Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Anne grabbed Sophie by the collar and shoved her head into the fountain.
The steady but relentless stream of water filled Sophie’s airway, making her choke and gasp
for breath.
She coughed violently, but the more she struggled, the more water entered her lungs,
After a while, Anne finally yanked her up by the collar, holding her like a rag
doll.
“Well? Did you feel it? That despair Charlotte must have felt–on the brink of suffocation, knowing survival was just out of reach!”
Anne tossed her to the ground with disdain and dusted her hands, though they weren’t
dirty.
“Nolan, Jaziel, who in their right mind tries to win over a woman by being kind to another, just to make her jealous? That’s plain stupid! No wonder Charlotte chose Theodore in New Orleans over the two of you.”
This time, Anne didn’t bother to defend her son.
Lucy nodded in agreement, her tone calm yet cutting.
“She’s right. You handled this poorly. Charlotte’s situation is settled–she’s already married. You two shouldn’t disturb her anymore.”
Jaziel lowered his gaze, his emotions hidden beneath his silence.
Nolan bit his lip hard, his stubbornness refusing to let him concede.
Neither man was the type to give up easily. If they were, they wouldn’t have achieved their current successes in business and racing.
Their unyielding nature, proven in both boardroom battles and on the racetrack, wouldn’t allow them to simply let go.
Lucy and Anne exchanged a weary glance, sighing in unison.
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Chapter 20
They knew their sons too well to argue further, leaving them to their own devices.
After Lucy and Anne departed, Jaziel ordered Sophie, now a “pathetic mess,” to be thrown
out.
Sophie was tossed onto the street, unceremoniously discarded along with all her belongings.
A patrolling city worker approached and waved her off.
“Miss, no vagrants allowed here. You need to move along.”
The word “vagrant” hit Sophie like a slap in the face.
She had never imagined herself falling so low.
Her belongings lay scattered in a chaotic pile, resembling a heap of trash to passersby.
Her once–delicate face flushed red with embarrassment, then turned pale before reddening
again,
Kicking her suitcase in frustration, the clattering noise only made her things sound even
more like junk.
The humiliation twisted her expression, making it even uglier.
Just then, her phone rang urgently.
For a fleeting moment, she thought it might be Jaziel or Nolan calling to take her back.
She answered instinctively, but it wasn’t what she had hoped for.
A harsh voice, speaking broken Mandarin laced with regional dialect, growled on the other
end:
“You little brat! Finally got hold of you. Where did you get the nerve to take so much money from the family? I heard you’ve been earning plenty–it’s time you paid us back!”
It was her father, Liam Reed, his tone filled with anger and menace.
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If thing were engrad by a might have alrealty me to heat her
Troiled Sophie quickly trang wearing is made a unit
How did they find me en so
Panicled, de errembled to grab her belongings, but as the clutched the handle of a suitcase, a sobering realization struck hay
She had already given up her rented apartment in Miami, and the lakeside villa was no longer an option.
She had nowhere to go.
Despair overwhelmed her as she collapsed onto the ground.
The city worker, now visibly irritated, returned to shoo her off again.
“Miss, sitting here like this is ruining the city’s image. Please leave immediately!”
