Janice looked over her shoulder dazedly.

"Why does your complexion look so bad?" Lucy was frightened by her expression.

Janice jolted back to her senses and wiped her face. "Really?"

"Are you feeling unwell?" Lucy asked worriedly.

Janice shook her head. "Oh, right. What do you need?"

Lucy recalled the reason why she had come to find Janice. She said, "I asked you to touch base with Doctor Valen yesterday. Have you contacted her?"

Janice remembered then and said apologetically, "I’m sorry, I forgot. How about this - I’ll call right away."

As she spoke, she hurriedly took out her phone and dialed.

Sophie picked up quickly.

"Hello."

When that soft voice rang out, Janice felt a surge of panic. For some reason, a scene suddenly flashed through her mind and she was stunned.

"Hello? Janice?" On the other end of the phone, Sophie didn’t hear her speak and called out.

Janice returned to her senses and said, "Sophie, my friend would like to talk to you about your book. I wonder if you’re available?"

Sophie said, "How about this, we’ll have dinner together tonight, you can come along too."

Janice mulled over her proposal. Rather than guessing, she might as well ask Sophie what was going on.

Thinking of this, she nodded. "Okay."

As soon as Janice ended the call, Lucy came over and asked. "What did she say?"

Janice replied, "We’ll meet her tonight."

Lucy heaved a sigh of relief. "That’s good. Thank you, Janice."

"You’re welcome," Janice said in a low voice.

"By the way, are you really okay?"

Lucy stared at her and asked doubtfully.

Janice shook her head. "I’m fine."

After Lucy left, Janice shook off the messy thoughts in her mind.

How was that possible? She must be overthinking things.

No matter what, she would know the truth after scoping it out tonight.

With that in mind, she continued her work.

Before getting off work in the evening, Janice called Christopher and told him that she would go home late after dinner.

Christopher didn’t say anything much, he just told her not to be too late.

Before hanging up, Janice suddenly asked out of the blue, "Hubby, do you really...

hate Sophie?"

On the other end of the line, Christopher was stunned and his voice was cool. "Why do you ask?"

Janice tightened her grip on her phone, but was unable to voice the question in her heart. She bit her lips and said, "It’s nothing. Never mind. Anyways, I’ll see you later."

She hung up in a hurry.

Christopher listened to the disconnected tone and his heart sank.

He didn’t know why Janice had asked that question earlier, but he thought of something, so he picked up his phone and left the office hurriedly.

Janice and Lucy drove towards the restaurant.

Janice drove while Lucy was sitting in the passenger seat. Lucy couldn’t help but praise the luxurious interior, "Janice, when did you buy a car? Why didn’t I know?"

Janice recalled that she had yet to tell Lucy that she was married and she felt somewhat guilty.

"Lucy, I... I’m married."

After she finished speaking, Lucy’s jaw dropped.

"When did that happen? Why didn’t I know?"

...

Janice knitted her brows. "It was quite some time ago, and it was sudden, so I didn’t have the time to tell you."

Lucy frowned. "Geez, why didn’t you tell me you were married? We’ve been friends for so long, so I should have given you some kind of gift."

Pursing her lips, Janice replied, "We did not hold a wedding."

Lucy was a little surprised, but when she saw Janice’s unhappy expression, she said, "It doesn’t matter. The wedding will happen sooner or later. Nowadays, weddings that are held later are more popular."

Janice nodded silently.

"By the way, is your husband the one who drove you to the TV station before?" Lucy asked.

Janice knew that she was referring to Christopher and nodded. "Yeah, that was him."

"So, he bought this car for you?"

Janice nodded.

Lucy said enviously, "This car is expensive. I think he must be rich."

Janice thought to herself, "Rich can’t even describe him."

However, she dared not reveal Christopher’s identity.

"I’d better tell her slowly."

She said, "He’s ok."

While they were talking, their car stopped in front of the restaurant.

When the two of them walked in, Sophie was already waiting for them.

"Take a look at what you want to eat first. It’s my treat today."

Sophie said with a smile.

Lucy was a little embarrassed. "Let me treat. How can I let you treat us?"

After all, she had something to ask of Sophie.

"This is what I owe Janice, isn’t that right, Janice?"

Sophie’s gaze fell on Janice.

Janice didn’t say anything. She had been absent-minded ever since she had sat down.

Sophie had noticed this from the beginning.

