After Nathan and Madam entered the office, Evander Lancaster turned back to continue his coaxing, "Little Pepper, did you hear that? Your second brother just got angry, it’s serious, he might even fire you..."

"Bang!" Before Evander could finish, Sophia Hamilton impatiently closed the file, took a heavy breath, and coldly said, "Speak, what exactly do you want?"

Sophia glared impatiently at Evander, and before he could open his mouth, she added, "But don’t even think about extorting money!"

Evander was a bit speechless, "Little Pepper, do I look like someone who would extort money?"

"You do!" Sophia answered seriously.

Evander...

Sighing speechlessly, just about to speak, the office behind him opened as Titus Zane walked out, "Evander, is your eye injury serious? Do you want me to take you to the hospital to see a doctor?"

Seeing Titus come out, Evander felt like he’d met a relative, this big man suddenly acted weak, with a handsome face full of grievance, "Sister-in-law, my dear sister-in-law, why did you just come, if you’d come earlier, your brother wouldn’t have suffered such a loss..."

Titus was a bit bewildered, wasn’t everything fine just a moment ago? How did things change so quickly?

Puzzled, he looked at Evander, then instinctively looked at the secretary’s desk where the secretary was working, and upon seeing her face, he suddenly understood.

This girl was the one Evander chased out that day...

Concealing his inner delight, Titus nodded casually, "Suffering is a blessing." Then he turned back to the office to gossip with Nathan.

"Hmph! Look at his popularity!" In the secretary’s desk, Sophia gloated with a sneer.

Evander...

Turned back again, "Little Pepper, you’re not being cute at all now!"

"Mind your own business!" Sophia unhappily glared at Evander again and continued burying her head in work. Evander leaned over again, half smiling, with ambiguous eyes asking,

"If you don’t want me to mind, who do you want to? Hmm? Tell me, who do you want to mind you, your boyfriend?" Saying this, Evander looked Sophia up and down, deliberately dismissive, "Would a little sprout like you have a boyfriend?"

Sophia...

Angry at Evander’s words, immediately puffed up her chest and retorted, "Your eyes are blind! Your little sprout has grown this big!"

Looking at a particular place wrapped under Sophia’s little dress, Evander raised an eyebrow knowingly, though pretending to be dismissive, he glanced there and continued to provoke her, "Who knows how much sponge is stuffed in there."

Women, like men, care most about being called "small" by the opposite sex! With a hot-headedness, Sophia’s thoughts slipped out unfiltered, she stood up from her chair quickly, "Didn’t you already see for yourself last time? Don’t you know if there’s sponge?"

After she spoke, the hallway returned to its usual silence, as their eyes met, one filled with teasing, the other with embarrassment.

Several seconds later, Sophia glared at Evander hatefully and angrily sat back down, lowered her head and stared at the files in front of her, her breathing quite apparent due to rage.

Knowing full well that girls have thin skins, Evander still relentlessly pushed, because he’s taken an interest in Sophia, even though he didn’t plan on looking for a woman before, but once his heart was moved, he didn’t want to miss the chance.

Leaning over the secretary’s desk, continuing to tease, "I didn’t just see, didn’t I also verify it?"

Sophia...

Tightly pressed her lips together, flipping another page of the file in front of her.

"Why no talking now, weren’t you always sharp-tongued?" Seeing Sophia no longer bickering with him, Evander leaned sideways to watch her expression, Sophia’s head was buried low, her almond eyes already slightly red.

Evander...

A bit surprised, seemingly not expecting Little Pepper to have such a fragile tolerance, placed a large hand on Sophia’s head and gently rubbed, dotingly said, "Why are you crying now? I won’t say anymore, stop crying, be good,"

Behind him, Titus softly shut the door and quietly retreated, covering his mouth.

In the office room, witnessing Titus’s sneaky behavior, Nathan shook his head and sighed.

"Get away, don’t touch me!" Sophia shook her head, speaking with a nasal tone.

"Alright, I won’t tease you anymore," Evander said with slight helplessness, before retracting his hand, he rubbed Sophia’s head again, reassuring her, "Don’t be mad, rest assured, I’ll be responsible for you!"

Sophia...

Suddenly, she lifted her gaze and glared fiercely at Evander Lancaster, her almond eyes like a little rabbit’s, filled with resentment yet stubbornness, with a hint of grievance and reluctance.

Evander felt a slight stir in his heart. For the first time in thirty years, he had the urge to kiss a woman, wanting to pull the woman in front of him into his arms and fiercely ravage her. Involuntarily, he swallowed, his sexy Adam’s apple rolling up and down, as he looked at Sophia Hamilton. The playful look in his phoenix eyes was gone, replaced by a clear emotion.

If Titus Zane hadn’t come out of the office with a cup of water, Evander really couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t have impulsively kissed the girl in front of him.

