Conspiracy and Calculation

At the restaurant, Sophia stood at the door of the private room, lost in thought.

During family gatherings, they always used to book this private room for dinner. But ever since what happened with Joseph, the family had already fallen apart.

"Second sister." Her younger brother cautiously tugged on her sleeve.

Sophia snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at him.

Her younger brother took her hand and led her to the nearby balcony.

"Second sister, I'm sorry. Last time at home, I should have stopped Mom from hurting you."

"Silly little brother, you didn’t do anything wrong." Sophia patted his head gently. "Everyone in our family knows that Mom makes all the decisions. You can’t help me with anything. You just need to study hard and be a good person."

Her younger brother’s eyes turned red, and he choked up. "Our family fights every day, and I can’t concentrate on my studies. Last night, Mom came home and smashed everything in the living room."

Sophia thought for a moment and handed him her last three thousand yuan.

"All the money I had before was taken by Mom, so I don’t have much left."

"Take this money and give it to Dad. Don’t tell him it’s from me. Let him rent a place for you. You have the college entrance exam next year, and you can’t let family issues distract you. You have to focus on studying and not slack off."

Her younger brother shook his head and refused to take the money. "Second sister, I don’t want your money. Even if I give it to Dad, he’ll just spend it on alcohol. You should use this money for yourself—buy something nice to eat and take care of yourself."

Sophia looked at him with concern.

"Be careful of Mom," he warned in a whisper. "She still wants to sell you to the Garcia family."

"Don’t worry, I know what to do," Sophia reassured him. "Promise me you won’t follow in Mom’s footsteps, okay?"

"I won’t," her brother promised firmly. "But you should still leave. I saw the video this morning, and now she suddenly wants you to come for dinner. I feel like it’s dangerous for you to stay."

"I came mainly to see you and remind you to study hard and stay out of trouble," Sophia said. Then her eyes flashed with confidence. "As for danger..." She smirked. "Your big sister has many skills you don’t know about. For example, I’m a hacker, and I know medicine."

As she mentioned medicine, her hand instinctively went to her handbag.

While she was helping Anthony organize his apartment, she had found a bag of silver needles. Being an assistant for so many years had buried some of her past experiences, but this time, the sight of the silver needles brought back memories of skills she had long hidden.

"If I hadn’t given up my spot to that ungrateful person all those years ago, I wouldn’t be an assistant now. I would be a doctor," she said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "My old mentor said I had a natural talent for medicine, but I was too young and foolish back then. I gave away the only chance I had to change my life."

"You know so many things, sister?" Her little brother looked at her in shock.

"There’s a lot about me that you don’t know, so don’t worry," Sophia said gently. "And also, don’t tell anyone what I just said."

Her little brother nodded seriously.

"What are you two doing here, siblings?" Ava suddenly walked over with a bright smile, took Sophia’s hand, and said, "Dad and Mom are already inside. Let’s go in together."

Sophia led her little brother into the private room. Their father, Henry, sat awkwardly next to Abigail.

When Abigail saw Sophia, her face paled slightly, but she said nothing.

During the meal, Ava tried to keep the conversation going, and no one mentioned the Garcia family. However, both Sophia and Abigail remained silent.

Ava got drunk and started giggling. "Haha... I’m so happy tonight. Our family can be harmonious again like before."

"Until Sophia apologizes, our family won’t be harmonious," Abigail suddenly said coldly. Then she turned to Sophia. "Xiaojing brought you here, and now she’s drunk. You stay and take care of her. I don’t want to deal with her if she vomits all over the house."

Sophia frowned slightly. Abigail had actually left with the whole family, leaving Ava to her.

"Little beauty..." A greasy, squint-eyed man with big ears suddenly rushed toward Sophia.

Sophia immediately raised her hand to stop him.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!" she said sternly.

The man grinned. "Relax, little beauty. I just want to have some fun with you."

Sophia’s face turned cold. She knew exactly what kind of person this man was. She quickly grabbed Ava and tried to leave, but the man blocked their way.

"Let us go!" Sophia demanded angrily.

The man laughed. "Why should I? You two are so beautiful. I think we can have a lot of fun together."

Sophia’s heart sank. She knew this was a trap. Just as she was thinking of a way to escape, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

The man’s expression changed, and he quickly let go of them. Sophia and Ava rushed out of the bathroom—where they saw Robert standing at the door.

"Are you okay?" Robert asked, looking at them both.

Sophia nodded. "Thank you for coming. We need to leave now."

Robert nodded and led them away. As they walked down the hallway, Sophia couldn’t help but feel grateful for his timely arrival. Without him, things could have turned out much worse.

With a cold smile, Sophia flicked her fingers, sending a silver needle into the man’s acupoint. The man collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"What did you do?" he gasped, realizing he couldn’t move.

"I sealed your acupoint, so you can’t move." Sophia’s eyes were icy as she looked down at him. "You tricked me all night just to set me up."

"Sophia, if you dare to hurt me, I won’t spare you!" the man threatened.

"Hurt you?" Sophia sneered. "Since you gave me a gift, of course, I have to return it."

She took out a small bottle from her bag and let the man sniff it. "There was a problem with the fragrance in that room. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? With such cheap tricks, you still thought you could trap me? Ha!"

The man’s eyes lost focus after smelling the bottle’s contents.

"Ah... who are you... don’t... this isn’t allowed..." Sophia suddenly screamed in a frightened voice. "No... don’t..."

Outside the bathroom, Ava stood there watching with a pleased and sinister look in her eyes.

"Sophia, I took the antidote long ago. This time, I’ll definitely get rid of you. You shouldn’t have messed with me or ruined my chance of becoming Mrs. Garcia. This is your punishment!"

With that, she turned and walked into the next room.

Inside, Joseph was waiting.

"Master Garcia, Sophia has been locked in the bathroom, and Mr. Chen is also inside," Ava said sweetly, sending flirtatious glances at Joseph. "After this is done, you promised me..."

Joseph smirked and lifted Ava’s chin with his slender fingers.

"If everything goes smoothly tonight, I’ll marry you," he whispered.

Ava’s eyes lit up with excitement. "Master Garcia, don’t worry. Sophia won’t escape tonight. She’ll definitely be ruined."

"Guard the door. I hate accidents," Joseph ordered. As Ava left, he wiped his fingers with a handkerchief, his eyes filled with malice.

"Sophia, how dare you make me kneel? I’ll make you wish you were dead! This time, even the Night Court won’t be able to save you!"

Meanwhile, Ava reached the bathroom door—but everything was silent.

"Has Sophia been ruined so soon?"