Chapter 85 It Is Perfectly Justified for the Lawful Wife to Beat the Mistress

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: It Is Perfectly Justified for the Lawful Wife to Beat the Mistress

Sophie Winslow thought she had misheard. She never expected to be the scapegoat for Stella Sutton being pushed down the stairs.

Ivy Hawthorne had already taken a step forward, laughing out of sheer anger. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Have you lost your mind in broad daylight?"

Leaning against her pillows, Stella looked candid and magnanimous. "Sophie knows exactly what I’m talking about. Everyone here should be well aware of how coincidental and perfectly logical this whole thing is."

"Bullsh—"

Sophie grasped Ivy’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before looking at Stella, her gaze calmer than ever. "You abandoned your fiancé and hooked up with his cousin before even breaking off the engagement. Do I really need to point out how much Barbara Coleman hates you for carrying on such a shady affair?"

They were tearing each other apart, yet they turned around and pinned the blame on her? Even if people preferred to pick on the weak, since when did she ever agree to quietly take the fall for something like this?

Sophie’s choice of words was completely unfiltered.

Hooking up. Shady.

Was she really not going to hold back, even in front of Julian Sterling? Had this always been their dynamic as a married couple?

Evan York couldn’t resist glancing at Julian to gauge his reaction. He found Julian leaning against the window frame, his eyelids slightly lifted as he watched Sophie. There was no joy or anger in his expression; he wasn’t the least bit infuriated by her blunt words.

Evan shrugged. He knew better. This was just the calm before the storm. There was no way Julian would let the matter of Stella getting injured slide easily.

"Watch your mouth," Stella said, a flash of displeasure crossing her face. "I originally didn’t want to make a big deal out of this with you. But I never expected you to show up here today, demanding that an injured person return to work and using professionalism to morally blackmail me. Since that’s the case, I don’t feel the need to hold back on your behalf anymore."

Looking at her high-and-mighty act, Sophie wanted to laugh. In fact, she did exactly that.

Seeing Sophie’s unrepentant expression, Finn Lockwood frowned. "What kind of attitude is that? At the end of the day, Stella is practically your older sister. There’s no need to make things so ugly. She’s been considerate enough toward you. No matter how frustrated you are with your love life, you can’t just blatantly defy and despise the law, can you? This is intentional assault."

Actually, he hadn’t harbored much resentment toward Sophie before. Since she was Julian’s wife, the most he had done was sigh over how manipulative she was; he wouldn’t go out of his way to make things difficult for a woman. But Stella was the one who had saved his grandfather. Naturally, he couldn’t stand seeing her get bullied.

A mocking smile touched Sophie’s lips. "What a flawless, innocent victim. Since you claim I pushed you, where is the evidence? You want to call the police? Fine, I’ll cooperate. Do you think the security cameras at Longview are just for show?"

As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Julian.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t feeling self-deprecating. They had been married for seven years. Did he still not know what kind of person she was? Was it simply because he favored Stella that he would believe whatever she said?

She didn’t even need him to speak up for her, but at the very least...

He lifted his eyes, meeting her gaze.

"The incident happened in the fire stairwell. It’s under maintenance recently, so there are no cameras," Julian said, his tone entirely placid, as if he were merely stating a fact.

Even though there was no explicit accusation, he was informing Sophie of this reality.

Sophie took in his calm detachment. Even though she no longer cared about this man, it still felt as if needles were piercing her throat.

Was he being neutral?

No. Being neutral was in itself a form of bias!

Ivy sensed Sophie’s subtle shift in mood. Her eyes red with anger, she glared at Stella. "Do we even need to play dirty to deal with you? Isn’t it perfectly justified for a legal wife to beat up a mistress? What kind of trash do you think you are? Forget playing dirty—so what if we beat you up right in front of Julian?"

Ivy simply couldn’t swallow her rage. She strode forward, intending to grab Stella by the hair and drag her out of the bed. Even if she wasn’t particularly favored in the Hawthorne family, she had never felt so suffocated before! She was feeling awful and frustrated on Sophie’s behalf!

Ivy had always been bold and abrasive. She moved so fast that neither Finn nor the others had time to react. But just as she reached out, her wrist was caught by Julian.

The sight made Sophie’s heart leap into her throat. She shared Ivy’s sentiments, of course, but if Julian got involved, things would end badly. She immediately jogged over and grabbed the hand Julian was using to restrain Ivy.

Julian had never stooped to argue or clash with women. His temperament had been aloof since childhood. It looked like good breeding, but in reality, he was just cold-hearted and couldn’t be bothered to care.

However, this matter involved Stella. Sophie didn’t dare take that gamble.

In her frantic rush, she ended up bumping into Julian’s shoulder. Refusing to yield an inch, she stared fixedly into his eyes. "Shouldn’t we be reasonable about things?"

The moment Sophie grabbed him, Julian almost immediately released Ivy. He lowered his eyes, casually glancing at Sophie’s hand still gripping his wrist. She was trembling; he could feel it.

"Barbara Coleman said it herself. You pushed her," he said in a slow, indifferent tone, once again giving Sophie his reasoning.

Sophie’s expression finally darkened.

So, Barbara, the actual culprit, had packaged herself as... an "eyewitness"?

Julian slowly straightened up. He didn’t shake off Sophie’s hand, merely stating impassively, "Acting on emotion doesn’t solve any problems. I believe you understand that better than your friend does."

Of course Sophie understood. She threw off Julian’s hand and turned around to grasp Ivy’s.

"Being emotional won’t solve anything, obviously. But the emotional ones have never been me. It’s you. It’s all of you, with your biased and unjust hearts."

She pulled Ivy along and turned to leave. Staying here to argue with them was pointless. What she needed was a way to solve the problem.

As Sophie walked away without looking back, Julian’s gaze swept over, watching her back disappear.

Finn found it inconceivable. "She’s just not going to explain?" It was rare to see someone act so tough after doing something wrong.

A hint of mockery flashed in Stella’s eyes, though her face remained composed and effortless. "Nobody wants to be falsely accused. The fact that she isn’t making a scene probably means she knows she’s in the wrong."

With that, she looked at Evan, who hadn’t spoken a single word in her defense from beginning to end. "Mr. York, why haven’t you said anything?"

In the past, Evan would have sided with her to some extent. This time, even after Sophie had treated her like this, Evan hadn’t reprimanded Sophie at all. It gave her a rather uncomfortable feeling.

Evan finally looked over, his lips curling into a nonchalant smile. "This matter still requires Julian to take a stance. At the end of the day, I’m just an outsider."

He found himself quite strange, too. Watching Sophie become the target of everyone’s questioning just now, he had actually felt an indescribable sense of... agitation.

It was a very strange feeling.

Stella wasn’t very satisfied with that answer. After all, she was the one who was injured; she was the wronged party. At the very least, he should have offered some words of comfort.

Finn walked over. "You’re just too dignified and considerate of the bigger picture. Julian understands everything perfectly well."

She immediately shifted her gaze to Julian. Looking at his flawlessly handsome, icy face, her heart began to flutter once again. "Julian, what do you think? Should I continue to pursue this and hold Sophie accountable?"

She handed the decision over to Julian.

Only then did Julian slowly raise his eyes.