Chapter 259: Shocked into Silence
Sophia arched an eyebrow, unfazed.
Did Kathy Caroline know Randall?
Just a moment ago, if she'd seen correctly, Randall had been holding Kathy Caroline's hand. Upon spotting Sophia and Mrs. Stark, Kathy Caroline had quickly let go.
Kathy Caroline's eyes darted down, a flash of malice passing through as she pondered the unlucky coincidence of running into Sophia here – had Sophia witnessed that little scene?
Then, followed by Randall, Kathy Caroline approached with a friendly smile.
"Hello Mrs. Stark, my name is Kathy Caroline, I'm also a fashion designer."
Why was Sophia hanging out with Mrs. Stark?
Could it be that she was specifically trying to curry favor with Mrs. Stark?
Kathy Caroline felt a surge of irritation. It appeared Sophia was one step ahead of her, having already endeared herself to Mrs. Stark.
"Hello," Stark Arya said with a detached yet affable smile.
"Sophia, how come you're dining with Mrs. Arya?" Kathy Caroline warmly walked over and linked arms with Sophia.
Sophia smiled gently and subtly withdrew her hand.
"I know Mrs. Arya's son, just happened to have some business so we decided to grab a meal together."
Kathy Caroline felt even more irritated inside. If she had known Sophia had a way to connect with Stark Arya, she wouldn't have bothered trying so hard to please Randall, that disgusting man. Just being close to Sophia would have been enough.
Kathy Caroline was internally kicking herself in regret.
She glanced at the young man on the other side of Stark Arya and a hint of astonishment flashed in her eyes.
So handsome!
He had a different kind of allure from CEO Lancaster. CEO Lancaster was out of reach, too high to grasp, whereas this man in front of her looked like a refined scoundrel when not smiling, but a warm gentleman when he did. He was exactly her type.
Kathy Caroline felt her heart flutter, and a faint blush crept onto her face.
"Hello, I'm Kathy Caroline," she said, unable to resist greeting Colin and extending her hand.
Colin, out of respect for Sophia's acquaintance, responded with a polite but distant, "My name is Colin."
But he didn't intent to shake her hand.
"Cough cough," Randall coughed lightly in displeasure, shooting Kathy Caroline a cold glance, and then turned to Mrs. Arya with a sycophantic smile, "Have you all finished eating?"
"Yes, we were just about to leave."
"That's too bad, I was thinking if you hadn't eaten yet, perhaps we could dine together."
"Maybe next time."
"That sounds good. Next time I will officially treat you to a meal."
Stark Arya smiled in farewell and left with Randall.
Once they were gone, Randall's expression darkened almost as fast as flipping a page in a book. He headed straight into the private room, no longer bantering with Kathy Caroline.
Kathy Caroline was startled and quickly followed him, trying to appease, "Randall Lee, wait for me, please."
It was already dark outside. Sophia had driven herself and parted ways with Stark Arya and his mother in the parking lot.
In the Bentley, Stark Arya brought up Sophia.
"This child has had it tough, so young, with her parents gone and no siblings. Colin, you need to treat her well, help cure her son's illness as soon as you can."
Colin found the conversation odd.
He did not think much of it, though, and simply responded, "Yeah, I know."
"When I first saw her, it struck me how much she looks like your grandmother when she was young. If it weren't for the fact that Irene was already acknowledged, I'd suspect Sophia was actually your aunt's daughter."
"I had the same thought when I met her for the first time."
But after looking into the Holmes family more closely, it became clear that was not the case.
"By the way, her last name is Kelly. If I'm not mistaken, Irene's father's last name is Kelly too, right?"
"Yes, it is."
"Do you think your aunt might have actually had two daughters, one taking the mother's last name and the other the father's?"
"You're overthinking it. There's definitely only one daughter in the Kelly family."
Considering that Irene Holmes also resembled the grandmother, Colin would certainly have his doubts about Sophia being his aunt's daughter if it were not for that resemblance.
After all, it was too much of a coincidence; Sophia not only looked like his grandmother but also had the last name Kelly.
"This kid is sharp and suits my taste just right."
Arya Stark thought that there probably wouldn't be any mother-in-law and daughter-in-law issues in the future. She believed she wouldn't be a mean mother-in-law, and Sophia didn't seem like the difficult daughter-in-law type either.
A lightbulb went off in Colin's head. He liked Sophia (in a brotherly way), his grandmother liked Sophia, and his mother liked her too. So why not encourage his mother to take Sophia as a goddaughter?
His family was lacking a daughter, and this way, his grandmother would even gain three great-grandchildren—just like Madame Lancaster, whose attention was continually divided among her three great-grandkids—meaning she'd stop pestering him about marriage and having children.
Wow, he thought his idea was simply brilliant!
Colin turned on the car stereo, bright and cheerful tunes filling the space, and he even hummed along.
Sitting in the passenger seat browsing a fashion show on her iPad, Arya Stark glanced at her son driving the car and the corner of her mouth curved upward.
Her son had been single for so many years she almost thought he might be gay, but now it seemed like he was a late bloomer. Seeing him change this much, it was evident he really liked Sophia.
And she saw no reason to stand in the way of their connection; otherwise, she feared her son might remain single for many more years.
For her son's happiness, she thought she'd learn to be more accepting, even if Sophia had her fair share of flaws.
When Sophia got home and tried to hand over the stun gun to Ethan, she discovered Emma already had one and was currently zapping a bug to test its power.
The bug was electrocuted on the spot.
Sophia was silent, watching the scene.
"Where did you get this?" she asked Emma.
"My godmother," came Emma's reply.
Caroline smiled sheepishly, "A friend gave it to me for self-defense."
Sophia's gaze was suspicious, scanning up and down, while Caroline had an expression that said, "That's right, I'm not lying."
"Ethan, Emma, you have to remember this thing is very dangerous, you can't just use it carelessly, and you absolutely must not use it on other kids."
"We know, our godmother told us all about it. If bad guys come to kidnap us, we can zap them with the taser and run away."
Caroline had thoroughly educated Ethan and Emma. She was clear and explicit, fearing the children might misuse the taser.
The two kids were exceptionally bright and caught on quickly.
Now that there was an extra taser, Sophia handed it right over to Caroline.
Sophia also wondered who could be trying to drug her.
Aside from Tiffany, she couldn't think of anyone else.
The next day, Stark Arya was going to a meeting where the semi-final results would be announced in the afternoon. The final confirmations were to be made that morning, just minutes before the meeting started. Stark Arya hadn't yet entered the meeting room when Randall pulled her aside.
"Mrs. Arya, I need to talk to you, just two minutes of your time."
As a fellow judge, Stark Arya was willing to give Randall the time of day.
They walked over to a corner.
Randall looked a bit uneasy: "I wasn't going to mention this, but after thinking it over, I worry you've been deceived."
"Deceived by whom?"
"Sophia."
Stark Arya waited for him to continue with a slight smile, managing her emotions impeccably, giving nothing away.
Randall couldn't tell if Stark Arya believed him, but he had to speak up.
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