Chapter 248

Chapter 248

Anais strutted in, and when she saw Sophia, she was especially warm. She walked past James as if she hadn't even seen him, and went straight to grab Sophia's hands enthusiastically.

"Sophia, how are you doing? Managing the company all of a sudden must be exhausting, right? Let me tell you, if there's anything you don't understand, just tell James and let him do the work. You just focus on collecting the money."

Sophia smiled. She knew Anais meant well, but having her say this so directly in front of James still made her feel awkward.

Then Anais, in her carefree manner, quickly explained, afraid that Sophia might read too much into it.

"Sophia, please don't overthink this. I'm having James manage the Brown Group purely to help lighten your load, not because I want to take over the Brown Group."

"This company is what your mother worked so hard to leave you. No one will ever take it away."

Hearing this, Sophia frowned slightly.

"Mom, why would you think that? The Smith Group is so big and successful, why would you even want my little Brown Group? Besides, whenever I come to the Brown Group now, all I feel is stress. I'm afraid even if I gave the company to James, he wouldn't want it."

Anais was completely amused by Sophia's words.

"Your company's business is our family's business. If James dares not help you, just tell me and I'll deal with him."

"But Sophia, I know you're not overthinking this. Here's James's bank card. I'm leaving it with you. James has the secondary card in his pocket. You need to help me keep an eye on him and not let him spend money recklessly."

As Anais spoke, she placed James's bank card in Sophia's hand.

Sophia was stunned. She never expected Anais to do something like this. That was James's card—didn't it have tons and tons of money in it?

Sophia's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but feel a happy kind of worry.

She was someone who got excited at the sight of money. What if having James's card made her accidentally spend it all?

"Mom, maybe you should keep this card for James. I spend money like water—what if I use it all up?"

Hearing this, Anais burst out laughing.

"How much damage could you possibly do? Even if you tried your hardest to spend, you couldn't spend that much. Don't worry, since I'm giving you James's card, it means you can spend it however you want. Besides, now that you and James are married, you're the head of this household. James's money is your money. Spend it however you want—it doesn't matter even if you spend it all."

Sophia was deeply moved. She never imagined the Smith family would be so open with her. Her eyes reddened, and she didn't know what to say.

Without the Smith family, she really wouldn't have known how to get through the darkness after Mia's death.

Seeing Sophia's eyes turn red, Anais knew what she was thinking and quickly changed the subject, not wanting Sophia to continue feeling sad.

"Sophia, Mom came today because I want to discuss something with you."

Sophia raised her eyebrows and asked softly, "What is it, Mom? Is something wrong?"

Anais's expression looked a bit troubled.

"I know your foster mother's situation has put you in a bad mood recently, and your wedding has been delayed for quite a while now. Your father is getting a bit anxious."

"After all, he's older than me and his health isn't good. Out of his nine sons, only James hasn't gotten married yet."

Although Anais didn't spell it out, Sophia understood. Aiden was eager for them to have the wedding, but because Mia had just passed away, no one dared bring it up.

Sophia smiled gently.

"Mom, actually James and I went to Emberlyn, and I've come to understand some things. When things are in the past, we should let them stay in the past. I can't just stop living my life because my mother passed away, right?"

"So you guys go ahead and arrange it. When do you think would be a good time for James and my wedding?"

Hearing this, Anais immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought coming here today to discuss this with Sophia would be difficult to bring up, but she never expected her to be so understanding.

"Sophia, how did I end up with such a wonderful daughter-in-law? I'm so lucky."

"Great, it's settled then. Once your father and I arrange your wedding, you two don't need to prepare anything. Just make sure you both show up on the wedding day."

Sophia felt like she was going to die of happiness. How could she be so lucky?

"Thank you, Mom."

Anais smiled faintly, then turned to look at James.

"You don't have any objections to our arrangement, do you? Well, even if you did, it's too late. It's already arranged. Your wife has agreed, so how could you possibly object?"

Hearing this, James looked completely helpless, as if he had no presence in this family anymore.

After saying this, Anais turned and left directly, looking excited. It seemed the Smith family was really going to have a big celebration.

James looked resentfully in the direction Anais had left, then complained to Sophia.

"What's going on? Ever since you married into our family, why do my parents only revolve around you? I was standing right here, and my mom acted like she didn't even see me."

Sophia couldn't help but laugh.

"How can you be like this? Are you even jealous of me?"

"Of course I am. Not only am I jealous of you, I'm going to be jealous for the rest of my life."

James gently kissed Sophia's forehead, looking at her adoringly.

Recently, everyone in the Smith family had been busy with James and Sophia's wedding, while James was busy helping Sophia manage the company.

Out of everyone, only Sophia was the most relaxed and carefree.

Every day she went shopping, bought bags, and had snacks with Evelyn.

This day, she and Evelyn were strolling down the street when they saw a clothing store in the mall. The store's designs were very unique, and Sophia immediately spotted an outfit she liked.

"Excuse me, how much is this outfit?"

The store employee heard her and quickly came over, saying softly, "Miss, this outfit is eighty thousand dollars. There's only one piece like this in all of Emerald City, and the size happens to fit your figure perfectly."

Evelyn looked it over and then said, "Sophia, I think you'd look amazing in this."

Sophia nodded in agreement.