Chapter 88
Amelia seemed frozen in place by James's warning, even forgetting to cry.
She stared blankly at James's retreating figure, her face drained of all color, leaving only a deathly pallor.
Her eyes, which had just been brimming with grievance and tears, now held nothing but bottomless venom. She glared at me as if she wanted to tear me apart alive.
I raised my eyebrows at her and turned to walk toward Indigo's room.
Indigo was already awake, leaning against the headboard, her face still a bit pale.
I walked over and held her hand. "Grandma, how are you feeling? Should I call the doctor?"
Indigo waved her hand and sighed. "I'm fine, just got upset for a moment."
"How did Amelia turn out like this?"
I lowered my eyes without saying anything.
Maybe Amelia had never changed. This was just who she was.
Indigo patted the back of my hand. "Sophia, I'm sorry you have to go through this."
"Indigo, I'm fine." I interrupted her. "Please rest well and don't worry about our problems anymore."
James came in, too.
Indigo looked at him and rolled her eyes dramatically. "You only have eyes for that Amelia. You don't even care about your own grandmother anymore."
James denied it. "Grandma, that's not true."
Indigo pressed on. "You didn't believe what Amelia said and bully Sophia, did you?"
I felt James's eyes on me. I lowered my gaze and said nothing.
James sighed. "Grandma, she lost her husband at such a young age and has to raise a child alone. If we don't take care of her, how will she survive?"
"And you know, if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here today. I owe her."
"I know she likes to play little tricks, but do you know why she's like this?"
"It's because she has no one to rely on. She's scared, so she resorts to schemes."
Indigo waved her hand. "You have your reasons, but I don't want to hear them."
"You want to take care of her? Fine. But you can't treat Sophia unfairly."
"Don't forget, Sophia is your wife."
James looked at me. "I know. I was wrong before. I won't do that again."
Indigo responded, "Both of you, leave. I need to rest."
I stood up and tucked Indigo in. "Grandma, rest well. I'll go now."
"I'm leaving too."
James quickly followed me and grabbed my arm. "I need to talk to you."
I shook off his hand. "I have nothing to say to you."
I quickened my pace and completely shook off James.
For the next few days, worried that something might happen to Indigo again, I stayed at The Smith Mansion.
Living under the same roof, I deliberately avoided contact with James, though it seemed unnecessary.
James was very busy, leaving early and returning late, sometimes not coming home at all.
Though we lived under the same roof, we barely ran into each other.
And Amelia, having been warned, became much more subdued and stopped causing trouble for me.
I didn't know if Amelia was injured and couldn't come down for meals, or if she just didn't want to see me, but she hadn't come downstairs to eat.
The servants had been bringing her meals to her room these past few days.
The atmosphere in the house became strangely calm, but it felt more like the eerie stillness before a storm.
Friday afternoon, I had no classes and returned to The Smith Mansion early to keep Indigo company.
After she fell asleep, I went downstairs to walk around the garden and used scissors to trim some flowers.
I heard footsteps behind me. Thinking it was a servant, I didn't turn around. "Just put the water on the table."
"Sophia, it's me."
It was James's voice.
I paused, put down the scissors, and turned around.
He stood a few steps away, still wearing his sharp suit, as if he'd just come from outside.
The evening sun fell on him, outlining his silhouette, but the emotion in his eyes—
Perhaps because he was backlit, I couldn't see clearly.
"What is it?" I asked.
He walked closer, his gaze falling on my dirt-stained fingers before looking away. "There's a party tonight. Come with me."
"What party?"
"Mr. Schmidt's birthday party." He paused and added, "Mr. Schmidt is a giant in the computer field. He once attended ZeroSpecter's online training course."
I remembered.
Alfonso Schmidt was quite eager to learn. During class, he kept asking me questions and even wanted to become my student.
Seeing his white hair, I politely declined.
It's not that I refuse to teach him my computer skills—he was just too old. I could be his granddaughter. The generational hierarchy would be all messed up.
I frowned slightly. "Can't you go by yourself? Or take your secretary or assistant."
I didn't want to appear with him in public, especially when our relationship was so awkward.
More importantly, Alfonso had taken my class. I was afraid he might recognize me.
"Mr. Schmidt doesn't like business socializing. This is a private birthday party. He only invited close juniors and some friends in the industry. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to bring an assistant."
James looked at me. His tone was flat but carried an undeniable meaning. "You're my wife. It's only right that you attend this party with me."
"Then why don't you just take Amelia?"
James picked up on something in my refusal. He stopped forcing me and adopted a roundabout strategy instead.
"I can only go because I've been getting along well with his grandson recently. I can't find ZeroSpecter, so I can only try to see if he can help me contact ZeroSpecter."
"As my wife, shouldn't you help me?"
Before I could answer, hurried footsteps came from the direction of the stairs.
Amelia came down quickly, holding up her skirt, saying delightedly, "James, you're back? I was just about to call you."
The swelling on her face had gone down. She wore a light pink dress with delicate makeup and her hair loosely pinned up. She looked much better than she had the past few days.
James looked at her, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. "What is it?"
"It's about Mr. Schmidt's birthday party." Amelia walked to his side and said softly, "I know Mr. Schmidt. We're quite close. How about I go with you?"
"If I go with you, I can also help persuade Mr. Schmidt to agree to work with us."
As she spoke, she glanced at me, a flash of smugness crossing her eyes, then quickly changed to a worried expression. "We can't keep dragging out the company's problems. We need to find a solution."
She pulled out a gold-embossed invitation and held it in front of James. "James, let me go with you tonight?"
James took the invitation, opened it, and looked at it. A hint of surprise crossed his eyes. "Why is your invitation different from mine?"
"Mr. Schmidt wrote this one to me personally."
James responded, "Why would he personally write you an invitation?"
Amelia's cheeks flushed slightly. "I was just lucky. A few days ago, I went to visit an elder and happened to run into Mr. Schmidt's grandson being chased by a stray dog near the park."
"The child was terrified. I just grabbed a branch and chased the dog away, then stayed with the child until his nanny came to pick him up."
"I didn't expect that child to be Mr. Schmidt's grandson... When Mr. Schmidt found out, he was very grateful. He knew I'd recently become interested in computers, so he was willing to communicate with me more."