Chapter 9 A Professional

• After the court session ended, the Harper Family refused to apologize, and it was clear that they were not satisfied with the results. They even stated on the spot that they would appeal the court decision.
• Although the court case was not completely won, from the speeches just now, it was clear that Mr. Field’s expertise was unrivaled. Even if they were to file an appeal, he would probably crush the opponent as well.
• With this win, Sophia’s reputation had mostly been restored. After all, Dr. Clayton had apologized to her publicly during the court session and posted his apology in the newspaper so that Sophia would not be wronged anymore.
• However, the Harpers could not accept such a result, and they mentioned that they would not give up in fighting the court case. It was exactly what Sophia had predicted—they would not give in easily.
• After coming out from the courtroom, Sophia was surrounded by many people; one of them was the principal of her old high school.
• “Sophia, I’ve let you down…”
• Sophia merely smiled without saying much. “Since everything already happened, there’s nothing much we can say now. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have finished my junior year peacefully.”
• After her entrance exam, Sophia was accepted by Riverdale High School as the student who got the best results in her school. Back then, she lived with her uncle, who did not allow her to study and wanted her to work instead. The principal of the school visited her personally to fetch her to school and provided her free accommodation and food, with all school fees waived. She even got a scholarship.
• When this matter gained publicity, a group of parents with power and fame, including the Harpers, went to the principal’s office to protest. It was out of desperation that he expelled Sophia.
• “You are always welcome to visit us.” He patted Sophia’s shoulders.
• Mr. Fields also left in his car. To him, this court case was so boring that he almost fell asleep in the middle of it.
• Sophia went to the parking lot and found her Yamaha bike. After she put on her helmet, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. After turning around, she saw Richard, who was in a suit, Mrs. Harper, Kayla, and Xyla standing behind her.
• Mrs. Harper immediately swore once she saw Sophia, “You little b*tch, weren’t you aiming for our money from the beginning when you were dating Richard? Let me make it clear to you—don’t even dream of taking a single cent!”
• Sophia snorted coldly. Back then, the Harpers were the ones who protested the most vehemently as they blocked the entrance of the school to request for them to expel Sophia.
• Xyla consoled Mrs. Harper in a hypocritical way, “Mrs. Harper, calm down. It’s not worth it to be angry over people like her.”
• Looking at Sophia, Kayla was so furious that her facial features were contorted. She almost wanted to rush forward and slap her. “You b*tch! Do you think it’s that easy to take money from us? Just you wait—this court case will definitely continue!”
• “It’s not that easy for anyone to take a cent from us Harpers!” Mrs. Harper also chimed in viciously.
• With that, she walked away with Kayla and Xyla angrily.
• Richard, however, did not leave with them. Instead, he appraised the Yamaha bike that Sophia was sitting on. She used to be a delivery girl for the fast food restaurant outside their high school, and she would ride away on a bike, delivering the orders. She got tanned and skinny from the job, and her dream was to earn enough to buy herself a Yamaha bike.
• He wanted to buy her one as a gift, but she never wanted to receive anything from him, even if it was something she had always wanted.
• With a sarcastic look on his face, he seemed to be half-smiling as he commented, “Seems like your new boyfriend is treating you well.”
• Wasn’t she a person who lived strictly by the principles she held? Wasn’t she an arrogant person who refused to receive anything from me, apart from my love?
• Now, she’s fallen to the fate of an ordinary woman, accepting gifts from men. She’s indeed a b*tch!
• Of course, Sophia knew what he meant. In the past, she stood by her principles—she didn’t want anything apart from a man’s love; now, she had learned to be more thick-skinned and realistic. Since men had already given her gifts, she might as well utilize them and create value from them.
• She sat on the seat and placed her foot on the pedal. The shape of her slender legs looked attractive in jeans. “Indeed, he treats me well. He bought me a garage of Yamahas, so I can ride a new one each day.”
• Richard balled his fists tightly as he growled, “Sophia, Kayla has no grudges with you. Why did you collude with Dr. Clayton to frame her? Don’t you think that you are nasty enough?”
• The evidence given by Mr. Field was perfect—the affidavit of Sophia’s virginity, her medical history that confirmed that she had never been pregnant, Kayla’s phone number, and her phone call history were all accurate. Everything that was needed was complete.
