place, Vincent and Bianca appeared at her door.

They didn't come empty-handed.

Vincent brought some premium beef and lamb, and Bianca brought some changes of clothes.

Like ordinary parents caring for their daughter, they sat down on the sofa despite the confusion and disbelief written all over Sophia’s face.

"Sophia, since you don't like being around Margaret, it's good that you moved out! This card has tens of thousands of dollars on it. Take it and use it for now."

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

Yet for some reason, faced with their sudden warmth and concern, Sophia felt no joy at all.

She looked quietly at Vincent and Bianca, "How did you know I live here? What do you want from me?"

Bianca who had never been a patient person, Seeing that Sophia wasn't grateful, she immediately glared.

Vincent patted the back of Bianca's hand in a calming gesture, but as he looked at Sophia, tears began to fall from his eyes.

"Sophia, we raised you for over twenty years after all. How could we not love you? You've always been so understanding, but Margaret keeps causing problems, so we can't help but give her more attention. There's nothing we can do about it!"

Vincent was crying.

That man, who was usually quiet and stern, was actually shedding tears in front of her.

The realization struck Sophia deeply, shaking something within her.

Bianca, beside him, was also affected by Vincent's emotions and became somewhat sentimental, "Sophia, maybe we did wrong you before, but family is still family. You're living alone outside, how could we not worry?"

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

Vincent noticed noticed the subtle change in her attitude and immediately pressed on, not wanting to miss the opportunity. "About Margaret faking her death, your mother and I have already scolded her. She was definitely wrong, and she wronged you! Sophia, once everything settles down, we'll send her abroad. What do you think?"

She didn't expect Vincent to openly admit the truth about Margaret's fake death.

But thinking about it, it made sense. The excuse he made up before couldn't even convince Sophia, who had always been obedient to them, so how could it convince anyone else?

Unless they planned to keep Margaret hidden forever, never allowing her to appear in public again.

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

Sophia sighed and got up to pour hot water for her parents.

Vincent and Bianca exchanged glances.

"Sophia, I've been giving this a lot of thought. Although Margaret is the older sister, she's not mature or steady enough, not smart like you. I'm planning to let you inherit the company!"

Sophia, who was pouring water, was shocked by Vincent's words. The kettle fell to the floor and hot water splashed everywhere.

She immediately stood up to clean it up, but Vincent rushed to the bathroom first, "Let me, let me. Your mother still has something to tell you."

Her parents’ behavior today felt unusually strange. Their kindness seemed excessive, almost unreal.

Sophia looked anxiously at Bianca.

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

A sense of dread crept into Sophia’s heart.

She slowly pulled herself out of the warmth she had just begun to feel and met Bianca’s gaze in silence.

"Although Margaret made a mistake, she's still family. If her reputation is ruined, your father, me, and you will all be affected. You understand, right? So, Mom hopes you can take responsibility for Margaret's fake death this time."

Sophia's brows furrowed tightly.

She could understand each individual word Bianca said, yet when they were put together, they made no sense to her.

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

Bianca reached out to stroke Sophia's hair in a show of affection, but Sophia stepped back and avoided her touch.

Annoyance flashed across Bianca’s face, and her tone became blunt, "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, and she did it in a moment of anger. Then you'll apologize to Margaret in front of everyone, and this matter will be over!"

Sophia felt as if she had misheard.

So this was what they meant by taking responsibility?

Had they even thought about how she would live after being accused for driving her own sister to fake her death?

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

But Bianca didn't care about Sophia's tears. Instead, she became even more impatient. "I'm talking to you—answer me!"