They were Sisters indeed

As soon as the Parker family entered the hall, they received side glances from almost everyone present there. Although these people tried not to show it much, many of them were clearly envious of the attention this family was getting. 

In spite of maintaining a low profile, Mr. Parker was well known in the society because of his achievements. Since he never was a high profile person, David didn't mind all this and walked along with the host who had personally come to invite him. 

On the other hand, Mrs.Parker, Samartha, was very elated when she saw the jealous glances from these people. She had a proud smile as she looked back at them. 

Although there was nothing very wrong in being happy with this, Sofia felt that she couldn't see this anymore and gestured to David that she was going to meet up with some acquaintances. 

Sofia  noticed some of her friends from her school and went over to talk to them....

She was about to call her friend out when some girl from the same group turned over and exclaimed in a shrill voice, "Hey Sofia!! It has been so long hasn't it?... Where have you been?

"Um... Hello. Hehe, it indeed has been a long time." It had been so long that Sofia couldn't even remember the name of this lady standing in front of her! (😂) Sofia gave her a crooked fake smile as she thought, "I think she is the one who used to follow me around for Maya's notes...?" After greeting the girl with a mere 'hello', Sofia turned to her friend and started talking to her. 

"....!!?" Did she just get ignored?! The girl was both Maya and Sofia's fellow student from their college. She couldn't believe that even Sofia had forgotten about being classmates with her after Maya.

"Umm, Sofia, don't you remember me? It's me, Hanna. I was your senior back when we used to study." Hanna continued awkwardly when she saw that Sofia was already talking with someone else.

This was the same 'Hanna' who had been fired by Maya some time ago but got back because of Mr. Collins' support.

"Eehh...?" Sofia finally decided to take a good look at this person, "Wait... You were the big sister of our college, right?!" Suddenly Sofia remembered and said out loud. If she was not wrong, this Hanna was almost about four to five years older than Maya and herself.

"Pft- Oh stop it Sofia!" The friend Sofia was talking to immediately stopped herself and others from laughing at this. 

"Uh y-yes..." Hanna agreed clumsily. 

This was something she was most embarrassed about. If she could, she wished that she could erase this past. 

She had started her studies but had to stop because of financial problems. When she finally resumed with her college life, she was in the same batch as Maya.

It was already hard to get admission in this prestigious college, and on top of that, Hanna had to work a lot for some extra expenses, after all it was not easy for her to mix-up well with these students from rich families. These girls would be her 'friends' and involve her in their activities if she was willing to spend her money on them. 

Maya was the best student in their batch who was aloof to these things. She stayed away from unnecessary parties, did well in studies and was also already earning some really good amount of money. She was still respected well in the class and no one dared to bully her even when she paid no attention to them.

Somehow Hanna thought that if she could get Maya's support, she would be able to lead an easy and fun college life. 

Alas, Maya just answered her that all this won't change anything and she should just try to work more hard in academics rather than spending money on others. 

Hanna's grudge against Maya started then onwards, she never forgot the humiliation and was amend on embarrassing her one day.

Unfortunately, Maya didn't even remember this 'opponent' she had made for herself. For her, a girl who came to look for her support was just a fleeting moment in her busy life. 

Hanna didn't bother to listen to this genuine advice from Maya and continued with her old ways. All this made har neglect her schooling and eventually she had to repeat her classes with Sofia's batch as well. 

When she got to know that top scorer Maya's sister was her batchmate and was doing fairly well in her studies, Hanna immediately approached Sofia with the intention of getting Maya's notes from her. She just didn't expect that Sofia would say the same things to her as Maya did. Both were sisters indeed.

...

Coming back to the big sister that Sofia had called her right now... Hanna was a lot older than other students with whom she studied with, this gave her the title of 'Big Sister' of the class. 'Senior' might sound as a respectful word, but Hanna knew that these fellow students were only taunting and making fun of her. She couldn't wait to complete her studies and start working somewhere nice.

Who would have expected that fate would play such a fishy game on her and one day she started working in Maya's company as her subordinate! She really wanted to decline the offer but when she saw the benefits Supreme Starlight gave to its employees, she reluctantly started working there.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you." Sofia quickly cleared out her mistake.

She might have been sincere, but to Hanna, it only seemed ridiculous, "Oh! It's perfectly fine! Anyways, I heard that your family is auctioning a nine carat diamond ring? Actually I am going to buy it! Just telling you in advance!... My phone is ringing, see you later!"

Hanna turned over and scoffed, so what if she wasn't good in academics and worked under Maya?! At the end of the day, even when Maya personally fired her, she came back to work with the help of Mr.Collins. So what if he was an old man? All was well if it ended well for her. Today, Mr. Collins even told her that he would be buying that ring for her! Huh!

As soon as Sofia heard about the ring, her eyes dimmed. 

Liam had noticed her a while ago but was waiting for Hanna to end the conversation in order to be polite. As soon as Hanna left, he walked towards Sofia. 

"Hey... What's wrong?" She was bright as sun just a second ago. He looked towards the way  Sofia was looking at, she seemed to be looking at her mother who looked as proud as a peacock.

"Oh hey Liam!" She looked at her mother and continued, "Nothing much, it is just a bit annoying to see her so proud after she did something that's...." Sofia shrugged.

She was talking about how shamelessly her mother sold away the family heirloom and was so proud about it. 

Liam had already heard about it from Sofia yesterday. He nodded. "I understand you. At times it feels suffocating to see ridiculous things done by your family members but you can't say it to them because they are your elders."