Chapter 182 Kicked Out of the Top Floor

Sophie Winslow did not raise her voice, nor did she scowl. Her expression remained completely serene from start to finish, yet she made no effort to rein in her sharp, intimidating aura. She was tall, which meant she was practically looking down her nose at Stella Sutton. That gaze made Stella deeply uncomfortable. She couldn’t believe Longview had undergone such a massive upheaval so suddenly. She hadn’t known a thing about it! Julian Sterling hadn’t breathed a word to her.

Stella stared at Sophie, her face turning ice-cold by the second. “Julian will never agree to this.”

Sophie gave a faint smile. “He has already handed over the management rights. Does it matter if he agrees or not? I am not Mr. Sterling. I treat everyone fairly and only value actual competence. If you can only get things done by relying on special privileges, you’re welcome to run back to your precious Mr. Sterling. After all, he’s more than happy to clean up your messes, even if you are entirely useless.”

Stella’s expression turned thoroughly ugly. Sophie’s words had practically trampled her dignity into the dirt, utterly invalidating her character and her abilities from the inside out! Being humiliated like this by an idiot like Sophie was something she simply could not accept.

Sophie didn’t want to waste any more time on her. She turned to Mr. Thorne and said, “Let’s finish the handover first. You can handle the research and development team as you see fit, Mr. Thorne.”

Mr. Thorne, who now knew the truth, fully understood that Ms. Winslow would be his sole boss from now on. His stance immediately firmed up. “Understood. Right this way, Ms. Winslow.”

Stella watched helplessly as Sophie was escorted into the office that Julian had once occupied. She couldn’t accept this. Sophie had actually become her superior, and today she had deliberately come to Longview just to put her in her place! Taking a deep breath, Stella looked at her team members, who were all wearing strange expressions. “Get back to work.” She turned around and walked off to call Julian.

The handover process on Sophie’s end went quickly. It would have been even faster if Stella hadn’t tried to cause trouble. Once the procedures were finalized and the documents stamped, Sophie decided to take a look around the company. After all, Longview belonged solely to her now. It would be her greatest asset moving forward; if she managed it well, it would give her the leverage she needed to stand toe-to-toe with the Sterling Family.

As she approached a corner, she unexpectedly overheard a conversation.

“Mr. Thorne, what’s the deal with Ms. Winslow? How did she just parachute into this position out of nowhere?”

“Yeah, and she actually dared to disrespect Miss Sutton in public. That was bold. Miss Sutton has been at the company for a while, and she’s never suffered such a blow.”

Mr. Thorne warned, “Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t be asking about. Just remember that from now on, Ms. Winslow is the boss with the final say. Do not underestimate her. You couldn’t even begin to guess her true identity.”

This only made the others more curious. “Then what about Miss Sutton?”

Mr. Thorne sighed. “Treat her the same as before. After all, Miss Sutton is still the apple of Mr. Sterling’s eye. Whatever is going on between her and Ms. Winslow is their business. You all just need to carry on as usual; it might even work out in your favor.”

Who knew what the future held? What if Stella really did manage to rise to the top one day? Nobody could say for sure.

Sophie didn’t step out from the shadows, but she understood exactly what Mr. Thorne was implying. He sounded neutral, but in reality, he was hedging his bets. Deep down, he probably still thought Stella had the upper hand and could eventually usurp Sophie’s position. The underlying reason he and other outsiders thought this way was simply because they all believed Julian did not love his lawful wife.

Sophie’s lips twitched in a silent, wry smile. She turned around and headed toward a different elevator.

As Sophie drove her car out of the underground parking garage, she happened to pass by a Bentley. It was Julian’s car. He had come to pick up Stella, likely having heard that she suffered a grievance today and rushing over to comfort her. Sophie indifferently looked away. That was their business. Now that the company had been handed over to her, she was not going to coddle Stella on Julian’s behalf, nor would she allow the woman to run rampant in the office. Honestly, it was already quite reasonable of her not to fire Stella on the spot. Until Stella made a critical mistake, Sophie wouldn’t take action against her.

After getting into the car, Stella gave Julian a rundown of the situation at Longview.

“Just focus on your project,” Julian said. “You don’t need to worry about anything else.”

Knowing that he had done all this to smooth things over for her, Stella felt touched, but there was still a metaphorical thorn lodged in her heart. This was Longview they were talking about. Sophie had gained fame, wealth, and social status overnight, and the mere thought of it disgusted her.

“Can Sophie really manage such a massive company? Isn’t it a bit too much for her?” Stella asked, swallowing her bitterness.

Julian’s gaze flicked briefly toward the car window. “Whether she thrives or fails completely, that’s entirely her business now.”

Stella bit her lip, looking both helpless and aggrieved. “But she clearly has a huge problem with me. It’s hard to believe she won’t try to make my life difficult…”

Julian’s gaze slowly drifted back from the window. “She won’t. If she has an issue, she’ll confront you directly. She doesn’t resort to underhanded tricks.”

Stella’s brows furrowed involuntarily. “Julian, you seem to know her quite well.”

She felt a surge of displeasure. Sophie sure knew how to craft a saintly persona in front of Julian! She was putting on quite the righteous act.

Julian was clearly uninterested in discussing Sophie any further and didn’t take the bait. Stella was satisfied with his silence.

Suddenly, she asked, “But will this whole incident make Director Preston biased against me? What if he refuses to take me in because of this?” This was her most pressing concern.

Julian signaled the driver to start the car. “Then we’ll pay him a personal visit.”

In an instant, the gloom hanging over Stella vanished. Philip Preston was an exclusive figure with high standards; not just anyone could secure a meeting with him. But with Julian by her side, it wouldn’t be an issue.

She was destined for greatness. So what if Sophie had taken over a company with a tarnished reputation? Without Julian’s backing, the number of people willing to cooperate with a disgraced Longview would plummet by more than half. Sophie was bound to go downhill eventually.

Meanwhile, Stella’s own path was limitless. If she could win over Philip Preston, Madam Sterling’s prejudice against her would surely decrease as well!

Sophie had indeed been incredibly busy over the next two days. Since the handover had just concluded, Longview required her presence at numerous executive meetings. Mr. Thorne worked with impressive efficiency. Stella Sutton was swiftly kicked out of the top floor, and Sophie was far too occupied to spare her a single thought.

Around noon, she received a call from Philip Preston. “How are the preparations coming along for the patent evidence?”

Although they hadn’t pursued the matter aggressively just yet, the patent rightfully belonged to Sophie, and she certainly wasn’t going to hand it over for nothing.

“I registered the patent under my own name,” Sophie replied. “I signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding the inventor’s identity at the time. Once I submit the paperwork, it’ll prove that my registration predates Stella’s, and that will be the end of it.”

Philip was relieved. Instantly changing his tune, he began to boss her around. “Then what are you waiting for? Come over here and be my assistant. The Serenity Health Foundation is organizing an outdoor activity, and I need your help.”

The Serenity Health Foundation had been established by Caldwell shortly after Lydia was born. Lydia had suffered from poor health as a child, so Caldwell had decided to do some good in the world, providing financial support to countless children with severe illnesses as a way of accumulating good karma for Lydia.

If it was for Lydia’s sake, Sophie was naturally more than happy to help.

That afternoon, Sophie found time in her schedule to head over. As soon as she arrived, Philip’s assistant, Aldridge, hurried forward to greet her. He wore a complicated expression. “The director is meeting with a guest right now…”