Chapter 19

Hearing the voice, Jeffrey froze for a moment.

He knew Alice quite well and was very familiar with her voice—gentle and soft, speaking quietly and delicately. But this voice was cold and hard, with a touch of hoarseness.

He'd mistaken her for someone else.

Jeffrey scratched his head, feeling very embarrassed. He made an apologetic gesture toward the car, then looked at Benjamin as if asking for help: "This is..."

Benjamin didn't say anything, just glanced at Jeffrey. That look said it all.

Jeffrey immediately understood, and the expression on his face was quite something.

Oh my God, he'd mistaken Benjamin's wife for Alice, and said all those things right in front of her!

What he'd just said would have been a compliment if directed at Alice, but aimed at Benjamin's wife, wasn't that like stabbing a knife into her heart?

Although he'd never liked Benjamin's wife, saying such things to her face was really ungentlemanly.

"Um... Mrs. White." It took Jeffrey a while to come up with an appropriate form of address: "Benjamin and I are used to joking around, I spoke without thinking. Please don't take it to heart!"

Sophia sat in the car and smiled at him: "It's fine."

Seeing her smile, Jeffrey felt even more awkward.

If she'd been angry, he could have apologized properly, but her completely calm demeanor left him at a loss for what to say.

"I'll get going now, won't disturb you two any longer!" Jeffrey waved with an awkward smile: "I'll treat you both to make up for this! I definitely will!"

With that, Jeffrey got into his own car and quickly drove away.

Benjamin also got back in the car and instinctively glanced at her.

Sophia was very calm, as if the awkwardness had nothing to do with her, as if it was merely a thoughtless joke that she hadn't taken to heart at all.

She wasn't angry, wasn't hurt, didn't question him.

This wasn't right.

He knew her too well.

In the past, whenever anything involved Alice, although she wouldn't say anything, she was always deeply hurt. Sometimes when he woke up in the middle of the night, he could see her with her back to him, shoulders slightly trembling—clearly she was crying, but holding back any sound.

He knew she was hurting, but he never asked, because he felt she deserved it.

After all, he'd made everything clear to her before they got married.

But now...

"You're not angry?"

Sophia turned to look at him, somewhat puzzled and somewhat amused: "He just mistook me for someone else, what's there to be angry about?"

"What Jeffrey just said..."

"He was stating facts. In all of your eyes, Alice should be your wife. You told me that when we first got married."

Benjamin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found he had no way to refute it.

Indeed, during those five years of marriage, he'd never treated her as his real wife. His friends, his family, even himself—they all took it for granted that Alice was the one who should be standing by his side.

Which led to today's awkwardness.

Yes, all of this was how it should be, but somehow, Benjamin felt an inexplicable resistance, an irritable emotion rising in his heart.

As if a voice was saying: it shouldn't be like this, she shouldn't be so indifferent, as if... she didn't care about him at all.

"Can the car still drive?" Sophia suddenly asked.

The car could still drive, just with a dent in the door, looking a bit shabby.

They didn't speak the whole way.

After getting home, Benjamin gave her a guest list for a banquet two days away and asked her to arrange the event schedule.

The work was tedious and complicated, but it was something Sophia was used to doing.

She'd wanted to decline, but one name on the list caught her attention.

"Daniel Wilson? Is that the rising fashion star who was on the cover of fashion magazines, Daniel Wilson?"

Benjamin was handling emails and responded without looking up: "That's him. Last week, he terminated his contract with his previous company over a dispute. He's probably looking to sign with another company now."

Benjamin's tone was dismissive—after all, to him, Daniel was just an insignificant nobody. He only knew about Daniel because Daniel's last name was Wilson, and Daniel had a father in the mining business.

But Sophia's full attention was now on Daniel.

If she could recruit Daniel, she'd have even better prospects for next year's spring collection launch.

She had to go to this banquet.

Early the next morning, she took the card Benjamin had given her and went to a high-end custom dress boutique in the city center.

She'd been here before. The boutique had everything from international luxury brands to independent designers' works.

A staff member warmly approached her: "Hello, what would you like to see?"

"I have a banquet the day after tomorrow, just browsing for a dress."

Sophia walked in, her gaze sweeping over rows of dresses.

Despite living simply for the past five years, her fashion sense had never left her. When she wanted to dress up, she could be more dazzling than anyone.

As she walked, her steps suddenly stopped.

In the display window was a wine-red dress.

It was a long gown with a strapless design, the hem embroidered with intricate golden patterns that shimmered under the lights.

The most distinctive feature was the waist design—embroidered with thread in the same color scheme was a phoenix with spread wings, its tail feathers winding down along the hem, also gleaming with gold, gorgeous yet graceful.

Looking at that dress, Sophia was completely stunned.

Not because it was beautiful, but because every design element on this dress, including all those intricate details, was identical to a design sketch she'd drawn five years ago!

It was the year she'd just married Benjamin, something she'd drawn in her spare time.

Back then, she still had fantasies, wanting to show Benjamin her best side, to display her talent to him.

Imagining that he would be impressed by her talent.

She'd spent a day and a night completing that design sketch, then excitedly showed it to him.

He was reading a book at the time, didn't even look up, just gave a perfunctory compliment.

She didn't give up, sat right next to him, talking enthusiastically about her creativity and ingenuity, only to receive a cold response: "If you're really that bored, I can arrange some activities for you, but please don't bother me with these pointless things."

At that moment, Sophia felt like someone had poured cold water over her.

She'd left that sketch in his study, and at some point it disappeared. She never looked for it again.

But now...

"Miss, I'm sorry, this dress was custom-made based on a design someone brought in. A gentleman specifically asked us to rush the order, and he'll be coming to pick it up soon."

Sophia felt her throat tighten.

"That gentleman... what's his last name?"

The staff member thought for a moment and said, "I think it's White, Mr. White."

Sophia's mind went blank, goosebumps rising all over her body, even the roots of her hair seemed to stand on end.

Last name White.

Benjamin.

He'd specially commissioned this dress, using her sketch from five years ago?

She stood there in a daze, her heart in turmoil, various thoughts flooding in.

When did he get that sketch? Why did he make this dress? Was this dress specially made for her?

But back then, when she'd excitedly shown him the design sketch, he hadn't even looked up.

Could it be...

While she was lost in thought, she heard a voice from behind: "This is the finished product, even more beautiful than on paper."

The voice carried sweet, coquettish affection: "Benjamin, you're so good to me. I just casually mentioned I liked it, and you had it specially made."