Chapter 20
“James Evans?” Sophia called his name in a casual tone.
Hearing a stranger’s voice, James froze for a second, then said, “Yeah, that’s me. Who’s this?”
“I’m a client,” Sophia said. “I want to talk to you about a case.”
James didn’t say anything but didn’t hang up either. That phone number was private. Only a few close people knew it.
“Who gave you this number?” he asked.
Sophia let out a small sigh, sounding a little careless. “A friend.”
James asked, “What case do you want to talk about?”
“Add me on WhatsApp,” Sophia said. “I’ll send you the stuff.”
After the call ended, James’s phone buzzed. Sure enough, he received a friend request.
James looked at it with a complicated expression. He had registered his WhatsApp with another private number. Since Sophia knew both numbers, her so–called “friend” had to be someone really close to him.
He hesitated for a second, then accepted the request.
Sophia didn’t say anything. She simply sent over the files.
SilentIfBroke: [Mr. Evans, please take a look. After you’re done, hand it to the right department. Don’t forget to send them legal notices.]
Then she wired him thirty thousand dollars.
James saw her profile picture—a fierce little devil—and her username, SilentIfBroke. His mouth twitched a little. He took a deep breath, didn’t take the money right away, and opened the files first.
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After reading everything, he finally accepted the money and replied: [Anything else you need me to do?]
SilentIfBroke: [Make sure they get what they deserve. I won’t accept any apology or settlement.]
James: [Got it.]
There were three trending topics about Sophia on Twitter, calling her a bully, a troubled kid, and even saying she had gotten abortions.
The rumors about Sophia kept getting crazier and louder, like she had destroyed the whole world or something.
A lot of people who didn’t know her thought she was some celebrity who got “canceled” and was now getting dragged by the whole internet.
Someone even dug up every school Sophia had ever attended. Funny thing was, her name was on the graduation lists, but no pictures of her anywhere.
People said she was wild, bullied classmates even in kindergarten, and hung out with bad kids.
They said she skipped class, got into fights, stole lunch money, had several abortions when she was still super young, and dated at least ten guys.
[Who is Sophia Chandler? Has she been in any movies or TV shows? Why is she suddenly getting canceled?]
[Never heard of this D–list. Guess this is the most famous she’ll ever be.]
Some people who had seen the live interview knew who Sophia was and explained it to the others.
[Sophia’s not a celeb. She got famous this year for crushing the SATs. No idea why people are coming for her.]
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[These haters are getting out of control. They have no proof, just making stuff up. She must have pissed off someone really bad.J
[No way I’m believing it. If she was such a troublemaker, how could she score so high on the SAT?]
Most regular users stayed pretty calm. Without real evidence, they were just watching the drama.
But those clickbait accounts that got paid kept posting nonstop hate, trying to destroy Sophia’s reputation completely.
Sophia saw all the hate, but she didn’t care at all. She even bought a premium video membership and started watching a movie.
Then her phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number.
[Who are you? What do you want?] It was from Ciara Kent.
Sophia paused her movie and texted back: [Kevin Sampson and I have a deep grudge. I can’t stand seeing him act like a saint. I don’t want the Kent family to get played by him.]
After a few seconds of silence, Ciara replied: [Thank you.]
Sophia put down her phone and went back to watching her movie.
苏冰冰冰冰
Other than Sophia and Elliot who was out of town, everyone in the
Chandler family gathered in Jonathan’s study.
Jonathan glanced at them and asked, “So, what do we do now?”
Sean frowned hard. “Sophia’s already dragging down the family name. The best thing we can do is cut ties with her.”
Jonathan turned to look at Howard. Ever since Howard had gotten himself into trouble, he looked worn out and distracted. But when he heard about
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Sophia getting blasted online, his eyes lit up.
“I agree with Sean,” Howard said. “Sophia’s gone crazy. If we don’t kick her out now, who knows who she’ll piss off next? She can deal with the mess she made herself.”
After he said that, Howard felt like he finally got some revenge.
Jonathan then looked at Heather, who seemed torn and conflicted. Of course, Heather wanted Sophia gone too–but Sophia had dirt on her.
Jonathan saw her hesitation and thought she was just being sentimental since Sophia was her daughter.
Yvette misunderstood too. She looked at Jonathan with teary eyes and said, “Dad, Sophia is innocent.”
Jonathan felt touched. “I know you’re a good kid. If Sophia were half as thoughtful as you, I wouldn’t be stuck in this mess.”
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Sean said, “Innocent or not, it doesn’t matter anymore. She made enemies, and now they’re coming after her. We can’t stop them. We might not even save ourselves.”
“What do we do then? Is there really no other way?” Yvette’s eyes filled with tears, and right after she spoke, they started falling.
Howard couldn’t understand. “Yvette, after everything she did to you, why are you still sticking up for her? She brought this on herself. I say we kick
her out.”
“I agree,” Sean said.
Jonathan looked at Heather. “Heather, I know you don’t want to let Sophia go. But kicking her out is the only way to save us now.”
“You decide,” Heather said through gritted teeth, her face twisted with all the emotions she was holding back.
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She thought that since it was Jonathan’s idea to throw Sophia out, she couldn’t be blamed for it.
Yvette cried harder, still pretending to defend Sophia. “Dad, can’t we think of another way? Please don’t make her leave.”
“It’s my fault,” she sobbed. “If I hadn’t come back, none of this would’ve happened. I never should’ve come home.”
“Yvette, this isn’t your fault,” Howard said sharply. “It’s Sophia’s. She’s twisted. She brought this all on herself.”
“I know you’re kind,” he added, “but you’re wasting it on the wrong person.
She’s not worth it.”
Tears streamed down Yvette’s face. “But she’s our sister… she’s Mom and
Dad’s child.”
That one sentence made the whole study go still. Jonathan frowned even deeper, feeling like all his memories of Sophia only started a few days ago.
Just then, the door swung open. Sophia leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, smirking at them.
“So, have you decided yet?” she asked.
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