Chapter 71
The phone was on speaker, and I could hear everything crystal clear in the car.
Before Sophia even finished speaking, Gregory instinctively looked over at me.
I kept my expression neutral as I glanced out the window. When Gregory looked away, I couldn't hide my grin. She was clearly in a bind - I just wasn't sure if she'd swallow her pride and ask for money.
"Are you out of money? How much do you need?" Gregory quickly responded.
Sophia's voice was hesitant: "I might need quite a bit, Gregory. You're the only one who can help me. Please don't ask questions - I just need to know if you can give it to me."
Gregory's voice was full of concern: "I can give you the money, I just want to know what happened. How much do you need?"
"One million dollars." Sophia's voice was still soft, with a crying tone.
"I made a small investment earlier and lost some money. I wanted to earn some money to help my family, but I lost everything, and now I owe a million dollars. Gregory, please don't tell my parents or my brother. I don't want them to worry. Our family doesn't have much money right now. You're really the only one who can help me."
Gregory didn't seem to doubt her story much: "Investments can go either way. Why didn't you talk to us before jumping into it? Give me that person's contact info, and I'll ask about the details."
Of course, Sophia couldn't provide the contact information. Her crying voice came through faintly: "Gregory, I really have no other option. If you can't lend it to me, that's okay... I'll... I'll sell my bags and see how much I can scrape together."
Gregory glanced at me beside him and coaxed her gently: "I didn't say I wouldn't lend it to you. I'm just worried you got scammed."
"Don't you trust me?" Sophia's voice was soft and weak.
"Fine, just send me their account info. I don't have that much cash on hand, so I'll have to transfer it from the company account for now. I'll need to balance the books later." Gregory sighed.
Sophia clearly didn't want him to ask for the account directly, but after hesitating, she had no better option and could only answer softly: "Let me ask then, see which account is convenient for him to receive the payment. Thank you, Gregory. Without you, I really wouldn't know what to do."
Gregory's voice was gentle with a hint of helplessness. "It's fine. Anything that can be solved with money is a small matter. Don't worry. When I'm done here, I'll come find you, and you can tell me the details, okay?"
Sophia's voice was obedient: "Okay, Gregory. I'll wait for you."
Anything that can be solved with money is a small matter? For Sophia, this was definitely not a small matter.
The call ended, and the car fell into an awkward silence.
Gregory cleared his throat: "It's Sophia. I'm betting she got scammed. What kind of investment makes her lose everything, plus rack up a million-dollar debt? She's just too naive."
I looked at him, showing no displeasure on my face, and went along with what he said: "Yeah, people who are too naive do get scammed easily. I think you'd better find that person and get to the bottom of it, and you should do it soon, before something else happens."
Gregory looked a bit uncomfortable, but he couldn't argue with what I said, so he just nodded: "I will get to the bottom of it. I thought you'd also think Sophia was lying."
"Also?" I was a bit confused.
Gregory sighed lightly: "When I was with Emma before, no matter what Sophia did, she always thought Sophia had ulterior motives. I don't know where all that hatred came from."
My eyes went cold for a moment, but I quickly smiled again, smiling as I said lightly: "I've noticed you're really contradictory. You keep saying you love Emma, but all you seem to see are her flaws."
Gregory quickly denied it: "It's not like that. I wanted her to be better, to be sunny and happy. She always craved family affection, but she shouldn't have been so obsessed with it. I..."
I raised my hand to cut off his explanation. Though I was trying hard to control myself, I couldn't help my disgust for him. If I listened any longer, I was afraid it would show on my face: "Forget it. She's missing now anyway, so you can do whatever you want without anyone talking. No need to worry so much. Go chase your happiness if you want."
Gregory still explained urgently: "That's not what I mean, Ms. Wilson. I'm just... it's hard to explain. Emma's like a part of me. I want her to walk tall, be kind, let things go... I just want people to see the best of her. I honestly just want her to thrive."
I laughed mockingly: "You're not looking for a lover. You're looking for someone who can match up to you. Or rather, when the Lopez family started paying attention to you, you already put yourself above her, thinking your kindness to her was charity, and not abandoning her was the greatest love. So what you can't let go of now isn't her - it's your own sense of greatness."
I got straight to the point.
At the beginning, the reason he and I grew closer was that he wasn't valued by the Lopez family, and I was unwanted by the Brown family. We could warm each other.
But as he gained status, attention, and everything he ever wanted, my small gestures of care became indispensable - like something he couldn't quite use but couldn't quite throw away either. Or maybe it was his carefully crafted image as the devoted, loyal type that kept him from stepping out of line. That's the real reason behind it all.
As for external factors, his parents knew the true identities of Sophia and me. They always thought genes were important. I ranked at the top and demonstrated exceptional learning ability across all areas, while Sophia was delicate and weak, with grades at the bottom. Although his parents weren't too satisfied with me, Sophia and I were still the better choice. Gregory didn't dare go against their wishes.
The car fell silent again. He stopped making excuses. I had exposed the contradictions in his words, and his expression looked awkward.
I smiled at him and gently placed my hand on his shoulder: "It's really no big deal. People are naturally self-centered. Emma was being pretty unrealistic about things. But hey, at least you had good intentions going into it, right?"
My smile was too bright, making Gregory a bit dazed for a moment. He turned to look at me, his eyes somewhat glazed: "Ms. Wilson, I think you might be right. You... understand me."
"Watch the road," I quickly reminded him, gripping his arm and pretending to be scared.
Gregory snapped back to reality and quickly adjusted the steering wheel, but he didn't pull back the arm I was holding.