Chapter 271

Chapter 271

On the other end of the line, Zephyr could feel Sawyer's reluctance radiating through the phone. It made him practically giddy. He loved forcing people into corners, watching them bow their heads to him when they had no other choice.

Sophia tugged at Sawyer's sleeve, her voice dropping to a pleading whisper. "Sawyer, Mr. Sinclair already solved the school problem for Elijah and Eloise. You really misunderstood him—he's not a bad person!"

After the siblings went back and forth a few times, Sawyer finally forced out a grudging "I'm sorry." The whole process had Zephyr riding high.

Of course, he remembered to keep up appearances in front of Sophia, so he didn't push Sawyer too hard. After a few magnanimous words about letting bygones be bygones, he hung up.

Sawyer let out a relieved breath and turned to Sophia with confusion written all over his face. "Is this really going to work?"

He wasn't the type to be unreasonable. Last night, after realizing he'd acted on impulse, Sawyer had already prepared himself to apologize to Zephyr and offer compensation. But Sophia had insisted he needed to put on a show of reluctance.

Meeting Sawyer's gaze, Sophia smiled and nodded. "Trust me, Sawyer. His personality is easy to read."

Normal people wanted sincere apologies from those who'd wronged them. Zephyr wasn't normal. He got off on watching people squirm.

Just then, Eloise appeared in the hallway, peeking around the corner like a curious little kitten.

Sophia waved her over, and Eloise spread her arms wide, flying into Sophia's embrace like a little swallow.

"Mommy! Are Elijah and I going to a new school?"

Excitement bubbled in Eloise's voice. The ordeal at her last school seemed to have left no shadow on her at all.

Sophia stroked Eloise's soft, silky hair and asked gently, "Does Eloise still like school?"

The last time she'd asked the twins this question, Eloise had answered with an enthusiastic yes—she loved playing with other kids. Elijah hadn't objected either, though his attitude had been less than enthusiastic. If not for wanting to stay with Eloise and protect her, Sophia suspected Elijah would have chosen not to go at all.

With that thought, Sophia pulled Eloise onto her lap, pressing their foreheads together and rubbing gently, like two cats bumping heads. "Tell Mommy the truth, okay?"

Eloise's little mouth pursed. Clearly, she'd just swallowed back something less than honest.

"Mommy, if I tell you the truth, you won't scold me, right?"

'Scold'? The word actually startled Sophia.

Sawyer looked equally shocked. He quickly jumped in. "Eloise, when has your mommy ever scolded you? Has someone been talking bad about your mommy to you?"

Even though Eloise wasn't in school right now, the little girl interacted with plenty of people every day—not just Cruz, Nolan, and the other bodyguards, but also her private art and music tutors. Plus, Eloise loved going out and had met quite a few people.

With so many people around, it was entirely possible some ill-intentioned adult had tried to drive a wedge between the little girl and her mother. That kind of behavior was seriously messed up and needed to be nipped in the bud immediately.

Eloise picked up on how seriously both Sophia and Sawyer were taking this. She straightened her little back and answered solemnly, "Nobody said anything bad about Mommy. I just think I did something wrong, and Mommy might scold me for it."

Then, without waiting for Sophia or Sawyer to press her, she opened her little mouth and spilled everything in one go.

Turns out, Eloise loved interacting with people—not just playing happily with others, but also teaming up with Elijah to teach people lessons! For example, back at Sky Cloud Kindergarten, Eloise had quickly sensed that Orion wasn't a good kid. So she'd deliberately given him an opportunity to make trouble, then she and Elijah had struck back at Orion, his awful mother, and the terrible teachers together.

Even though they'd had to leave Sky Cloud Kindergarten in the end, Eloise wasn't the type of kid who needed a sense of belonging. She loved new environments. She looked forward to them!

After hearing Eloise's confession, Sawyer stared at Sophia in shock.

He'd known for years that Sophia's twins had exceptional IQs. But through all their time together, he'd thought only Elijah was a bit out of step with other kids. Eloise had seemed like a total sweetheart angel.

Now it turned out this little angel was basically a sweet-faced schemer! Sawyer couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

Sophia's reaction was much calmer. She continued gently, "Can Eloise tell Mommy what you think you did wrong?"

Eloise tilted her little head, thinking for a moment, then said to Sophia, "It's wrong to tempt people into doing bad things. Even if they're bad kids, it's still wrong."

Sophia gave her daughter's head an approving pat. It was a good thing Eloise had this kind of awareness!

High-IQ kids were actually incredibly difficult to raise. They were smarter than their peers—sometimes smarter than adults. They could grasp the dark side of society way too early and could easily slide toward antisocial tendencies. Strong guidance was essential.

Sawyer was even more stunned. He muttered, "Oh my God. Eloise is only five and she already understands that entrapment is wrong!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Eloise looked at him in confusion. "What's 'entrapment'? Are you going fishing? Can I come with you?"

Seeing the little girl's excited face, Sawyer couldn't help but laugh. He felt a wave of relief.

Good. At least he hadn't been completely crushed by a five-year-old!

Sophia pinched her daughter's cheek and promised they'd all go fishing by the river on Sunday afternoon. Only then did Eloise skip back to her room, satisfied.

As Sophia prepared to contact the director at Esriel Preschool, Sawyer asked worriedly again, "Sophia, do you really trust that Zephyr guy?"

His impression of Zephyr was terrible. Men understood men, and guys like Zephyr were the type other men despised most!

Sophia smiled. "Not really. I trust my son and daughter more."

Sawyer's brow furrowed slightly. He sensed there was more behind Sophia's words, but seeing that her call had already connected, he didn't interrupt. Instead, he headed to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

After spending a few minutes finalizing the enrollment details, Sophia posted a photo of the preschool to her social media without any caption. But she was confident Victoria would see it through the burner account she used to spy on her.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes after Sophia posted the photo, Victoria saw it through her fake account.

There was a saying that had circulated online: the greatest revenge on someone is to ignore them. But Victoria completely disagreed with that. She refused to ignore Sophia. She wanted to know what that bitch was up to so she could seize every opportunity to make her life miserable.

Ignore someone you hate? What was the difference between that and self-delusion?

This time, though, Victoria still couldn't find a good opportunity to strike back at Sophia. Instead, the photo of that preschool just pissed her off even more!