"I’m getting some hot water," Titus said with a smile, clearly implying ’there’s no three hundred taels of silver buried here,’ before walking towards the waterroom in her high heels.

Sophia Hamilton stood up. This was her duty as a secretary. There was no reason for the Madam of the CEO to do it herself. Just as she was about to bypass the secretary’s desk to catch up, Evander stopped her, "Sit down, she’s doing it on purpose."

Sophia Hamilton of course understood what’s implied by Evander’s mention of "on purpose." She gave him another glare as she sat down, then continued with her work.

Since Titus was just in the nearby water room getting water, Evander didn’t say anything more. Only after she returned to the office did he speak again.

"Little Pepper, I’m serious, be my girlfriend, think it over, I’m thirty, single, and a surgeon, and your CEO’s good buddy..."

"Shut up! I have work to do!" Sophia Hamilton interrupted Evander sternly, glaring at him, knowing she didn’t need to worry since he wasn’t her CEO’s real brother.

Faced with Sophia Hamilton’s displeased gaze, Evander sighed helplessly, knowing that this was something that required time. After all... he had given her a "bad" impression. Raising his large hand again intending to ruffle Sophia Hamilton’s hair, she avoided it with disdain, glaring at him, as if ready to confront.

"Alright, you’re busy, I’ll head off now," withdrawing his long arm, Evander sighed again, stuck his hands in the pockets of his casual pants, muttering to himself, "Heartless girl, I didn’t even go home to rest after surgery this morning just to come see you, and you treat me like this."

"Who cares!" Sophia Hamilton sneered disdainfully, but felt a strange sensation grow inside her because of Evander’s words.

"Maybe I’m just being self-indulgent, alright."

Evander said helplessly, then turned and walked to Nathan Moore’s office door, knocking, and then pushing it open to enter.

"Evander, how’d it go?" As soon as Evander entered the office, Titus Zane eagerly asked, looking gossip-hungry, quite unlike the aloof woman she used to be.

"Madam, how did you become such a common person? Evander closed the door, teasing with a smile, Titus awkwardly fiddled with the brush in her hand against her forehead, "I’m just concerned about you."

"Thank you, Madam, for your concern. As your brother, I promise to get her within a month, to report back to you!" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Stop talking nonsense to my woman, whether you can get her is your own business!" Evander’s words had just fallen when Nathan Moore unceremoniously interjected, throwing down his pen and leaning back in his executive chair, coldly watching Evander.

Even though he was dissed by his second brother, Evander wasn’t angry, slowly making his way to the desk and leaning against it, "Second Brother, let’s organize a gathering tonight. It’s been a long time since us brothers got together."

Nathan didn’t respond to Evander’s proposal but instead looked over at the woman sketching on the sofa, "Do you want to go out and play?"

Titus thought for a moment. It’d been a while since she’d seen little Sophie and Mia Foster, so she looked at Nathan, "Will Mia and little Sophie also go?"

"Yes, I’ll have Big Brother and Third Brother bring them along." When speaking to Titus, Nathan’s facial expressions softened, making Evander exclaim, "Tsk tsk, truly valuing love over friendship, no matter how good the brotherhood, it doesn’t compare to having a wife. Ah, the moral fabric is deteriorating!" Evander shook his head and sighed, getting up from the desk, sighing as he walked towards the door, "I’m off, my dignity is hurt."

"Won’t see you out!" Nathan rudely lifted his chin and said.

...

After work, on her way home, Sophia Hamilton’s mind was still replaying Evander’s words, I’m serious, be my girlfriend...

Looking at the road ahead, Sophia Hamilton scoffed coldly, scumbag, as if, with such poor character, I curse you to never get a girlfriend in your lifetime!

Back home, after dinner, she sat on the sofa with her mother watching TV. Women reaching a certain age love watching melodramas, the modern Cinderella type, where the main couple is deeply in love, but the male lead’s mother forcibly breaks them up due to the female lead’s ordinary family background.

Sophia Hamilton couldn’t bear seeing such parent-arranged marriages, angrily tugging at the soft pillow in her arms and complaining, "Old witch, what era are we in that you still care about such match-making equality, such an outdated view!"

"You child!" Sophia Hamilton’s indignant complaining made her mother laugh, "Why get so worked up, isn’t television just for entertainment, and you take it so seriously!"

"I didn’t! I just find the plot absurd, what era are we in, and this still happens!"

Sophia Hamilton said disapprovingly, not realizing that one day, the drama’s plot would unfold in her own life, and she, like the female lead in the drama, was deeply in love with that man, unwilling to leave...

Of course, that’s a story for another time.

"Alright, stop complaining, Mom won’t watch anymore, changing the channel." Juliana Lancaster took the remote and switched to a reality show program. She knew this was what young people liked nowadays.

Sophia Hamilton hugged the cushion, laughing as she watched the show, when suddenly, her phone tucked inside the front of her fluffy pajamas started to ring.