Chapter 51

“You’ve misunderstood.” If it were two years ago, this kind of misunderstanding would have filled Sophia with happiness.

Now however, she no longer dared to fantasize and merely wanted to sever all ties with Charles so that he could not accuse her of harboring ulterior motives.

It seemed like Charles did not see through her and merely curled his bottom lip slightly. “You are the birthday star today, you can do whatever you want.”

“This child.” Yvette laughed, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear. She turned to ask Sophia, “Does the dress fit?”

Sophia pursed her lips, throwing Charles a sideways glance.

“I’m the one asking you. Why are you looking at him?” Yvette sounded amused.

Charles leaned casually against the railing, his tone indifferent. “Perhaps it’s because I’m better looking?”

“How can you be so vain?” Yvette let out a resigned laugh, giving Sophia a once over before asking, “Why does the top half of the dress look so different from before?”

Sophia shifted awkwardly, her face slightly hot. “My breasts have become smaller, so the dress was sagging. They adjusted it for me.”

Charles’ gaze fell upon her front, his brows furrowing slightly before looking away. His expression quickly returned to normal.

“I see,” Yvette said thoughtfully. “Actually, it doesn’t need to be adjusted. Even if your breasts have shrunk, just wear a thicker pushup bra and you’ll be fine.”

Sophia tugged at her lips stiffly, unsure of what to say.

“Alright, don’t be sad. Charles isn’t such a shallow person.” Yvette grabbed her hand and patted it, asking Charles smilingly, “Right?”

Charles half smirked, not saying anything. He just kept looking down at Sophia who was two steps below him.

“Aunty, you’re mistaken, Mr. Harris already has Miss Jones in his heart. Unlike before, there is no longer any wishful thinking on my end.” Hearing that, Sophia’s face paled swiftly. She spoke hurriedly.

Charles’ eyes darkened momentarily, and his tone cooled considerably. “At least you are more self-aware now.”

He straightened up and said without turning back, “I’m going up to change my clothes.”

Sophia’s throat felt tight. As it turned out, he must have thought that she was still pining after him and was angered by this.

“Perhaps even Charles is not aware of who it is he likes.” Yvette eyed Charles’ retreating back. “Alright, let’s speak no more of such matters of the heart. The people have all more or less arrived. Please accompany me downstairs to walk around.”

Sophia was self-aware enough to not want to cause trouble, “Aunty, I...”

“What about you? I am capable of being my own judge. No one can control what others have to say, so don’t overthink it.” Yvette smiled, pulling her downstairs. “Let’s go.”

Falling into step beside Yvette, Sophia felt a swirl of emotions within her.

The moment they headed downstairs, they bumped into Jenny.

“Madam Harris, I would like to have a word with Soph alone, is that alright?” Seeing the two of them walking down hand in hand, Jenny was slightly astonished.

Yvette smiled. “Yes, you may. However, I have to ask, do you wish to speak to Sophia as her mother or as Madam White?”

Jenny fiddled with her eyebrows, appearing extremely awkward.

“Aunty, how about you go ahead and meet your guests. I’ll be there in a bit.” Fully aware of her mother’s soft personality, Sophia could not bear to make things difficult for her.

“That’s fine.” Yvette nodded at Jenny and left.

Jenny glanced around, saying quietly, “Soph, let’s talk somewhere else. There are too many people here.”

Was she implying that it was embarrassing for them to be seen together in public? Why did she come looking for her, then? Sophia’s heart thumped painfully, but she still went along with it.

The two of them moved to a more secluded place. Jenny asked worriedly, “Soph, they said that for money...” She choked on a sob. “You have been prostituting yourself, is this true?”

“No.” Sophia lowered her eyes, hiding away the bitterness.

Jenny deliberated for a moment before asking hesitantly, “Why are you working at a place like the Dream Club, then?”

Sophia’s eyes stung. She raised her head, her eyes misty. “So, you still don’t believe me, right?”

Why? Because Charles was using the White family to threaten her into doing so!

“It’s not that I don’t believe you.” Jenny avoided her gaze. “It’s just that you shouldn’t work in a place like that anymore. You should work a more proper job.”

She opened her wallet, took out a card, and stuffed it into Sophia’s hand. “The password is your birthday. There are over five hundred thousand bucks in there, enough to keep you going for a while. If you run out of the money you can tell me. I will top it up for you.”

“There’s no need.” Sophia glanced at the bank card. “I’m not changing my job.”

Charles would not permit her to do so.

“Soph, you...” Jenny held the bank card with a look of disbelief.

Sophia pursed her lips, forcing down the bitterness in her heart. “Is there anything else, Mom? If not, I’ll look for Aunty Yvette.”

“Tell me the truth, are you working at a place like the Dream Club because... you still want your old life back?” Jenny asked bitterly, unable to bring herself to say words like “find a sugar daddy’ or “gold-digging’.

Sophia’s eyes widened, a tear rolling down from the corner of her right eye. She brushed it away and said without turning back, “I’m off to look for Aunty Yvette.”

“Soph, Soph!” Jenny called at her frantically from behind.

Sophia’s footsteps did not stop.

Other people could think this lowly of her, but how could her own mother think of her like that?

“Did you have nothing to say because Aunty Jenny guessed correctly?” William grabbed her wrist from behind. He had come looking for his sister, but instead of finding her, he got to witness a good show.

Sophia struggled to wrestle her hand out of his grip, sneering. “Since when did Mr. Jones learn to eavesdrop?”

“Answer me!” William raised his voice, his eyes stormy.

“I don’t think I’m obliged to answer your questions.” Sophia was in a foul mood, so she turned to leave. She hated seeing the Jones brother and sister as much as she liked them back then.

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

Chapter 50 Have You Seen Enough? Hmm?

William stepped in front of her and placed both hands upon her shoulders, asking through gritted teeth, “So, even if it means prostituting yourself, you still want to live a life of luxury, is that right?”

There were plenty of people at the banquet. Some had started looking over here.

“Yes or no, what does it have to do with you?” Sophia was fed up with his control-freak tendencies. She wanted to break free of his grip but was unable to. “Don’t forget, Audrey is your girlfriend. She is also at the banquet. Aren’t you afraid she will misunderstand all of this?”

“I’m asking you a question!” William tightened his grip, refusing to let go. He knew he should not concern himself with anything to do with her, but he could not restrain his own heart at all.

Sophia turned her head to one side and clamped her teeth fiercely on his arm. He loosened his grip, and she seized the opportunity to walk briskly away.

William frowned. He was about to chase after her but was stopped by Audrey who had caught wind of what was happening and hurried over. “Don’t forget, I’m the one who’s your girlfriend!”

“You and I both know very well what kind of relationship we have. Step aside!” William’s hand reached out, intending to shove her aside.