"Why are you paying so much attention to someone who has nothing to do with us?"
"You do know she came here because of Uncle Tristan, right? Doesn't that bother you at all?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Tristan hasn't even looked at her. She isn't worthy of my concern."
I'd be upset if Tristan were to choose another woman over me, but I wouldn't shamelessly cling to him either. I'm not that pathetic!
Ysabelle couldn't help but admire Sophie's relationship with Tristan. "Yeah, you're right. Uncle Tristan only has eyes for you, so he would never fall for another woman. Sophie, don't you find your relationship with Uncle Tristan a little boring? I mean, I haven't seen you two fight over anything!"
The two of them trusted each other so much that they never had any issues with each other.
"Isn't that a good thing? Do you want us to keep fighting until we break up instead?" Sophie believed that two people who liked each other should just focus on being together instead of worrying about irrelevant stuff.
Ysabelle nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. If two people like each other, then they should focus on strengthening their relationship instead of fighting over trivial matters."
"Is Felix treating you well?" Sophie had been so busy that she never got the chance to ask her about that.
Ysabelle broke into a sweet smile when she heard that.
"He has been really nice to me."
"Now do you realize how much you like him?"
"Yeah, I do. I think we'll be staying together forever!" Although the two of them had only been dating for a while, she was already thinking about that.
"That's good to hear. Felix is really nice to you, so you mustn't bully him anymore, okay?"
"I don't think I've been bullying him, have I?"
Those words had barely left her mouth when Felix came walking over. He would always be nearby as he wanted to spend as much time around Ysabelle as possible.
If he could, he probably would keep Ysabelle in his pocket so he could bring her along wherever he went.
"Ugh... Aren't you lovebirds being a little too attached to each other?" Charles exclaimed.
"You're just being jealous, Charles! Not having a girlfriend really sucks, huh?" Felix retorted without even looking at him.
I've had enough of this guy! I want to wipe that smug look off his face!
Charles ran up to Sean and grabbed him by the arm as he said, "Look, Sean! He's bullying me! It's just you and me now, so we need to stick together. We need to do something about them!"
Charles ran up to Sean and grabbed him by the arm as he said, "Look, Sean! He's bullying me! It's just you and me now, so we need to stick together. We need to do something about them!"
Sean pushed him aside and shot him a disdainful glare as he said, "F*ck off!"
Sean had disgust written all over his face.
"You can't treat me like this, Sean! Are you going to leave me too?" Charles protested. Sean is single, too, so he has no right to criticize me!
Disgusted by Charles' unreasonable behavior, Sean decided to ignore him completely.
Although Sophie rarely took part in their conversations, she never had issues interacting with them.
"Sophie sure is something else, huh? I mean, just look at Sean and Charles. They don't care about anybody else's feelings, but they're always looking out for her!" said one of Jennifer's friends.
Some women were bound to become the center of attraction wherever they went.
Naturally, that would cause many to be jealous of them.
Sophie was a great example of those women.
"They're only looking after her because of Tristan. Sophie would never make it into their circle if it weren't for him."
That's right! Sophie only got this far in life because of Tristan!
"Yeah, you're right. She's nothing without Mr. Tristan! Honestly, I think you should just give up on him, Jennifer. Mr. Tristan won't notice anyone else with Sophie around!" Minerva said.
She believed there was no point in pestering Tristan any further if he wouldn't even look at any other women.
If anything, Jennifer would only get herself hurt in the end.
"What are you saying, Minerva? I won't give up on Tristan! You're my friend, so you should be supporting me instead!" Jennifer exclaimed in displeasure.
"What do you want me to do?" Minerva asked.
Jennifer motioned at Minerva to come closer as she whispered something in the latter's ear.
Minerva gasped in shock after hearing what she said. "I don't know if this is a good idea, Jennifer. Mr. Tristan really likes Sophie, so we might get into a lot of trouble if we do this."
Despite being Jennifer's best friend, Minerva was still very scared of Tristan.
"Are you sure you're my friend? I helped you out when you had a crush on that guy back then, and you won't even lend me a hand now?" Jennifer protested.
How dare she refuse to help me out?
Minerva glanced at Sophie before nodding hesitantly in response.
"All right, I'll help you out."
Jennifer has always helped me with all my problems, so I can't turn her down now! Still, Sophie doesn't seem like an easy target. Is Jennifer's plan really going to work? Will we really be able to humiliate Sophie?
"Trust me; it's going to work. Tristan won't like her anymore once we show him who she truly is!" Jennifer reassured her.
Minerva was still doubtful about the plan, but she knew Jennifer wouldn't listen to her advice at this point.
Sophie was starting to get annoyed at the amount of unwanted attention she was receiving.
Noticing her discomfort, Tristan decided to get her out of there.
"Why don't you go rest in my room for a bit? You haven't seen what it looks like, right?" he suggested.
"Everyone's gathered here, though. Given the occasion, I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to go to your room all by myself."
Sophie figured William would get even angrier if she hid in Tristan's room.
"I told you, you don't need to worry about what others think. Just get some rest if you're feeling tired. If anyone dares speak ill of you, I'll cut their tongues off to silence them forever!" Tristan reassured her. She's my woman, so she can do whatever she wants. I won't let anyone get away with badmouthing her!
"I don't care what others think, but this is your father we're talking about. Besides, it's his birthday celebration, so we should at least show him some respect!" Sophie didn't want to make William mad on his birthday.
Since she was practically stealing Tristan from William, she didn't want to worsen the situation by making William hate her even further.
"In that case, you can rest in Ysabelle's room instead."
"What's the matter, Sophie? Are you feeling unwell?" Ysabelle asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Sophie wasn't actually feeling unwell. She just didn't like being in crowded places where she would receive a lot of unwanted attention.
Meanwhile, Jennifer continued to take care of things at the party as though she was a member of the Lombard family. As if that wasn't bad enough, William's attitude toward her also gave everyone the wrong impression.
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