Chapter 14

Patrick shot a sharp gaze unto Lianna's hand that had been stopping him from walking away.As if she
was hurt by such a gaze, Lianna swiftly pulled her hand away from Patrick's arm.

"Mr.Evans, you have to understand my intentions," she retorted, formally addressing him again as not
to get ahead of her rank.

There was silence because Patrick took his time before responding to her.

"I'm sorry, Ms.Parson” Patrick replied, which seriously meant 'That's it.It's over”

Patrick never thought there would be any other feelings between them other than being in the
employer and employee relationship.

John had always referred to Patrick as a workhorse who didn't recognize his relatives, and an essential
distinction was that he never had any emotional ties to his employees.

"I understand" Lianna concurred.

Lianna was a woman, after all, and she couldn't hide her emotions well.She dashed out the door before
her tears began to fall.

Sophia was relieved that Lianna wasn't heading straight in her direction.

The door was slightly ajar and was blocking her from their view; hence they didn't see her as she
eavesdropped.

Sophia held her breath and let the time pass by before she decided to walk away from where she was
hiding.



But as she was on her way, her moment of peace was disrupted when she suddenly heard someone
speak.

"How long have you been listening?"

Patrick's tall figure suddenly came into view.He always had a strong personality which would usually
intimidate anyone he met.He exuded confidence and a commanding presence even by simply standing
there.

But Sophia tried so hard not to show how she was affected by his presence and acted like nothing was
amiss.She needed to act the way a stranger would act.

"I was just here to drop these documents.It was not my intention to eavesdrop, Mr.Evans" Sophia
retorted.

Sophia felt so stupid.

How could she forget that Patrick was sharp when it came to things like this? Maybe she was
transparent enough that even Patrick could see through her and used it to his advantage.

Sophia tried to move around Patrick and planned to go on her way.

Patrick, being persistent, had also moved in her direction, saying, "How about now? Was this also a
coincidence?"

"What do you think? I don't have any interest in your personal life, Mr.Evans." Sophia replied.

"I certainly hope so” Patrick concluded.

He finally gave her space and let her move along.

Sophia heaved a sigh of relief and walked away without looking back.



As she was consciously counting her steps inside her mind, Patrick tried to warn her, "I hope you won't
go around talking about what you heard today"

Sophia continued to walk without even bothering to turn around.

What did he expect? There was nothing to talk about anyway.

Patrick and Lianna were in an intense conversation which made them unaware of everything else that
was happening around them.

They didn't realize that anyone could have heard their exchange.

Sophia had just talked with Finn when Fiona called her.

Ever since their blind date, Finn and Sophia had been in constant contact with each other.

However, there was nothing passionate about their exchange.

It was all just normal and friendly calls and messages.

It was a good thing that Fiona called her.

Since there were things that Sophia couldn't share with Finn, she felt relieved now that she could open
up to Fiona about what happened in the company.

"Are you saying that someone stole your employee ID card and gained access to the company's files?
Why did you wait until now to tell me about this? What was Patrick's reaction to all of this?" Fiona
asked.

Sophia was in the middle of her shopping at the grocery.She couldn't control her outburst since she
was shocked by what she heard.



"It's so hard to describe.You should have seen the look on the security head's face.He thought that I
had committed a great crime.He was questioning me, and it felt like I was inside a torture chamber’'
Sophia explained.

"And then, what else? Did he say anything about a follow-up? Or just like that, it's done?" Fiona
continued to ask.

"I have no idea.I suppose they didn't find any evidence yet.Because if they do, I won't be talking to you
now.I'll be in the police station instead?" Sophia replied.

Patrick could let this situation go without any further complications because it involved Sophia.

But she didn't have the courage and confidence to ask Patrick about the development of such a matter
directly.

And now, Sophia wouldn't pray for anything but to hope that her two-month designation period would
be over soon so that she could go back to her original company.

Sophia was in a much better mood when she ended the call.

As she continued her shopping, she arrived at the Children's Section aisle.She then saw all kinds of
toys and stuff that any child would enjoy seeing.

Sophia couldn't help herself but be amazed at everything around her.

