Chapter 42 Give Him a Slap!

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Give Him a Slap!

Sophie Winslow looked at him absentmindedly. "What’s wrong?"

Peter Preston frowned. "It looks like the hall next door is hosting a birthday party for Stella Sutton’s younger brother."

Sophie’s already solemn expression hadn’t yet settled, and astonishment surfaced in her eyes. "Seth Sutton?"

She quickly stepped out. The adjacent hall wasn’t far. It was the exact same banquet hall she had originally booked, the one the hotel had just negotiated with her to give up. By the entrance, the welcome sign displayed a photo of Seth. They were throwing him a birthday party too.

At the doorway, Isaiah Sutton and Maeve Walsh stood together, greeting guests.

Upon seeing Sophie, Isaiah didn’t seem surprised. He smiled and walked up to her without a trace of the estrangement one might expect after years of separation. "Sophie, what a coincidence! Dad happens to be celebrating your brother’s birthday too. Why don’t we merge the halls?"

Sophie’s gaze was ice-cold. "Do I know you?"

They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, yet Isaiah was still as hypocritical in public as ever.

Isaiah frowned, then sighed. "Sophie, Dad is just thinking of you. Julian is accompanying Stella to an interview right now, and they’ll be arriving here hand-in-hand in a little while. Today is Seth’s birthday too. Your grandpa is at an advanced age; surely he wouldn’t try to steal the spotlight from a child. If you come over to eat and blow out the candles together, it’ll let you share in some of the joy, won’t it?"

Share? They had been planning their own celebration perfectly fine, but now they were being treated as if they needed charity? Sophie’s chest heaved unconsciously, her gaze sharp and piercing. "Director Sutton seems quite proud that his stepdaughter is a homewrecker."

Clearly, Isaiah had always known that she was married to Julian Sterling, and he knew that Stella had hooked up with him. Yet, he had never once contacted her. Instead, he had been secretly rejoicing that Stella had stolen his own biological daughter’s husband!

Isaiah’s expression turned ugly as he looked at her in disappointment. "Sophie, how can you be so mean? She is your sister."

"A sister with no blood ties," Sophie retorted, her lips curling in a mocking sneer. "Director Sutton, if you enjoy being a cuckold, don’t drag me down with you."

Isaiah’s mouth twitched.

Hearing this, Maeve Walsh’s face also turned cold. "Sophie, Stella hasn’t even blamed you for monopolizing the position of Mrs. Sterling. Shouldn’t you have a better attitude?"

"Right. She’s a tramp who learned it all from her biological mother," Sophie replied, her tone perfectly calm.

Maeve’s expression froze completely at those words. "Is this how you speak to your elders? When your mother got into that car accident years ago, how come you were the only one who came out unscathed? You truly are a jinx. Your mother ended up in a vegetative state just to shield you from your own curse!"

Those words violently ripped open Sophie’s deepest, most untouchable wound until it bled raw. Her eyes gradually reddened, yet her gaze grew even colder. "Yes, I never imagined that by surviving, I’d have to speak to so many animals."

"Sophie Winslow! You are completely out of line!" Isaiah looked at her in sheer disbelief, as if she were some heinous, unfilial daughter who had utterly shattered her parents’ hearts.

Unwilling to waste another breath, Sophie turned around and headed back into her own hall. Seeing her grandpa sitting in his wheelchair, chatting amiably with Peter, she forced back the tears that threatened to spill over.

Isaiah and his family were right next door. Julian was accompanying Stella to an interview today, so he had to know that the Sutton Family was also at this hotel. Yet, he hadn’t warned her. She had clearly told him the hotel’s address, but he had still let her and her grandpa walk right into such unnecessary humiliation!

Noticing that Sophie seemed upset, Peter pursed his lips and stood up. "Are you alright?"

Sophie quickly tilted her head back, let out a breath, and managed a smile. "I’m fine. It’s just that I don’t think we’ll be able to eat here today. We need to find another place."

The people next door were a ticking time bomb. She didn’t want to ruin her grandpa’s big day or his good mood.

