Chapter 39
Sophia's words piqued everyone's interest. Their natural love for gossip made them eager to watch the drama unfold:
"If there's any misunderstanding between us, we should just clear it up. We all know each other, there's no need to be so confrontational."
"Didn't your sister disappear three years ago? Were those rumors true or false? Is it because of the thirty million dollars that she doesn't dare come back?"
A flash of calculation crossed Sophia's eyes, but she quickly lowered them and put on a vulnerable look: "Nina, you clearly know the truth. My parents just didn't want to spread it around for the sake of our reputation. What did I do wrong that you have to drag me into this? We clearly came to you to custom-make a dress, but you deliberately said those things to humiliate me."
Nina looked at Sophia and laughed out loud: "You really know how to twist the truth. Are you taking advantage of Emma not being here to tell such blatant lies? Why don't you tell everyone here—you keep calling her your sister, but why did you call your so-called brother-in-law on his wedding day? Threatening to hurt yourself if he didn't leave his wedding to come find you? If you really liked him, why didn't you just go after him openly? Doesn't your fake weakness make you sick?"
Sophia's face turned from red to pale. She bit her lower lip, pretending to hold back tears: "Gregory, my sister, and I all grew up together. We were all close. Now my sister is the one who wronged Gregory. If there were something between him and me, it would have happened long ago. We're both women—what do you gain from spreading these rumors?"
Nina had underestimated how thick-skinned Sophia was. Looking at her confident expression, she was speechless: "I'm just stating facts. Why are you so anxious? Which part of what I said was wrong?"
Sophia took a deep breath: "Nina, I know you've always been close with my sister and always take her side. I won't argue with you. This is supposed to be a nice Crownlight Reception. I don't want everyone to be unhappy because of me. If you don't want to see me, I'll just leave."
She turned to look at me: "Ms. Wilson, I know when you first came back, you had some misunderstanding about me. I've apologized and made amends. I just hope we can get along peacefully. I hope you won't be influenced by others."
Before I could respond, someone spoke up for her: "I can see what's going on here. Nina, you're in the wrong. You're with her brother—Sophia is the one you should be supporting. How can you bully her like this?"
The speaker was Sophia's friend Stella Hall. The Hall family used to be close with the Brown family and had quite a bit of business together. There was even talk of an arranged marriage, but Stella was notoriously domineering, and Jasper was obsessed with pursuing Nina and had no interest in her, so the marriage never happened.
She wasn't speaking up for Sophia because they were close, but because she had a natural hostility toward Nina.
Nina glanced at her sideways: "If you want to defend Sophia, go ahead. I'm not interested. Come on, Emily, I'll show you around. Vivian specially sent out invitations; we should go thank her. I heard there'll be celebrity performances later, too."
Seeing that Nina completely dismissed her, Stella reached out to stop us: "Is the Crownlight Reception really open to just anyone? Without an invitation, you're just bringing people in randomly? If everyone did what you're doing, wouldn't it be chaos?"
Nina looked at her like she was an idiot, let out a cold laugh, and pulled me toward the entrance.
Stella became furious with embarrassment: "Don't you know what kind of people are here? Bringing in random people—what's that about? Vivian won't allow it. Stop right there."
She grabbed my wrist directly, gripping it hard. On my fair arm, red marks immediately appeared.
I didn't make any big moves, just reversed my hand and pushed lightly. She stumbled back two steps, twisted her high heel, and fell to the ground.
"Stay away from me, or don't blame me for not being polite." Not wanting to waste words with her, my expression turned cold, and I looked at her with contempt and disdain.
I really didn't take this kind of rich girl seriously.
She seemed shocked by my look, probably not expecting someone who hadn't said a word since entering to have such a commanding presence. But she couldn't lose face, so she frowned and shouted up at me: "Just as I thought—some country bumpkin from who knows where, and you dare to hit people. Security! Security! What are you doing?"
Sophia quickly stepped forward to help Stella up: "Stella, are you okay? Ms. Wilson has a bit of a temper. I apologize on her behalf."
Once on her feet, Stella immediately shook off Sophia's hand. The Brown Group was now a joke, no longer holding its former status: "So what if she has a temper? Does that mean she can just hit people?"
I looked at her coldly with a casual warning: "I also think this kind of reception shouldn't invite just anyone. You'd better leave on your own later."
Stella frowned at me: "What do you mean?"
"Vivian's here." Someone said.
On the staircase, a person in a blue dress slowly descended. After smiling and nodding at Nina, she looked our way, her gaze settling on my face, her smile deepening: "You must be Ms. Wilson, right? I've heard my dad mention you several times. I took the liberty of inviting you this time because I wanted to meet you, this legendary woman. I was worried you wouldn't accept the invitation, but I didn't expect you to actually come. Hello, I'm Vivian."
I stepped forward and shook her hand: "Hello, I didn't know Ralph had such a beautiful daughter. It's truly a pleasure."
The crowd looked at each other, no one expecting that Vivian Cook personally invited me. Whispers started:
"Didn't she just come back from abroad? How does Vivian know her?"
"Emily? Sophia, isn't she the Emily who was trending online, the landlord who wouldn't renew the lease with your Brown Group?" someone quietly asked Sophia.
Sophia's expression turned cold. She turned her head away without responding.
Stella watched us chat warmly, her face darkening. But she wasn't willing to be outdone by someone who just appeared: "Vivian, you don't know how arrogant she was just now. She even hit someone. People like that shouldn't be here."
I turned around, smiled at Vivian, and said nothing.
Vivian's eyes turned cold at her words. She met my gaze, curved her lips in a reassuring smile, then looked at Stella, her voice cool: "I saw some of what happened just now. The threshold for Crownlight Reception should indeed be raised. For example, people like you—you're not even in the top ten families in Emerald City. What a waste of my invitation. Now, are you leaving on your own, or should I have someone escort you out?"
Stella's face turned deathly pale. Everyone here was from wealthy families, and she considered herself part of their circle. If she were thrown out now, not only would she become a laughingstock, but the Hall family probably wouldn't be invited to such high-end gatherings anymore.
"Vivian..." She tried to salvage the situation.
Vivian's expression was cold: "Security."
Before security could be called, Stella looked up at me, gritted her teeth, held back tears that were about to spill, and turned to leave.
Vivian's gaze then turned to Sophia: "Ms. Wilson, is there anyone else you think doesn't belong here?"
Sophia's face instantly turned pale. Her hands unconsciously clenched, her long nails digging into her palms. She took half a step back and looked at me with pleading eyes.
I smiled slightly, my words light as they passed over her: "Everyone who came here is naturally Vivian's friend. If things became unpleasant because of me, I'd feel bad about it."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sophia visibly relax. My smile deepened as I turned my hand to clasp Vivian's hand on mine, linking arms intimately.
Kicking her out would be so boring. Letting her watch me stand above her like this would probably make her feel much worse inside.