Chapter 150
Chapter 150:
Adrian stretched out an arm and pulled Sophie into his embrace, lowering his chin until it rested against her hair. “Stay a little longer. Just one more day,” he said.
Within his arms, Sophie shook her head in a gentle refusal, strands of her hair brushing against his jaw like a whisper of touch.
“I’ve already used up two personal days just to make this trip to Dranland. That’s plenty. If I stay any longer, the project with my team could suffer for it,” she responded.
Her determination was clear in the way she looked at him, and he let out a slow sigh, the tension in his jaw betraying his frustration.
For a moment, Adrian felt tempted to invent some noble excuse to give everyone at Pinnacle Jewelry a short break. But the thought of unfinished troubles waiting for him back home cut through that urge. It was time to face them head-on.
At last, Adrian drew Sophie closer, accepting her choice. “Alright. I’ll go back with you p>
Sophie lifted her gaze with furrowed brows, puzzled. “You’ve finished everything here already p>
“Yeah,” Adrian replied, brushing the question aside with ease.
The following morning, they found themselves boarding the same flight home.
Noticing the spacious seats, Sophie leaned closer and muttered, “Business class? Are you serious p>
𝘛𝗁e 𝗆𝗈ѕ𝗍 𝘱𝗼𝗉𝗎𝗅𝘢𝗿 𝗇𝘰𝗏𝘦l𝗌 о𝗇
Sliding into the seat next to her, Adrian gave a careless shrug. “It’s covered by the company. Did you forget that perk p>
A flicker of envy danced in Sophie’s eyes as she said, “Your company really spoils you. They even pay for your wife’s ticket p>
Back at home, the moment Sophie reopened her neglected social media, a flood of alerts nearly froze her phone.
With only a single day remaining in the Sprout Cup voting, her numbers had plummeted. The comment threads were vicious, and the criticism had spread like wildfire.
Just then, a fresh update from Frederick’s official company account appeared on Twitter.
“In light of the recent fabrications targeting our collaborator Sophie Knight, we want to make this clear: Sophie was Frederick’s personal choice from the very beginning. She received his invitation well before the design contest deadline. Any rumors or slander are baseless and serve only to undermine our professional partnership p>
Bearing Frederick’s signature, the statement landed like an explosion, and the reaction section erupted immediately.
“You’re kidding… this is true p>
“So Frederick gave his permission from the start p>
“Maybe Sophie twisted things behind the curtain and pressured Frederick into backing her p>
“Or what if she’s got wealthy sponsors? Perhaps Frederick didn’t have a choice p>
Almost as if answering those accusations directly, Sophie’s own account released a long statement. She skipped the arguments and focused entirely on verifiable facts, complete with links as evidence.
Alongside the post, Sophie attached several striking photos. One was a security still from an evening gala, clearly showing her in conversation with Frederick. The timestamp in the corner proved it was taken a full month before contest signups even opened.
Another image came from a nurse’s phone, capturing Sophie at Carly’s bedside at the facility. The date on that photo placed it even earlier than the registration period.
On Twitter, the noise began to quiet down.
What truly sealed the turnaround was a detailed thread from a tech analyst, flipping public opinion completely. That post exposed the rotten core of the Sprout Cup’s fake activity: “The post against Sophie traces to the very same IP used to push Keira Scott’s hype p>
The thread also provided screenshots and technical comparisons. Both viral posts came from a single device, using the same batch of logins, posted within minutes of each other.