Chapter 122 New Special Assistant
Sophie stumbled back to her office in a daze, her steps unsteady. The moment the door closed, she couldn't hold herself up anymore and slumped against it.
She slowly closed her eyes, her fingertips digging deep into her palms. She had never imagined that Arthur would be this ruthless to her one day, showing no consideration for their past relationship.
The whispers in the office, those fleeting glances—they all pierced her ears like countless needles, making her whole body tremble uncontrollably.
Her hands shaking, she pulled out her phone. Her fingertips were ice-cold as she found that person's contact and dialed, practically holding her breath.
The moment the call connected, her voice trembled, kept extremely low, "The thing I asked you to investigate in Iceland—any news?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then came a cautious and helpless voice:
"Not yet... haven't found anything concrete."
"Still nothing?"
Sophie gripped the phone tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her eyes instantly reddened, her breathing ragged. "It's been so long... what have you been doing?"
She had gone through so much trouble to fool William and send someone to Iceland to investigate.
She had to find Aria and that bastard child before Arthur did. If she found them first, everything would be different.
But if Arthur caught on...
If he found out she was also looking for Aria, then there would be no room left at all.
By then, not only would her people in the company be cleared out, but she'd lose her leverage at home too. She'd truly be left with nothing but the debt of gratitude holding her.
And if he discovered the problem with that debt of gratitude...
At this thought, she trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat breaking out on her back.
She couldn't panic.
She absolutely couldn't let Arthur find out.
She had to find Aria before he did.
Sophie forced herself to calm down and instructed, "Move faster. Something's happened on my end. I can't wait much longer, understand?"
"Okay."
After ending the call, Sophie couldn't control herself and slid down to sit on the floor, breathing rapidly. Right now, she was like a fish dying of thirst, desperately searching for water to survive.
Sophie struggled to pull herself together in the office. Her face was still pale. All she wanted now was to leave this suffocating place as quickly as possible.
Just as she turned the corner in the hallway, she collided hard with someone.
The other person's documents scattered all over the floor, but they showed no intention of apologizing. Instead, they immediately raised their voice, their tone sharp and arrogant, "Don't you watch where you're going? The hallway's this wide and you still manage to bump into me—did you do it on purpose?"
Sophie froze at the outburst and looked up at the other person. She went completely rigid, even her breathing stopped.
The woman in front of her—both her figure and the curve of her features—looked exactly like Aria from five years ago.
In an instant, Sophie's blood seemed to rush to her head, then freeze. She stared at the other person, her lips trembling slightly.
Seeing her silence, the woman became even more aggressive. As she bent down to pick up the documents, she shot Sophie a cold glance. "Next time, bring your eyes when you go out. Don't wander around the office being an eyesore."
With that, she walked off arrogantly, clutching her documents.
Sophie stood frozen in place, her heart pounding wildly. She grabbed a passing employee, her voice trembling as she asked, "That person just now... who is she?"
The employee glanced at the retreating figure and answered quietly, "That's the special assistant Mr. Grant hired these past few days. Mr. Grant really trusts her. Right now, several core major projects are all being handled by her."
Those words struck like a thunderbolt, making Sophie's vision go dark.
She later managed to find out more through indirect questioning.
Arthur had recently hired two new assistants at once—one surnamed Morgan, one surnamed Pierce.
Assistant Pierce only handled routine matters, doing basic support work.
Assistant Morgan was the woman whose features looked so much like Aria's, and Arthur's favoritism toward her was blatantly obvious.
He gave her core projects, important documents, and even his travel arrangements and private schedules—only she was allowed to handle them. He trusted her completely, without reservation.
No one in the company dared ask questions, but everyone could see it.
This new assistant was currently the person Arthur trusted most.
When Sophie learned this news, her heart sank to the bottom.
Arthur had quietly fired everyone connected to her, cutting off her escape routes. Now he'd found this woman and openly elevated her to a high position.
Judging from that woman's arrogant attitude just now, she wouldn't dare act that way without Arthur's tacit approval.
Arthur was using this method to tell her that without his permission, she was nothing.
Ha.
Sophie felt nothing but bone-chilling mockery and absurdity.
All these years, everything she thought she had turned out to be worthless in Arthur's eyes. With just a flick of his finger, he could take it all away, completely and utterly.
She wanted to ask him—what exactly was she to him?
Five years ago, though she had used the debt of gratitude to force him to agree, over these five years, she had always treated him sincerely. She really hadn't expected that at a time like this, he would use this excuse to cut off her escape routes, showing no consideration for her feelings, catching her completely off guard.
Sophie didn't know how she managed to get home.
Only servants were waiting in the living room. Seeing her walk in with a deathly pale face, Ann opened her mouth but didn't dare ask anything, quietly retreating to the side.
Sophie said nothing and ignored everyone, walking straight to sit on the sofa.
The living room was terrifyingly quiet, with only her sitting there motionless, her eyes vacant. She was waiting—waiting for Arthur to come home. She needed to ask him properly what exactly he meant by all this.
When Arthur came home, it was already very late.
Only one dim yellow lamp remained on in the living room. The light was faint, but it illuminated the figure on the sofa just enough.
Sophie stood up almost the moment he pushed the door open, walking straight toward him.
"Arthur."
Arthur didn't respond. He just frowned slightly, looking down at her, his tone flat. "What is it?"
Sophie's voice trembled. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
Sophie choked on those three words. She looked up, staring at him intently. "Doing what? Arthur, how long are you going to play dumb? You fired the people I recommended and hired an assistant who looks just like Aria. What exactly are you trying to do? Are you still hung up on her?"
Sophie's words carried deep grievance, but her grievance didn't stir even the slightest ripple in Arthur's heart. He still stood there, looking down at her, his expression indifferent, as if her grievance had nothing to do with him.
His coldness made her panic. Her throat tightened as she trembled out, "Why? Arthur, tell me—why?"