Chapter 178 She Has an Illegitimate Child!
Fiona lowered her eyes. With Sophia's arrival, she wouldn't need to fabricate excuses to turn down Vivian.
"It's been a while." Vivian greeted with a smile.
Sophia cast a disdainful glance at Fiona. With Fiona's beauty, Sophia couldn't help thinking that it all looked surgical! From their first encounter, Sophia felt Fiona seemed eerily familiar, possibly resembling someone from an online photo she had seen.
With that thought, she looped her arm through Vivian's.
"Ms. Vivian, I have a small favor to ask of you."
"Oh?" Vivian looked toward Fiona.
Fiona smiled with poised grace, "It's no problem, please go ahead with your conversation."
"Alright, I will come to find you later." Vivian left with Sophia.
Out of Fiona's earshot, Sophia asked, "Ms. Vivian, are you thinking of setting her up with Harold?"
"What's wrong?" Vivian didn't answer but instead asked a question of her own.
"You can choose anyone, but not this person." Sophia was visibly anxious. "You've been with Harold in the country these past years and might be unaware of her reputation abroad. She's infamous, she will sacrifice anything to get a project, including sleeping her way to it!"
Vivian frowned, "Isn't she an heiress of the Rhoads family? Even claiming their wealth is an understatement, how could it be?"
"That's what you don't know. Some will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Look at the name she's made for herself on Wall Street, it wasn't gifted by the Rhoads family."
Vivian fell into deep thought.
"And she even has an illegitimate child!" Sophia continued, "Because she's slept with so many, she can't figure out who the father is!"
"Really?" Vivian was shocked.
"Absolutely true. Not just media reports, but my friend in her neighborhood saw her with children, two of them!" Sophia asserted confidently, "And more so, she keeps a man, living with her, no less!"
Across the ocean, Burl sat alone at home, eating instant noodles, and sneezed violently.
Sniffling, Burl reached for the phone to message Fiona, "I think I caught a cold!"
Sophia saw that Vivian now looked quite troubled.
To conclude her point, she added, "Think about it, Harold is so innocent. Do you really want to push such a person toward him?"
Vivian broke out in a cold sweat.
Why had she approached Chelsea? It was because of her face.
When Chelsea appeared, Vivian thought she had seen a ghost.
Chelsea was the spitting image of Fiona, who had perished in a plane crash, only Chelsea had a stronger presence and aura.
All these years, Harold had refused to fall in love.
Vivian knew he hadn't gotten over Fiona.
Harold had been in agony following Fiona's death, nearly broken by the loss.
Learning that the visitor was the Rhoads family heiress, Vivian, after an initial shock, was overjoyed.
Chelsea bore such a resemblance to Fiona, Harold was sure to be smitten!
If they could bring them together, not only could Harold get married, but he would also have the formidable backing of the Rhoads family.
Even if that damned illegitimate child tried to make a comeback, with the Rhoads family standing behind Harold, he wouldn't achieve anything significant.
Vivian couldn't hide her joy. She seized the opportunity and immediately struck up a conversation with Chelsea.
But she could never have imagined, looking at the dignified, elegant, and generous Chelsea, that her private life was like that.
Vivian's excitement disappeared completely. All she could think about was that she must prevent Harold from meeting Chelsea at all costs, or there would be a disaster.
"Thank you for telling me all this." Vivian said, patting Sophia's back, "Otherwise, I really would've caused trouble for Harold!"
"It's fine, this is what I had to do!" Sophia's face exuded understanding.
After Vivian left, she didn't go to look for Fiona, in fact, she steered clear of her.
Sophia glanced towards Fiona. Fiona noticed and looked back. Sophia tilted her chin up, as if she had won a battle, smug in her victory against Fiona. Fiona thought to herself: Fool.
However, despite Sophia looking down on Fiona, Fiona undoubtedly remained the center of attention at the entire dinner. People continuously hovered around her, striking up conversations. Sophia watched, grinding her teeth in envy.
Today was her grandparents' golden wedding anniversary dinner. She, as their granddaughter, had taken great care to dress up only to have the spotlight stolen by someone else. To make matters worse, she thought about Antony praising her in front of Darwin earlier, which only served to lower her own standing.
A spiteful look flashed in Sophia's eyes. She gestured to a house servant who had come to help, calling him over. Sophia whispered something to the servant. He looked taken aback for a moment, then nodded and quickly trotted away.
Some time later, Fiona received a message from Burl. She was feeling stifled in the banquet hall and went out to find a quiet place to call him back.
"Fiona! Sis!" Burl sounded pitifully plaintive on the other end.
"The medicine box is in the storeroom, on the fourth shelf to the left of the door." Fiona said with a smile.
"How are Chicago and Charles?" Burl muttered.
"I'm attending a dinner, they're at home." Fiona replied.
"Those two little rascals, they never initiate a chat with me! Your son is still in an online battle game, completely dominating me!"
The evening breeze was pleasant. Fiona sat under a large cherry blossom tree in a carefree pose, listening to Burl express how pathetically lonely his life had been these past few days.
Darwin walked to the window to take a call and instantly spotted the slender figure under the cherry blossom tree.
"Mr. Solomon, about the deal with..."
"Let's talk later." said Darwin as he hung up the phone and immediately ran downstairs.
"Darwin, what's the matter?" Antony, having finished entertaining guests, came back only to collide with an eager Darwin rushing downstairs.
He didn't get an answer from Darwin.
In the blink of an eye, Darwin had run out of sight.
Who at today's banquet didn't know Darwin? They watched as Darwin raced down from upstairs, causing a stir at the event.
"Mr. Solomon..." someone tried to greet him, Darwin stood on the steps, ignoring the crowd looking at him, quickly determined his direction, and ran towards the small side door to the south.
By the time he reached the cherry trees the slender figure that was there had disappeared.
"How... How come you're here? Are you looking for me for something?" Sophia, eyes filled with anticipation, looked at the breathless Darwin.
But the next second Darwin asked in a deep voice, "Who was here just now?"
Who was here just now?
"You're looking for Chelsea?" Sophia's bashful expression vanished in an instant.
"Who?" Darwin recognized the name as familiar.
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