Chapter 209 Husband, Say Something!

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Husband, Say Something!

Julian Sterling stared at the screen, his expression largely unreadable.

Sophie Winslow hadn’t hesitated. The moment her phone rang and she saw his caller ID, she had decisively declined the call.

Witnessing this, Finn Lockwood sprang to his feet in disbelief. "She hung up? Who does she think she is?"

This was completely unexpected. What kind of airs was Sophie putting on at a time like this? Stella Sutton’s expression also frosted over. Sophie certainly knew how to pick her moments to act up!

Julian, however, remained the calmest of them all. He didn’t try calling again and quietly put his phone away. "Since she won’t answer, we’ll just have to go see her in person."

Stella understood what he meant. If Sophie wouldn’t answer the phone, Stella would have to go to her doorstep. She had to speak with Sophie face-to-face, which meant... she was highly likely to be walked all over and humiliated. Taking a deep breath, Stella dreaded the prospect. For the longest time, she had been the one stepping on Sophie. Now, the tables had turned, and she had to beg Sophie to act as a middleman and produce Longview’s old employment contracts. The situation was clearly entirely out of her favor.

Soon, the door was pushed open again. Clara Quinn, who had been waiting outside, stepped in. She glanced at the people in the office before ultimately turning to Julian. "Mr. Sterling, we just received news. Helios has signed a massive order for fifteen machines, entirely for overseas export..."

"What?!" Finn jolted upright again, his face paling drastically.

He had previously deemed the Helios project to have low feasibility and too many technological barriers, so he had passed on investing. But now, just as Stella’s project was going off the rails and his investment was going down the drain, Helios had secured a massive order? And they had broken into the overseas market during their initial stage! It was easy to imagine how unstoppable their momentum would be later on.

Stella was stunned. It felt as if a heavy blow had struck her chest, and her expression darkened considerably. "Helios is only swooping in to seize the market because I ran into trouble at a critical moment. If it weren’t for my accident, they would have never been able to emerge from the shadow of my project."

But it would be a lie to say she wasn’t shocked. Fifteen machines was no small number. The three machines she had signed with Mercywell in one breath had already been considered a lot... She couldn’t help but look at Julian. "Julian, what do we do?"

Julian spun his phone between his fingers a couple of times before standing up. "Let’s meet with Sophie first."

Meanwhile, Sophie Winslow had, in fact, seen Julian Sterling’s incoming call. She hadn’t thought much of it when she hung up, but in hindsight, she figured out why he was calling. He probably needed her for something regarding this mess; otherwise, he almost never initiated contact. She brushed it off and didn’t bother calling back.

That afternoon, Ivy Hawthorne introduced her to a potential client. The client was also in the medical field and wanted to learn more about the Helios project. Sophie grabbed her bag and went to meet Ivy. They had arranged to meet at a restaurant. As soon as Sophie arrived at the entrance, Ivy hurried over to her. "This client came all the way from Seabourne. Your project needs to expand outward, and with so many top-tier medical facilities in Seabourne, you can’t afford to pass up that market."

Sophie looked at her skeptically. "Since when do you have connections like this?"

Ivy blinked and muttered sheepishly, "Fine, fine, it’s my brother. He made the introduction."

Sophie was taken aback. Adrian Hawthorne was still abroad, yet he was helping Helios out like this? Ivy explained, "I didn’t tell my brother that this is entirely your project. I just said you were handling a part of it and that the more clients, the better. So, he helped reach out to his contacts."

Sophie suddenly felt like she owed Adrian far too much. The debt of gratitude was growing so large that she didn’t even know how to begin repaying it.

Ivy, however, was visibly delighted, her face brimming with gossip and excitement. "You know how my brother is. He’s a typical businessman—absolutely rational, objective, and profit-driven. Yet he went out of his way to leverage his network and play matchmaker for your project. He’s really... invested in you."

Sophie gently pushed away Ivy’s leaning face. "Alright, I’ll be sure to formally and personally thank him when the time comes."

Ivy eagerly chased after her, chattering away. "Thank him? Just offer yourself in marriage! My brother’s status and position are on par with Julian Sterling’s. Plus, you could show up every day as Mrs. Hawthorne, forcing Julian to address you as Mrs. Hawthorne every single time. It would piss him off to death!"