• However, Richard knew that all of that evidence was fake. During the alleged time that Kayla called Dr. Clayton and asked him to make a fake medical report, Richard was studying with her at home because he had a fight with Sophia.
• Kayla had been beside him all the time, so she would never have had the opportunity to call Dr. Clayton.
• Him and the maids at home, along with Xyla, who was also revising at his house, could testify to that.
• However, their testimony could hold no power in court, so they could only watch Sophia showing the fake evidence to frame Kayla.
• He grabbed Sophia’s wrists agitatedly. “What do you want? After you have dealt with Kayla, are you going to do the same with Xyla and eventually me? Sophia, I’ve been so wrong about you. You are a—”
• Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Sophia had already started the engine. The Yamaha bike charged forward, so she didn’t hear the remainder of Richard’s sentence.
• He seemed to have a share in her tragedy.
• Back then, if he was willing to trust her slightly, even just a bit, she would not have ended up in that way.
• It was not that he did not believe it; he subconsciously did not want to believe her. He knew that it was impossible for him and Sophia to be together.
• He could not find other reasons to reject Xyla, who was of equal footing with him in terms of family wealth and status. On top of that, she had been in love with him for many years. If Sophia was sleeping around and got knocked up by other men, he was able to convince himself.
• Amidst the traffic, the Yamaha bike rode in a straight line, like a horse charging forward.
• In her bluetooth speaker, Hale spoke, “The Harper Family has already begun to use their connections. They even contacted Calvin Fields secretly, trying to attract him with a sum of eight figures.”
• Sophia watched countless cars speed past her through her goggles. However, she could still hear Hale’s voice clearly and scoffed coldly. “They’re pretty quick.”
• The Harpers did not care about money; they cared about their reputation. If the public knew that they had used such a despicable method to deal with a poor student, their reputation would be damaged for a while. For the elites, they cared most about their reputation.
• Hale continued, “The phone call was not made by Kayla indeed. Someone replicated her number and used a voice changer to call Dr. Clayton, and the transactions were all fake. The person behind all this was skilled in computers.”
• “Yeah? So you are telling me that you didn’t find out anything again?” Sophia snorted as she made a sharp turn, her bike slightly skidding on the road.
• Hale, who was on the other end of the phone, silently cursed by just moving his lips.
• She is just a young girl. If my boss hadn’t asked me to protect her, I would have shredded her into pieces.
• However, Hale replied, “The perpetrator was very secretive, but our people are even more skilled. We have already found out that the IP address points to Huffs Technology.”
• Sophia snorted coldly as this was well within her expectations.
• Huffs Technology. Isn’t that Xyla Huff’s family business?
• Back when Hale found the evidence that pointed to Kayla, Sophia did not believe him at all.
• After all, she knew Kayla’s character. She was mean, but she was an open book. All her malicious thoughts were shown on her face as she always tried to suppress people who dared to challenge with her mean face.
• She was not the type of person to frame others behind their backs. If she hated someone, she would take action against them directly.
• After Hale did a thorough search, he had indeed found some traces and realized that behind everything, there was a skilled professional in computing who duplicated Kayla’s phone number and faked the transaction history. Everything seemed to have been done meticulously and perfectly, but nothing could escape Hale’s eyes as he was more skilled in this expertise.
• Seems like I had every reason to lose back then, Sophia thought.
• In the face of such a scheming person, I had no chances of winning, seeing that I had no background, and all I knew was to study.
• She uttered again, “Now that the Harpers believe that I forged the evidence to frame Kayla, they won’t give up so easily. I seemed to have offended Riverdale’s most powerful family.”
• Hale was speechless upon hearing that. Glad that you are aware of that!
• However, he replied confidently, “They are only real estate dealers. They are considered nothing to me.”
• Although Sophia was not sure with Hale and Michael’s background, she was sure that Michael was beyond powerful, and that the Harper Family posed no threat to him.
• It was because of that that Sophia dared to do whatever she liked.
• Upon hearing Hale’s words, she was relieved. However, his next sentence made her vigilance go up.
• “Boss is going to return to this country soon.”