CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: CALL HUSBAND

"Truth."

Sophia Lowell chose truth without hesitation, knowing that the dares in their game were usually too extreme, leading to more drinking.

Lily Ellison was too drunk, so Sophia replaced her, but this bottle kept spinning towards her.

"Ms. Lowell, the last time, was it a man, or—"

"Haha..."

She hadn’t expected the truth questions to be almost as bold as the dares.

A dozen colleagues gathered around, giggling, though they knew it was just a game, they still wanted to know.

After all, a beauty like Sophia couldn’t possibly be without suitors, but whether she had a man who cared was another thing.

The question was essentially asking whether she was worth pursuing.

A life-or-death question, if answered with a man, the next question would definitely be aimed at him.

Sophia chuckled, furrowed her brows, and drank three shots of spirits on the table.

Luckily, Lily’s boyfriend arrived, and Sophia took the chance to grab her bag and sneak away, supporting Lily along the way.

She had just opened the door to the private room when Lily’s boyfriend arrived.

After a few words, Sophia finally felt at ease and let go.

She staggered to the bathroom, didn’t throw up, but the spirits were far more potent than regular beer.

She felt nothing while drinking, but after a while, the dizziness hit quickly.

"Whew—"

She exhaled deeply, recalling the scene of getting into the wrong car that day, and quickly placed an order for herself.

Then she stumbled out of the bathroom.

"Ms. Lowell, be careful!" Evan Coleman approached.

Sophia instinctively took a step back, her mind still quite clear, not drunk enough to fall.

But his chubby hand had already rested on Sophia’s slender waist.

"Evan, I’m not drunk," Sophia said, pushing him away.

Evan unhurriedly let go but didn’t have the intention to create distance.

"Not drunk, not drunk. Let me take you home, Plum Blossom Gardens is close to my place too," Evan shamelessly said, knowing her previous address, making Sophia’s back feel cold.

"No need, I’ve already called my husband to pick me up." She remained calm, tightly gripping her bag, and carefully walked out from the bathroom’s passageway with measured steps.

"Ms. Lowell, you don’t need to be so hostile towards me, I know you’ve just broken up." Evan said, and then came up to assist her without skipping a beat.

"Let go." Sophia stood still, staring coldly at the fleshy hand grasping her.

Seeing her lack of resistance, Evan glanced around and said with boozy breath, "I’ll give you twenty thousand a month."

Sophia sneered, and kneed him in the gut.

"Ouch!" Evan clutched his stomach and fell to his knees.

Just then, Elsie Erickson walked by and was startled. "Ms. Lowell, I didn’t see anything."

"Doesn’t matter."

Sophia, disgusted, glanced at her arm, turned back to the bathroom, and used hand sanitizer to wash her hands.

But Elsie didn’t leave, as Evan got up, glaring at Sophia with rage.

Sophia saw his expression in the mirror and understood his intention.

She passed the bag to Elsie beside her, "Hold this for me, don’t get it dirty."

"Okay." The just-turned-twenty-year-old Elsie nervously took the bag.

Sophia turned around, clenched her fists, ready to fight.

With Elsie standing by, Evan didn’t dare approach.

Just as he was about to leave, Eli Young and Tim Sawyer’s voices came from the aisle next to the bathroom.

Sophia wiped the corner of her mouth with her fingertip, smudging her lipstick to her neck, pulling down her off-shoulder top while walking out.

She tousled her hair, deliberately lost a high heel, and in a drunken haze, bumped into Tim Sawyer, walking up with Eli Young.

Tim Sawyer and Eli Young froze, as Sophia’s eyes brimmed with tears and her face full of grievance.

None of the three spoke.

Seeing Sophia in this state, Eli Young and Tim Sawyer directed their gazes to Evan Coleman in the bathroom passage.

——

Sophia tossed the mess to them and left under the influence of alcohol.

Emerging from T-Bar, it was already past eleven at night.

The driver she had booked had left.

Sophia sat on a chair at the door, gently wiping the lipstick from her neck.

The late November night wind was chilly, but after three shots of spirits, she felt no chill.

She took out her phone, as though she was three hundred degrees nearsighted, staring closely, but her hands weren’t cooperating, and she couldn’t press the ride-hailing app’s button.

She sighed and said to her phone, "Xiao Bu Xiao Bu, call husband."

"Hello, calling husband," the phone’s mechanical voice responded.

At that moment, Zane Sterling was discussing financial matters with several executives.

The phone vibrating caused his deep set eyes to turn dark.

The people gathered around focused on the bright ’wife’ label showing on his phone.

Ethan Sinclair hurriedly nudged him on the arm.

Zane Sterling paused for a moment, picked up the phone, and after a few seconds of silence, answered.

The other end didn’t speak, and Zane didn’t either, with all eyes in the president’s office on him.

Ethan Sinclair secretly pinched his thigh under the table.

Zane shot a glance at him, causing Ethan to quickly withdraw his hand. [Wife]

Zane Sterling’s voice came through the phone.

Sitting back in her chair, Sophia Lowell finally checked her phone. Did he really answer the call?

Wasn’t he supposed to be too busy to spare the time?

Not sending a message, never coming home, indifferent to her flirting.

Was he gay?

Sophia pursed her lips, feeling somewhat angry. [Where are you?]

[Company.]

The executives were all looking down, not daring to look at him.

The dignified president spoke so gently, surprisingly free of his usual icy demeanor.

[...] Sophia glanced at the clothing she made for him nearby, feeling upset.

[What’s wrong?] Not asking was better—those simple three words made her feel even more upset.

There was no love between them, she wasn’t entitled to demand anything from him.

Yet she couldn’t suppress her fiery temper. [Zane Sterling, do you have a company in Afrim?]

[What?] Zane slightly moved his phone away from his ear, looking puzzled.

"Mr. Sterling, she called you dirty." Ethan Sinclair quietly responded beside him.

[Not seeing you at night is one thing, but not seeing you in the day either, where did you go if not to Afrim? Are you the free gigolo I hired? Just used and discarded? If you’re regretting, say so, at least negotiate a price before ripping off the ticket, what’s with vanishing into thin air?]

Ethan swallowed hard, the executives tightly pursed their lips, pretending not to hear while stifling laughter.

Her voice was so loud that the sound from the phone was audible to everyone.

She hung up.

Zane Sterling froze, Ethan Sinclair too.

The air seemed to pause.

His feelings a tangled mess.

Today Ethan mentioned Sophia inquiring about him, now hearing her voice, it was evident she was outside and drunk.

Her tone was off, confirming what Ethan said: Sophia missed him.

"They’re at T-Bar today welcoming two managers," Ethan whispered to him.

Zane Sterling put down the phone, "Meeting adjourned."

He grabbed his coat and strode out of the office.

"When did Mr. Sterling get married?"

"That feisty wife of his, quite the spirit."

"Sounds like Mr. Sterling was the one who got bedded."

...

Ethan Sinclair bottled up a bunch of words with no one to talk to.