Chapter 77 Fans' Actions, Idols Pay
Flynn felt uneasy under the intense stare, his hand on his knee curling into a slight fist.
He hesitated before speaking, "I know Isabella's fans messed up, but this whole thing blew up online. Isabella's public image is trashed, and a ton of fans are ditching her..."
Flynn grew more agitated as he spoke, his eyes filled with distress when he mentioned Isabella.
"Am I Isabella's mom?" Sophia interrupted him.
Flynn froze, not quite getting what she meant.
Sophia let out a cold laugh and showed her burned arm. "Even if Isabella didn't do this herself, she's directly involved. You know celebs often get blamed for their fans' actions, right?"
Flynn was shocked when he saw the burn marks on her arm. "This... what happened?"
"Can't you see? It's a burn."
Sophia lowered her gaze, her fingertips lightly tracing the wound, a faint smile on her lips. "If I hadn't dodged in time, it would have been my face. Did Isabella not tell you about this?"
Flynn hadn't realized Sophia was hurt this badly. He had watched a video before coming here, showing a woman charging at Sophia and Sophia knocking her down without even flinching. So he assumed Sophia wasn't injured.
But now, seeing the bright red burn, Flynn couldn't fool himself anymore.
If that scalding water had hit Sophia's face, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
No wonder the White Family insisted on calling the cops and making that woman pay. Sophia was genuinely hurt.
He had been biased by Isabella's account, thinking Sophia was holding a grudge for being forced to marry into the White Family.
But now it seemed the situation was more complicated than he thought.
"Sophia, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were hurt," Flynn said, filled with remorse.
"I can cover all your medical expenses, but please, let Isabella go. It's been really tough for her to get where she is in the entertainment industry."
Sophia sneered, her eyes full of mockery as she looked at Flynn. "Who am I to Isabella? Why should I go through all this to help her?"
"Am I her dad or her mom? Do I have an obligation to protect her reputation?"
Sophia's words were blunt, almost crude.
But Flynn couldn't argue because Sophia was the victim. She had every right to refuse to forgive Isabella and her fans.
But what about Isabella?
Flynn pleaded, "Sophia, I know you've been wronged, but didn't you also mistreat Isabella before? Can't we just call it even?"
Sophia laughed coldly at his words.
She had never bullied Isabella. Where did this idea of being even come from?
"You keep saying I bullied Isabella. What exactly did I do that was so unforgivable?" Sophia stood up, her face full of anger.
She slowly approached Flynn, saying, "I admit to what I've done, but I won't take the blame for things I didn't do. I tolerated you all before because of our blood ties, but now I've cut ties with the Brown Family."
Having lived so many years, Sophia felt she had truly seen it all, especially encountering such a bizarre family.
"Sophia, do you have to be so ruthless?" Flynn glared at her in frustration.
He couldn't understand why Sophia couldn't just back down a little.
She had caused Isabella so much suffering, but the Brown Family had never been this aggressive!
Sophia lowered her lashes, a bitter smile on her lips.
Was this what Robert meant by family bonds?
If family only brought her pain, she'd rather not have one.
"Flynn, wasn't it the Brown Family who were ruthless first?" Sophia raised her clear eyes to look directly at Flynn.
"You brought me back to the Brown Family, then despised me. You claimed I was the Brown Family's daughter, then forced me to marry into the White Family..."
"You think bringing me back was a huge favor, accusing me of coveting Isabella's things. But what did I actually get?" Sophia's lips curled into a mocking smile, her gaze icy cold.
It sent a chill down Flynn's spine.
Flynn opened his mouth to say something, but realized he had no rebuttal to Sophia's words.
Sophia waved to a servant, instructing, "Bring my suitcase down from my room."
The servant quickly went upstairs and returned with a suitcase.
Flynn recognized it. It looked like the one Sophia had brought when she came to the Brown Family.
Flynn frowned in confusion, "Sophia, what are you doing?"
Sophia opened the suitcase and showed Flynn a photo on her phone.
Flynn was puzzled.
"This suitcase contains everything I took when I left the Brown Villa. This photo was taken when I first arrived at the Brown Villa."
Flynn glanced at the photo, then at the suitcase.
With just one look, Flynn understood Sophia's point.
The same suitcase, with the same items, though arranged differently.
Three changes of clothes, a set of pajamas, and a pair of shoes. Small bottles of shampoo and body wash, about the size of a palm.
And a plain but intricately crafted wooden box.
"This can't be! This isn't true!" Flynn shook his head in disbelief, collapsing onto the sofa.
Isabella had said their parents bought Sophia many nice things, even things Isabella envied. So why didn't Sophia take any of them?
If she were really as materialistic as Isabella claimed, why would she leave those things behind?
"Do you still think your parents treated me so well that Isabella suffered? Let me tell you, most of what I used were things I brought from the mountains. I didn't take a single thing from the Brown Family."
Seeing Flynn's devastated look, Sophia found it somewhat amusing.
"This can't be! Mom and Dad bought you lots of jewelry and clothes..." Flynn instinctively argued.
Sophia laughed coldly. How had she never noticed before how naive Flynn was?
"You can check the purchase records if you don't believe me. By the way, I even lost out. Isabella broke my phone and never replaced it." Sophia rolled her eyes internally.
What a loss.