Chapter 182

Chapter 182

Sophia quickly stepped forward and gently hugged him, her voice full of gratitude.

"Thank you, Mr. Vasquez. Without you, I might not have made it to this stage. Thank you so much."

Francis froze. Before he could finish what he was about to say, Sophia's sudden embrace cut him off.

He smiled. The distance between him and Sophia melted away completely in that moment. A flash of guilt crossed Francis's eyes.

He let go of Sophia.

"I'm sorry. Good thing you stuck to your ideas. If you had followed my arrangements, it might have actually hurt your career."

Francis shook his head and sighed.

"Maybe I'm getting old. I don't see things as clearly as you young people do anymore. I've been too narrow-minded."

His laughter carried a touch of self-mockery. Sophia quickly waved her hands.

"Mr. Vasquez, don't say that about yourself. Without you, I really wouldn't have made it to this stage. And thank you for being willing to reach out and help me when I was at my lowest, for bringing me back to the stage with my violin."

Francis looked up, his expression very serious.

"And thank you for being willing to trust me."

Sophia's performance was a huge success. Katya and Anais each presented her with flowers they had carefully chosen.

Katya and Anais held hands, having already put their earlier unpleasantness behind them, getting along like good friends who had known each other for years.

"Mommy, you were so beautiful today, so amazing. Standing on stage, you were like... like a light, Daddy, what's that word?"

Katya looked at Sophia with admiration in her eyes.

Katya struggled to find the words. She got halfway through and got stuck, not knowing how to describe the Sophia she saw. Finally, her comparison to a light made all the adults laugh.

Benjamin bent down slightly, pinched Katya's nose, his tone both indulgent and helpless.

"The word is 'glowing.' What do you mean by 'like a light'? So weird."

Katya's round face turned bright red. She lowered her head, a bit embarrassed.

"Right, glowing! Mommy, you were really glowing today!"

Daniel stood quietly to the side. He looked at the miniature version of Sophia, his eyes full of a tenderness he himself hadn't noticed.

Francis lightly poked his waist.

"You see that? That child really looks exactly like Sophia. You should give up already and stop thinking about someone else's wife. It's not good."

His gaze then fell on Matthew, standing across from them.

Matthew held Anais's hand, a calm and composed smile on his face. He always seemed to be like this—not competing, not fighting, quietly standing to the side.

Francis let out a long sigh, wondering when Matthew and Daniel would let go of their obsession with Sophia.

Daniel laughed coldly.

"It's not that easy. You haven't seen the way Sophia looks at Benjamin—there's no love there at all. You don't need to keep telling me to give up. When it's really time to give up, I'll do it on my own without you saying anything."

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Sophia Brown?"

Sophia looked over. It was a foreigner.

She instantly understood why he had come, and quickly exchanged a glance with Francis.

"Yes, hello, that's me. I'm Sophia Brown."

The smile on her face was calm and composed. She reached out and shook his hand lightly.

The foreign man introduced his music team. When he mentioned his team's name, Francis let out a gasp.

"Oh, my God!"

His team was currently one of the top orchestras abroad—looking at the whole world, it ranked in the top ten.

Sophia was much calmer. She immediately began negotiating with him.

This was a rare opportunity. She knew she had to seize it. She had turned down so many high-profile concerts for this very moment.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, proceeding according to her plan.

"Sorry, just a moment."

Sophia smiled apologetically, then lifted her dress and walked over to Francis.

"Mr. Vasquez, let's find a better place to talk and discuss work matters with him."

After speaking, she looked at the others. What she wanted to say was obvious.

She was about to be busy with work arrangements and couldn't attend to them.

Sophia took Francis and the foreign man to a better place to talk. The foreign man's intention was clear—he wanted to collaborate with Sophia on several performances.

"Of course, I'd be happy to work with you."

Sophia had been waiting for this opportunity. She naturally wouldn't refuse and immediately agreed.

The rest of the negotiation was simple. Both parties exchanged contact information. The foreign man, afraid Sophia might back out, repeatedly confirmed their intention to collaborate, full of sincerity.

The collaboration was settled just like that. Sophia felt like she was floating, still not quite processing it all.

Compared to her, Francis was much calmer. He asked about all the collaboration details and only nodded after confirming that Sophia's role wasn't just a minor one but had an absolutely core position.

With the collaboration settled, a smile spread across Sophia's lips.

"Mr. Vasquez, I haven't let you down, have I? You'll probably have to travel abroad with me from now on."

Francis reviewed the terms again and again, shaking his head and sighing.

"I never thought a student I taught would end up performing with a top-tier team, and in a core position at that."

After this concert, Sophia's reputation as a violinist was completely established. When Alice saw the news, her face twisted with anger.

Since returning from abroad, Benjamin hadn't come to see her, and neither had Katya. She tried everything to get through to Katya on the phone, but was met with Katya's distance.

Later, when she called Katya again, Katya never picked up. Alice was furious. She almost smashed everything in her apartment.

That day abroad, everything had gone according to her plan. Alice had arranged everything before going abroad. The doctor had taken the money and did as she asked.

Benjamin had clearly believed it too. Those few days, he was extremely attentive to her. But everything changed the day before they returned home.

Alice was half-asleep in the early morning when she saw Benjamin answer a phone call—it seemed to be from the hospital. Half her drowsiness vanished. She immediately sat up, looking a bit nervous.

"Benjamin, was that the hospital? What did they say? We already finished all our tests, didn't we? Why are they suddenly calling?" Her voice trembled as she spoke to Benjamin, who was dealing with the hospital.

Benjamin seemed normal at first, waving his hand to indicate it was nothing.

"It's fine, go back to sleep. The hospital just called, don't let it affect tomorrow's flight home."

He even thoughtfully went to another room to take the call.