Chapter 190
"Chase, you need to make things clear today. The engagement between us was arranged by our elders without my consent. And when you found out about it, didn't you disagree too? Plus, you were flirting with Veda right in front of me."
"Now that I've married James, isn't that exactly what you wanted? What do you have to complain about?"
Logically speaking, after she married James, Chase shouldn't be making a fuss. After all, the one he liked was Veda, not her.
But Sophia could guess that Chase would come to complain because she knew Veda wasn't someone who would just let things be. Veda must have been pushing Chase to do this behind the scenes.
Even if he couldn't break up her and James in the end, Veda would at least want to ruin her reputation. How could Veda possibly let her have peace?
Faced with Sophia's sharp words, Chase didn't know what to say for a moment. Meanwhile, Anais was taking Sophia's side, so she now looked at Chase with a knowing expression.
"So that's what happened. Chase, you were crying and carrying on earlier but didn't explain things clearly. I couldn't understand what you were saying. Now that Sophia has explained it like this, I finally understand the whole story."
"So basically, even though you two were engaged before, you liked another girl and neglected Sophia. But Chase, that was wrong of you."
"Since you didn't like Sophia, you should have set her free. Now Sophia has found someone she likes, and they're together. Most importantly, the person she likes is James. Why can't you just be happy for them?"
Actually, Anais knew all these things inside out. When she secretly investigated Sophia before, she had looked into everything clearly.
Earlier, before James and Sophia came in, she didn't criticize Chase just to put on a show in front of Aiden.
Otherwise, it would seem like she was deliberately taking James and Sophia's side.
Hearing this, Chase got anxious. After all, Anais was James's mother and had no blood relation to him, so it was natural for her to side with James and Sophia.
But when Anais put it this way, it made it seem like he was deliberately being dramatic in front of Aiden just now.
And the way Anais phrased things made Aiden think Chase had been deliberately stirring up trouble.
Hearing Anais's words, Aiden looked down at Chase directly.
"Chase, is what Sophia said just now true? Actually, the one you like isn't the second daughter of the Brown family, but the eldest daughter of the Brown family, and you two have been together for a while now, right?"
Chase felt guilty. He never expected these people to know everything about his situation. Now he couldn't even make up a story if he tried.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he shouldn't have listened to Veda and come here to cause trouble. Now he was stuck and didn't know what to do.
"Grandpa, I just think that after Sophia left me, she could be with anyone except Uncle James. People's gossip is scary. If outsiders found out that Sophia was with me for a while and then got together with Uncle James, it would look so bad for our Smith Group."
Hearing this, James, who was standing to the side, narrowed his eyes slightly. He had thought this Chase couldn't cause much trouble, so he wanted to let Sophia handle it and stay out of it himself.
But now it seemed this Chase was really stubborn.
"Chase, I never thought you'd actually care about the Smith Group. When you were out there getting into fights, did you think about the Smith Group's reputation? After all, you're a member of the Smith family, and you're the eldest grandson of the Smith family."
"When you were causing trouble outside, you didn't think about the Smith family, but now that I'm married, you're suddenly concerned about the Smith family's reputation? Isn't that ridiculous?"
Whether it was Aiden speaking or Sophia talking before, Chase felt it was manageable. Although he was nervous inside, at least he could handle it.
But now that James spoke up, he suddenly couldn't cope.
Although James's expression was calm at the moment and his tone was flat without any sign of anger, as soon as James opened his mouth, Chase became extremely nervous.
"Uncle James, how long have you even known Sophia? Why did you rush into marriage so impulsively? I've known her longer. Sophia really isn't worth marrying."
Chase really couldn't understand. In his eyes, James had always stayed away from women. How did he suddenly become so attached to Sophia?
He had no idea what Sophia had brainwashed James with to make him take her straight to get a marriage certificate and marry her.
Hearing this, James's expression immediately turned cold.
"Chase, when did my marriage become your business to judge? Who are you to me? You need to understand your place. I'm your elder. Is this how you should talk to me?"
James's face darkened, and Chase was immediately startled. He frantically waved his hands.
"No, Uncle James, I'm not judging you. I just think we shouldn't both be fooled by the same woman. Otherwise, where would the Smith family's dignity be?"
James snorted coldly and glanced at Chase with contempt.
"Do you think I'm that stupid? Chase, let me tell you, any woman I choose is absolutely one of a kind in this world, irreplaceable by anyone else. So stop your nonsense in front of Father. Sophia and I will be having our wedding soon."
Chase got nervous. Once James and Sophia got married, Veda would definitely blow up. When Veda got angry, he really had no way to calm her down.
But now Chase grabbed onto his last bit of hope. He turned to look at Aiden.
"Grandpa, what do you think about this?"
He put all his hopes on Aiden. After all, Aiden was someone who really cared about the Smith Group's reputation.
Chase didn't believe that Aiden would really ignore Sophia's image of being fickle and unfaithful.
But when Aiden heard this, he showed a calm expression.
"Chase, since you and Sophia have no feelings for each other anyway, I think we should just let this matter go. After James and Sophia's wedding is done, I'll hold a wedding for you and Veda. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"