Sophie instantly clamped a hand over Ivy’s mouth. She had spotted a tall, upright figure standing under the restaurant’s entrance awning. The man had his suit jacket draped over his arm, and a freshly lit cigarette dangled from his lowered hand. Hearing the noise, he turned his head slightly. His beautiful, pitch-black eyes were devoid of any warmth, looking as if absolutely nothing could find a place in his heart. His gaze landed with pinpoint accuracy on Sophie’s face. She had no idea if he had heard Ivy’s wild ramblings just now.

Instinctively repulsed by the idea of interacting with him, Sophie took two steps back. Julian didn’t say a word; he simply and calmly stubbed out his cigarette.

Just then, a voice rang out from behind her. "Sophie? You really are here."

Sophie turned around and saw three more people approaching: Finn Lockwood, Stella Sutton, and Maeve Walsh. Sophie figured she must have stepped out on the wrong side of the bed today. She tried to detour and leave but was blocked by Maeve. Maeve had been stressing over Stella’s predicament and knew they desperately needed Sophie to produce the onboarding files of the two overseas experts from Longview.

"Don’t you know how to greet your elders?" Maeve asked, clearly displeased.

Ivy immediately snapped back, "In ancient times, you’d be nothing but a lowly concubine. You should be the one kowtowing when you see Sophie. What gives you the right to cluck around and put on airs like the matriarch?"

Maeve was absolutely furious, but Ivy had a powerful background that couldn’t be ignored. Deciding it wasn’t worth picking a fight with the Hawthorne heiress, Maeve focused solely on Sophie. "You know exactly how you got your hands on Longview. If it weren’t for Stella, you wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the situation. So, it’s time you return the favor. Pull up the files on those two overseas experts from Stella’s team at Longview to prove their backgrounds. It’s something you can get done with a single word."

A look of realization washed over Sophie. "Oh, so you’ve found your scapegoats?"

She instantly understood what they were plotting. Those two experts were from overseas, highly capable, and possessed a degree of authority. Pushing them into the line of fire and pinning the blame on them at this critical juncture would work perfectly. The public wouldn’t think they were just random, marginalized fall guys; people would actually believe these two experts had sabotaged the project. This narrative would earn Stella sympathy, a chance to make amends, and the breathing room to scrape back some of her losses. After all, convincing the public that the machines were flawless was now an impossible task. Furthermore, Stella couldn’t afford to openly offend the son of that powerful figure at Mercywell. She wanted to do him a favor by shifting the blame onto the overseas experts, thereby minimizing the negative PR surrounding the project and deflecting the public’s scrutiny onto those two men. In the court of public opinion, scapegoats were usually insignificant nobodies, which made these two highly credible experts the perfect, convincing targets.

Of course Sophie remembered them. Helios had initially tried to poach them, but Stella had intercepted the hires. Sophie knew that Stella was currently in a corner and had no choice but to take the loss, especially since she couldn’t cross the powers behind Mercywell. Watching Maeve still acting so bossy and entitled despite their desperate situation, Sophie suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "Sure."

Maeve’s expression instantly relaxed. "That’s more like it. At the end of the day, you and Stella are still sis—"

"First, go to my mother’s hospital bed, kowtow ten times, and admit that you never should have slept your way into our family as a homewrecker. Then, I’ll consider it," Sophie interrupted.

Maeve was dumbfounded, her entire body trembling with rage. "You... you..."

Stella’s face also contorted. "Sophie, don’t you think you’re taking this too far?"

Finn furrowed his brow as well. Sophie was being a bit too aggressive. However, the current crisis needed to be resolved immediately. Otherwise, if his grandfather found out, Finn might be stripped of his position. The old man had always drawn a strict line between personal and professional matters and would never show leniency just because Finn was his own grandson. "Sophie, enough is enough," Finn interjected, trying to mediate.

Ivy crossed her arms over her chest. "My, aren’t you a kind soul. How about you kowtow on her behalf? That works too, since you’re such a great saint."

Finn’s face darkened instantly. Anyone who was good friends with Sophie was clearly cut from the same cloth!

Maeve was fuming, but after forcing herself to calm down, she pulled Stella over to Julian’s side. She let out a cold sneer. "How much? Name your price." If worse came to worst, they would just buy their way out of this. After all, Mr. Sterling was more than happy to spend money on her daughter.

Sophie immediately caught Maeve’s underlying meaning. She could see that Maeve was deliberately trying to disgust her, signaling that Julian would act as their safety net and implicitly declaring that Julian would sooner or later become her son-in-law.

For some inexplicable reason, a smirk tugged at the corner of Sophie’s lips. She suddenly locked eyes with Julian and spoke in a light, breezy tone.

"So, who’s footing the bill? Say something, Husband."