Sophia couldn’t be bothered with her.

She turned to leave.

Sharon Sherman scrambled to grab her. "Sophia Shaw, you can’t just leave! Delete the recording first!"

"I..." Sharon Sherman bit back a stream of curses.

But she didn’t have the guts right now.

She could only lower her head. "I’m sorry!"

Sophia Shaw stood perfectly still, her expression unchanging.

The Sherman family’s survival now depended entirely on Vincent Grant’s favor. And Vincent, no matter what, could never defy the Grant family.

In a panic, Sharon Sherman dropped to her knees with a THUD. "Sophia Shaw, I was wrong!"

"And what were you wrong about?"

"I shouldn’t have cursed you out. I shouldn’t have gotten people to humiliate you. You’re the bigger person, please, please let me off the hook!"

Frantic, Sharon Sherman started slapping her own face. "I have a foul mouth! I’m an idiot! I was arrogant and didn’t know my place!"

Then she turned to her friends. "Whoever humiliated Sophia Shaw just now, get over here and apologize!"

Everyone, also fearing the Grant family, bowed their heads and admitted they were wrong.

Sophia watched until Sharon Sherman had slapped her face raw, then finally nodded. "Listen up, Sharon Sherman. From now on, if you see me, you walk the other way."

"The sight of you makes me sick!"

"I know, I know! Just delete the video, please."

"It’s deleted." Sophia waved her phone.

The phone screen was completely blank.

Sharon Sherman eyed the phone suspiciously but didn’t dare say another word. She just snarled, "Let’s go!"

The group scattered and disappeared into the distance.

From a distance, the focus of a pair of binoculars shifted away from Sophia Shaw’s phone screen.

"Damn, this girl’s something else. There was nothing on her phone, but she scared them shitless!"

Jenson Forrest pursed his lips, saying nothing, his gaze lingering on Sophia Shaw.

He’d been skeptical when his sister told him how clever she was, but seeing it for himself today proved it was all true.

"Let’s go," he said.

A few minutes later, they met up with Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman.

Sharon Sherman and her friends were there too.

The incident had been too humiliating for Sharon Sherman to mention, and her friends didn’t dare bring it up either.

Seething with resentment, Sharon Sherman sidled up to Joanna Sherman and whispered, "Sis, guess who I just saw? Sophia Shaw, of all people, at a job fair looking for work!"

Justin Hughes, who was standing nearby, overheard and sneered. "Her? With those half-baked skills? She thinks she can find a job at a fair?"

"Exactly! She has no shame!"

’All I want is to crush her!’ Sharon Sherman fumed.

A cold look crossed Joanna Sherman’s face. "Sharon Sherman, worry about yourself first."

But as she said it, her eyes darted toward Vincent Grant.

Sharon Sherman’s voice had been low, so he might not have heard her, but Justin Hughes had deliberately spoken louder. Vincent Grant had definitely heard.

He pursed his lips, not saying a word.

His gaze was cool and distant, as if he didn’t even know Sophia Shaw.

Joanna Sherman impassively withdrew her gaze and walked out.

Once she was out of sight, she called Yvonne Sherman. "Mom, Sharon saw Sophia at a job fair."

"She was just a level-one employee after five years at the Grant Group. What kind of good job could she possibly find?" Yvonne Sherman scoffed.

Joanna Sherman closed her eyes. "She used to get excellent grades."

Yvonne Sherman was suddenly reminded that back in elementary and middle school, Sophia Shaw’s grades had always been top of the class, leaving Joanna, who was in second place, far behind in the dust.

After high school, she left with Yancy Shaw. They’d never heard about her attending any prestigious university, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of making a name for herself.

’If she succeeds, what if Vincent starts to see her in a different light...’

’That’s a risk I can’t take!’

Yvonne Sherman said, "Don’t you worry. I’ll put the word out to all the major companies right now. No one is to hire her!"

Everyone knew the Sherman family had Vincent Grant backing them. With his influence in the city, no one would dare cross her.

Yvonne Sherman felt incredibly smug.