She stopped for a long time and eventually decided to buy Emma's favorite doll.

When Sophia imagined how Emma would be happy when she received it, the worry inside Sophia's
heart immediately disappeared.



Sophia then pushed her cart to the counter to pay and check everything out.She walked out of the
supermarket and went together with the crowd.

The streets were full of charming and happy people, perhaps because the Street Caravan was
approaching.Sophia felt envious just by looking at them

“What did I do when I was their age?' Sophia thought to herself.

"You've been hiding from me for quite a while now.It must be hard on you" a deep voice suddenly said.

Sophia turned her head and looked for the source of the voice.

Under the light, the man's handsome face slowly appeared.

"What made you say that?" Sophia replied.

Sophia awkwardly smiled as she slowly hid her grocery bag, wary of the man in front of her who could
be interested in seeing what she had bought.

Brandon walked towards her and quickly took the grocery bag from Sophia's arms, and voluntarily
carried it himself.

"Well, you won't answer my text messages, and you've been ignoring my calls.You didn't even return
any of it” Brandon retorted.

"I've been busy these past few days."

Sophia tried to snatch her grocery bags from Brandon's grip but failed, for he moved them away from
her reach.

"I'm on my way to 5th Avenue for a business deal.Let me drive you home” Brandon offered.



Sophia wanted to say no, but Brandon had already walked away and turned towards his parked
car.Sophia sat upright in the passenger seat.She thought that she could hide from his scrutiny if she
would just sit tight and look outside his car.

"How come you bought so many child's stuff?" Brandon inquired coolly

"ls Brandon now aware that I already have a child?' Sophia thought to herself.

"It was just a favor, actually, for a friend" Sophia replied nervously.

After that awkward exchange, there was a brief moment of stillness inside the car.

Sophia was determined to make everything clear between them when they arrived at her place.

"Brandon, I have to be honest with you.You cannot do this anymore.I'm with someone” Sophia
explained.

Brandon just smiled and looked at her as if he was not rejected by Sophia.He believed that Sophia was
just making an excuse.

"Well, he's not your husband yet, right? We both have the same chances.I don't mind having a
competition, you know” Brandon said as he gave his sweetest and adorable smile.

Sophia wanted to say something more, but Brandon interrupted her.

Brandon just calmly said, "Hey, relax! One day, I'm gonna have to meet with Mr.Bower and have a meal
with him someday."

As Brandon drove away, Sophia couldn't help but feel annoyed.But, she then decided to just let it go,
for she understood Brandon.

If he still insisted on pursuing her, there was nothing she could do about it.



However, what Sophia failed to realize was how patient Brandon could be.She underestimated
Brandon's sincere intentions towards her.

Friday swiftly came, and it was the day where Lianna would give her review of Sophia's evaluation
case.

Lianna had been demanding a daily meeting every morning.

Nobody knew what happened, but Lianna was not in a good mood that morning.

"Rookies can't stay newbies forever; you have to learn to do your job on your own! Don't expect me to
oversee you all the time.Otherwise, just hand in your resignation, and I'll gladly accept it!" Lianna
blurted out.

Lianna was in such a bad mood that her staff was so nervous and agitated that morning.

The entire Evaluation Department was in a panic.

As she was wrapping up her meeting, Lianna called on Sophia, "Ms.Hill, I need to see you in my office"

Sophia took a deep breath and quickly followed Lianna, feeling a little nervous herself.

The moment that they both disappeared from everyone's view, the staff immediately gathered and
gossiped around.

"What the hell does Ms.Parson want by giving such an important case to Ms.Hill to work on? I've been
in this company for ten years, which made me a senior staff.I am jealous, for I deserve to have that
project!" a redhead lady whispered.

"You're so clueless! Think about Ms.Parson's true intention.How could she give Ms.Hill, a newbie, an
important case? Maybe Ms.Parson wants to use this case just to bully her.Well, if Ms.Hill can smoothly



complete the case, she will be praised for a job well done.But if something goes wrong, she will take all
the blame, and she will be fired right away” the lady in heels said.


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