She thought to herself, "It seems that photo worked." "Janice? What’s wrong with you?" Sophie asked purposely.

When Lucy noticed that Janice did not respond, she quickly reached out to touch her. "Janice?"

Only then did Janice return to her senses and look blankly at Lucy.

At this time, Sophie spoke up.

"Well, it’s settled then. I’ll treat you today." After that, she called the waiter over to order.

Janice silently picked up the cup of water in front of her, attempting to conceal her emotions.

After ordering, Lucy and Sophie talked about the book. Janice, was sitting there, listening half-heartedly. "Janice, are you not feeling well?"

As they spoke, Sophie suddenly turned her gaze to her.

"Yeah, Janice, why aren’t you saying anything today?" Lucy piped in too. Janice lowered her head. "I’m fine."

"How about I call my brother and ask him to pick you up?" Sophie suddenly suggested.

"There’s no need." Janice had yet to finish speaking when he was interrupted by Lucy’s exclamation.

"Your brother, you..."

Lucy looked at the two of them in surprise.

Without waiting for Janice to speak, Sophie explained.

"By right, I have to call Janice my sister-in-law, but calling her by name seems more appropriate."

As Sophie spoke, her thoughtful gaze fell on Janice’s face.

Janice’s face, however, paled.

Sophie’s words showed that she did not acknowledge Janice’s identity in her heart.

Janice suddenly recalled what Sophie had said earlier.

"He chose to get married because of me."

"Really? Did Christopher marry me because of her?"

At this moment, Lucy’s phone suddenly rang. She said, "I have to take this. Excuse me for a moment."

As she spoke, she got up and left the room.

...

After Lucy left, only Janice and Sophie were left at the table.

The atmosphere became inexplicably cold.

The two looked at each other. Although their expressions were calm, their hearts were bursting with emotion.

An invisible barrier was erected between them and the tension was palpable.

Janice stared at Sophie. She reached out to take the photo out from her bag and placed it on the table. "You put this on my table, right?"

Before getting off work, she specifically asked her colleagues, and some people said that they had seen Sophie come over.

Therefore, she was almost certain that this photo was placed by Sophie.

Sophie glanced at the photo and sneered, "I accidentally dropped it."

"Is that so? You specifically dropped it on my table?" Janice mocked.

Sophie’s lips curled into a cold smile.

"Since you already know, why bother asking?"

She leaned back and looked at her calmly. It was obvious that she was provoking her.

Janice sneered. "That means that you’re not even going to pretend?"

Sophie said "There’s nothing to hide. It’s so obvious, can’t you tell?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

She looked at Janice with a faint smile.

Janice slowly clenched her fists under the table. She was truly stupid to not have noticed it from the start.

She asked, "So, your childhood sweetheart was Christopher?"

"Exactly," Sophie said bluntly.

When faced with her straightforward reply, Janice clenched her fists tighter, even though she was already prepared for it.

She forcefully suppressed the anger in her heart and said, "So, you intend to break us up?"

Coldness crept onto Sophie’s face. "Why do you say break you up? It’s so unpleasant, it’s more like returning to your rightful positions."

She looked very arrogant as she spoke these words.

Janice, however, found her words laughable. "How do you know that our current position isn’t right?"

"Do you really think you are worthy of him?" Sophie did not answer Janice and asked instead.

Janice didn’t back down in the slightest. "Aren’t I?"

"Of course not, what can you bring to my brother?" Sophie asked again.

Janice sneered inwardly. "This again. Wasn’t she just saying that she wasn’t worthy of Christopher?"

Since she got married to Christopher, she had heard these words many times, she was already indifferent.

"That is between me and him."

"No, this is our family’s business," Sophie said.

"You..."

Sophie stumped her with a single sentence.

Yes, she was not recognized by the Batemans.

Sophie stared at her stunned face and continued, "You know how my adoptive father treats you, right? Why bother? No one in the Bateman family can go against his wishes."

Sophie’s tone carried a trace of warning.

Janice fell silent. This had always been a thorn in her heart.

Sophie naturally knew what hurt Janice the most, so she continued.

"Do you think my brother wanted to marry you?"

These words stunned Janice.

Not long ago, someone seemed to have asked her this same question.

That person was none other than Denise Kelshore.

She didn’t expect that now, someone would ask her this question again.

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Sophie continued, "After listening to my story, you should know that three years ago, there was a misunderstanding between my brother and I. He married you to avoid me."