Felix heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of Sophia. “Ms. Yarrow, you're here.”
He deliberately called her even though she was still some distance away.
Sure enough, Alexander's stern expression softened visibly when he heard Felix.
Sophia glanced at Felix and chuckled. “You've worked hard.”
Noticing that Sophia had seen right through his antics, Felix smiled sheepishly. “Thank you, Ms. Yarrow.”
Then, he tactfully came up with an excuse and returned to his office.
Sophia entered Alexander's office. He was still teeming with fury. However, his eyes had nothing but tenderness when he lifted his head to meet her gaze. “You're not busy?”
“Nope,” Sophie answered. She took a glance at the proposal on his desk and asked, “Not in a good mood?”
Alexander shook his head. “That's not it.”
He was not in a rotten mood, per se. Alexander just didn't care for nonsense.
The amendment for the new project proposal had taken almost two months, and yet the resubmitted proposal was less than useless.
Sophia didn't ask for the details. After all, Alexander would never ask about her company affairs, so she thought it was best not to pry into his.
Even though she seldom lost her temper, it didn't mean that people could just walk all over her. She wouldn't go easy on her subordinates if they were incompetent either.
“Are the reporters still there?”
Alexander knew about the reporters swarming the Sunshine Group building and had asked Felix to help deal with them.
“I noticed two reporters waiting right outside our place when I returned,” Sophia said. After a brief pause, she added, “I've asked Ms. Leighton to deal with them.”
Yvonne had worked for Sophia for many years and had become adept at handling these matters. Sophia only needed to send the photos of the reporters to Yvonne, and the latter would know what to do.
Alexander nodded, but as he looked at Sophia, he found himself not in the mood to focus on work. “What would you like to have for dinner tonight?” he asked.
Right then, Felix's assistant knocked on the door and brought in some coffee for Sophia.
“Ms. Yarrow,” he greeted.
Sophia took over the cup of coffee and flashed the assistant a smile. He didn't dare to linger and scurried out of the office after humming a response.
Taking a sip of the coffee, she peered over the rim at Alexander. “You're quite scary, huh?”
The assistant didn't even dare to look at him.
Alexander shot her a doting look and asked her what she wanted for dinner again.
Sophia thought momentarily and replied, “I just had lamb kebabs with Katherine, so I'm thinking of something light for dinner.”
“How does pasta and salad sound?” he suggested.
“Sure.”
Sophia had heard Katherine saying that there was a new restaurant in Midway Plaza serving decent pasta.
Since it was a new place, the restaurant was quite packed. Most of the tables were occupied by the time Alexander and Sophia arrived.
Felix had booked a private room for them. A waiter approached Alexander and Sophia and asked if they would give the private room to another family, as it was the first time the family was celebrating an elder's birthday. They couldn't get a private room, and the public space was too cramped for them. The eleven of them would fit just nicely in a small private room.
The restaurant didn't actually have to approach Alexander and Sophia at all. However, the restaurant offered a twenty percent discount if they were willing to give way to the family.
Sophia glanced at Alexander and was about to say yes when a woman in the group suddenly said, “There's only two of you. Why do you have to use a private room? You might as well let us use the private room and get twenty percent off. You're not losing anything!”
Sophia raised a brow and looked at the other family members. She thought that they would at least say something. However, like the woman, they all acted as if it was only right for Sophia to give them the private room.
Her lips curled into a slight smile. She turned to look at the troubled manager and said, “Excuse me, but we're not giving away the private room.”
Then, Alexander grasped her hand and walked ahead.
However, the woman suddenly reached out to stop them and said, “We're only asking you to give us the private room. There are plenty of tables outside. The two of you can sit anywhere you want! Why do you insist on getting a private room?”
Alexander's expression turned dark, while Sophia's smile faltered slightly. She looked at the middle-aged woman and said, “Excuse me, but I prefer to sit in a private room. Additionally, my mother taught me to never take people's kindness for granted, let alone become upset when someone chooses not to do us an unobligated favor.”
Sophia's good looks and calm tone made her all the more unnerving.
