He paused, his voice as deep as ever. “Or do you think we should skip this and get straight to the point?”
Sophia had intended to sidestep the conversation, but avoiding it forever wasn’t a solution. So, she asked directly:
“What point exactly?”
Livinus set down his culteries and fixed her with a deep, penetrating gaze, as though trying to draw her into a whirlpool.
“Perhaps you think all the preliminaries of dating are tedious. To be fair, I do too. Nothing is better than getting straight to the point—it saves us time. So, Sophia, when do you plan to make my position official?”
The phrase “make my position official” left Sophia momentarily stunned. She felt as though she’d misheard him.
Was he joking? But his serious expression suggested otherwise.
When was he in some sort of trial period? And how was she supposed to process the idea of granting this CEO an “official position”?
After thinking it over, Sophia tapped her bowl with her cutleries and said, “Let’s see how you perform.”
Livinus leaned closer and kissed her on the lips, a smile forming at the corners of his mouth. “How’s my performance so far?”
“…”
Forget eating—this meal was officially ruined!
—
The fallout from the gala was just as expected. Olivia became the subject of ridicule in every entertainment column. Her statements, juxtaposed with Livinus’s rebuttals, were shared as screenshots across social media.
### @EntertainmentCarnival
“Exemplary public humiliation. Let’s appreciate this masterpiece together! [Images][Images][Images][Images]”
The post began with screenshots of their respective responses, ending with close-ups of Olivia’s shocked expressions. The user added captions to each image, such as “He left me no dignity whatsoever,” leaving netizens in stitches.
— “Hahaha! Drama queen, through and through!”
— “How shameless do you have to be to ride someone else’s coattails? Livinus clearly has no patience for her nonsense. Usually, he’s a gentleman who ignores rumors—what prompted him to slap back so publicly this time?”
— “Let me explain: a few days ago, Olivia was interviewed and name-dropped Livinus, claiming they were close. Clearly, Mr. CEO wasn’t having it. This is what we call a true boss—no shady moves, just direct confrontation!”
— “I’ve officially joined the “Boss Fangirls” club.”
— “This is hilarious! Olivia is something else. According to gossip forums, she moved into the Scott Family home before the divorce was finalized, forcing the original wife to leave quietly. Yet after all this time, there’s still no talk of marriage. Livinus even denied knowing about it, but she keeps leaking rumors of impending nuptials. Thick-skinned much?”
“Unmarried, pregnant, and trying to force a marriage—yet still failing to join the rich-wife club.”
“Just because the Scott Family is prestigious doesn’t mean all its members are. Livinus is the one in charge, not Henry.”
Reading these comments made Olivia livid.
She threw her phone across the room in anger. Her assistant picked it up, glanced at the screen, and sighed.
“Olivia, I told you before—stop doing things like this. If you keep it up, you’ll lose all your fans. Don’t you know how many followers have already unfollowed you? Out of the original 100,000 fan club members, half were bought. Now there are only 90,000 left—even the fake accounts are leaving!”
“…” Olivia frowned, snapping, “Who are you to lecture me? Don’t forget who’s paying your salary! If you don’t want to get involved, pack your things and leave!”
The assistant didn’t argue further but added cautiously, “By the way, about Sophia…”
“Keep going!” Olivia’s fury intensified. “Why should she get all the praise while I’m treated like a laughingstock? She’s nothing but a divorcee! I can’t stand her doing better than me!”
The assistant sighed. “At least she’s earning her success. You…”
“If you dare say another word, you’re fired!”
With no other choice, the assistant left in silence.
Recently, Henry had been in a foul mood. Since his divorce, his luck had taken a nosedive. First, his work at the company was riddled with mistakes, leading to constant criticism. Then, someone posted a tell-all online about his divorce, and the media pounced on the story, labeling him a textbook idiot.
To make matters worse, Olivia’s blunder at the gala, where she attempted to leech off Livinus’s reputation, only added fuel to the fire. The public backlash dragged him into the mess, leaving him as a laughingstock yet again.
Returning home one evening, Henry entered without a word.
Andrea, his mother, noticed his sour expression and asked, “Son, what’s wrong? Why are you so glum?”
“Mom, didn’t you see the news? Did you hear what Uncle said about Olivia? He’s deliberately making us look bad!”
