109

109


Sophia stood near her desk with her bag still hanging from her shoulder. Some employees looked away immediately when she caught them staring. Others whispered quietly to people beside them. A few even looked uncomfortable.

Sophia frowned again. At first, she tried ignoring it. She just felt that she had to be overthinking things since she really wasn’t in a good mood in the first place.

But after several minutes, she noticed another person glance at her phone and then at her. This made her irritation slowly start building.

“What exactly is going on?” she muttered quietly.

She turned slightly, thinking of asking someone directly. Then suddenly her phone rang. She took out her phone from her bag only to see that it was a call from the H.O.D.

Her brows pulled together immediately.

Then she answered the call.

“Good morning, ma’am.”

“Are you in the building?” The H.O.D’s voice sounded calm.

Sophia blinked. “Yes.”

There was a short pause after she responded, like the HOD was trying to think of her next words.

“Come to my office.” She requested

Sophia frowned more. “Okay.”

The call ended and now, her uneasiness increased. She put her phone away and started walking towards the office.

As she passed people, she noticed another strange thing. Conversations seemed to pause and they were always looking away like they had something secretive they were talking about.

Sophia’s stomach tightened slightly as she knocked.

“Come in.”

Sophia opened the door and stepped inside. Her H.O.D was seated behind her desk. Her expression wasn’t an angry one but she looked serious.

Sophia then closed the door behind her.

“You wanted to see me?”

The H.O.D nodded. “Yes. Please sit.”

Sophia sat down quietly. For a moment, the woman looked at her before speaking.

“What happened between you and Jessica?” She asked, looking professional.

Sophia’s eyes widened slightly.

“Jessica?” She said in her mind.

Immediately, her mind went back to last night.

“How did she know? Did Jessica say something? Or report something?” She thought to herself.

Out of all things, she didn’t expect Jessica to be the topic between them.

“What do you mean?” She asked, her voice already giving out her confusion.

The H.O.D looked at her for a few seconds, then she slowly picked up her phone from the desk. She turned the screen towards Sophia but didn’t hand it over immediately. Her expression stayed unreadable.

“Before you answer me,” she said calmly, “I think you should watch something.”

Sophia looked at the phone. Her heart suddenly started beating harder, although she didn’t know why she was feeling that way in the first place when she didn’t do anything wrong.

The H.O.D finally stretched the device towards her. Sophia looked between her and the phone before accepting it slowly. The screen already had a paused video open.

Sophia looked at the thumbnail. Immediately, her blood ran cold. The video showed part of the Sterling mansion compound.

“Why is there a video of this on the internet?” She thought to herself.

Sophia stared at the phone in her hands while her heartbeat slowly became louder in her ears. For a short while, she didn’t even press play. Her eyes practically stayed on the caption for like forever.

“SOPHIA STERLING IS NOT A GOOD FIT FOR DAMIEN STERLING. SHE HAS NO EMOTIONS OR CARE FOR ANYONE!”

Her fingers tightened around the phone. Slowly, she looked lower. There was a text attached beneath the video. And the moment she started reading, her face slowly lost color.

According to the post, Jessica claimed she had been invited over to the Sterling mansion after becoming close to Sophia at work. She wrote that everything had been fine until Damien came home.

Then she claimed Sophia suddenly became uncomfortable and insecure.

Jessica wrote that Sophia had thrown her out of the mansion late at night because she was afraid her husband would pay attention to another woman.

She described herself as embarrassed and humiliated. She said she had only wanted friendship, then she added another line to her story.

“I never expected someone with so much to still be so threatened by ordinary people.”

Sophia felt like her chest had gone hollow. Still, she scrolled further as she noticed that comments flooded the post.

“Wait… she did that? That’s embarrassing.”

“I thought Sophia Sterling was classy. Imagine throwing someone out at midnight because your husband came home.”

One comment made her stomach twist.

“I admire Sophia but if this is true, that’s disappointing.”

Another said, “Rich people always think they own everyone.”

Sophia stared at the screen. Her eyes burned and her throat felt like there was no space anymore. Then suddenly she put the phone down on the desk.

“She lied.” Her voice came out emotional and sharp.

The H.O.D looked at her quietly and Sophia shook her head immediately.

“She lied.” She repeated with her eyes filled with tears. “That’s not what happened.”

The H.O.D folded her hands while Sophia swallowed and forced herself to continue speaking.

“She tried to seduce my husband. She went into his room at night.” The H.O.D’s brows shifted slightly when she heard that but Sophia continued anyways. “When she got caught, she left herself. Nobody chased her out.” She defended herself calmly.

“She really lied about what she posted on the internet.”

The H.O.D stayed silent for a few moments before speaking calmly as this was a situation she had to be wise in her speech.

“I’m not saying I believe the post. But right now, that story is already circulating. And because your name is tied to the company, this affects us too.”

Sophia slowly sat straighter because it looked like the H.O.D was about to speak words that Sophia wasn’t prepared for.

“There is a board meeting tomorrow morning. If there’s no proof that disproves this before then, there is a possibility you may be let go.”

Sophia’s eyes widened. For a moment , she forgot how to breathe.

“…Wh?”
The H.O.D looked uncomfortable now.

“The concern is public reputation.”

Sophia stared at her.

She couldn’t process it.

Fired? For something she didn’t even do? Her fingers slowly curled into fists. And suddenly she realized—
Jessica hadn’t just betrayed her. She had planned to destroy her.

“You should understand,” the HOD continued. “And I think the company might be the least of your problems with this post going viral. Hoping it isn’t affecting your husband either.”