NovelEnglishTheresa was a bit bummed but still nodded, letting out an unenthusiastic "Oh" before she bowed her head silently and slipped off
her shoes, looking all obedient and kinda pitiful.
Brandon's heart softened, and he turned around to pat her head.
"I'll will take you out with me."
"Really?"
Theresa's little face lit up with joy, her eyes shining with surprise.
Brandon chuckled and stroked her head again, "Of course, when have | ever fibbed to you?"
Theresa, reassured, was over the moon and quickly sat down to slip her shoes back on.
Sophia followed Ivan into the inner venue.
The bidding meeting hadn't officially kicked off yet, so the guests were all chill, munching on buffet treats and shooting the breeze
with each other.
They were all real estate industry insiders, pretty much all familiar faces.
Ivan, as the Evert Group's big cheese, wasn't a regular on the scene, but there were still folks who recognized him.
Seeing him cin, a short, portly middle-aged man near the door stretched out his hand with a grin and headed toward Ivan,
eagerly shaking his hand, "Long tno see, where've you been hiding these past few years?"
"Hit the books for a couple of years," Ivan replied with a smile, shaking his hand, "How's the health, Mr. Porter? Doing good?"
"All good," the chubby man replied with a laugh, "How's your dad? Haven't seen him around today."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"He's been wiped out lately, resting up at home," Ivan responded with a smile.
"Got to take it easy, can't run yourself ragged," the man said, laughing, before he noticed Sophia standing next to Ivan and asked,
surprised, "When did you tie the knot? You didn’t even givea heads-up."
Just then, Marian, who had just walked in through a side door, instinctively looked over upon hearing the conversation and her
expression subtly changed when she saw Sophia and Ivan in the hall.
Sophia's attention was all on the portly man in front of her.
She awkwardly explained, "lvan and | are just colleagues."
Ivan also smiled and smoothly changed the subject, "If | were really getting hitched, | definitely wouldn't miss out on your gift."
The portly man burst out laughing, "Well, I'll be waiting for your wedding invite then," while his eyes gave Sophia the once-over,
seemingly not quite buying the ‘just colleagues’ line.
His gaze made Sophia a bit uncomfortable. She gave a polite smile and then turned to say something to Ivan before heading off to
a less crowded corner.
Marian watched as Sophia walked away, hesitated for a moment, and then started heading in Sophia's direction.
Sophia felt parched and made her way to the drinks area in the corner.
The drinks table was bustling, with people picking up their beverages and waitstaff busily restocking.
No sooner had Sophia positioned herself at the drinks table than a trolley loaded with drinks cto a stop not far behind her,
with the server efficiently moving drinks from the trolley to the table.
Marian eyed the distance between the trolley and Sophia, her lips pursing slightly, and as she reached to pick up a drink, she
pretended to stumble and accidentally tripped a man walking towards the waiter.
Caught off guard, the man stumbled, instinctively trying to save his drink from spilling, which threw him off balance and sent him
crashing into the server pushing the trolley.
The server, unable to dodge in time, was pushed into the trolley, which, on wheels, careened uncontrollably towards Sophia, who
was standing right in front.
Ivan looked up just in tto see the trolley hurtling towards Sophia, his face suddenly changing, and he rushed towards her, but it
was too late. He shouted, "Watch out!"
Sophia instinctively turned towards the shout and saw the runaway trolley bearing down on her.
She quickly sidestepped, pressing against the table to avoid the oncoming trolley, but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an
elderly man next to her and quickly reached out to grab the trolley to prevent it from hitting him.
Sophia managed to hold the trolley steady, but the sudden stop caused the drinks to splash all over the place, dousing her light-
colored chiffon work outfit with a rainbow of juice stains.
Ivan was already at her side, and without thinking, he took off his jacket and draped it over Sophia.
The shaken server immediately cover to apologize.
Ivan asked him, "Where can we change?"
"Right this way."
The server promptly responded, directing another female server to lead them to the changing room.
Just as they followed the female server out the side door, Brandon walked in through the front entrance with Theresa in tow,
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmscanning the hall and not spotting Sophia, his brows knitting together slightly.
Martin, who happened to be testing the equipment on stage, looked up and saw Brandon at the door. His brows also furrowed with
confusion.
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