Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Sophie had only been joking.

But Harper took it seriously.

She shook her head frantically. "No, no! Sophie, I... I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was, my friends—they make me transfer a million dollars to them every month. If I don't, they won't talk to me anymore."

Sophie frowned. This was the first time she'd heard of anyone maintaining friendships with money.

"My family is really wealthy, and Raymond gives me a lot of money every month. But I have so many friends! I did the math—I spend eighty million dollars a month on them. My family does control my allowance, though. Once I've spent that eighty million, I can only eat at the school cafeteria when I'm abroad."

"Sophie, you have no idea how awful cafeteria food is."

The car came to an abrupt stop at a red light.

Sophie didn't hear the rest of Harper's words.

She just turned and stared at Harper. "How much did you say you spend?"

Harper assumed Sophie hadn't heard clearly. "Eighty million."

Sophie took a deep breath.

She smiled. "Does Raymond know about this? Do your parents know?"

Harper lowered her gaze. "I don't have a mom. Raymond and my dad don't know."

This was the first time Sophie had heard that Raymond had lost his mother.

Sophie pulled out her phone. "No way. We have to tell Raymond about this."

This wasn't friendship—this was pure fraud!

Hearing that Sophie wanted to tell Raymond, Harper panicked. "No, no, no! You can't tell Raymond! Sophie, please, I'm begging you. Don't tell him. And definitely don't tell my dad or my grandfather! If they find out, they'll kill me."

Sophie's finger paused.

She put her phone back and turned to Harper. "You know who you gave all this money to, right?"

Harper nodded.

"Where are they now? Abroad or back home?"

Harper thought for a moment. "Probably still abroad. Last time I came back, I saw in our group chat that they said they'd be staying overseas for a while longer before returning."

"You have a group chat?"

Harper nodded.

Sophie held out her hand. "Give me your phone."

Harper complied.

Sophie opened Facebook and clicked into Harper's friend group.

The group was called "Cool Girls."

Seeing the name, Sophie rubbed her forehead.

She calmly opened the Facebook group and immediately saw several transfer records.

The person sending money was always Harper, while the recipients varied.

Sophie roughly counted the number of people in the group—eighty members.

Including Harper herself, eighty people total.

Looking at transfer after transfer, Sophie clicked on the basic information of these group members.

She took a deep breath, exhaled, breathed again, and exhaled once more.

Sophie looked up with a smile. "Want to come to my place for a bit?"

Harper was caught off guard by the question and felt a bit embarrassed. "Isn't that too forward? We just became friends and you're already inviting me home?"

Sophie tapped Harper twice on the head. "Don't overthink it. I need to get my brother to help you out."

Harper's eyes widened. "Your brother? How can he help me?"

Sophie didn't reveal much. "You'll see when we get there."

Harper nodded. "Okay."

Harper seemed lost in thought.

She lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her fingernails, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sophie, Andrew is actually a really good person. I know he seems like he flirts with everyone, but that's just his way of hiding his true self."

"He's like me—he doesn't have a mother either. His dad is extremely strict with him. When he was little, his father often..."

Before she knew it, Harper had said quite a lot about Andrew.

Sophie didn't interrupt her.

Not until the car stopped in front of a small villa.

Not until Harper suddenly realized she'd arrived at an unfamiliar place did she become aware that she'd said too much.

After patiently listening to everything, Sophie asked, "Do you have feelings for Andrew?"

The question made Harper freeze.

"I... I don't... I..."

Harper stammered.

Sophie immediately saw through her.

She reached over and ruffled Harper's hair again. "There's nothing wrong with that. It's completely normal. He's handsome and charming, and from what you've said, you two grew up together. It's natural that you'd develop feelings for him."

Hearing this, Harper's eyes reddened. "Really? But he doesn't like me."

Sophie looked at Harper seriously. "It's okay if he doesn't like you. He has the right not to like you, just as you have the right to like him. But regardless of whether he likes you or not, you're still wonderful. Harper, you'll meet someone who does like you. But whether you do or not, you need to live your life well. Do you understand?"

Harper's eyes widened as she stared at Sophie, unable to speak for a long time.

No one had ever told her these things before.

When her mother was alive, she'd told her that anyone who didn't like her was a bad person.

Good people would like her.

But her grandmother said that if someone didn't like her, it must be because she wasn't good enough.

What her mother said and what her grandmother said were complete opposites.

She didn't know whom to believe anymore.

She'd asked Raymond, and though he'd said something similar to Sophie, he'd never told her that no matter what, living her own life well was what mattered most.

Perhaps he thought he'd always be there to protect his little sister.

That her life would always be his responsibility.

But Raymond would never understand that what she really wanted was just a friend who could give her courage—not someone who'd protect her to the point where she couldn't do anything on her own.

"Sophie, you need to live your life well too."

Harper sniffled.

Sophie pinched Harper's soft cheek. "I will. And also, Andrew and I have nothing going on. Don't misunderstand."

Harper wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She sat up straight, patting her chest. "Sophie, I've figured it out. Since he doesn't like me, I don't want to like him anymore either. I'll meet someone who does like me. And even if I don't, I'll like myself. I'll live my life well!"

Seeing her like this, Sophie smiled. "That's right. That's the spirit."

Time passed without them noticing.

Henry leaned lazily against the car door, peering through the window. "Still chatting?"

The sudden voice startled Harper. She looked past Sophie to see who it was.

Henry had already opened the car door from outside. He smiled at Sophie. "Sophie, welcome home."

Harper looked at Henry.

He had ash-gray dyed hair and wore a sharp streetwear outfit—an oversized hoodie paired with cargo pants and Martin boots, giving off a casual, carefree vibe.

His hair was slightly messy in a nonchalant way.

His eyes were long and narrow with a slight upward tilt, and his lips curved in an ambiguous smile. "Oh, you brought a friend?"

Harper stared at Henry. She'd never seen a guy like this before.

The men who used to surround her were either classmates in school uniforms or executives in business suits.

Even Raymond had never been as vibrant as this person standing before her.

Andrew always wore trench coats—various dark-colored trench coats—or else white lab coats.

Sophie wasn't particularly surprised that Henry had dyed his hair and changed into streetwear.

After all, her troublesome little brother used to be the wildest guy on campus.

He'd tried all sorts of outrageous styles before.

"Perfect timing. I need your help with something. Come inside with me."

Sophie grabbed the hood of Henry's hoodie and pulled him along.

She also introduced Henry to Harper and explained Harper's identity to Henry.

The moment Henry heard that Harper was Raymond's sister, he bolted upstairs like a madman and came back down carrying all the anime figurines from his room. "Harper, come on, pick a few. They're yours."