Although Sophia Shaw paid Cedric Grant no mind, she still called the driver and had him stay over for the night.

He was her son, after all. She had to at least ensure his basic safety.

After the call, she was busy for a while.

Then, Sophia’s phone rang.

Thinking it was Levin Sawyer, Sophia quickly answered.

"Sophia, it’s me," said the voice on the other end.

"Jenson Forrest?"

Sophia froze when she heard Jenson Forrest’s voice.

She never expected to receive a call from Jenson Forrest as long as she lived.

"I can help you figure something out for your child’s residency."

Sophia was stunned.

But she immediately realized why.

Jenson Forrest was only offering to help because she had saved his sister.

"No, thank you," she refused curtly. "And another thing, Jenson Forrest. We’re even now. Don’t call me again!"

She wanted nothing to do with anyone connected to Vincent Grant.

With that, she hung up.

Jenson Forrest: "..."

Staring at his phone, Jenson Forrest hadn’t expected Sophia to be so absolute.

Her fiery temper was nothing like the Sophia he remembered.

In his memory, Sophia had always been timid and deferential, as meek as a kitten in front of Vincent Grant’s friends.

And when it came to Vincent, she was so obedient it was almost groveling.

’When... did she change?’

Jenson Forrest didn’t want to dwell on it. After a moment’s thought, he sent her a long text message anyway.

Sophia worked late into the night before finally finishing.

She had already arranged with Levin Sawyer to officially return to Lead Aerospace in three days.

In five years, so much had changed.

The company had many new faces too. For her, it was like starting in a completely new place.

She was a little nervous.

Sophia took a deep breath and went back to the bedroom.

Bun was already fast asleep.

Her little pink lips were puckered, making her look impossibly cute.

Sophia leaned down, kissed her little cheek, and then inhaled the scent from her neck.

The sweet, milky scent filled her senses, and the anxiety in her heart suddenly quieted.

Back in her own room, she finally saw the message from Jenson Forrest:

"Sophia, let me give you some friendly advice: stop being so stubborn about your feelings for Vincent."

Sophia glanced at it once before tossing her phone aside.

She went to sleep.

The next day, Sophia was sound asleep when the ringing of her phone woke her.

She rolled over.

She hadn’t gotten to bed until the early hours of the morning, and now she was so tired she could barely open her eyes.

She put the phone to her ear, eyes still closed. "Hello?"

"Sophia, I’m in desperate need of help!"

"Leah?"

Leah Evans was her Aunt June Evans’s younger sister. According to custom, Sophia should have called her "Aunt Leah."

But since they were about the same age, they didn’t bother with such formalities and just used each other’s first names.

"What’s wrong? Why are you calling so early?"

"Early? It’s almost ten o’clock!"

Sophia glanced at the time. It was 9:50.

"I ran away from home, and now I’m at a recruitment center looking for a job. I don’t know my way around here, and I can’t get ahold of my sister. Can you come pick me up?"

Leah had a stable job back in her hometown, so her suddenly running away like this took Sophia by surprise.

Leah yelled from the other end of the line, "Sophia, hurry up! I haven’t even had breakfast!"

Sophia drove to the area near the recruitment center and had to hunt for a while before finding a parking spot.

After she parked, she searched all over the recruitment center but couldn’t find Leah.

She was just about to call her.

Just then, she saw Sharon Sherman and a few of her friends, designer bags in hand, sashaying toward her down the sidewalk.

"Well, well, if it isn’t Sophia Shaw!"

The girl next to Sharon Sherman covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, her eyes filled with open mockery.

Another one chimed in, "Sharon said it was you when we were in the car, but we didn’t believe her. Sophia, what are you doing at a recruitment center looking for a job?"

"I thought people from the Grant Group are supposed to be hot commodities? Don’t headhunters fight over you? You shouldn’t even need to come to a place like this."

Sharon Sherman had always been in lockstep with Joanna Sherman and looked down on Sophia with disdain.

Her posse was just as contemptuous of Sophia, but they were somewhat cautious of her status, so they didn’t take their words too far.

Before Sophia could respond, Sharon let out a cold sneer.

"Still a junior employee after five years. If you were a headhunter, would you even want someone like that?"

The others didn’t know the details of Sophia’s career, so when they heard Sharon say she was still a junior employee after five years, they all shot her looks of disdain.

Sharon grew even more vicious. "Thank god there’s no one that stupid in my family, or my grandparents would wake up crying in their sleep."

"My sister, Joanna Sherman, graduated from a prestigious university abroad, came back, and launched a rocket within a year. Even Vincent has worshiped her like a goddess since they were kids; he’s absolutely crazy about her."

"If a certain someone hadn’t gotten in the way and done some disgusting things, Vincent would have married my cousin ages ago!"

"Vincent treasures my sister so much now. He follows her everywhere, never leaving her side. And he even treats the adopted child like his own flesh and blood!"

Everyone had already seen the news about Joanna Sherman launching a rocket and admired her immensely.

They also knew that Joanna and Vincent had a history.

So now, hearing Sharon say that Vincent never left Joanna’s side, they all assumed the two were getting back together and that Sophia was about to be kicked to the curb.

Whatever reservations they had before were gone. Now completely unrestrained, they scrambled to curry favor with Sharon, and a torrent of ugly insults rained down on Sophia:

"So shameless!"

"Even the janitors at the Grant Group have more ambition than her."

"Where does she get the nerve to fight Joanna over a man? Joanna is a hundred times prettier, a hundred times more capable—she can launch rockets, she’s an expert surfer, a champion equestrian... even her hobbies are leagues ahead of this woman!"

"It’s always the ugly ones who act up!"

"She deserves to be thrown out by the Grant family!"

Sharon couldn’t have been happier that everyone was joining her in tearing Sophia down. She crossed her arms and listened, looking utterly smug.

Sophia didn’t usually like to pick fights, but she wasn’t a pushover.

Especially not when it came to Sharon Sherman.

When they were children, Joanna used to hit and bully her. And every time, Sharon would run and tattle, twisting the truth to make it seem like Sophia was the one bullying Joanna.

This caused the teachers to have a very poor opinion of her, and she even received several major demerits.

After middle school, Joanna stopped bullying her personally. Instead, she instigated students from neighboring schools to do it for her.

And it was Sharon who helped Joanna spread vicious rumors about her.

Sophia later became busy with her studies and career, and then with starting a family, so she never had the time to settle the score with Sharon.

Now that Sharon had served herself up on a platter, Sophia had no intention of being polite. She held up her phone. "Vincent and I aren’t divorced yet. If the things you just said were posted online, what do you think people would say?"

"That the great rocket scientist is a homewrecker?"

"Sharon, have you thought about what the Grants would do to you? How much Joanna would hate you?"

Sharon Sherman: "..."

She never imagined that the normally meek Sophia would one day turn into a snake and bite her so viciously!

The Grant family couldn’t afford any scandals!

Regardless of whether what she said was true or not, her words would touch a nerve with the Grants. Never mind her, even Joanna would be in deep trouble!

And the internet... that’s terrifying these days!

"You... you were recording? How could you be so shameless?" Sharon Sherman seethed, but her voice trembled uncontrollably.