Chapter 186 Forcefully Tearing Them Apart

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Forcefully Tearing Them Apart

Sophie Winslow’s "clarification" had indeed spread like wildfire. Those hungry for gossip had tuned in early on, and the screenshots were forwarded across countless group chats.

When Julian Sterling saw the screenshots, he subconsciously searched for Sophie’s WhatsApp. Her profile was blank. She had actually deleted him a long time ago.

Finn Lockwood, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. "Has Sophie lost her mind? With her saying this, how are you and Stella supposed to get married openly and honorably in the future?"

Sisters-in-law, younger brother’s fiancée, older sister—this tangled web of multiple relationships directly amplified the difficulty for the two to ever get their happy ending. Wasn’t this intentional sabotage? For her to be this scheming... wasn’t it too vicious?

Julian stared thoughtfully at the words "sisters-in-law and younger brother’s fiancée" in Sophie’s post, raising an eyebrow for no apparent reason. "Longview is going to be quite popular these coming days," he noted.

He had also seen the content on Longview’s Official Account. Sophie had woven everything together perfectly. By clarifying the older sister and sister-in-law angles and bringing Faye into the mix, she had resolved Longview’s public relations crisis from multiple fronts. Now, Longview was in a completely different league.

Finn was still in disbelief. "Julian, didn’t you tell Sophie to only clarify that Stella was her older sister? Isn’t she taking a mile when given an inch?"

Julian took a light sip of his drink and stood up to leave. His tone was breezy, showing no surprise. "She was never that obedient to begin with. She was always going to pick everything apart and find a way to get even." If he could force her to call Stella her older sister, she would naturally strike back from a similar angle to turn the tables on him.

Seeing that Julian was neither shocked nor angry, Finn chased after him. "Then how are we going to solve this? What about Stella...?"

Julian didn’t stop walking. "Let nature take its course."

As the screenshots spread far and wide, they naturally made their way to Stella Sutton. She was resting at home over the weekend, but when she saw what someone had sent her, her expression changed drastically.

Even Maeve Walsh found out. The wealthy ladies she frequently played mahjong with had approached her with passive-aggressive snide remarks. "So your daughter isn’t marrying Mr. Sterling, the handpicked heir? If she’s engaged to someone else in the Sterling family, there isn’t much hope for her and Mr. Sterling anymore. I guess she still can’t compare to Sophie, the future matriarch of the household."

Maeve was so furious she wanted to curse them out and hurriedly went upstairs to find Stella.

Stella was caught completely off guard by this move. She was stunned that Sophie would be so brutally transparent. Now that so many people knew she had been engaged to another member of the Sterling family, the sister-in-law and brother’s fiancée dynamic was out in the open. It would have been fine if only a few people knew about it like before, but things were different now.

The Sterling family would never allow themselves to be the subject of public ridicule. Sophie was trying to completely cut off her path! Others might not know, but they themselves were well aware: Stella had already thoroughly offended Barbara Coleman and the rest of the second branch, meaning there was absolutely no way she could marry into that side of the family anymore. As for Julian, it was even worse. By publicly calling her a younger sister-in-law, Sophie was severing Stella’s ties with Julian!

Not only was Sophie preventing her from having a future with Julian, but she was also denying her the chance to piggyback off the prestige of any other branch of the Sterling family.

"That bitch!" Maeve flared up in anger. "She’s tying the Sterling family’s hands and blocking you at the same time."

The Sterling family cared so much about their reputation that they wouldn’t easily approve of Stella and Julian anymore. It was even possible that, in the future, they would only allow her daughter to be a hidden mistress!

Stella’s eyes were red; she was equally frantic. By forcing Sophie to clarify that they were sisters, a portion of the negative labels attached to her was supposed to be neutralized. Who could have anticipated that Sophie would be this vicious?

Stella wanted to call Julian, but the moment she picked up her phone, friends in their social circle sent her messages saying that Longview’s threshold was practically being trampled flat today by eager visitors, and they had secured quite a few new business partnerships as well.

