In the past, no matter the occasion, even at those events that were grander than Kate’s birthday party, Isabelle was always the one in control of the mood and flow of conversation, so the conversations would revolve around her no matter the topic. However, Sophia’s presence was always a deterrent to her. Whenever she was with Sophia, not only would Isabelle be pushed out of the spotlight, she would also never get the chance to be the initiator of conversation. Instead, she always wound up in a passive spot, as well as the one who was ignored whenever she was in Sophia’s presence. All she could do was heave a quiet sigh.
Meanwhile, Sophia glanced at John casually before mocking him, “You’d better get yourself treated if you are mentally unstable. Make sure not to drag things on.”
A smile bloomed on John's face as he realized how much fun he was having while teasing Sophia. Although the more spirited Sophia was, the crankier she would get, and he seemed to like that about her.
The waiter brought them their tea a while later, then they began chatting away. Even though there were four people sitting around the table, Isabelle remained silent throughout their conversation, as not only did she hate Sophia, Logan was also someone whom she disliked. Before the banquet, she thought she might get a chance to spend time alone with John, but she had a premonition that it would be impossible the moment she saw Sophia picking out a gown that day.
Coupled with John’s declaration over the phone that he would look out for Sophia, Isabelle knew she already lost the battle. However, she decided to attend the banquet despite knowing that she might not get anything out of it, as not only did she feel wronged, she was also driven by the urge to get to the bottom of the sudden change in John’s attitude toward his ex-wife.
Isabelle had been paying attention to John’s behavior when they were chatting. Whenever he spoke to Sophia, a smile would tug at the corner of his lips, which was something she never observed in him. The more he was amused by Sophia’s presence, the more Isabelle felt annoyed and unhappy about it. Eventually, she stood when the three of them were sent into a laughing fit. “You guys carry on. I will go check on my father, as well as go greet Madam Kate.”
What she said reminded John of what should be done, so he said, “I will have to go there too.” Since Kate Blackwell was the hostess, they should go greet her because they were the younger generation.
It was then that John cast Logan a glance, only to have the latter wave his hand while turning down the suggestion. “I will not be going. Presumably, no one would want to see me.” He always had a clear grasp of where he stood with others.
Sophia tried to egg him on. “You should go since you chose to attend the event. It’s not nice to not greet the hostess. No matter Kate’s opinion of you, people would have a harder time picking on you if you were being polite.”
However, Logan couldn’t be bothered by it. “I suppose there will be a lot of people, so they don’t need me there.”
In the end, Sophia pushed on his arm while saying, “Just go. It won’t take long. John will be there too, so you have nothing to fear.”
“Who told you I am afraid of greeting the matriarch? I fear nothing!” Logan shot up from his seat while saying so.
After glancing at Sophia, John told her, “Don’t go anywhere. We will be back soon.”
Sophia didn’t even bother to reply, so John left with the other two after having said so. There was probably still a lot going on around the tables, as nobody came to the tea room. Sophia leaned back against her seat before stretching herself out and tidying her gown, then she looked out through the window.
Although the banquet might be a rare occasion that others might want to treasure, Sophia found no appeal in it, so she decided to never attend such an occasion ever again. No matter what Logan said, she never wanted to suffer through such an occasion ever again.
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