Chapter 52 Am I Your Backup?

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Am I Your Backup?

This time, Lucas Langley was even more amazed by Stella Sutton’s composure. This was the confidence of a true girlfriend, something that underhanded tactics meant to usurp her position could never compare to. His dark gaze shifted back toward Sophie Winslow, an indescribable irritability brewing in his chest.

"Aren’t you going to confront her face-to-face?" he asked.

Stella’s eyes flickered before she replied calmly, "We’re both women; there’s no need to make things difficult for each other. Since Julian has me in his heart, he naturally won’t give anyone else an opportunity to take advantage."

Up until this moment, Lucas’s gaze toward Stella held a newfound sense of admiration. She truly deserved to be the woman Julian Sterling had taken a liking to. She was indeed extraordinary.

"Mr. Langley, let’s just pretend we didn’t see anything and leave her some dignity," Stella said with a sweet smile, turning to leave with graceful steps.

Lucas watched Stella’s retreating figure. She was magnanimous, gentle, confident, and refused to engage in petty rivalry with other women. To think he had previously considered Sophie to be the superior one—he had really misjudged the situation.

After parting ways with Julian, Sophie met up with Peter Preston.

Peter leaned in close and whispered, "Your romantic luck is blooming. Why don’t you just go and date someone? Your soon-to-be ex-husband can’t exactly enforce a double standard, can he?"

Taking a sip of her juice with a loud SLURP, Sophie looked at him in confusion. "...?"

Peter pointed at Lucas, who was chatting with someone in the distance. "Mr. Langley seems interested in you. Check your WhatsApp; he asked me to share your contact with him."

"Oh, good taste on his part," Sophie said, CHOMPING on the fruit pulp, not particularly surprised. She had plenty of suitors during her school days. Unfortunately, back then, she had been secretly in love with Julian. Her romantic affections had firmly rooted themselves in him, of all people. From her teenage years to twenty-six, so many years had gone by in a flash. At such a young age, she hadn’t taken any detours, arriving swiftly and accurately at her karma.

Peter couldn’t help but laugh at Sophie’s cockiness. Her personality was actually quite cheerful. If not for the grinding wear and tear of her marriage over the years, she would naturally be radiating brilliance.

Sophie wasn’t in a rush to check WhatsApp. She had come here, firstly, to network, and secondly, to see if there were any traces of her family’s heirloom from the antique shop. Following the stairs, she browsed the floors one by one.

Perhaps it was just a stroke of good luck. When she spotted a small yet exquisitely crafted Small Leaf Red Sandalwood Heart-shaped Lock displayed under a glass cover on the third floor, her gaze instantly turned feverish.

It was her grandmother’s dowry!

Rumor had it that her grandmother had lost this Small Leaf Red Sandalwood Heart-shaped Lock before marrying her grandfather. Her grandfather had found it, and that was how they first met. The Unity Lock was a token of love, symbolizing the eternal unity of two hearts and a long, harmonious union. It was also one of the items originally in their antique shop!

Goosebumps instantly erupted across Sophie’s skin. She hurriedly stepped forward, checking and rechecking the item. She used to wear it as a child to play; she couldn’t possibly mistake it! Before Isaiah Sutton sent her off to the countryside, she had been wearing it around her neck. Upon seeing it, Stella had forcefully yanked it off her. In the end, Stella must have gotten tired of playing with it and sold it off.

Sophie immediately turned around and scanned her surroundings. She wanted to find Lucas to talk; it would be best if she could buy it. After taking just a few steps, she saw Lucas walking exactly in her direction.

Her eyes brimming with eagerness, Sophie walked straight up to him. "Mr. Langley, could I have a quick word with you?"

Lucas was momentarily stunned by her joyful, fiercely burning gaze. He felt almost scorched by such a look. However, the image of Sophie throwing herself into Julian’s arms flashed instantly in his mind. It suppressed the strange feeling stirring inside him, and he couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smirk. "Am I your backup plan?"

This was the only possibility he could think of. She failed to seduce Julian, so she was acting like nothing had happened and coming to him with feigned delight? Was the whole world her spare tire?

Sophie was instantly confused. "What?"

She completely missed his meaning. Just as she was about to ask if the Small Leaf Red Sandalwood Heart-shaped Lock could be sold to her, Stella’s smiling voice rang out from behind her.

