Why is Sam here?! Sophia hesitated for several seconds without opening the door. Then, an agitated scratching sound came from outside the door. It sounded like an animal was desperately clawing at the door.
Straightening out her hair and her clothes, she opened the door only to see Sam holding a Husky on a leash. As she was slow to open the door, the excited Husky had scratched the door until the paint peeled. Her eyes spun in confusion at the sight, and she pretended not to know the dog as she asked, “Master Sam, w-what brings you here?”
As usual, Sam was wearing a pair of sunglasses. He seemed to be smiling, and it made his 40-year-old self look very young. As the corners of his mouth curved upward, he said, “Judge is your dog, right?”
She smiled in response, but it looked terrible. Then, she resolutely answered, “Nope; I’ve never seen this dog before.”
Seeming to realize that she was refusing to acknowledge it, Judge lifted its paws to jump on her. However, Sam pulled on the dog leash and held it back. He seemed to be smiling as he said, “Oh, is it not yours? I thought I saw you petting its head on the beach a while back…”
Sophia replied, “Yeah. I thought it looked pretty, so I petted it.”
The oversized sunglasses hid all the emotions behind his eyes. Still, he seemed to believe her. “Well, I’ll take care of it for the time being. When its owner turns up, I’ll return it to them.”
She hurriedly complimented him, “Master Sam, you’re such a warm-hearted person.”
Playing along with her, he said, “Of course. It’s the Edwards Family annual meeting. As one of the elders in the family, I should not overlook these tiny matters too.”
She smiled in reply, feeling extremely embarrassed.
However, he did not leave. Holding Judge by its leash, he stood at the door and asked her, “I heard that you plan to start a pet luxury goods brand. Is that true?”
Receiving favor from a bigwig all of a sudden left Sophia feeling very nervous. Besides, Judge was glaring at her with a fierce expression. “Yes, I am.”
Sam looked very interested. “Most of the talents in this field are abroad. It won’t be easy to start this venture.”
At that moment, Judge went crazy. It kept trying to leap forward and bite Sophia. Thus, she took a step back and said, “I invited Ivan, a renowned designer from overseas, to join my team…”
“I see. That’s good.” He was holding two dog leashes in his hand. One belonged to Corrado, and the other belonged to Judge. As Judge was going crazy trying to bite her, he was having trouble holding it back. It looked like it could escape his hold at any moment as he said, “I was just thinking of making a new collar for Corrado. Once we return to Bayside City, I will contact you and your designer.”
She glanced at Corrado. “Isn’t it called Blackie?”
With a natural expression, he replied, “Its name has always been Corrado. It’s also written as so on its dog ownership certificate. We used to live overseas, so I changed its name to something simpler. Isn’t that right, Corrado?”
Corrado wagged its tail as if saying, ‘This is the first time I’m learning that my name was registered as Corrado on my dog ownership certificate.’
Meanwhile, Judge was acting as fierce as a wolf. Feeling very guilty, Sophia pretended to be scared. “That dog looks so scary. Has it been vaccinated against rabies? I-I’m a little scared…”
Finally, Sam led Judge away while saying, “I’ll take my leave then. See you at dinner.”
Upon closing the door, Sophia let out a deep breath in relief. She had decided, I’m never going to admit that it’s my dog! When I get back, I’ll just ask Stanley to claim Judge back from Sam. We can just claim that it had gotten lost and accidentally sneaked onto the boat with Michael. And, that’s how it arrived on the island. In any case, I, Sophia Edwards, have never seen that dog before. I don’t know anything.
Hence, she instructed Hale, Gemma, and Maria to look for them. Even so, their search came up empty. The island is not that big, and the places where one can go are limited. Where did Ivan go? What about Garfield?
Sophia had a feeling that something was greatly amiss. Standing at the door, she hammered the door and yelled for Ivan with all her might. She couldn’t hear Ivan’s voice from inside the room. However, she could hear a cat’s meow. Garfield was yowling at the top of its voice and scratching at the door with its claws. This is bad; something happened to Ivan!
At the same time, Sam was walking the two dogs nearby. He had not gone far—he was simply walking by the beach. While he was walking, he thought about the short conversation he had with Sophia just now. Then, he recalled what happened back then and couldn’t help chuckling. Sophia’s nervous and guilty expression looks exactly like her mother’s! I can’t believe Annabel gave birth to her alone. What shocks me more is that she did not forget about her promise from back then. Sophia… This is the first time I’ve ever regretted changing my name…
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