Chapter 305: Favoritism

Chapter 305: Favoritism

In that instant, Sophia froze.

Her understanding of Elowen was that of someone raised in high society—willful and proud.

If she looked down on someone, she'd use underhanded tactics, but she'd never get physical herself!

Feeling a gust of wind coming at her, Sophia realized that hesitating any longer would be disastrous. She raised her hand to block.

But another hand moved faster, grabbing Elowen's wrist. An angry voice demanded, "What are you doing?"

William?

Being protected by him again gave Sophia a surreal, time-displaced feeling.

But she felt no gratitude. Instead, discomfort stirred inside her.

She'd rather get hurt than accept his help.

"Are you okay, Sophia?"

William flung Elowen's hand away and looked down at Sophia, his eyes full of concern.

But to Sophia, it only looked hypocritical and laughable.

She stepped back, dodging his hand reaching to touch her. "I'm fine. Thanks."

A perfunctory thank you, devoid of any emotional weight.

Without giving him another chance to speak, Sophia turned to the resentful-looking Elowen.

"Ms. Seymour, I believe what just happened was an extreme reaction caused by emotional agitation. You don't want anyone to know about it, do you?"

Elowen's eyes widened slightly.

Because of Sophia, Lancelot already disliked her greatly.

If he found out she'd tried to hurt Sophia, she might actually get kicked out of the Clifford Group.

Despite her unwillingness, Elowen forced a fake smile. "That was just an accident. I'm sorry for startling Ms. Percy. You should head up—they're still waiting upstairs."

Sophia nodded slightly and walked into the elevator expressionlessly.

William stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Sophia, being with her isn't safe..."

"And being with you is?" Sophia jerked her hand away, her gaze cooling. "You're young but already getting dementia? Do I need to remind you one by one what you've done to me?"

William's lips moved as if to explain, but he didn't know where to start.

Finnian hurried over then, clear wariness on his face, positioning himself between William and Sophia.

"What a coincidence. We're meeting someone here too. Let's go up together."

Finnian pulled William into the elevator, keeping distance from Sophia, saying something in a low voice.

Though clearly dissatisfied, William didn't approach Sophia.

Elowen and Sophia each stood in separate corners—a three-way standoff.

When the elevator doors opened, Sophia was first out, walking quickly toward the private room.

Elowen moved even faster, practically running into the room.

Sophia raised an eyebrow but didn't compete with her.

She just didn't want to share space with William. It made her feel unsafe.

What she didn't expect was that seconds later, Lancelot walked out.

His shirt still showed obvious water stains, but he didn't care. He strode toward her quickly, his eyes like a hawk's fixed on William behind her.

"Are you alright?" After looking her over, Lancelot naturally pulled her into his protective range.

It felt secure, but Sophia felt it was inappropriate.

Especially with Elowen still there. If word got back to Lancelot's parents, who knew what they'd do.

The Brielle incident had already given her enough headaches.

"Mr. Clifford, I'm fine." Sophia raised her hand to push him away, but he tightened his grip, giving her no chance to resist.

At the same time, his low voice carried clear displeasure. "What, suddenly need to keep your distance from me in front of him?"

Who?

William?

They were divorced. Their relationship was beyond repair. What did she need to avoid?

Sophia stared at him with some annoyance. Deep in his dark eyes, amusement flickered.

"My shirt's wet. Come with me to change first, mm?"

His low voice was gentle, hard to refuse, even though his earlier words had irritated her.

But thinking of William nearby, she nodded.

Lancelot was about to walk away with her when William rushed forward. "Let her go!"

Lancelot raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhere between amused and mocking. "Mr. Howard, in what capacity are you making this demand?"

"You're divorced. As her ex-husband, you have no right to interfere with who she's with."

"Besides, you have a fiancée. Interfering in others' business now—what are you trying to do?"

"Addicted to cheating during marriage? Never happy with who's beside you, always wanting someone else?"

William's betrayal was the most unacceptable part of their marriage for Sophia.

Bringing it up now, William's face visibly paled.

But he still forced himself to speak. "Sophia, I had no choice then. Delta said she was pregnant with my child. I could only get engaged to her, but you're the only one in my heart..."

"Enough!"

Sophia cut him off. "You never touched her. How could she threaten you?"

One sentence made his face go white. She continued without caring. "William, we're in the past."

"I don't want any relationship with you anymore. I'm not interested in anyone around you either."

"As for whether you had a choice—that has nothing to do with me."

Her face turned cold as she pulled Lancelot along. "Where are we changing?"

William tried to follow, but Everard, leaning by the door, blocked him. "Mr. Hughes."

He narrowed his eyes, looking at William with hostility. "You came here to wreck my place? Daring to have someone push my sister?"

When Finnian saw Sophia, his heart had sunk.

Every time William encountered her, he became uncontrollable.

He'd just barely talked him into restraining himself temporarily. Now how had things gone wrong with Everard too?

Finnian's head was splitting, but he kept a smile on his face.

"Mr. FitzRoy, how could that be? Your sister..."

Everard pointed at the aggrieved-looking Elowen beside him. His face held a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. Instead, there was obvious coldness.

"Everyone in the circle knows Elowen is someone I care for."

"Now you bring someone who laid hands on her. Are you trying to intimidate me?"

How would they dare?

Vivian clearly wanted to move against the Hughes Group. To oppose her, Finnian naturally needed to ally with her greatest enemy.

The Howard family couldn't escape either, so he and William had reached an agreement to cooperate with Everard.

But before cooperation even began, they'd offended him?

Finnian deeply regretted bringing William along.

Still, he kept smiling. "A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Mr. FitzRoy, we thought Ms. Seymour was about to strike, so we overreacted a bit."

"So what if she strikes?" Everard sneered. "She's the Seymour family's heiress, with the FitzRoy family backing her. When did wanting to hit someone become forbidden?"

His casual words made Sophia's heart suddenly clench as she'd just opened the door.

Everard and Elowen had grown up together. He treated her like a real sister, biased to the point where even when she was wrong, he'd take her side.

It was human nature. But Sophia felt awful.