Chapter 3

A Family Affair

“| have yet to make up my mind,” Sofia said, her eyes narrowing her eyes at him. Did he come because of his proposition?

The enticing aroma of freshly baked croissants wafted through the air, causing her stomach to growl involuntarily.

She stole a glance at the tempting spread, attempting to feign indifference to both the food and the audible protest of her hungry

stomach. It was a futile effort.

“Is there a need for such pretense?” Alexander's inquiry cut through the air, devoid of sympathy. “Eat your fill. | only came to

make sure that you did not murder anyone. My plans would not succeed when you are in prison.”

Blunt, Sofia acknowledged inwardly, her attention reluctantly shifting from the tantalizing croissants to the man seated across

from her. She picked up her fork and began to mechanically spear a piece of brunch, attempting to divert her focus away from

Alexander's words.

“LH Group will hold its annual shareholder’s meeting, and in this meeting, your stepfather will blame you for the mishaps. Not

directly, of course.”

“W— What?” The cup of coffee in her hand trembled, threatening to spill. His words demanded her full attention, taking all the

heaviness and headache from her hangover.

LH Design was the subsidiary of LH Group. Currently, she is the Head Designer of LH Design and its acting CEO. Before she

could continue thinking about this, Alexander pushed another document her way. She opened it without asking any more

questions.

“This— “

“A plagiarism scandal ready to explode,” Alexander interrupted, delivering the revelation with a cool matter-of-factness.

“| made those designs...” Sofia’s voice wavered. How could it be plagiarism? She spent countless nights drawing them, choosing

the materials carefully for the upcoming collection.

He didn’t answer. He studied her appearance, his eyes confident yet something about it contained cruelty that made her

uncomfortable.

“Arich heiress who grew up with a silver spoon against a working woman who struggled to make ends meet. Who do you think

the media will believe?” he asked, his voice cutting through her like a sharp knife.

“What are you trying to say? Why would my father— “

“Stepfather,” he corrected her.

Sofia’s lips trembled. She steadied herself. Her mother married her stepfather when she was just two years old. Her biological

father died when her mother was pregnant, and the only father that she knew was her stepfather, Lawrence Miles, who later

changed his surname to Lockhart when he married Sofia’s mother Eunice Lockhart.

Charlotte was Lawrence's daughter from his first marriage. She was only a few months older than Sofia. Because of this, the two

always treated each other like sisters.

“You should already know what | was talking about, no?” he asked. This time, Sofia did not answer. She only stared at the

document as she thought of what she heard last night.

Her 26th birthday was coming. This meant that her trust fund and inheritance from her late grandfather would belong to her.

Shares, stocks, bonds, properties, and at least three hundred million dollars. The inheritance was something that every Lockhart

would get once they came of age.

However, to get this inheritance, some conditions must be met. She did not tell Daniel about these conditions, as this had been

kept a secret by the Lockhart Family. She did not intend to tell him anything about this matter either.

However, after what she witnessed last night, she was convinced that Daniel knew about the conditions, and that was why he

wanted to keep her around despite sleeping with Sofia’s sister.

“The shares...” she mumbled. There can only be one reason why her stepfather would create a scandal like this. It was to taint

her name. He wanted to show the board that the heiress of LH Group is a plagiarizing ass. This would surely affect how they

view Sofia.

“Smart,” he smirked.

“My father— Lawrence would never do something like this.” She said. However, a part of her already doubted her own words.

She grew up with Lawrence, and he treated her like family all this time.

“Just like how your sister would never betray your trust?” he asked.

That hurt. Must he add fuel to the fire? She was not sure if he was making fun of her. The funny thing was, that he was only

stating facts. She swallowed in response. What happened last night was enough of a wake-up call for Sofia.

She had been too lenient.

No. That was not leniency. It was stupidity.

How did she not notice that Daniel had been cheating on her? How did she not notice that every time Daniel has a conference or

a business meeting, Charlotte would magically have a photoshoot or a film too?

How? Was she truly that stupid?

She flipped through the document in her hand as if her stomach hadn’t just growled earlier. To her surprise, there were other

things included in the document. Again, there were images. However, unlike the images that he gave her earlier, this one was

that of her stepfather.

“This woman...”

“Lawrence Miles’s ex and Charlotte Lockhart’s mother, Lianne Ramirez.”

As far as Sofia knew, Lianne abandoned Charlotte right after giving birth. She left and never came back. Lawrence quickly

assumed all the responsibility and became a single father. Was it all a lie?

She swallowed. Over the years, Sofia started calling Lawrence, father. There was once a time that Lawrence wanted to legally

adopt her, but Sofia’s grandmother declined, as one needed to be a Lockhart to be able to have her inheritance. To Sofia’s

grandmother, Lawrence is not a Lockhart.

Because of this, Sofia’s relationship with her grandmother soured.

She flipped through the images and soon found something even more concerning. It was Lianne, Lawrence with someone

wearing large shades that covered her beautiful face— It was Charlotte!

So Charlotte was already seeing her biological mother? She turned the card and saw the dates. This was a year ago! Did

Charlotte know about Lianne and Lawrence’s relationship since a year ago?

The next photos answered her questions.

The images were of three talking and even vacationing in a tropical country.

“What about my mother?” she mumbled. If Lawrence and Charlotte had been acting like this for a while now then... what about

her mother who was currently staying in a medical facility because of some personal issues?

“Are you seeing everything now?” he asked. Then he leaned forward. “Everything has been planned. It was a deliberate

scheme.”

Sofia opened her mouth; she wanted to argue, perhaps ask for more evidence, but the more she thought about the proof in front

of her, the colder she got. In the end, she closed her mouth without saying another word.

“Unfortunately, | cannot prove that what happened to your mother was deliberate. Whoever did it covered their tracks very well.”

Alexander leaned back, a languid smile on his face.

She nodded. She cannot exactly let him do everything. “So you wanted to marry me to get my shares of Beaumont Empire?” she

asked. Alexander Beaumont was a well-known bachelor. There had been rumors of him having various kinds of relationships, but

all would disappear in a day or two.

“It is not a bad deal, isn’t it?” he asked.

She wet her lips. Daniel wanted to marry her because he wanted her eight percent shares of the Beaumont Empire. Their

reasons for marrying were almost the same, except that Alexander was using a rather direct approach.

“Marrying me would not only devastate Daniel but... would solidify your position as the heiress of LH Group. It’s a win—win.” He

said as he reached out to his cup and slowly enjoyed his coffee.

“A marriage of convenience, huh...” Sofia said.

“The perfect one,” he responded, the side of his lips quirking up into another smirk.