Chapter 58

Sophie worried Harper might be upset, but Harper showed no sign of displeasure. She held up the card high in the air. "It's from Andrew! Sophie, he sent you flowers."

Sophie studied her face, trying to detect any hidden emotion.

She observed for quite a while but found no change in Harper's expression.

Sophie had always been cautious by nature. Even though Harper seemed genuinely innocent, she maintained a degree of vigilance.

But it appeared she was overthinking things.

Harper's happiness didn't seem fake at all.

Henry, who had been working at the computer, immediately turned around when he heard Andrew's name. He looked genuinely surprised. "Since when are you two a thing?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Before Sophie could respond, Aurora walked in carrying a fruit platter.

Sophie was about to explain when Henry blurted out, "She's got a boyfriend now—from the Anderson family."

Sophie tried to cover his mouth, but it was too late.

Aurora looked shocked. She set the fruit platter in front of Harper, urging her to eat first, then pulled Sophie into another room and closed the door.

Aurora sat Sophie down, looking at her with utmost seriousness. "Sophie, you—"

Before Aurora could finish, Sophie interrupted. "No, Mom, Mr. Anderson and I are just ordinary friends. Don't read too much into it."

Aurora didn't believe her. She gripped Sophie's hand. "Sophie, your arranged match was also with someone named Anderson. Even though you didn't attend, your grandmother sent someone in your name. She was very pleased with the Anderson family and had people arrange an engagement party between you and the Anderson heir. When you left home, the Andersons sent people over. They'd never met you and were furious. Your grandmother was scolded by Mr. Joy Anderson for a long time because of it."

Aurora shared many details about the Anderson family.

But among all her words, one sentence stood out: "Sophie, if the Mr. Anderson you know—Andrew—is truly the Anderson heir whose engagement to you fell through, then his approach to you must have ulterior motives."

Hearing this, Sophie looked at Aurora. "Mom, you don't know him?"

Her mother regularly socialized with high society ladies. Surely the Anderson family had connections among them.

Aurora understood what Sophie was asking.

She shook her head. "I've heard this mysterious Mr. Anderson doesn't work in the family business. He went off on his own, though what exactly he does, few people in our circles know. The Andersons have locked down information about him completely. There's nothing about him online—no photos, no details. I even heard that once, when reporters came for an interview, Mr. Joy Anderson threw them out. He held a press conference and publicly warned that anyone who dared bother his youngest grandson would face severe consequences. After that press conference, no one dared discuss him again."

"There's an Anderson family member I'm quite close with, but she's extremely tight-lipped. I've tried several times to get information from her, but she won't reveal anything about him. I've also heard his whereabouts are very secretive. He generally doesn't attend Anderson family gatherings. But supposedly, Joy values this grandson tremendously. It's precisely because he values him so much that he's allowed him to be so willful these past few years."

"Sophie, if the Mr. Anderson you know is indeed this Anderson heir, you must stay away from him. Mom has a bad feeling about him."

Sophie took these words to heart. "Alright, I understand, Mom. I'll be careful."

Sophie's eyes narrowed.

She needed to test him properly.

Right after their conversation ended, Sophie received a Facebook message from Andrew.

[Ms. Rivera, do you like the flowers?]

Sophie asked her mother to leave first.

She sat on the sofa with her phone and replied: [Yes, the flowers are beautiful. Thank you.]

Andrew sent another message: [I'm glad Ms. Rivera likes them.]

[Ms. Rivera, I'm truly sorry. Friends came over today and I neglected you. Next time, let me make it up to you with a proper dinner.]

She stared at her phone.

She replied: [You're too kind, Mr. Anderson. But since you've brought it up, we can certainly arrange another meeting. When would you next be available?]

Since there was no information about Andrew online, she could only probe through their conversations.

Andrew hadn't expected Sophie to say such a thing.

He replied: [Tomorrow night at eight. I'll pick you up.]

Sophie typed on her phone: [Sounds good.]

As soon as she exited Facebook, another text message arrived: "Package delivery for you, wife."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. It was from her husband—the one whose face she still hadn't seen!

She didn't rush to reply. Instead, she dialed the number from the text.

But the phone was turned off.

Sophie then searched for the number on Facebook, but found no account registered with it.

In other words, she still had no way to contact her husband.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Her husband was far too mysterious!

Right—the package!

Sophie pocketed her phone and headed downstairs.

Before going down, she stopped by another room.

As soon as she entered, she saw Harper sitting next to Henry, both pointing at the computer screen.

Harper looked like she wanted to cry but was holding back.

Henry kept saying beside her, "What's there to cry about? Hold it in."

Curious about the commotion, Sophie walked over.

She stood behind them, looking at the computer screen. Her eyes turned cold.

The content was quite appalling.

Both noticed Sophie's presence.

Henry jumped up from his chair and moved aside.

Harper turned around, saw Sophie, and immediately threw her arms around her. Unable to control herself any longer, she burst into tears. "Sophie, they're so horrible!"

As it turned out, the friends Harper had been hanging out with had a separate group chat—one without her.

Every time Harper transferred money to these people, they would mock her in the other group.

"The idiot rich girl sent us money again!"

"I have to say, this moron transfers it very punctually every month—more reliable than my period, hahaha."

"Tell me about it. Well, what can we do? We're such charitable souls, willing to give this fool a little bit of friendship, haha, right!"

"Remember when we all schemed together to trick this idiot into thinking we were her best friends?"

"A few street thugs scared the fool half to death, and we played her saviors."

"I have to say, those street punks put on quite a performance. They scared our little fool so badly she wet herself!"