The faces of the woman and the middle-aged couple behind them turned grim. The woman then pushed Sophia and scowled, “Who do you think you're scolding here? Don't think you're all high and mighty just because you scored a rich guy with your good looks. Do you have any idea who my uncle is? My uncle is an executive at Technology Innovations! Have you ever heard of Technology Innovations, you country bumpkin? My uncle is on his way here right now. Give us the private room, or I'll make your life in Jadeborough a living hell for you!”
Sophia did not dodge and, as a result, staggered a few steps back from the momentum of the push. Alexander's face was dark as a storm. He was about to make a move when he noticed Sophia shaking her head at him.
He pursed his lips and stood there, fighting to hold himself back.
Sophia lowered her head to look at her arm, where the woman had pushed her. There was not a hint of anger on her face. Dusting her arm where the woman touched her earlier, she asked, “Who's your uncle?”
What a coincidence. An executive at Technology Innovations? Hah.
The woman took in Sophia's movement, and her expression became even uglier. She let out a snort when Sophia asked for her uncle's name. “My uncle is Bob Clayton. You won't know him even if I tell you his name. So, be a lamb and give us the private room. We're going to owe you a favor, and my uncle might offer you a job when your man's sick of you!”
An older woman, who appeared to be the insolent woman's mother, tugged at her, perhaps sensing that her daughter had gone overboard.
Sophia chuckled. “Well, I'll have to thank you, then.”
After a brief pause, Sophia asked, “Right. Do you know who I am?”
The woman let out a derisive snort. “Who are you? Do you go around expecting people to know you just because you have a pretty face? Do you think you're a celebrity or something? Even if you are one, you must be a Z-list nobody!”
“I'm not a celebrity, nor am I anybody impressive. However, coincidentally, I am an employee at Technology Innovations too,” Sophia quipped. “I'm Sophia Yarrow. Feel free to ask your uncle about me. He should know who I am.”
“Sophia Yarrow? Sounds like a menial employee. My uncle is a top-tier executive. How would you know him?” the woman retorted.
“Indeed, I don't know your uncle. However, since he's my colleague, I'll just give you the private room,” Sophia said.
She held Alexander's hand and uttered, “Let's go.”
The woman had a full rebuttal ready, but Sophia's sudden concession caught her off guard.
Alexander was a straightforward man. He would have flipped out on the woman if Sophia had not stopped him.
However, Sophia adopted a different approach to the matter. One would say that she was more subtle, but it was actually not the case at all.
Like hitting a snake, she liked hitting it where it would hurt the most. However, before making a move, Sophie enjoyed putting her target on a pedestal and watching them fall off it. After all, the higher the pedestal, the more it would hurt.
There was no better feeling than to watch her enemy suffer.
Right after Sophia and Alexander left, the man, Bob Clayton, whom the woman claimed to be an executive of Technology Innovations, entered the private room with an older woman and a young teen who looked about seventeen or eighteen.
The woman noticed her little cousin and recounted the incident as a joke. “That woman, Sophia Yarrow, had the cheek to say that she works in the same company as Uncle Bob!”
Bob wasn't paying attention at first until he caught Sophia's name. “Hold on. Cassie, do you know Sophia Yarrow?”
Cassandra Holloway pursed her lips. “Who the heck knows her? I just happened to bump into her. She said that you're her colleague and gave us this private room because of you.”
Bob was taken aback, as he hadn't expected Sophia to give him the private room. “Ms. Yarrow is such a nice lady.”
Cassandra snickered. “Yeah, right. She only gave us the private room because I dropped your name as a top-tier executive in Technology Innovations!”
All colors drained from Bob's face. “W-What did you say?”
At the same time, the private room's door was pushed open. A waiter came in, serving them a dish they hadn't ordered. “Who is Mr. Bob Clayton?”
Bob responded, “I am.”
The waiter smiled. “A Ms. Yarrow asked me to send this as her token of goodwill for your elder's birthday celebration.”
Bob's expression turned grim after listening to what the waiter said.
An older woman, who appeared to be the insolent woman's mother, tugged at her, perhaps sensing that her daughter had gone overboard.
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