Chapter 152 Can You Not Divorce Sophie Winslow?

Chapter 152: Chapter 152: Can You Not Divorce Sophie Winslow?

When Sophie Winslow saw Evan York, her first instinct was to turn and leave.

Evan chased after her for a couple of steps, feeling a bit frustrated. "Sophie, didn’t you see me?" She seemed to be avoiding him like the plague, which rubbed him the wrong way.

"I saw you," Sophie said, forced to stop.

"Then why are you walking away?"

"Who wouldn’t hide from a walking disaster?"

Evan prided himself on having a sharp tongue, but Sophie was just as ruthless. For a moment, he honestly didn’t know how to interact with her.

"A lot of people here today are in AI healthcare," he offered with good intentions. "If Helios is dead set on pursuing that unlikely project, you should get to know some of them and learn a thing or two."

Sophie found this amusing. "What makes you think it’s unlikely? Are you trying to be helpful, or are you just here to belittle me?"

Evan was speechless. "Did I say the wrong thing again?" he wondered. Sophie, however, couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. She turned and walked away.

Evan rubbed his eyebrow, an unspeakable sense of frustration welling up inside him.

When Stella Sutton walked over, she saw Evan still staring at Sophie’s retreating back. He hadn’t even acknowledged her approach. This gave her a sudden, inexplicable sense of insecurity. "Mr. York? What were you talking about with Sophie?"

Evan turned to her, snapping out of his daze. "Nothing."

It was obvious he didn’t plan on telling her anything. Stella’s gaze turned slightly mournful. "Do you remember the last time we were at Longview? I mentioned there was something I wanted to tell you."

Evan recalled the incident. "Didn’t you say it was nothing?" She hadn’t elaborated last time, and he hadn’t bothered to ask.

Stella glanced in the direction Sophie had disappeared. "I hesitated, to be honest. I didn’t want to upset you, but... I also don’t want you to be deceived by Sophie."

"What do you mean?" Evan’s brows slowly furrowed.

Stella sighed softly, feigning helplessness. "Actually... the woman who seduced Mr. Hawthorne and is trying to steal your sister’s fiancé... might be Sophie."

Evan’s relaxed demeanor instantly sharpened into a fierce glare. "What?" he demanded coldly.

Stella pretended to hesitate. "Julian and I went to Veridia a few days ago to meet with some companies, right? Well, I ran into Sophie and Mr. Hawthorne there. It seems like Sophie plans to get together with Mr. Hawthorne as soon as things end with Julian. Mr. Hawthorne even wants to marry her."

That was too much information to process at once. It took Evan a long moment to mentally sort through it all, his expression growing increasingly grim and bewildered. His heart gave a vicious twist. The inexplicable fondness he had harbored for Sophie seemed to instantly shatter in the face of his own sister’s interests.

"I didn’t want to say anything, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you being fooled by her," Stella said with absolute sincerity.

Evan felt like his entire worldview had just been upended. He couldn’t connect Sophie to Adrian Hawthorne no matter how hard he tried. Not only was Adrian an unwed father, but he was now planning to take in another man’s discarded woman? After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Sophie had been tangled up with Lucas Langley. And now, the flames had somehow spread to the York Family.

This was something he would absolutely never allow.

Muttering a quick excuse, Evan spun around and walked away. Stella didn’t try to stop him. She knew full well that after this, Evan’s opinion of Sophie would sour. The rift would grow into disgust or hatred, perhaps even prompting retaliation. If Sophie thought she could capitalize on every opportunity to play the sycophant and steal Stella’s connections, she was delusional.

When Evan finally tracked down Julian Sterling, the latter had just finished greeting a newly arrived official.

Julian glanced at Evan’s awful expression. "What’s wrong? Who pissed you off?"

Not wanting to be overheard, Evan furrowed his brows deeply and lowered his voice. "Can we talk?"

"I’m listening."

"How far along are you in your divorce with Sophie?" Evan asked.

This time, Julian took a serious look at Evan’s face before answering slowly. "I’m not sure."

"You’re the one getting divorced, and you’re not sure?" Evan was bewildered.

"The process hasn’t been moving along conventionally," Julian replied nonchalantly.

Evan didn’t have the patience to ask for details. He stared at Julian intensely. "Can you hold off on the divorce for now?"

Julian stopped spinning his phone, his eyes darkening.

Evan knew it was a difficult request, so he took a step back. "Or, at least drag things out with Sophie? Keep her legally bound to you for a while longer?"

He had thought it over thoroughly. Adrian Hawthorne wouldn’t be easy to negotiate with. Julian, at least, was a friend; he could understand Evan’s perspective. After all, he and Sophie were legally husband and wife. If Julian refused to let Sophie go, then certain plans would become nothing but a joke.

Evan had his own reasoning for this. "Let’s be real about Stella Sutton. She wants to marry directly into the Sterling Family soon, but the matriarch of your family won’t be easily swayed. Since you can’t give Stella a proper title immediately anyway, you might as well string Sophie along. You have nothing to lose."

They had all seen how much Sophie used to love Julian. If Julian gave Sophie just a little bit of sweetness, she would undoubtedly run right back to him, pretending nothing had ever happened. Sometimes, women’s tempers and emotions were things men could resolve without much effort. Otherwise, why would anyone willingly jump into a unilaterally exploitative institution like marriage?

It didn’t take Julian long to guess the underlying reason. He asked indirectly, "What did you find out?"

Evan dodged the question, pressing forward with his own. "Is there any way you can pull some strings with the divorce proceedings?"