Chapter 439
Chapter 439
Sophia stopped in her tracks and turned over her shoulder to see Yasmin coming over to her. She flashed a smile. "Why? Do you need my help?"
She paused before continuing, "We usually love to help others, but we won't help selected people."
Yasmin was seething with anger, and Sophia's mocking words only made it worse. Her first instinct was to give her a tight slap, but she knew better than to start a fight with two strangers in a foreign land. Despite Sophia's unreasonable attitude, Yasmin reminded herself that she didn't know who they were. Sophia looked elegant in an understated dress, and Katherine, despite her limited language skills, was dressed in expensive clothing. Yasmin didn't want to offend anyone with money and influence.
She gritted her teeth and forced herself to calm down. "Do you know Claudius Lenoir?"
Sophia raised a brow. "No, I don't."
Yasmin refused to believe that they knew each other, but she was still upset upon recalling last night's events. "Then why did you look at him?"
Sophia let out a loud chuckle. "Come on, he's handsome, so I stared at him. Is that a crime?"
Katherine was getting extremely curious after hearing their conversation. If Yasmin hadn't cursed at her earlier, she would've asked who Claudius was in a heartbeat.
Not expecting her answer, Yasmin froze in shock. They had already left by the time she regained her composure.
She stomped the floor furiously and fished out her phone to call Rose yet again.
Katherine turned to look at Yasmin and made sure the latter didn't come after them before she asked hastily, "Be honest with me! Who is Claudius Lenoir?"
Sophia shot her a look as her smile faded slightly. "I don't know him."
"If you don't know him, why did you stare at him?"
Katherine found Sophia's words hard to believe. She knew Sophia wasn't a superficial person, or else she would have shown an interest in Howard and Mason back at Specter Entertainment. However, Sophia never paid any attention to the guys at the company.
Sophia pursed her lips. "He looks a lot like Alexander."
Actually, they look exactly the same.
Naturally, Sophia didn't tell Katherine the last sentence.
In the past six months, none of them mentioned Alexander in front of her.
Six months later, if she were to mention Alexander, Katherine would think she was hallucinating.
She had already ordered Yvonne to investigate Claudius' background, so she would be able to discover whether Claudius was Alexander soon.
Katherine inhaled sharply. She gazed at Sophia and suddenly recalled something. Her expression changed as she blurted out, "Soph..."
Hearing that, Sophia snapped out of her reverie. "Are you trying to tell me that I was imagining things?"
Katherine shook her head and swallowed. "Actually, I saw someone who resembled Alexander when I was heading back with Josh last night. I thought I was seeing things."
Sophia was caught by surprise. She glanced at Katherine before chuckling aloud. "Perhaps they merely resemble each other."
Katherine was aware that Sophia had been through a lot in the past six months. Alexander's disappearance was a deep wound that refused to heal. Although Sophia had tried to appear strong and carry on with her life, Katherine knew that she was still mourning inside.
Unless Alexander possessed some supernatural abilities, it was likely that he had met an unfortunate end.
As Sophia refused to believe that, they couldn't bring themselves to destroy her hope.
The best thing to do was to not mention the incident.
Katherine quickly changed the topic. "Hurry, we have yet to visit Fidment's store!" All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
Sophia raised an eyebrow at Katherine's sudden change of topic but didn't want to call attention to her friend's poor acting skills. Instead, she simply nodded and followed Katherine as the latter led her deeper into the mall.
After spending a fruitful two hours shopping, Katherine had accumulated quite a few bags of new purchases. Not wanting to be weighed down while exploring more of the mall, they decided to drop off their shopping at the information desk for delivery to their hotel. They then opted to have lunch at a popular restaurant that was conveniently located across the street from the mall.
Katherine had indeed done her homework, for she knew where to eat and where to have fun.
Not long after they walked away from the information desk, Yasmin stalked toward them.
