Chapter 188

"What do you mean? Miss, make yourself clear."

She stood up, eyeing the woman in front of her warily.

The woman sensed her wariness and gave her a friendly smile.

"Hello, I'm Isolde Porter. My relationship with you is, well, your biological mother is my aunt. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Sophia was thunderstruck. She stood there in a daze, taking quite a while to process what Isolde had just said.

Then she shook her head, her brow furrowing slightly.

"I don't know what you're trying to achieve by coming here and telling me all this nonsense. I won't believe you. Please leave now."

Her voice was trembling, clearly affected by what Isolde had said.

Isolde remained completely calm, still wearing that kind smile. She turned and pointed to the man standing at the door.

"That's my brother, Jagger Porter. If you don't believe me, I can show you a photo. Once you see it, everything will make sense."

Sophia wanted to refuse, but when she saw the determination in Isolde's eyes, she suddenly wavered.

"Fine, I'd like to see what kind of photo could make me understand all this."

What could make her understand who she really was?

Isolde didn't waste any time. She took out her phone, unlocked the screen, and immediately went into her photo album.

After scrolling for just a moment, she found the photo and held it out to Sophia.

"This is my aunt, your biological mother. Take a look at the photo, maybe you'll recognize her."

Sophia's trembling hand took the phone.

The photo showed a woman standing in front of a luxurious, grand villa, smiling. Nothing else in the photo shocked Sophia—except for one thing: the woman in the photo had a face that was eighty percent similar to her own.

"Is... is what you're saying really true?"

It took Sophia quite a while to process this news. She looked up at Isolde.

"Yes, Ms. Brown. You've seen the photo. My aunt looks exactly like you. I know my brother and I showing up like this is pretty sudden, but... we've been looking for you for a long time."

For the next half hour, Sophia felt like she was living in a dream as she listened to Isolde tell her about her mother.

Isolde and Jagger were very kind. They could tell that Sophia might not be able to accept all this right away, so they didn't push her to accept it immediately. Instead, they gave her plenty of time to process everything.

"Ms. Brown, take your time. This is my phone number. I'll leave it with you, and you can call me anytime. I'll keep my phone on."

Isolde wrote her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it over, thoughtfully making all the necessary preparations.

"Ms. Brown, we won't tell the family that we've found you. If we told them, they might pressure you to come back. Your career is taking off right now. If you don't want to acknowledge us, that's fine too. It's all up to you."

Sophia blankly took the paper she was handed over. After a moment, she looked up at Isolde, her voice somewhat hoarse.

"Then where... where is she now?"

The smile on Isolde's face froze. She didn't rush to answer, turning to glance at Jagger.

Wordless silence spread through the room. Sophia suddenly understood. She looked at Isolde, her tone tinged with bitterness.

"Just tell me the truth. Is she... is she still alive?"

Isolde gently shook her head.

Sophia sat alone in the dressing room all afternoon. Isolde and Jagger had long since left. They had thoughtfully closed the door and told the people outside not to disturb her.

She held her forehead, trying her best to process the sudden news in the modest-sized dressing room.

Wave after wave of explosive information poured into her ears. Sophia felt her mind going numb, unable even to process the most basic information.

Along with this came waves of pain from her heart—emotions that kept surging up after learning that her mother had died in sorrow.

Sophia's nose tingled, her tear-filled eyes blinked, and tears flowed down without warning. She immediately raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face.

She didn't leave the dressing room until nearly evening. Matthew was standing at the door. He had come at some point, neither knocking nor disturbing her, just quietly waiting outside.

"You're out."

Seeing Sophia emerge, Matthew immediately went up to her, his handsome face full of concern.

"What's wrong? Wasn't today's performance a success? Did you run into some trouble? Tell me, I'll do my best to help you solve it."

Sophia shook her head gently. She looked up at Matthew.

"Do you know Jagger Porter and Isolde Porter?"

Matthew was taken aback, not expecting her to ask this, but he still nodded.

"I know them. They're the son and daughter of the Porter family. Why? Are they giving you trouble? Or... that shouldn't be right. You shouldn't have any connection with them. Are they causing you problems?"

Sophia's heart tightened. She shook her head.

"No, they're not causing me trouble. They... just came to see me. Matthew, I think I know who my biological mother is."

Matthew instantly understood why Sophia looked so sad. Combined with her mention of the Porter family, he figured everything out almost immediately.

Sophia's eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.

"They suddenly came to find me at noon today and told me that their aunt is my biological mother... I, I really can't handle this... I don't know what to do anymore."

Her tone was full of helplessness. Matthew's heart ached. He immediately stepped forward and gently pulled her into his arms, his movements soft and tender.

"It's okay, I'm here, I'm here. Why would they be so sudden and so hasty about this? Without any paternity test, how can they prove their aunt is your biological mother?"

Sophia seemed to have found someone to lean on. She buried her head in Matthew's chest, her voice somewhat muffled.

"Matthew, I don't want to believe it's true either, but I... I saw the photo. In the photo, their aunt looks exactly like me. I... my mind is all confused."

Matthew gently stroked her hair, his feelings complicated.

"Don't rush. I'll go investigate this. Once I find out the truth, I'll come to you right away. For now, let me take you home to rest, okay?"

Sophia went home as Matthew suggested. She looked at the paper lying in her palm with Isolde's contact information on it. The handwriting was messy, written in haste.