Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Mason had studied art before making his acting debut. Exceptionally, he was admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts at the age of seventeen. By the time he was nineteen, he gained attention internationally as his work, Impression, Sunrise, took third place in the Prada Awards. After him, no one else in the country managed to be shortlisted for the award.
Mason, though, merely considered painting to be a hobby. At the age of twenty, he made his debut after being scouted by Katherine. And last year, just as he graduated from university, another of his paintings was selected for the Prada Awards, shocking the entire entertainment and art industry. From NôvelDrama.Org.
Therefore, Mason's comments on Bethany's artwork just now were like bullets to the latter's heart.
She had been wanting to collaborate with him for a while, not only to ride on his popularity but more so to utilize it to further her career. However, Mason had turned her down. Thus, her plan was in vain.
Initially, the general public speculated that Mason's busy schedule prevented him from collaborating with Bethany. Yet, he just personally claimed that her mediocre artwork was to blame. This statement instantly caused the viewers in the live stream to go wild, especially Mason's fans.
Sophia, on the other hand, was pleased with the outcome. As she read the comments on the live stream, the corner of her lips unconsciously turned up.
When the car stopped, Mason, who was sitting next to Sophia, cocked his head and stared at her.
While Sophia undid her seatbelt, she arched her eyebrows and sighed. “I'm a terrible woman.”
Hearing that, Mason smirked. “I like terrible women.”
“Stop flirting with me,” she said dead-panned before getting out of the car and thanking Mason again.
“You've accomplished your mission for today. Get back and report it to your higher-ups,” she said.
“Oh come on, Soph. Aren't you going to treat me to a meal?” Mason whined.
Without looking back, Sophia retorted, “I don't know how to cook. Bye.”
With that, she shut the door of the mansion.
After staring at the empty entrance for a while, Mason eventually started the car and drove off.
Bethany had invited Alexander as a special guest to her art exhibition and paid the media to broadcast the entire event live. On top of that, she even planned to hire ghostwriters to write about what a wonderful couple she and Alexander were.
By doing this, she could let the public know that they were involved with each other and get ahead of Sophia. That way, if she were to get married to Alexander, people wouldn't call her a sl*t. She even thought of paying people to put up articles by then to defame Sophia and let the latter know how foolish and overconfident she was.
Yet, Sophia and Mason's arrival ruined all of her plans. Because of his comment, many netizens started posting negative remarks about her before she could even contact her public relations team.
That was not the worst part; the worst part was that Sophia was receiving praise. Netizens were
discussing how her appearance complemented Alexander's.
Additionally, viewers of the live stream commented that Sophia did not even glance at Alexander, whereas Alexander continued to stare at Sophia. They consequently gushed over how admirable Sophia was for refusing to turn back to the past.
Bethany, who initially hoped to use the situation to make Sophia appear terrible, was bewildered.
Soon, the commotion over Mason's comment about Bethany's artwork got out of hand. It was evident that there was someone behind it.
On the internet, people started making wild assumptions. After a few hours, some had already come up with a dramatic love triangle story between the rich.
Of course, Sophia was the victim in this fantasized love triangle. Alexander and Bethany, on the other hand, were the shameless couple.
At that point, the netizens were convinced that Sophia and Alexander's divorce happened because she discovered evidence of his affair. They deduced that she used it to receive a substantial settlement before ending the relationship graciously for the sake of her ex-husband and his mistress.
It was not a somebody, but Katherine, who was behind it all.
Meanwhile, Sophia felt slightly troubled when she saw the trending topics. “Isn't this a little inappropriate?”
Katherine, who was sitting on the couch, felt unhappy after hearing Sophia. “What exactly do you mean
by inappropriate? Throughout your three years of marriage to Alexander, how frequently did you see him, and how frequently did Bethany see him?”
After giving it a thought, Sophia could not help but feel slightly hurt.
In her three years of marriage to Alexander, they had only met up less than ten times, three of which were during the Xenos family's banquets.
On the other hand, Thalia had revealed to Sophia that during Alexander's eighteen business trips, he met up with Bethany eight times, not to mention the company's events and the birthday banquets of the White family's elders.
Katherine knew she had struck the right spot when she noticed Sophia's lowered head and silence. “The two of them even spent a night in a hotel, by themselves, on the night before you got divorced! I don't care whether you can tolerate this because I can't and I won't. The netizens would be criticizing you now if we hadn't attacked first. Do you really think that b*tchy Bethany will just let you off the hook? We can't be kind to our enemies!”
She could not help but feel frustrated when Sophia continued to hang her head low. “Come on, Soph. Don't tell me you still feel bad for him? Was my message unclear? Or are you not hurt enough?”
Sophia raised her brows and cast a sidelong glance at Katherine. “I was just looking for the pictures of them spending the night at the hotel.”
Shortly, she pointed at Katherine's phone, which pinged. “There. I've sent them to you. Reveal them when it's necessary.”
“Great job!” Katherine praised.
However, she was soon fuming after downloading the pictures and seeing them. “When was this?”
“About seven months ago, I think.”
Though the pictures were not steamy ones, Bethany and Alexander could be seen merely dressed in their bathrobes. It was, therefore, sufficient to pique one's imagination.
Additionally, it was Bethany who actually sent them to Sophia personally.
Sophia believed that Alexander at least had his boundaries set. However, the thought of Bethany gloating back when she wasn't even his mistress was still too much for her.
Since she wants to be the mistress so bad, then I'll grant her the wish.
Meanwhile, Katherine was exploding with anger. “I'll ask someone to spread these immediately! I can't believe that jerk actually cheated on you! You better not return to him for his disgusting money!”
“I'm not short of money, though.”
Katherine felt like crying inside. “I am. Do you want to give me some?”
Sophia tilted her head and glanced at Katherine. “Selling those bags and shoes in your closet would help.”
“You terrible woman!” Katherine shrieked.
Sophia nodded, the corner of her eyes crinkling as she smiled lightly. “Yeah, I am indeed a terrible woman. Don't fall in love with me. You won't get anything out of it.”
Her words left Katherine feeling a little dazed. After Sophia got divorced, Katherine did find her feisty behavior somehow attractive.