’My daughter really is better at picking men than I ever was!’

Joanna Sherman’s eyes snapped open, her cool, haughty expression returning. "Mom, I don’t want anyone to think the Sherman family is bullying people."

At Joanna’s reminder, Yvonne Sherman’s heart skipped a beat.

"You’re right, I wasn’t thinking clearly!"

Sophia was still Vincent Grant’s wife, after all. If she brought this up with him, it would reflect poorly on both Joanna and the entire Sherman family.

An icy glint appeared in Joanna Sherman’s cool eyes. "Just do as I say. Make sure there’s no connection to the Sherman family."

...

"I don’t care, you have to come with me to the interview!"

Sophia found Leah Evans. The two had just finished lunch when a call came in for an interview.

Leah Evans had always worked at jobs arranged by her family. This was her first time looking for one on her own, and she was terrified.

Sophia had no choice but to go with her.

The company Leah was interviewing with was quite large. It was in a thirty-story building and occupied three floors of office space.

The two of them were directed to the human resources department on the second floor.

There were a lot of interviewees, and they had to fill out application forms.

Leah was afraid she’d fill it out wrong, so she grabbed two forms and asked Sophia to fill one out for her.

Several interviewers walked past the two of them.

The last one, who had an "HR Manager" badge pinned to his chest, stopped as he passed Sophia and glanced down at her several times.

A moment later, he walked to the entrance, called over the staff member handing out the forms, and whispered something to them.

As soon as the HR manager left, the staff member approached them. "I’m sorry, ladies. We seem to have made a mistake with our call. The position we’re offering isn’t a good fit for you."

"What...?"

Leah Evans was completely bewildered.

Sophia froze for a moment too.

She clearly remembered they were hiring for a data analyst position, and Leah was perfectly qualified.

They seemed to be in a real hurry, quickly calling security to escort the two women out.

"Why did that happen?"

Leah had researched the company before coming. She had been very impressed with it and thought she had a good chance of getting hired.

But they didn’t even let her interview...

Sophia’s brow was deeply furrowed as well.

After a moment, she patted Leah’s shoulder. "Wait here for me."

She walked up to the security guard and said she had forgotten something inside.

The guard didn’t stop her, so Sophia walked back inside.

As she neared the entrance to the office, she saw several people huddled over something, muttering disdainfully.

"Wow, how pathetic. Still a level-one employee after five years!"

"Look, this is that apology letter from her time at the Grant Group. She posted some video without knowing what she was doing and nearly ruined the company’s reputation."

"Who would dare hire an employee like that?"

Sophia looked at their screen.

It was showing the apology letter the Grant Group had issued in her name.

Below the letter was a string of comments. The top-pinned one, with the most engagement, was the one exposing that she had been a level-one employee at the Grant Group for five years.

Even though time had passed, Sophia still felt as if she’d been stuffed into a suffocating bag. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t struggle. Her chest was filled with a rage so immense it felt like it would explode.

After a long time, she slowly walked out.

"Faye," Leah said, walking up to her.

Sophia gently squeezed her hand. "You should go job hunting by yourself. I can’t go with you anymore."

"But I’m too scared to go alone," Leah said, on the verge of tears.

Sophia looked at her intently.

’That video didn’t go viral everywhere. Instead, it was strategically placed on recruitment sites.’

’So, Joanna Sherman is afraid, too.’

’She’s afraid I’ll find a job. Afraid that if I’m too successful, the lies she told back then will be exposed.’

’So she knows that talented people can’t be hidden forever.’

’Good thing I don’t actually need to find a job.’

’But I can’t keep going with Leah to her interviews.’

’Otherwise, she’ll get dragged down with me and never find work.’

"I believe in you. You need to believe in yourself, too."

Sophia didn’t tell her what had happened inside the office, not wanting to upset her.

Leah had secretly run away to find a job. She was afraid her sister, June Evans, would find out and contact their parents, so she was determined to land a job before getting in touch with her.

So, Sophia had no choice but to set her up in a nearby hotel for the time being.