Chapter 192 I Cannot Perceive Familial Love
Last night, after remembering all the kindness Sophia had shown him, Lucas felt too guilty to sleep. This morning, he had risen early to clean Sophia's room from top to bottom, desperately hoping she would forgive him just this once.
He adored Sophia and didn’t want her to leave.
Sophia let out a quiet sigh. "I forgive you. The kidnapping case has been cleared—Mom and Dad weren't involved. I'm moving to Riverbank No. 9 since it’s closer to work."
Lucas froze, sniffling as hope flickered in his eyes. "You're moving out just for the commute? You're not... leaving us, are you?"
"That's right." Sophia gave him an exasperated look, walked over, and ruffled his hair. "Once you find Snowball, remember our agreement."
Lucas broke into a grin, but it quickly faded as tears welled up. He suddenly threw his arms around Sophia, burying his face in her shoulder. "Sophia... I'll never act like that again!"
"Alright, you're too old to be crying like this." Sophia patted his tousled hair. She wasn’t good at comforting others, so she defaulted to her usual question: "Do you have enough money?"
Lucas pulled back, wiping his eyes. "Sophia, why do you always ask me that?"
Sophia shrugged. "I can’t help it. I don't really know how to feel family affection."
Lucas blinked, then burst out laughing. "Sophia, you show you care in the strangest ways."
Sophia glared at him. "Pull something like this again, and I'm telling Mom and Dad about your secret girlfriend!"
Lucas immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Now, aren't you supposed to be at school? Did you skip again today?"
"I just... I was afraid I wouldn't see you."
"Get back to class this afternoon. I’ll arrange for someone to help you find Snowball."
"Thanks, Sophia!"
"I'm leaving now." Sophia slung her backpack over one shoulder. Lucas walked her out, politely greeting Michael, who was waiting by his car.
As they drove away, Michael glanced at the young woman in the passenger seat, a smile tugging at his lips.
"So you forgave him?"
"Emily was stirring up trouble between us," Sophia sighed softly. Lucas was at that volatile teenage stage, his judgment still immature and too easily swayed by others' words. "He needs to go through more hardships and build some resilience."
Michael chuckled. "Looks like Sophia can feel family affection after all, even if only a little."
Sophia pressed her lips together, thinking for a moment. "I don't know… it feels strange."
She had always thought she understood these things clearly, but seeing Lucas cry twisted something uncomfortably in her chest—a dull ache she couldn't quite name.
After all, back at Smith Manor, no one had ever shed a tear for her, or shown any reluctance to see her leave.
In that moment, she had glimpsed—just barely—what family affection might truly mean.
"Emily trying to drive a wedge between you and Lucas—do you think she was acting out of her own spite, or was someone pulling her strings?" Michael cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Sophia watched the cityscape blur past her window, a knowing smirk tugging at her lips. "Andrew's little games."
One attack targeted Michael, another the Johnson family. Those two lunatics were systematically trying to destroy every emotional anchor she had, attempting to turn her back into their puppet.
Completely deranged.
"Andrew's already found his actual brother, Joshua. Why won't he just let you go?" Michael asked, genuinely baffled. When Sophia had lived with them, they'd been at each other's throats constantly. Now that she'd left, they couldn't seem to stop trying to drag her back.
Those two clearly had serious psychological issues.
Sophia's eyes darkened, and she let out a cold, almost bitter laugh. "I provide them with emotional fulfillment that Joshua can't."
The Rainbow Bridge Foundation collapsed entirely under the weight of its charity fraud scandal. Everyone connected to the case was arrested and imprisoned.
The kidnapping investigation also concluded, clearing the Johnson family's name and capturing the perpetrators, whose confessions revealed Maggie Thomas as the mastermind.
Maggie was now a fugitive.
Simultaneously, Andrew officially announced the Smith Group's bankruptcy and posted several court documents as proof.
Although the Smith Group declared bankruptcy due to insurmountable debt, liquidating all assets was just enough to cover the outstanding balance. Andrew and John walked away unscathed, carrying no debt.
Simultaneous with the announcement of the Smith Group's collapse came news of the founding of Andrew & John Corp, with Joshua named CEO—a public declaration of his identity.
"This is bullshit! Why is it called 'Andrew & John Corp'? If we're equal partners, why does your name come first?"
In the CEO's office of Andrew & John Corp, John voiced his protest.
Andrew sat on the sofa, giving him a cool glance. "Because throughout our entire partnership, I've been the one doing the actual work while you caused problems, and then I had to clean up your messes."
John opened his mouth to argue but found no words. He glanced down at the equity distribution sheet in his hand and raised another complaint. "Fine, but why do you have a bigger stake than I do?"
"Because I've been the one actually showing up to work all these years while you’ve only spent money."
"Okay, then why does Joshua's stake exceed mine?!"
Joshua, standing off to the side, rubbed his nose awkwardly. These were Andrew's arrangements, and he hadn't been consulted.
Andrew replied evenly, "Because he'll be the one showing up to work from now on, while you’ll continue just spending money."
John fell silent.
Whatever. A smaller stake was fine if it meant he didn't have to languish in this office every day.
Seeing that they had finally finished bickering, Joshua seized the opportunity to speak. "So why did you go to all this trouble to destroy the Smith Group? What was the point?"
He'd never understood. Neither of them had bothered explaining.
They could have simply taken control of the Smith Group legitimately and then found a way to force George and Jane out later. Why go through the monumental effort of bankrupting the company, only to then painstakingly rebuild a business empire from scratch?
Andrew and John both fell silent. They exchanged a glance. John slouched deeper into the sofa, a wicked smile curling his lips. "Because we couldn't stand the Smith family!"
It was straightforward. Unapologetic.
Seeing Joshua's confusion deepen, Andrew elaborated. "The Smith Group is a century-old legacy, and we were nothing but pawns in George's game to accumulate wealth and power. If we have the ability to build our own enterprise, why should we work for him—or earn prestige for the Smith Group?"
With Andrew & John Corp established, people would remember Andrew and John—and CEO Joshua—not "the two Smith heirs" or "the Smith Group successor."
Andrew's feelings toward the Smith family differed from Sophia's detachment. He felt hatred. Resentment. John felt the same. That's why, despite years of conflict between them, they'd found common ground in bringing down the Smith Group.
They resented the Smith family for failing to provide them with warmth. They resented how the family had warped them and made them incapable of understanding emotion, so much so that they'd been unable to give Sophia a proper childhood.