Chapter 266

Chapter 266
That Jackson had developed feelings for Kenna didn't surprise Sophia. After all, the man before her had been a playboy for so many years, dating countless women. Kenna had both good looks and a good personality. It wasn't impossible for Jackson to have sparks fly on his end.

What surprised her was that Jackson had been thinking about Kenna for five years? When had he become such a devoted person?

Meeting Sophia's probing gaze, Jackson actually felt a bit guilty.

He raised his hand, pretending to check the time, then said to Sophia, "It's nothing. It's getting late. Let me drive you home! By the way, where are you staying now?"

Sophia had originally wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but the words were on the tip of her tongue when she changed her mind.

She still had other things to discuss with Jackson.

Jackson went to the parking garage to get his car. Sophia stood at the hotel entrance waiting. Though it was nearly ten o'clock at night, Emerald City had always been a city with a vibrant nightlife. The streets were bustling with people coming and going, cars flowing endlessly. It was just as lively as daytime.

A black Maybach business sedan sped past the street in front of Sophia. But not long after, the car backed up and stopped not far away.

None of this caught Sophia's attention, because Jackson quickly pulled up in front of her.

"Ms. Windsor, please get in!"

With his hands on the steering wheel, Jackson seemed to suddenly switch personalities. Not only did he use a new form of address for Sophia, his tone was somewhat upbeat.

Sophia could roughly understand why Jackson was acting this way. Supposedly, some men treated their cars as their "confidence." When sitting in the same car with a single woman, they got a feeling that the woman was on their turf, at their mercy.

She found it somewhat laughable. She casually opened the passenger door and got in.

When Jackson heard Sophia's address, he said, "You're not short of money now. Why not find a better neighborhood to live in?"

Though Sophia's current residence was in an upscale community, in Jackson's view, any neighborhood with housing prices below a hundred thousand per square meter was basically a slum!

Jackson's tone was pretentious. Though Sophia didn't like hearing it, she didn't call him out. Instead, she followed up on the topic. "Is that so? I'm still not too familiar with housing in Emerald City. Could I trouble you to recommend a few places, Mr. Rivers?"

While Jackson was thinking, Sophia added another condition. "After living in an apartment building with two kids, I've found that villas offer more freedom. Mr. Rivers, do you know of any good villa communities?"

After framing the criteria, Jackson mentioned the villa estate in the north district, just as Sophia hoped. "That community is really nice. I have two villas there. I go stay for ten days or half a month from time to time."

This villa district called Laurel Heights had very strict purchase requirements. Even if ordinary people had enough assets to buy a villa, they still needed a current owner to vouch for them before they could purchase. That was why Sophia hadn't chosen to live there from the start.

At this point, Jackson also mentioned the guarantee requirement, and magnanimously told Sophia, "If you need a guarantor, you can come to me."

She could tell Jackson was just being polite, but Sophia took him up on it directly. "Thank you, Mr. Rivers. I'll go to the sales office this Friday. I'll call you then."

Jackson had thought he'd regained his sense of superiority when interacting with Sophia, but in the space of one sentence, he was knocked back to square one.

"You, uh..."

Sophia waved her hand casually. "Focus on driving, Mr. Rivers. This isn't something you can be distracted from!"

Jackson had no choice but to act as a dedicated driver and take her to the entrance of her community.

Sophia didn't invite Jackson up. After a few not-too-warm words, she turned and left.

Watching that slender figure walk away without looking back, Jackson smiled helplessly. A different kind of feeling stirred in his heart.

After Jackson left, the car that had stopped in front of Sophia for a few seconds earlier quickly drove into the underground parking garage.

Zephyr sat behind the wheel, his handsome face cold, his expression quite frightening.

Though he and Sophia hadn't confirmed their relationship yet, Zephyr had unilaterally started treating Sophia as his woman! Now his woman had eaten dinner with another man, rode home in another man's car, and this man was one of his sworn enemies. How could he tolerate this?

Zephyr decided to settle accounts with Sophia!

He headed straight for the elevator in Sophia's building. His timing was perfect. When the elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors opened, Zephyr and Sophia came face to face.

Zephyr's appearance was slightly unexpected for Sophia, but she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and greeted him. "Mr. Sinclair, you're still up this late! Are you here to see the sales lady?"

Zephyr hadn't expected that at a time like this, Sophia could still joke around—no, wait. Maybe her subtext was that since he had the sales lady, he should also turn a blind eye to her business with other men?

He wildly speculated about the meaning behind Sophia's two sentences, gradually convincing himself.

But his heart couldn't accept it at all. How could men and women be the same?

After figuring this out, Zephyr put on airs. His face cold, he demanded icily, "Who were you just with?"

To catch Sophia off guard, he gave up beating around the bush and went straight to the point. Then he waited to see her panic.

But what Zephyr didn't expect was that Sophia wasn't flustered at all. Instead, she smiled and said frankly, "I went to meet Mr. Rivers from the Rivers Group."

Now it was Zephyr's turn to be caught off guard. She just told the truth like that? What was she thinking?

But he'd already adopted a confrontational attitude. At this point, no matter what, he could only steel himself and continue. Otherwise, if he backed down, it would be even harder to suppress her in the future!

So Zephyr still stared coldly at Sophia. "Meeting another man late at night? Do you even care about me at all?"

Seeing that Zephyr actually had the nerve to question her in the tone of a legitimate husband, the smile on Sophia's face faded.

She stared straight into Zephyr's eyes. Only after he couldn't take it anymore and looked away did she ask softly, "Mr. Sinclair, what were you thinking when you said that? Who am I to you?"

Zephyr's heart tightened. At this moment, Sophia actually looked somewhat aggrieved.

He took two steps forward and unconsciously reached out to touch Sophia's cheek, but she dodged him.

"Mr. Sinclair, I didn't expect you to say something like that! You think I'm wronging you by discussing business with the head of another company? Then let me ask—what cooperation have you reached with me? Or to put it more materialistically, what have you done for me?"