Chapter 119 Painful Revelations

Chapter 119 Painful Revelations

Sofia was completely exasperated by Kate's calm reaction.

She pressed her hand against her forehead, her earlier cool demeanor completely gone, replaced by gritted teeth and frustration.

Then, they moved from the café to a nearby bar.

When Kate sat down, she looked confused, while Ethan was already resigned to the inevitable. Perfect—these two would definitely be drinking soon, and it would be another day of taking care of a drunk Kate.

Sure enough.

"Having coffee with you is boring. Let's drink and talk," Sofia declared.

Kate shrugged. "Fine."

Even Ethan had to laugh at how readily she agreed. Ethan closed his eyes and smiled in resignation, while Kate began her first drink.

The two women stopped discussing Elizabeth and just kept drinking. Somehow, as they drank more, they ended up with arms around each other's shoulders, suddenly acting like old friends.

"Sofia, tell me, what was really going on between you and my mom? Come on, I'm curious," Kate said, swaying her glass unsteadily.

Sofia broke into a foolish grin that even the usually composed Ethan found hard to watch.

"Now that's a long story."

Indeed, their conversation lasted over an hour.

It began when Sofia was eighteen. Back then, she and Elizabeth were famous beauties at their school, adored by many young men. But neither of them was interested in any of their admirers. At one point, people even speculated they might be lesbians. However, these two beautiful women eventually had a falling out over Clarence.

Sofia met Clarence by chance while accompanying her parents on a business trip abroad. She fell for him at first sight, but Clarence was completely cold toward her. At that time, she didn't know anything about his background and assumed he was just an ordinary person. She went to great lengths trying to win his attention.

Sofia clinked her glass against Kate's, her tongue already a bit heavy but her eyes surprisingly bright, like two flames refusing to be extinguished.

"I chased after him for a whole month," she said.

She gulped down a large mouthful of whiskey, her throat making a heavy swallowing sound. "For that entire month abroad, I found every possible way to stick close to him, to please him. And the result?"

Kate's head was spinning too, but she still followed Sofia's story eagerly. "What happened?"

As she asked, Ethan was quietly diluting her drink with water beside her.

"He told me he was in love with someone else, but I didn't give up. I still kept finding reasons to see him. Then one day, I suddenly discovered that the person he loved was your mother!"

Sofia slapped the bar counter, her voice suddenly rising, drawing glances from nearby patrons. Ethan smiled apologetically at the onlookers and pulled both women toward a more secluded corner.

Sofia continued without caring about the attention.

"Then one day, your mother came to find me. She paused for a long time before finally looking up at me and saying... saying she was pregnant."

Suddenly pregnant?

Kate's pupils dilated, and her glass trembled in her hand, spilling alcohol over her fingers without her noticing.

"My mom was pregnant? Then... then whose child was it?"

"Clarence's, of course!" Sofia let out a bitter laugh and took another drink.

"My mind went completely blank at that moment. I thought she was joking. But reality is that absurd. I never told your mother I was pursuing Clarence because I wanted to surprise her after I succeeded. But I always knew she had a good male friend abroad, and by some twisted coincidence, it turned out to be the same man."

She paused, her fingers squeezing the neck of her glass tightly, her voice growing more bitter.

"Do you know how that feels? It's pure heartbreak. The man I loved but couldn't have had gotten my best friend pregnant."

Kate was completely stunned, unable to make sense of it all.

If that was the case, then Elizabeth should have loved Clarence, so why did she end up with Richard? Was it because of Sofia?

She was so drunk that she'd forgotten to trace back her own identity in all this.

Sofia's words had essentially confirmed that Kate was Clarence's daughter, but she overlooked this revelation.

Instead, she asked, "Did my mother love Clarence?"

Sofia shook her head firmly. "No. They were drugged and that's how they ended up together. Afterward, your mother left early, and Clarence was unconscious for a long time because he'd been given too much of the drug. He didn't remember anything about what happened."

So that explained it!

"Is that why you and my mother had a falling out later?"

Sofia nodded. "Yes. After that, I went abroad and never came back. At the time, I thought I never wanted to see your mother again. But later I realized it wasn't her fault, and I decided to come back and compete for Clarence fairly. That's when I learned she had passed away."

Sofia let out an unhinged laugh.

"I was so angry! I was furious that she never told me she was unhappy, that she never told me about having a child. I was just... so angry!"

The more she talked, the more she drank, and Kate matched her glass for glass. This seemed to be hatred born from love. They drank until eventually, they were holding each other and sobbing uncontrollably.

Ethan stood by in silence.

There was gossip that Ethan was picking on these women. Having no other choice, Ethan called Milan to come help. Together, they each took one woman and brought them back to Ethan's mansion.

The moment they entered, the alcohol fumes coming off them made Penelope dizzy.

"Why are they so drunk? And why did you bring Sofia back here?" she asked.

Ethan had no time to explain—Kate was about to be sick.

He just asked his mother to find a room for Sofia, then quickly carried Kate to their bedroom.

Kate immediately bent over, and Ethan rushed her to the bathroom.

'I'm never letting her drink again', he thought.

"Drink! I want to drink more!" Kate declared suddenly.

Ethan was puzzled.

Was that a coincidence? How did she respond to what I was thinking?

"Don't try to stop me. I'm going to drink!" Kate insisted.

Ethan was at a loss for words.

"Fine, drink all you want," he conceded.

He turned to get her some tissues, but Kate wobbled up from beside the toilet.

She grabbed his sleeve. "Then drink with me!"

Ethan stumbled as she pulled him, half amused and half exasperated.

As he steadied her to prevent her from falling into the bathtub, he tried to placate her. "Alright, I'll drink with you tomorrow."

"No, I want to drink now," Kate pouted, pulling away from his hand and standing on tiptoe to reach for the rinsing cup by the sink, apparently mistaking it for a drinking glass.

But her foot slipped, and she fell straight into his arms.

Ethan caught her steadily, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. She no longer seemed interested in the cup but planted a kiss right on his lips, then grinned foolishly.

"Ethan, you smell so good."

Then she suddenly reached up and pinched his chin, her gaze unfocused but expression serious.

"Tell me! Did you use my body wash?"

Ethan's throat had tightened at her kiss, but her question made his mouth twitch in amusement and resignation.

Kate would flirt with him while drunk but then switch to nonsense halfway through. She was truly exasperating.

"Yes, I did. Who could resist when Kate's body wash smells the nicest?"

He had no choice but to continue humoring her.