As for Julian Sterling... she didn’t care if he showed up anymore. She had no need for his so-called attempts to keep the peace, nor did she want to force such a master of time management to juggle both households.

Peter understood completely. He nodded. "Alright. I’ll go talk to the hotel management."

"Sophie, why are your eyes red? Did someone bully you? Grandpa will stand up for you." Quentin Winslow’s cloudy eyes caught Sophie’s forced smile. Anxious, he tried to wheel his chair forward to touch her face.

Sophie hurried over to him. "It’s nothing, Grandpa, I’m fine. There are just too many people at this hotel. Let’s go home and eat, okay?"

Quentin wasn’t entirely lucid to begin with, making it easy to distract him. Sophie did her best to soothe him.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent hall.

Still fuming over Sophie’s blatant disrespect, Maeve said with a cold face, "Just look at that jinx. Even throwing her out to the countryside didn’t pluck out all her thorns. She’s still as fiercely abrasive and obnoxious as ever."

Isaiah let out a helpless sigh. "That child is just like her mother. She never lets anyone off the hook once she gets the upper hand."

"And yet, she’s somehow lucky enough to turn the tables against all odds and marry into the Sterling Family. Just how many dirty tricks did she have to pull to achieve that?" Maeve frowned.

Sophie currently monopolized the position of Mrs. Sterling, refusing to step down. Her absolute lack of shame was a huge source of frustration for Maeve.

Suddenly, Maeve’s eyes darted around, an idea forming in her mind. She looked at Isaiah. "Stella and Julian’s interview today will be broadcast publicly, right?"

Isaiah understood her intentions almost instantly. He fell silent, offering no objections. Sophie was playing the dog in the manger; why let such a valuable resource go to waste?

Maeve smiled. "Call the hotel manager over. I have a task for him."

Shortly after.

Peter had quickly arranged for a car. Sophie was just pushing Quentin’s wheelchair toward the exit when the large screen inside the hall suddenly lit up. She turned around to look. Since they had already informed the hotel that they were canceling the banquet, the large screen shouldn’t have been playing any audio or video.

However, upon seeing the man and woman on the screen looking like a match made in heaven, Sophie’s expression changed drastically.

It was a live broadcast of Julian accompanying Stella during her interview. Stella was clinging affectionately to Julian’s arm in a display of sheer intimacy. Julian, in turn, was looking down at her, his deep, dark eyes filled with tenderness.

The reporter asked, "Mr. Sterling, Miss Sutton, are congratulations in order? Are you two planning to get married?"

Hearing the voice, Quentin hesitantly tried to turn around. The blood rushed to Sophie’s head. Her limbs turned as cold as ice, feeling as though they were being smashed to pieces, inch by inch, by the sudden sight before her.

"Turn it off!"

Peter returned just in time. Seeing the publicly broadcasted interview video, his face darkened completely. He strode over and yanked the power cord from the wall. The large screen instantly went black.

By the time Quentin turned his head, the intimate image of Julian and Stella was gone. The old man’s eyes looked dazed for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Sophie’s hands gripped the wheelchair handles, trembling uncontrollably. She didn’t dare to imagine the shock her grandpa would have suffered had he seen the footage. Given his advanced age and poor health, an outburst of anger could very well have cost him his life.

And as for that video...

"Nyah nyah nyah! Thief! Give Stella her position back! You’re a bad woman with no shame, ruining Stella and Julian’s relationship!"

A chubby little figure darted in through the doorway. Seth Sutton, dressed in a tiny suit and a bowtie, stood with his hands on his hips like a little demon, laughing brazenly at Sophie. His youthful face was brimming with pure malice.

He even rolled his eyes over to look at Quentin, flaunting his arrogance even more. "My dad said that old bones are just old bones. Living this long just means you’re stealing the lifespan of your children and grandchildren. Since we share the same birthday, you better not steal mine. Why don’t you hurry up and..." Die.

SLAP!

A sharp slap echoed through the room, thoroughly silencing the boy’s voice.