Sophia Shaw still stiffened slightly at the thought that Young Master Croft knew she’d tried to get into his bed.

But she understood at once.

Young Master Croft was always chasing after Joanna Sherman. Given Joanna’s malicious nature, how could she not have spread the story?

This little thing wasn’t enough to threaten her.

Still, she took the phone. "Hello, Mr. Croft. This is Sophia Shaw. I’m with your son right now."

"I have no interest in your son. Please stop trying to set us up in the future."

"Miss Shaw..." Listening to Sophia’s words, Caleb Croft’s guts twisted. It felt worse than losing a few hundred million.

But his son was what he was; it was perfectly normal for a woman like her to look down on him.

Though Caleb Croft felt it was a pity, he could only accept his fate. "Alright," he said.

After hanging up, Sophia handed the phone back.

Young Master Croft took the phone back a beat too late.

This was clearly the outcome he had wanted most, yet Sophia’s bluntness left a tight feeling in his chest.

He deliberately leaned back on the sofa with a lazy air and said, "I know you’re upset. After all, a talented young man like me is a rare find. Unfortunately, my heart belongs to Miss Sherman. I can’t return your feelings."

Sophia: "..."

’I’ve seen shameless people before, but someone this shameless is a rare sight.’

She didn’t call him out on it, only saying, "Then I wish Young Master Croft all the best, and may your future family of five live in happiness and health."

Young Master Croft grinned. "That’s more like it. Seeing as you’re so sensible... Wait, what do you mean, ’family of five’? Hey, explain yourself!"

Sophia had already picked up her phone and was walking out of the bar.

Just as her car pulled into a lane, Jacobs called again.

"President Shaw, Central Television just called. They want to invite you and Joanna Sherman to an interview. Are you interested?"

After a pause, Jacobs added, "They said Joanna Sherman has already agreed, and that this is the best opportunity for us to explain the Five Pearls incident."

Sophia kept her eyes on the road. "No."

The wife of Central Television’s station director was best friends with Yvonne Sherman. An invitation for a joint interview at a time like this was just a ploy to use the Five Pearls incident to drag her through the mud again.

And to elevate Joanna Sherman even higher.

"Got it," Jacobs replied cheerfully. "I’ll go turn them down right now."

Sophia hummed in acknowledgment, then stopped the car, intending to buy some fruit to take home.

She turned her head and saw a familiar female figure hurrying out of a hotel across the street with a man.

Sophia shoved her car door open and ran toward her. "Shirley!"

Seraphina Vaughn, with an instrument case on her back, froze for a moment when she came face-to-face with Sophia.

But her expression immediately turned as cold as frost.

"You know her?" the young man beside her asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I don’t!" Seraphina Vaughn replied curtly.

She started to walk away.

"We do know each other!" Sophia said, then looked at the man. "Excuse me, Seraphina and I just had a small disagreement. Could I talk to her for a few minutes?"

The man looked at Seraphina Vaughn.

Seraphina Vaughn stood stiffly, her face still icy, but she didn’t move.

The man nodded and walked away.

"Seraphina, what are you doing with him?" Sophia pressed as soon as the man was out of earshot.

She took a moment to size up Seraphina Vaughn.

Her hair was in dreadlocks, and she wore a small, short black leather jacket with only a thin tube top underneath, revealing her long waistline and navel.

A leather skirt adorned with colorful chains barely covered the tops of her thighs.

This version of Seraphina Vaughn was a complete stranger. If they hadn’t once been so close, Sophia would never have recognized her.

Seraphina Vaughn refused to face her, saying coldly, "It’s none of your business!"

"How can it be none of my business?" Sophia said anxiously, grabbing her hand. "That man is the assistant to Stanley Hughes, the head of Lustra Entertainment Company. Stanley Hughes is a very complicated person!"

"Whether it’s a private friendship or something else, don’t get too close to him or anyone around him!"

Seraphina Vaughn shook off her hand. "Stanley Hughes is my boss now. Don’t you dare badmouth him!"

"You... you joined Lustra?"