"Julian, this Unity Lock is so unique and exquisite. The meaning behind it is wonderful, too. I love it. I wonder if it’s for sale."

The warmth in Sophie’s eyes was seemingly doused by a bucket of ice water. Turning her head, she saw Stella bending over to examine the lock, smiling as she turned to look at the man beside her. A faint ripple of a smile graced Julian’s lips as he cast a sideways glance at Lucas, who was standing in front of Sophie. "Mr. Langley, are you willing to part with it?"

His unfailing willingness to grant Stella’s every wish practically stung Sophie’s eyes.

Her heart twisted viciously. She immediately turned to Lucas. "Can you sell it to me? I’ll pay any price."

Hearing this, the smile on Stella’s face faded inch by inch. "Miss Winslow, must you fight me for every single thing?"

Her words made Lucas frown as well. Piecing the context together, he instantly understood Sophie’s current intentions. Wasn’t she just trying to snatch it because she saw Stella wanted it? One minute, she was trying to steal the woman’s boyfriend, and the next, she was brazenly trying to snatch the very item the woman had her eye on. It was too... arrogant.

Sophie looked at Stella expressionlessly. "Fighting you for it? Did it suddenly have your name written on it just because you glanced at it?"

Did Stella really not remember this Small Leaf Red Sandalwood Heart-shaped Lock? She had snatched it right off Sophie’s neck over a decade ago, and now she had the gall to play the victim!

Stella’s gaze swept over Sophie from head to toe before she slowly smiled. "Miss Winslow, there’s no need to be so aggressive. I believe I’ve been speaking to you nicely this whole time. There’s no reason for you to have such massive hostility toward me."

Sophie was absolutely sick of Stella’s ability to effortlessly pin the blame on others. Even when it wasn’t her problem, it somehow became her fault.

"Mr. Langley, you can name your price," Sophie said. She refused to fall into the other woman’s conversational trap to defend herself, leaving her no choice but to pin her hopes on Lucas.

Lucas looked at Stella. Meeting his gaze at the perfect moment, Stella offered a helpless smile. "It’s fine, Mr. Langley. I can take a step back."

"If you like it, you don’t need to yield."

A low, indifferent voice slowly drifted into their eardrums. A dense chill instantly crept up Sophie’s spine, feeling like a venomous snake coiling around her neck. She slowly turned around and looked at Julian. Across the crowd, his ethereal gaze swept briefly over her face before finally landing on Lucas.

"Mr. Langley, could you do me a favor? The price doesn’t matter," Julian said.

Stella looked up at him in pleasant surprise. After casting a contemptuous glance at Sophie, her eyes filled with sweet affection. "Julian, thank you for being so good to me."

Sophie’s nails nearly dug into her flesh. She was stunned that Julian would go so far as to owe someone a favor just to give Stella this gift. A favor from Mr. Sterling of Sterling Corp—who didn’t know the weight of that? It wasn’t something that could be measured by money.

She watched helplessly as this deeply loving couple stood before her. Seeing Julian’s unabashed favoritism toward Stella trampled her heart straight into the mud. Did Julian not know the meaning behind this Unity Lock? He knew it all too well. Giving it to Stella was simply for the auspicious symbolism of two hearts eternally united! Their emotional bond was already this deep...

At this moment, Lucas finally understood the depth of Julian’s affection for Stella. It was definitely not something a homewrecker like Sophie could destroy. He smiled at Sophie, feeling a sense of vindication. "I’m sorry, but I have to facilitate Mr. Sterling’s deep devotion. Miss Winslow, you really should be wishing them well."

Sophie instantly realized that the situation was sealed. Julian’s intervention and blatant favoritism were enough to make her lose completely and utterly.

"The item’s value isn’t particularly high. When my grandfather bought it, it was only 1.1 million. But since Mr. Sterling treasures Miss Sutton so much, how about we set it at 990,000 for the auspicious meaning of everlasting longevity?" Lucas was a businessman through and through. He had given face, earned a favor, and hadn’t lost anything in the process.

Julian gave a faint nod. "Then I must thank you for parting with it, Mr. Langley."

Sophie’s chest heaved as she tried desperately to calm her emotions. This was the testament to her grandmother and grandfather’s lifelong, mutual devotion—a flawless symbol of their loyal love. An heirloom of the Winslow Family was being gifted to an extramarital mistress like Stella!

It was an absolute insult to her grandmother’s dowry! She simply could not accept this kind of humiliation!