Chapter 63 Drag Her Out
She was still hung up on the crown thing. Arthur narrowed his eyes.
Pretending not to catch her sarcasm, he asked, "You like crowns?"
Aria glared at him, but he continued, "If you want an antique crown, we probably won't find a suitable one here. I'll keep an eye on the auctions and pick out a better one for you."
"Is that so? Well, Mr. Grant better hurry up. After all, in half a month, you'll be using our joint marital assets to buy it for me."
Arthur fell silent.
The group visited several more stores afterward, returning with plenty of purchases, while Arthur followed behind swiping his card the whole time without batting an eye.The next morning, Aria was woken up by her phone buzzing.
She groggily reached for her phone and saw a message from Summer: [Did you and Arthur make up?]
Aria was confused and sent back a few question marks. Summer then sent her a link.
She clicked it open—it was the same news outlet from before, still the headline story, with a very eye-catching title.
#Grant Corp CEO Shops with Wife, Drops Millions—Marriage Trouble Rumors Debunked#
The photos were taken at the mall yesterday.
In one photo, she was holding Elizabeth's arm, with Arthur walking beside them, carrying several shopping bags.
In another photo, she was holding a handbag while Arthur stood next to her with her coat draped over his arm, the two of them leaning close together talking.
Aria couldn't even remember being that close to Arthur yesterday. They looked so intimate?
Looking confused, she went downstairs. Elizabeth was watching TV in the living room, while Arthur sat nearby reading a magazine.
"Aria's here?" Elizabeth saw her coming down and greeted her with a smile. "Come look, you two are on the news."
Aria walked over. Elizabeth pointed at the TV—the report showed the same content as on her phone.
"They got some great shots." Elizabeth nodded with satisfaction. "Now let's see who dares say you're getting divorced!"
Aria's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Elizabeth in surprise, as did Arthur.
They suddenly understood.
No wonder after leaving the hospital, instead of staying at the perfectly good estate, she insisted on living with them and going shopping at the mall.
Though her health wasn't great, she wasn't deaf or blind. She might not know they were actually planning to divorce, but she'd definitely heard the gossip going around.
So this news report was practically orchestrated by her.
And at the same time, it was a small reminder to them.
For a moment, both Arthur and Aria's expressions went through a thousand changes. Even if they wanted to explain, they didn't know where to start.
"Mom, these people just love making things up." Arthur simply pretended to know nothing and said with a smile, "What marriage trouble? There's nothing like that."
"Today they write this, tomorrow they'll say something different. It's all just to grab people's attention."
"Is that so?" Elizabeth said with a smile. "That's true. I could see you two were fine all along, but people had to spread rumors about divorce. Now it's good—the truth finally won for once."
Arthur and Aria exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away.
Grant Corporation.
Sophie felt like the whole world was laughing at her.
As soon as she walked into the office, everyone's eyes focused on her in unison. Those looks held sympathy, mockery, and schadenfreude.
It made her skin crawl.
She pretended nothing had happened and walked straight to her office, closing the door.
But she couldn't shut out the gossip outside.
Before she'd even sat down, someone whispered, "Hey, did you see the news? Mr. Grant took his wife shopping yesterday. They say he spent over ten million!"
"I saw it. The photos looked so loving. You think they might actually get back together? What's going to happen to our Director Smith?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Anyone can see that was just an act for Mr. Grant's mother. Don't forget about that crown he gave Director Smith! Isn't it obvious who weighs more in his heart?"
"I'm not so sure. If they were really just acting, why didn't they get divorced last time? Isn't he just keeping her as a mistress?"
"Exactly. And she goes around acting like the future Mrs. Grant. Doesn't even consider if she's worthy."
"Keep it down, don't let the director hear."
Sophie was so angry she felt dizzy. Taking a deep breath, she was about to call Arthur.
She needed to hear him explain in person what the hell was going on!
But the phone rang for a long time with no answer. She dialed again—still no answer.
Sophie stared at the phone screen and laughed bitterly.
Not answering her calls? Fine. In that case, she'd go there herself.
She had to see whether Arthur's promises to her still counted for anything!
She parked at the villa entrance, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.
Ann paused when she answered the door and saw her. "Miss Smith? What brings you here?"
"I came to see Elizabeth." Sophie smiled warmly. "I heard she was discharged from the hospital, so I specially brought some supplements."
She held up the gift box. Without waiting for Ann's response, she walked right in.
In the living room, Elizabeth was talking with Aria while Arthur sat nearby, still flipping through his magazine, occasionally chiming in. Hearing footsteps, all three looked up at once.
Seeing Sophie, Elizabeth's smile faded.
"Elizabeth, I came to see you. It's been so long—you look much better."
Sophie walked up to Elizabeth and placed the gift box on the table. "I brought you fish oil and protein powder. They're good for your health right now."
Elizabeth nodded, maintaining an elegant, polite smile. "Thank you. How are your parents?"
"They're well."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Sophie suddenly looked at Arthur. "Arthur, why didn't you go to the office today?"
Arthur replied calmly, "I wanted to spend time with my mother. If you have any work matters, you can coordinate with my assistant."
Sophie froze, her eyes gradually filling with hurt. "I see. You didn't even tell me. I called you twice and you didn't answer. I thought something had happened to you—you scared me to death."
"I didn't have my phone with me."
"I'm glad you're okay." Sophie said this while naturally sitting down on the sofa next to him, very close. "I saw this morning's news. Those reporters are so annoying, writing such nonsense."
Arthur's expression changed with warning, but Sophie ignored him and turned to Aria with a meaningful smile.
"Though Ms. Hall played her part well. The photos looked so real—if I didn't know the inside story, I would've been fooled too."
What "inside story"? What "fooled"?
Elizabeth's expression changed too.
"Sophie, what do you mean by that?"
"Elizabeth, I don't mean anything by it." Sophie quickly said. "I just think Ms. Hall's acting is really good. But then again, after three years as Mrs. Grant, she's probably used to faking affection, right?"
The air in the living room froze.
Arthur stood up immediately. "Sophie, you should go." Without another word, he grabbed her and pulled her toward the door.