Stella’s heart jolted. With this move, Sophie had achieved both fame and fortune. Originally, she thought Longview would suffer the fallout and face a slump for at least half a year. Coupled with Sophie’s supposed mismanagement, it should have gone downhill and faded into irrelevance. But now...

Her head buzzed. She naturally refused to be surpassed by Sophie—someone she had trampled underfoot since childhood and tossed away to a remote, impoverished backwater.

Later that day, Evan York sent her a WhatsApp message: "What’s going on?"

Evan had evidently seen the news as well. Taking a deep breath, Stella replied, "I got played. Sophie really hates me."

Maeve noticed Evan’s message and had a sudden realization. "At the very least, Julian’s friends are still on your side. Look at Mr. Lockwood and Mr. York. Sophie hasn’t won anyone’s hearts. Maintain a good relationship with Mr. York and the others; they’ll be your pillars of support in the future."

Especially the York family. Their background was even more complex, and they had Winnie Hayes at the helm. She wasn’t worried about Finn; after all, Finn still felt indebted to her daughter for saving his life. As for Evan, however, Maeve couldn’t help but recall something. Her eyes flickered before she emphasized, "Make sure you maintain a good relationship with Mr. York."

Especially now that they were at a stalemate with the Sterling family, it was always best to have other stable sources of support backing them up.

Stella was utterly frustrated. "Mr. York treats me quite well, but Chairman Hayes doesn’t really like me. It’d be great if I could earn Chairman Hayes’s favor, but it’s practically impossible for me to make her owe me a debt of gratitude... unless I help her find her granddaughter."

"Her granddaughter?" Maeve asked suddenly.

"The York family’s heiress has been missing for over twenty years. They even brought it up the other day. She was wearing an Emperor Green Jadeite No-Event Token. But if the York family themselves can’t find her, there’s nothing I can do."

Maeve frowned, seemingly recalling something. "What does that token look like?"

Meanwhile, Sophie Winslow was indeed so busy her feet barely touched the ground. She had to keep an eye on the experimental progress at Helios while simultaneously heading to Longview to make executive decisions. Mr. Thorne compiled the new partnership intents they had secured and called her every day to happily report the numbers. He praised her for having such incredible connections, amazed that she could even get Faye to speak up for Longview.

They weren’t the only ones who knew about this. The Sterling family did too. Calls began rolling in from the Sterling family’s old manor.

Madam Sterling was surprised. She had initially thought Sophie was just using a favor to get Faye to drop the matter, but she hadn’t expected Sophie to actually get Faye to endorse Longview and make the company thrive again. This left the Sterling family practically astounded and chomping at the bit. Now that a dead pawn had been brought back to life, no one could sit still. Furthermore, because Sophie had referred to Stella as a younger sister-in-law, the Sterling family—though displeased—hadn’t explicitly reprimanded her.

"Tonight, I’ll have Julian pick you up and bring you back to the manor. It’s time for our monthly family banquet." Madam Sterling’s tone remained amiable, but in reality, it left no room for refusal.

Sophie knew there was no avoiding this trip. "I can go by myself," she said. After all, her relationship with Julian had deteriorated terribly. They were sick of the sight of each other, so there was no need for this extra song and dance.

Madam Sterling currently had no time to exchange pleasantries with Sophie; she just wanted her to return as soon as possible. So, she agreed.

Sophie dawdled until she absolutely had to leave, finally driving over to the manor. Just as she pulled into the garage, she saw Julian stepping out of his car as well. His gaze was extraordinarily deep in the darkness of the night. Sophie turned her head and immediately started walking away. She knew Julian would definitely settle the score with her for "talking too much"—forcing his beloved, unforgettable sweetheart into the role of a younger sister-in-law and ruthlessly tearing them apart.

It was highly likely that Julian was about to settle the score with her.