Chapter 372

Was it possible for a person to put on a facade all the time? Sophia was quite certain that her sister-in-law was not just pretending to be nice!

There was also the possibility that her sister-in-law was being threatened!

If Leah was capable of threatening Charles in the past, it was not impossible for her to threaten her sister-in-law!

Now that Sophia found the slight chance that Nicole had not betrayed her, she withdrew her hand. “Nicole, have you encountered anything that troubled you recently? You can tell me anything, I’ll help you figure out a way to solve it!”

“Yeah, there is something bothering me,” Nicole said with a heavy sigh.

Sophia’s eyes sparkled in anticipation. Nicole had really encountered something troubling!

She reached out and grabbed Nicole’s hands, speaking much faster than usual, “What’s wrong? Nicole, as long as you tell me, I’ll try my best and help you!”

“It’s what’s happening with you, what else can it be?” Nicole’s hands were red from Sophia’s tight grasp but she did not break free. “Mr. Harris has indirectly caused Mom to commit suicide, yet you’re still unwilling to leave him. I’m really worried that Dad and Sterling would kick you out of the family once they find out about this.”

The light in Sophia’s eyes dimmed down, and the pain as if her heart was sliced open shot through her body once again.

She could not find any excuse anymore... What should she do? She ran out of excuses for Nicole!

“Soph, you understand you have to nip this in the bud and get it over with, right? The more hesitant you are, you’ll just suffer more and...”

“I know!” Sophia interrupted her as she stood up, her face still pale white. “I’ll make a decision within a week. Alright now, I’m going to go now!”

With that, she grabbed her purse and collected her coat from the hanger in the corner, then flew out the door right away.

Nicole called out after her several times but she pretended not to hear.

She did not know how to face her sister-in-law anymore!

Bang!

Sophia was walking with her head down, and she accidentally ran into someone’s arms as she got out the door. She raised her head, only to face Charles’s concerned gaze. Right away, all the emotions she had forced down moments ago were released and she broke down.

“Don’t cry,” Charles said softly as he cupped her face in his hands. Every tear that fell from her eyes was like a sharp needle that pierced into his heart.

They had agreed that she would send him a text message every fifteen minutes, so when he did not receive one on the agreed time mark, he was worried that something had happened to her. Hence, he ignored her nagging and came over instead.

Coincidentally, he bumped into her along the way.

Sophia crumpled his shirt in frustration as she struggled to push the words out of her mouth. “I really don’t know why is she doing this...”

Charles wrapped his arms around her and gently patted her back.

He knew that she saw Nicole the same as her brother and thought of her as her own blood relative. It was only natural for her to react this way after finding out about it.

Right then, Nicole came out and saw the two of them embracing.

She frowned slightly but quickly recovered. “Mr. Harris, when did you get here? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

Before Charles could answer, a horn rang through the air, followed by an ear-piercing screech.

A white convertible stopped about two meters away from Charles and Sterling jumped out of the car. “What a coincidence, I have something to tell you and you’re already here! Great timing!” he exclaimed enthusiastically.

He walked over and patted Charles’s shoulder. Then, only did he notice Sophia.

“Honey, can you please prepare something good? Charles and Soph will be staying for lunch!” Sterling shouted at Nicole.

Nicole did not respond immediately.

“It’s alright, we don’t want to disturb you, I can bring Sophia out for lunch.” Charles gave Sterling a quick nod as he gestured Sophia toward the Bentley.

Seeing that she had yet readjusted her emotions, it did not seem right for them to stay.

“Hey, don’t go! Isn’t it normal to have my sister and brother-in-law over for a meal? You won’t be disturbing us at all!” Sterling ran up to the Bentley and knocked on the car window. “I still have something to tell you. Hey, I’m giving you the chance to call me Brother and you’re not even appre...”

Before Sterling could even finish his sentence, the car started.

Sterling immediately jumped aside. “D*mn it, this is too much!”

However, nobody paid him any attention.

Nicole stared as the car slowly drove away, her expression odd and complicated.

In the car, Sophia turned back several times, and just like before, her brother and sister-in-law stared as their car drove away.

However, some things were different now.

“Do you feel better now?” Charles turned to her and touched her head adoringly.

Sophia’s head hung low. She felt extremely drained and exhausted. “Nicole told me that you ordered someone to delete the chat records and she’s asking me to leave you.”

Her thoughts were jumbled up. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Her sister-in-law had put in so much effort to push all the blame for Mom’s death on Charles to the point that she was not even certain whether Nicole was the one who arranged for the netizen to talk to Mom.

If she was, what would happen to Ster?

“If you don’t know what to do, just don’t think about it first.” Charles was doing all he could to divert her attention. “Ster said that he had something to tell me, do you have any idea what that’s about?”

Sophia shook her head.

She had too many things on her mind right now she did not even hear what her brother said just now.

“By the way, Leah managed to convince the Jones family to purchase the shares from Mr. Long.” Charles’s eyes turned dark at the mention of Leah.

“25% of White Industries’ shares isn’t a small value. They don’t have that much cash on hand now so they took out a twenty billion dollar loan with part of their fixed assets mortgaged.”

It had only been a few days since Charles proposed this plan. “They already signed it?” Sophia asked in surprise.

“The same day you and Brother inherit your mother’s shares,” Charles replied.

Sophia had been extremely gloomy ever since she found out about Nicole but this new piece of news lifted her spirits slightly. “When do you think they will bring this 25% shares out then?”

Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around!

Chapter 371 I Don’t Think You Should Be Alone With Her “Probably right after they sign over some of White Industries’ top projects,” Charles answered, “It won’t take long, perhaps a week or so.”

The Jones family wanted the news of White Industries having continual changes in their major stockholders to cause panic among the investors, then seize the opportunity to sling more mud at White Industries. Hence, they would not hold onto these shares for long.

Once Jones Group put the shares up for offer, it would be time to close in!

Sophia knew that Charles would never let White Industries suffer any injustice, but she was still confused about the details. “Isn’t it bad for us if they take away White Industries’ projects?”

“If their capital chain can’t even catch up, it’s only sooner or later that they have to surrender the projects. On top of that, they’ll have to pay a huge sum in fines for breach of contract too,” Charles explained patiently.

However, Sophia was only in the business industry for a very short time so she was still a little bit confused. The only thing she understood was that the Jones family would have a hard time getting out of this mess if they fall into the trap.

“It’s really good news that’s worth celebrating. Come on, why don’t we go to your favorite western restaurant for lunch?” Charles looked at her from the rearview mirror, concealing the heartache he felt from his eyes.

Sophia knew that he was just trying to make her feel better, and so she simply agreed. Before she got down the car, she remembered to put on her cap, shades, and face mask to avoid being recognized by the public.

The western restaurant was quite a high-class restaurant so the people who came were mostly wealthy.

Sophia had no worries about being recognized here, so she took off her disguise when they sat down at their table. Some of the people around her recognized her right away but they merely gave her curious glances.

A waiter came to their table and gave both of them a menu each.

Just as Sophia was about to order, she suddenly felt someone’s gaze on her. She put down her menu and looked around but everyone was eating and nobody was looking in her direction. It might have been just an illusion.