“Henry?” Olivia’s voice snapped him back to reality.
“Hm?”
Olivia’s lips curved into a smile. “Everyone’s here. Your parents want you to speak.”
Henry blinked, realizing Sophia was already seated on the opposite sofa, calmly sipping tea as if she had no idea what was about to happen. His earlier hesitation returned.
Olivia leaned into him, pouting, “After tonight, we’ll finally be able to be together openly. Didn’t you promise to give me a family? My period is a few days late—you think I might be pregnant?”
Olivia’s words jolted Henry back to the present. He cleared his throat and focused on Sophia.
“Sophia, my parents are here, so let’s talk things through.”
Sophia gave a slight smile. “Yes, your parents are here, but mine aren’t.”
Her words sent a chill through the room. Sophia’s parents had passed away, and if they were to “attend,” then something was indeed ominous.
Smiling, Sophia reached behind her, pulling out a bundle and carefully placing two ancestral tablets on the table. Bowing to the tablets, she spoke solemnly, “Mom, Dad, you’re here now. Both sets of parents are here, Henry—you may proceed.”
“…”
Unbelievable! Everyone mentally cursed her audacity.
With the dim, swaying chandelier casting eerie shadows on Sophia’s parents’ tablets, the atmosphere couldn’t have been more unsettling.
“Sophia! What are you doing?” Andrea’s face was pale with anger. “I told you to come downstairs, and you took forty minutes. Now that you’re here, you brought your parents’ memorial tablets? What’s the meaning of this?”
“Nothing, in particular, Mom,” Sophia said lightly, her expression serene. “Although my parents have passed, they’re still my family. I can’t just disregard them. Whatever you’ve called me here for must be significant, so they need to be present, too. This way, they can see for themselves how their daughter is living. If their daughter is wronged, they’ll have every right to seek justice, whether for vengeance or justice. Tonight, they have every reason to ‘speak up.’”
Andrea’s face flushed with anger, her breathing quickening as she tried to control her emotions.
“Sophia! Do you have any respect for me at all? You’ve been an ungrateful daughter-in-law, doing nothing to support this family. You haven’t served us, haven’t given Scott Henry a son. You’ve contributed nothing! Since you and Henry have no affection left, it’s best to end this marriage now!”
Finally, they had laid it out.
Sophia couldn’t wait to see what kind of performance they had planned.
Her expression remained calm, her smile unruffled. “Mom, calm down. It’s not good for your health to get too worked up. You’re absolutely right in pointing out my shortcomings, but isn’t the main reason for the divorce because your son, Scott Henry, cheated? Mom, we can’t just ignore the truth here. Your son’s the one who strayed, yet you twist the story to make it seem like I’m at fault. Isn’t that a bit shameless?”
Andrea, regaining her composure, sneered, “I’ve lived a long life, and I don’t need you to tell me what’s right and wrong. Sophia, since we’re family, I’ll give you this advice: know when to quit. Sign the divorce agreement and leave with nothing. After that, we’ll have nothing more to do with each other. If you refuse…”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Andrea sneered. “I’ll expose every shameful thing you’ve done. You keep throwing around that Scott Henry cheated, but he only turned to Olivia because you were the one out there seeing other men. You’re the one who put the shameful mark on this marriage and caused him pain. Why wouldn’t he find comfort with Olivia?”
Sophia’s eyes turned cold. She almost wanted to applaud this woman.
She’d heard people say that you should never test someone’s limits, and Andrea was the perfect example. On the surface, she might have seemed a bit harsh, but no one would have thought her capable of completely flipping the truth. And now, to protect her son and the Scott family’s wealth, she was truly showing her ruthless side, willing to say or do anything.
Quite a crafty move.
Sophia’s lips curved slightly. “Mom, thanks for showing me how to turn black into white.”
Andrea picked up her teacup, the emerald ring on her finger gleaming with a cold light.
“You’re welcome. One day, you’ll thank me for teaching you all of this and understand that a mother will do anything to protect her children.”
“Protecting your children should have boundaries. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Even if a parent’s child makes mistakes at any age, it’s a parent’s duty to correct them. But it’s clear that’s something you’ll never understand.”
Andrea gave a cold snort, slapping the divorce agreement down in front of Sophia.
Sophia glanced at the thick stack of papers, catching the bolded phrase “leave with nothing.” She pushed the agreement back across the table, her smile faint.
“That’s not how you negotiate a divorce.”
“There’s no room for negotiation!” Andrea snapped, taking a sip of tea with a scornful smile. “Sophia, you know exactly what you’ve done. I was willing to let you go quietly, but your little overnight stay with a certain man? Don’t think nobody knows about that!”
Sophia’s brows knitted, her heart tightening for a moment.
Andrea gave another cold laugh, tossing photos onto the table.
The photos showed Sophia’s hotel check-in records, shots of her entering with a man, and her leaving alone the following morning.
But the man wasn’t Scott Livinus.
Well, it could’ve been worse.
Sophia let out a small sigh of relief, the corner of her lips curling up slightly.
Just then, the door suddenly opened, and Scott Livinus, dressed in a sharp suit, walked into the room.
