08. A valuable Family heirloom

"What trick are you trying to play?"

Alexander bent over and whispered in Sophia's ear. The feeling of his hot breath on her skin made her tremble.

"Don't touch me." Sophia struggled uncomfortably. "I saved you from the hands of a rich woman's husband. Are you going to repay my kindness with ingratitude?"

'A rich woman's husband?'

Alexander didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

She still thought that he was a male prostitute…

Was she pretending or was she truly confused?

He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

While he was distracted, Sophia pulled herself free of his grasp. She raised her eyebrows. "You're still young, so you'd better find a decent job," she said fiercely. "Prostitution isn't a permanent solution."

Alexander was speechless.

The silence was broken by Sophia's phone ringing.

Sophia gave him a warning glare and stepped aside to answer the call.

"Sophia! How dare you?! How dare you hit Mr. Anthony?" Emily roared.

Sophia placed a hand on her forehead and explained, "It wasn't me…"

Strictly speaking, she hadn't done anything to Anthony.

"I was going to ask for a settlement, but you screwed it up completely!" Emily interrupted in a sharp voice. "As for the cost of losing this project and paying Mr. Anthony's medical fees, you will be responsible for both!"

Emily hung up the phone abruptly.

Sophia felt her heart sink as the dial tone rang in her ear.

"Who scolded you?" Alexander looked at her calmly.

Sophia glared at him. "It's all your fault!" she snapped. "I messed up my job because I saved you. Don't try to stay out of this. Give me your phone number."

She took out her phone and held it out to him.

Alexander looked down at the phone. "That's a poor reason to get my phone number."

'Damn you!'

"Don't try to run away!" Sophia shoved her phone towards him and growled, "Hurry up! Give me your number!"

'She is kind of cute,' Alexander remarked inwardly.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly before taking the phone and typing in his number. Then he heaved a falsely sad sigh and stated, "You know, I haven't had any business in a long time. I finally made a deal today, but then you ruined it."

"I did that to save you! Why can't you distinguish right from wrong? Which is more important, business or life?"

"Fine. How about I repay you with my body and have sex with you for one night?"

"What? Have sex with me? Absolutely not!"

Sophia glared at him again.

He handed her the phone, then raised her chin and gave her an intense stare. "If you want compensation, I have a valuable necklace which has been in my family for generations. But after we slept with each other six years ago, I couldn't find it. I suspect…"

'A necklace?'

A hazy picture flashed through Sophia's mind.

Yes… She seemed to remember a necklace…

The incident had been so sudden and her memory of it was blurred.

"It wasn't me! Don't blame me."

She was nervous. Surely a famous male prostitute's necklace would be extremely expensive. Did he want her to compensate for it?

Alexander squinted as if peering through her disguise. "Really?"

"Yes, yes!"

'She is lying. It's bold of such a little thing to play tricks on me. Let's see if she's still smiling tomorrow!'

Alexander shot a cold glance at her while he removed his hand. He dialed a number. "Drive the car here."

The lack of emotion in his voice made Sophia shiver. "Wait, what did the necklace look like?"

Alexander acted like he hadn't heard her question.

Soon an Aston Martin sped over and came to a stop in front of them.

Alexander stepped forward and opened the car door.

Sophia's mouth fell open. 'This is his car?'

Alexander disappeared into the back seat. Sophia wanted to follow, but the door slammed shut in her face.

The engine roared and the Aston Martin drove away, leaving her alone on a remote street.

Sophia clenched her teeth and took out her phone to call a taxi. Then she saw the new number in her phone.

"Liam Blake!"

Exhausted, Sophia returned home. When she entered, she found the living room empty.

The balcony door was slightly ajar, and she could faintly hear Molly's voice. She seemed to be talking on the phone.

"Mr. Brown, the kindergarten is in charge of organizing the summer camp activity, which entails huge costs. Miss Miller just got a job. I'm afraid that the money—"

The balcony door was pushed open loudly.

Startled, Molly whirled around to find Sophia standing by the door. Instinctively, she hid the phone behind her back and hung up the call. It was obvious that she had done this many times before.

Sophia frowned slightly. "Molly, I've been ready to support my family ever since I came back. Please don't ask for money from Andrew and don't tell him anything about me," she stated sternly.

"Miss Miller, Mr. Brown is just worried about you…" Molly faltered.

Truth be told, Andrew had paid her a lot of money to take care of Sophia and the two children. Everyone could see what he was up to.

Sophia smiled but her eyes were icy cold. "If you think that Mr. Brown is so nice, then why do you come and work here? I should send you back to him."

Flustered, Molly mumbled a promise that she wouldn't tell Andrew about Sophia's situation anymore.

When that was settled, Sophia retired to her room and sank into her bed. Suddenly, she recalled that Liam had mentioned a necklace.

Did she really take that man's necklace?

She jumped out of bed and started rummaging through the boxes and drawers.

The event of that night from six years ago was simply too absurd. The morning she woke up, she had hurriedly packed up her things and left.

A lot had happened since then. After all, it had been years since that night. Naturally, she couldn't remember if she had accidentally taken the necklace with her.

After she turned her room upside down, Sophia's search was fruitless.

Surveying the mess she made, she sighed helplessly.

Perhaps Liam was just teasing her.

There was a gentle knock on the door and it opened a crack. Two small heads poked inside, and the twins peered around curiously. When they saw Sophia look right at them, they asked in unison, "What are you looking for, Mommy?"

Seeing their cute little faces, Sophia felt as though her weariness melted away. She opened the door and threw her arms around the two children. "I'm looking for a necklace. Have you seen it by any chance?"

Axel shook his head, staring at his mother blankly.

"I have it!" Alexa beamed and put her chubby hand into her pocket.

Could the necklace be in Alexa's pocket?

Sophia's heart skipped a beat.

"Here!" Alexa fished out a candy necklace, her eyes gleaming proudly, as if she had found precious treasure. "Is this what you're looking for? It's pretty and yummy!"

Sophia was at a loss whether to burst into tears or laughter. How cute her girl was!

She planted a kiss on her daughter's soft cheek and whispered, "Not this kind of necklace, honey."

Axel seemed displeased. Pouting furiously, he pointed at his face and cried, "What about me, Mommy?"

Just then, Molly's voice sounded. She called them to the dining table to eat. Sophia kissed her son's cheek as well and coaxed the two to go and eat dinner.

On the next day, Sophia went to work.

As soon as she entered the office, she felt that the atmosphere was a little strange. Her colleagues all fixed their eyes on her.

Confused, she touched her cheek and asked, "Why are you all staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

One of the colleagues coughed and jabbed a finger at her desk.

There was a janitor's uniform on the table.

"What's this for?" Sophia picked up the uniform and looked at it, more confused than ever.

"Mr. Ace sent it here. He wants you to…" The colleague's voice trailed off, as though he was hesitant about telling the truth. Sophia tilted her head and looked at him questioningly. Finally, the colleague relented and blurted out, "He wants you to clean Mr. Moran's office as a punishment for screwing up the project."

Sophia's eyes went as wide as saucers.

A designer was asked to do the cleaning?! How humiliating!

"Sophia, do you know how much money the company lost because you screwed the project up? Five hundred million!"

Emily's shrill voice came from a distance. Then Sophia heard the high heels clacking against the floor, fast approaching her.

When she turned around, she met Emily's glowering eyes.