Chapter 35 Sophia! You're Nothing But a Fake!
Before Amelia and Wayne could argue about how to help, a rescue arrived.
"Andrew!"
Emily ran over in her school uniform, her carefully curled long hair flowing in the wind.
She deliberately squeezed between the two of them, affectionately reaching for Andrew's arm, "Andrew, why didn't you come to the family reunion party last time? I've always envied people who have family love..."
Andrew sidestepped, leaving Emily's hand hanging awkwardly in mid-air.
Sophia snorted coldly, rolling her eyes, feeling sorry for James in her heart.
The Emily being pampered by the Johnson family for over a decade was now telling someone else she yearned for family love, as if the Johnson family had wronged her.
With a relative like Andrew, Emily's happy life was just beginning.
Sophia turned to leave, but Andrew grabbed her wrist. "Did I say you could go?"
His palm was warm and dry, gripping with enough force to make Sophia's wrist ache.
She struggled once but couldn't break free, so she stopped wasting energy. "Andrew, are you planning to kidnap me in broad daylight?"
"You think you can just walk away?" Andrew spoke quietly, staring straight at Sophia like he was nailing pins into her.
"Otherwise, what do you plan to do with me?" Sophia curved her lips. She knew exactly how ruthless Andrew's methods could be, but he wouldn't actually harm her.
Andrew was succinct, "Get in the car."
Sophia raised an eyebrow, "Emily's still waiting for you. I'll pass on the company."
Andrew leaned down, lowering his voice near her ear, "Need me to have the driver pick up the Johnson family?"
It was clearly a threat. Sophia gritted her teeth, "Andrew, do you think I'll still be intimidated by your threats?"
"Don't make me knock you unconscious and throw you in." Andrew had run out of patience.
Sophia's lips curved in a half-smile, "Feel free to try. Let's see what kind of trouble John will cause you."
The Smith family wasn't just Sophia at odds with Andrew and John—the brothers were also at each other's throats.
They'd been fighting since childhood, sabotaging each other and making Sophia take the blame.
Later, Sophia learned to use John to constrain Andrew and Andrew to control John, ensuring she never suffered losses again.
Both wore calm expressions, but the atmosphere was charged with tension, creating an oppressive feeling for bystanders.
Emily stood there feeling a chill in her heart, carefully speaking to break the frozen atmosphere, "Andrew, let the past stay in the past. I don't blame Sophia, you don't need to make things difficult for her just to defend me..."
Andrew didn't spare Emily even a glance, dragging Sophia toward the car. The driver had already smartly opened the rear door, and Sophia was half-forced into the vehicle.
"Wait!" Emily chased after them, grabbing the car door frantically, "Andrew, I know you feel bad that I was lost for over a decade, but you can't act impulsively! Sophia was your family for seventeen years, after all."
Andrew loosened his collar with one hand, finally looking directly at his biological sister, "I don't lack family."
Emily's heart fluttered with joy—Andrew was indeed standing up for her!
Andrew's tone shifted, his voice light but each word like a blade, "Especially not your kind of trash."
The car door slammed shut, cutting off Emily's ashen face.
Sophia looked at her through the car window, then suddenly rolled it down with a bright smile, "Oh, practice your horseback riding. I won't help you out next time something like this happens."
As the car started, Emily finally broke down and screamed, "Sophia! You're nothing but a fake! What gives you the right!"
Her voice was swallowed by the engine noise.
Silence filled the car.
Andrew rotated the amber bracelet on his wrist, "Satisfied?"
Sophia watched the increasingly small figure in the rearview mirror. "The way you put it makes it sound like I bullied your sister."
"She's not," Andrew said suddenly.
Sophia turned to look at him.
"I only have one sister." Andrew's gaze fell on her face, then quickly moved away. "Though she's an ungrateful little brat."
Sophia smiled coldly, "I also only have one brother, and his name is James."
Andrew's jaw tightened, and after a long pause, he said, "The restaurant is one you used to like."
"I don't like it anymore." Sophia looked at the scenery flashing by outside the window. There were no more beautiful memories left in her mind.
Standing not far behind Emily, Lucy's eyes darkened. It seemed she'd chosen the wrong side.
Andrew clearly didn't value Emily, his biological sister, and even treated Emily with less than half the consideration he showed Sophia.
Her own obedience to Emily's every command would definitely yield no benefits.
In that case, it might not be bad to cultivate connections with others.
She'd heard that Joshua from Class 3 was orphaned and living with his aunt, whose family was among Silverlight City's elite. His aunt was unmarried and childless—Joshua might inherit the family business someday.
If she could marry Joshua, she wouldn't have to worry about mother-in-law conflicts, could live comfortably as a wealthy socialite wife, and could stay far from Emerald City, away from her family's judgment.
He was practically the perfect choice.
Having made up her mind, Lucy curved her lips, no longer looking at the devastated Emily, and turned to leave through the school's back gate.
Amelia and Wayne noticed Lucy, huddling together to gossip in low voices.
"Is Lucy seeing no profit to be made and planning to abandon the Emily camp?"
"How much genuine friendship can there be in our circle? Most of it's just scheming for personal gain."
"True, not like us few." Amelia suddenly felt proud. In a world driven by profit, having two or three close friends you could call with one phone call was a great fortune in life.
Wayne chuckled softly, then said, "Didn't Sophia's mom open a shop for a beauty and wellness business? I think it's opening today, over by Eastside High. Want to check it out?"
Amelia's eyes lit up, "Let's go!"