There was someone with her. From afar, Katherine couldn't see clearly as she was a little short- sighted. When she realized who it was, she hid behind Sophia guiltily. "Soph, why is she coming to us with someone else? Is she going to beat us up?"
The sight of the familiar face made Sophia's lips curl. "Are you here for me?"
Claudius had no idea the person Yasmin wanted him to see was Sophia. His brows furrowed as he glanced at Yasmin. "What exactly do you want?"
"Do you know her?" Yasmin asked, pointing a finger at Sophia. "Don't you dare lie to me!"
"Yes, I do."
Hearing the man's answer, Yasmin bristled angrily and turned to Sophia, demanding, "Didn't you say you don't know him?"
Katherine was completely taken aback by the man who looked exactly like Alexander. She couldn't
help but wonder if she was dreaming. "Are you Alexander Xenos?"
"Who is Alexander Xenos?" Claudius asked when he heard Katherine's question.
Sophia looked at Yasmin, who was visibly upset. "I think you should explain why you know me," she told the man.
Claudius turned his attention to Yasmin. "I didn't know her until last night."
He paused briefly before adding, "Is that what you want to know? Now that I've made it clear, it's time for you to leave Lightspring, right?"
There was no way Yasmin would leave right now. She glanced at Sophia before her gaze landed on Claudius. "Dream on, Claudius Lenoir! You want me to leave so the both of you get to date, right? Do you think I'm a fool? You must've known each other for a long time! Don't think I didn't notice the way you were looking at each other last night. Did you plan to come to Lightspring just to meet her? What about Mdm. Rose? She would never approve of you marrying her. And let's not forget that we are supposed to be in an arranged marriage! I'm the only one you can marry!"
Katherine had yet to recover from the shock that Alexander was now someone else when the woman's rants brought her back to her senses. It turns out that the man who looks exactly like Alexander is Claudius Lenoir, her fiancé. Their family has agreed to an arranged marriage, so Claudius has to marry her and cannot get together with Sophia. Is that woman insinuating that Sophia has known Claudius for some time?
Realization dawned upon Katherine when she recalled their previous conversation. "Sophia, is he..."
Sophia turned to Katherine and shook her head.
It wasn't the right timing to mention whether Claudius was Alexander.
Shocked, Katherine remained silent, which was a rare moment of wisdom for her.
Getting impatient, Claudius ordered his bodyguard, "Allen, send Ms. Lawre back to Lusterg."
"Don't you dare!" Yasmin warned.
Allen gazed at Claudius, seemingly stumped. "Mr. Claudius, this doesn't sound like a good idea."
"Whose orders do you follow, mine or hers?"
Naturally, Allen followed Claudius' orders. He apologized before dragging Yasmin away.
Yasmin resisted and thrashed around, hitting and kicking at Allen. Left with no choice, Allen hoisted her over his shoulder and strode away.
After Yasmin left, it was much more peaceful now. Claudius stared straight at Sophia and said, "I have some questions for you."
It was clear he was talking to Sophia as he had fixed his gaze on her.
To Katherine, he seemed scarier than Alexander. His demeanor was unrefined, and he no longer treated Sophia with tenderness.
Katherine pursed her lips and plucked up her courage to stand in front of Sophia. "Sir, we don't know you. You—"
"Can you give my friend a ride back to the hotel?" Sophia interjected.
"Sure," came Claudius' reply.
He turned to look at his remaining bodyguard. "Joe."
Joe stood his ground, refusing to leave. "Mr. Claudius, Mdm. Rose left instructions that either Allen or I must be at your side at all times."
Claudius didn't seem to mind. "You two can follow behind my car."
Turning to Sophia, he asked, "Do you mind if we talk back at the hotel?"
Sophia smiled and shook her head. "Of course not."
Katherine chimed in, "In that case, we can be in the same car."
She looked up and met Claudius' icy gaze. "Forget it. You can ride with him," she caved in weakly.
Claudius won't gobble Sophia up, right?