Levin Sawyer and Sophia Shaw hadn’t expected to run into them here. They exchanged a look. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Sophia started to regret not getting a private room.

Vincent Grant and Joanna Sherman walked side-by-side, surrounded by the rest of their group.

They, too, were slightly taken aback to see the three of them.

"Old Master Sloan."

As they passed, Vincent and Joanna still greeted him.

Old Master Sloan’s expression was indifferent. He gave a nod in response.

The pair didn’t linger and led the others upstairs.

At the turn of the escalator, they happened to see Sophia raising her glass to toast Old Master Sloan.

Vincent’s gaze lingered on her for a long moment.

Justin Hughes sneered, "Look at her, acting like she’s Old Master Sloan’s apprentice. If she hadn’t latched onto Levin Sawyer, she wouldn’t even be qualified to meet him!"

"Exactly!" Sharon Sherman rarely had the chance to dine with Vincent and Jenson Forrest. Hearing Justin speak up, she eagerly tried to show she was on their level.

"She’s just showing off with the answers Levin Sawyer prepared for her. Isn’t she just trying to annoy my sister?"

"She has zero self-awareness, acting all mysterious and spouting a bunch of nonsense!"

The words had barely left her mouth when a cold voice cut in, "If you’re not here to eat, then leave. Now."

Sharon’s head snapped up.

Vincent had walked to a table on the second floor and sat down, his jawline radiating coldness.

Joanna shot Sharon a displeased look. "You should go home."

"But, Sis..."

She had finally gotten this rare chance to have a meal with Jenson Forrest!

On the verge of tears from the injustice, Sharon nevertheless covered her face and ran downstairs after Joanna glared at her.

Justin, suppressing his anger, walked over. "Vincent, Sharon wasn’t wrong, was she? Sophia only won because she was relying on Levin Sawyer."

"Joanna was humiliated by her and you didn’t say a single word, but the moment Sharon complains a little on her behalf, you kick her out?"

"Justin, I don’t need anyone to stick up for me!" Joanna cut him off. "Today was a competition against Levin Sawyer. Losing to him means my skills aren’t good enough!"

"You should leave, too."

Justin gave Joanna several pained looks, but ultimately turned and went downstairs.

With the three of them left, the atmosphere grew a little stiff.

Jenson looked down and saw a text from Sophia: "I’m so sorry, it looks like I can’t make it for my appointment with your sister at noon. Can we reschedule for tonight?"

If he hadn’t seen Sophia, Jenson would have left after five minutes at most.

Seeing her with Old Master Sloan earlier, he knew the lunch appointment would be difficult.

He was already prepared when Sophia’s message came in, so he simply replied, "Okay."

"Who are you chatting with, Jenson?" Joanna leaned over to look.

Her sharp eyes caught the message about an appointment with Lillian Forrest.

Sophia’s WeChat profile didn’t have a name, just a cartoon avatar of a girl.

"Got a girlfriend?" Joanna looked surprised.

"What girl managed to capture Young Master Forrest’s heart and is already being introduced to Lillian?"

Jenson calmly turned off his phone. "Not a girlfriend. She’s the one who saved Lillian’s life. Lillian wants to treat her to a meal."

The others had all heard about Lillian being kidnapped.

They knew Lillian had been saved by a woman, but Jenson had never mentioned who that girl was.

Joanna lost interest and turned her face toward Vincent. "Vincent, I’m sorry. You put in so much effort to get me this opportunity, and I’m the one who couldn’t seize it."

"It’s not your fault."

Vincent personally started rinsing her cup and plate, his wet fingertips gently tracing the rim of the cup.

"Your performance was perfect. It’s just that hearts and minds weren’t on our side."

Joanna lowered her head. "I know Old Master Sloan might not appreciate me that much, but I won’t be discouraged by this!"

"Mm."

Vincent gave her a look that said, ’I believe in you.’

After the meal, Vincent personally drove Joanna back to the Sherman Family estate.

Yvonne Sherman saw Vincent’s car from a distance and came out of the house.

"Vincent, thank you for bringing Joanna back. Why don’t you come in and sit for a while?"

Vincent could tell Yvonne had something to say, so he nodded. "Alright."

Yvonne personally brewed tea for Vincent. When she served it, she spoke with a hidden meaning. "Vincent, your auntie here heard from Sharon that Sophia got into Lead Aerospace and even used Levin Sawyer to suppress Joanna. Is there any truth to that?"

Vincent sipped his tea without a word.

In truth, Yvonne couldn’t quite get a read on Vincent.

He might be young, but his temperament was inscrutable.

Even with her vast experience in judging people, she didn’t dare to casually boss Vincent around.

Yvonne let out a soft laugh. "I don’t mean to complain on Joanna’s behalf. A loss is a loss."

"But Vincent, Joanna is a young woman, and her reputation is very important. It can’t be tarnished by all this messy business."

"I know."

As soon as Vincent left, Yvonne pulled Joanna into her room.

"What’s Vincent’s game? I just tested the waters with him, and he showed absolutely no intention of divorcing his wife to marry you!"

Joanna irritably flung her hand out and walked to the window. "This afternoon, Justin and Sharon just said a few words about Sophia, and he made them both leave."

"He was clearly protecting her!"

"He used to protect Sophia before, but it was only because she’s Cedric’s mother."

"Today..."

She could clearly feel that Vincent was protecting Sophia herself.

"Is it because you’re playing too hard to get?"

"Vincent isn’t like your father. He’s not the type to come running just because you act aloof."

"Joanna, you need to be more proactive!"

Joanna had originally thought that if she acted cold and unapproachable, Vincent would dote on her like he used to.

For over a year, Vincent had indeed put a lot of thought and spent a lot of money on her, but he never once mentioned divorcing his wife to marry her.

"We’ll see."

Joanna was extremely irritated.

"Losing to Levin Sawyer today let that woman Sophia have her moment of glory. Her ego must be soaring!"

Normally, Joanna wouldn’t give Sophia a second thought, but Vincent kicking out Justin and Sharon for her today gave her a strong sense of crisis.

Yvonne walked over and gripped her shoulders forcefully. "That’s why you absolutely must defeat Levin Sawyer!"

"Only by beating him will Vincent be yours!"

Joanna looked at her, a little confused. "Mom, you’ve got it wrong, haven’t you? If Levin wins, Sophia will be the one who wants to stick with him."

"That’s where you don’t understand." Yvonne was worldly-wise. "It doesn’t matter who Sophia is with. What matters is Vincent’s attitude toward her."

"Men have a base nature. If their own wife gets together with a very powerful man, it’ll drive them crazy. That’s why Vincent was so unhappy today."

"But if you defeat Levin Sawyer, then in Vincent’s eyes, he’ll be nothing special."

"No matter how much Sophia latches onto him then, Vincent won’t care anymore."

"You, on the other hand, if you can beat Levin Sawyer, Vincent will definitely cherish you even more."

"Right now, he’s only spending money on you. In the future, he’d be willing to die for you!"

"Trust your mother. I’m a woman with experience; I understand men much, much better than you do."

Listening to her, Joanna felt it made a lot of sense.

"Mom, I was thinking about it today. Levin Sawyer isn’t actually unbeatable."

"I’ve studied him carefully. His skill level is indeed high, but not so high that he could deduce the entire new rocket technology in just one hour."

"I suspect Old Master Sloan didn’t want to accept me as an apprentice, so he prepped Levin Sawyer beforehand."

"Levin spends most of his time on company management now, so he doesn’t have the time to refine his skills. I have a chance to surpass him!"

Yvonne was puzzled. "Why wouldn’t Old Master Sloan want to accept you?"