Old Master Sloan’s assistant, Ms. Warren, had said she joined an orchestra in Cathan. Sophia had spent this whole time asking all the well-known orchestras in Cathan, but she couldn’t find any news of her.

She’d thought Seraphina was hiding from her on purpose, never imagining she had joined Lustra!

Lustra Entertainment Group did have an orchestra, but it had a terrible reputation. Once "Lustra" was on Seraphina’s resume, no other respectable orchestra would ever accept her.

"Seraphina, listen to me. Quit Lustra. We’ll find another orchestra."

Seraphina Vaughn wasn’t just Old Master Sloan’s daughter; she was also Sophia’s best friend. Sophia couldn’t bear to watch her walk down an increasingly narrow path.

"Find another orchestra? What other orchestra? Do you think I’m you? Able to learn whatever you want with ease?"

"You know perfectly well I have no talent. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be a real musician, yet you still come here to boss me around! Are you just trying to show off how capable you are?"

Every word from Seraphina Vaughn was barbed, as if she wouldn’t be satisfied until she had hurt Sophia.

Sophia shook her head. "Shirley, don’t put yourself down. You only started formally studying the violin at eighteen, and reaching your current level in just seven years is incredible. If you just keep improving, you’ll definitely achieve great things."

"Listen to me..."

"Why should I listen to you! It’s because I listened to you that I’m still living off my parents!"

Seraphina Vaughn’s eyes were filled with resentment.

"I’m twenty-five! Other violinists who’ve been at it this long are at least first violin in a top orchestra, but me? I’ve never even played a proper venue!"

"If someone hadn’t been kind enough to recommend me to Lustra, I’d still be unemployed!"

Seraphina Vaughn impatiently shoved Sophia aside. "Move! I have to go practice. Get out of my way!"

Sophia stumbled back a step. Fuming, Seraphina Vaughn left with her violin on her back and got into the car with the assistant.

Sophia took two steps after her, but the car started and disappeared into the vast stream of traffic.

Sophia’s heart sank.

’Seraphina Vaughn is too eager for quick success. This will do her nothing but harm!’

’She’s going to destroy herself!’

Just as anxiety gripped her, the word "recommend" suddenly echoed in her mind.

It was as if something had struck her, and her thoughts suddenly started racing.

’Who was the person Seraphina mentioned who recommended her?’

’This person knew Seraphina would be trapped if she joined Lustra, so why would they do it?’

Sophia had always known Stanley Hughes was Justin Hughes’s cousin and that the two were quite close. But Justin Hughes didn’t know Seraphina Vaughn, so he would have no reason to recommend her to Lustra.

’Unless...’

A bold theory surfaced in her mind!

She quickly called Mrs. Sawyer. "Godmother, can you help me find out who recommended Seraphina Vaughn to Lustra?"

Sophia briefly explained Seraphina Vaughn’s situation.

Mrs. Sawyer was very direct. "I’ll have someone look into it right now."

—

The night was hazy.

Justin Hughes, Joanna Sherman, and Jenson Forrest were sitting in the private room where they usually gathered.

Justin Hughes had a lazy expression, idly trimming his nails with a pair of clippers.

"I’m telling you, what have you two been so busy with lately? You’re impossible to pin down. I can never get ahold of you."

"I get it with Joanna, she’s busy sending a satellite into space. But Jenson, what have you been up to?"

Jenson Forrest’s expression was nonchalant. "Busy with some satellite-related matters."

"Oh? See that Joanna’s about to launch a satellite and you want a piece of the pie?"

Jenson Forrest gave a noncommittal response and looked around.

"Where’s Vincent?"

"Don’t even ask!" Justin Hughes looked bored and tossed the nail clippers aside. "I called his assistant. Said he’s in the hospital. I don’t know what kind of bad luck he ran into, but for someone so careful to suddenly have a shrimp allergy!"

Hearing the two words "shrimp allergy," Joanna Sherman, who had been fiddling with her phone, froze and looked up.

Her fingers, holding the phone, silently tightened their grip.