Chapter 219: Elopement

Chapter 219: Elopement

At the mention of the children, Sophia's face immediately changed dramatically.

She stared at Zachary in shock, her pupils contracting sharply. "What gives you the right to mention the children in front of me?""

"You're the one who hurt their trust first!" she raged. "Zachary, you have no right to mention my children! I'm responsible for them, and you're the one who's been hurting them all along!"

Julia and Simon were Sophia's weak spot.

She never expected Zachary would use the children as bargaining chips in their negotiations. Her fury erupted instantly, and she looked at Zachary with unfamiliar eyes.

Zachary felt an unexpected stab of pain from strange, disappointed gaze, and instinctively said, "I've never hurt them."

Sophia let out a cold, mocking laugh and shook her head. "Can you honestly say you have a clear conscience?"

Sophia had witnessed the children's changes these past days, and it pained her deeply. Along with her anger toward Zachary came profound regret and self-blame, leaving her feeling desolate.

Seeing Sophia like this, Zachary's raging fury seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, leaving him suddenly speechless.

He gripped Sophia's wrist tightly, refusing to let go, avoiding her gaze as he said coldly, "We'll discuss this later, but you cannot take Julia and Simon away."

Sophia's eyes flashed as she frowned, opening her mouth to continue arguing with Zachary.

But Zachary had already looked away, addressing Lucas coldly: "Mr. Brown, you can leave now. You wouldn't want to make headlines for interfering in someone else's family affairs, would you?"

Lucas was also furious. He stepped forward, confronting Zachary with hostility: "Everyone saw what happened with the trending news, Mr. Spencer. I don't think you're in any position to question Sophia right now."

With Sophia caught between the two men, she couldn't move freely, but compared to Zachary, she much preferred to leave with Lucas.

So she stepped back, struggling more violently to break free.

This only enraged Zachary further.

His gaze turned ice-cold as he pulled Sophia back into his embrace and began dragging her away without discussion.

As they passed Lucas, Zachary stared at the hand that had touched Sophia, his eyes harboring deep murderous intent: "Mr. Brown, we have many issues to resolve, but that will have to wait."

Lucas found his hands empty, his expression growing increasingly displeased. His usually gentle, refined demeanor turned cold and stern, his attitude just as forceful: "Of course, but Mr. Spencer, you need to understand that you're the one in the wrong here."

Zachary let out a cold laugh and dragged Sophia out of the restaurant.

The two struggled all the way to the parking garage.

Sophia stumbled throughout their journey, her footing unsteady as the furious Zachary pulled her forward, occasionally bumping into him.

He seemed oblivious to Sophia's distress, blinded by rage.

Sophia was also seething with resentment. After discovering that Zachary maintained his interrogating attitude throughout, she became even less willing to cooperate.

This only strengthened her conviction that leaving had been the right choice.

Sophia suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Zachary was pulling her forward and refused to release his grip, so Sophia's sudden halt forced him to stop abruptly.

But Zachary wasn't about to give in either. He shot Sophia a cold look for her lack of cooperation and yanked her wrist hard. Sophia lost her balance and was pulled forward, tumbling directly into Zachary's chest.

She gasped, her nose hitting his chest so hard that tears immediately sprang to her eyes. Covering her nose, she demanded furiously, "What are you doing!"

Zachary laughed coldly, looking down at Sophia from his superior height, his voice icy and deeply mocking: "What's this? Weren't you just insisting we have no relationship? Why are you throwing yourself at me now?"

Sophia was mortified and enraged. This time, she was ruthless, stomping hard on Zachary's foot in retaliation: "Shameless!"

Zachary grunted, enduring the sharp pain from Sophia's high heel. His brow furrowed with restraint.

He gripped Sophia's hand even tighter, saying through gritted teeth, "Sophia, you're being unreasonable. That incident was a misunderstanding, you—"

Sophia stomped on Zachary's foot again, even harder.

This time, he was prepared. In mortified fury, he wrapped his other arm around Sophia's waist, stopping her movement while pulling her directly against his chest. The two were intimately close, staring into each other's eyes.

Sophia's nose was red, and tears from the earlier collision still lingered in the corners of her eyes.

She stared at Zachary in shock, her eyes wide with surprise. Their previous confrontational atmosphere seemed to transform into something intensely intimate in an instant, making Zachary's heart skip a beat.

He instinctively softened his breathing, his furrowed brow unconsciously relaxing. His cold, hard demeanor seemed to suddenly ease as he opened his mouth to speak to Sophia: "You—"

But after Sophia recovered from her shock, she simply laughed coldly and moved even closer to Zachary.

She pressed her entire body against his chest.

Then, while Zachary was distracted, she suddenly lifted her foot and stomped hard on his shin. He had tried to dodge by lifting his foot, but instead walked right into her attack.

This time, Sophia used real force. Zachary's face immediately froze as a suppressed groan escaped his lips.

Sophia seized the opportunity to break free from Zachary's embrace, backing several steps away and watching him with full vigilance, ready to prevent any approach.

His thoughts completely returned to the present as he glared at Sophia through gritted teeth: "Sophia!"

She pressed her lips together, staring at Zachary with complete defensiveness, the corner of her mouth curling in cold mockery: "What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this persistent harassment? Don't you find this behavior disgusting?"

Zachary laughed coldly: "You think I'm disgusting?"

He stepped forward, his tall figure backlit, casting shadows over Sophia so that both their faces were obscured in darkness.

Zachary demanded coldly, "You've decided I had something with Paula, and now you want to take the children and leave. Where exactly are you planning to go?"

Thinking of how Sophia had preferred to leave with Lucas rather than stay with him, sudden realization dawned on him: "You left with him five years ago, and now you're planning to go somewhere with him again?"

"What do you mean?" Sophia frowned. "When did I ever leave with Lucas?"

Zachary blurted out, "You're processing transfer paperwork for the children—isn't that so you can elope with Lucas?"

"Elope? What gives you the right to say that!"

Sophia didn't even bother to refute it. She said directly, "What about you? You refuse to divorce, so how does that leave Paula? when you two get married, should I save the date? I'd hate to miss such a... special occasion."