Chapter 3
Andrew took a deep breath, clearly struggling to keep his cool.
"Sophia, I don't have time for this. I saw what happened on the forum last night. It was just some banter, so don't be so sensitive," Andrew said.
"Claire is looking out for the team. She's just stressed and blunt-spoken. Since you're with me, you should try to be more understanding," Andrew said.
"If you still want to be with me, go apologize to Claire right now. Tell her you shouldn't have come to the lab and gotten in her way, and we'll call it even," he added.
He wanted me to apologize? I almost thought I'd misheard him.
"Apologize to her?" I pointed at Claire. "Why should I?"
Claire replied, full of righteous conviction. "You slowed down our research! And just being a relationship-obsessed girl like you is an insult to real independent women everywhere!
"Andrew's giving you a chance to save face. Don't push your luck," Claire sneered.
Andrew glanced at his watch, his impatience starting to show.
"Sophia, I'm telling you for the last time. Today's presentation decides our team's future. If you keep causing trouble, we're done," he said.
He tossed out "break up" so casually, as if he thought I couldn't live without him.
In every past fight,, as soon as he threatened to break up, I'd always cave and try to smooth things over. Because I really valued this relationship that had started back in college.
But now, all I felt was disgust.
"Fine," I nodded, not missing a beat. "We are done."
Andrew froze for a second, clearly not expecting me to agree so fast.
But he snapped right back to his usual cold self.
"Alright, that's on you. Don't come crawling back in a couple of days, begging for another chance. We're done, so you're not welcome here anymore. Security! Show her the door," Andrew ordered.
He actually called security to throw me out.
Claire's face flushed with excitement as she shouted at the security guards rushing over.
"Get this woman out of here! She's here to cause trouble! If she screws things up for the big shots inside, are you ready to take the fall?" Claire yelled.
The two security guards looked at me, clearly unsure what to do.
After all, with the way I carried myself, I hardly seemed like someone there to cause trouble.
Seeing the guards hesitate, Claire got frustrated and finally shoved me.
"Still refusing to leave? Think you're some big shot now? Didn't you hear Andrew say you're done? You gold-digger. Can't you live without a man? Get lost!" Claire snapped.
Her long, manicured nails dug into my arm, making me gasp in pain.
Andrew just stood there with a cold stare, fixing his cuffs, totally unfazed.
"Have some self-respect, Sophia," Andrew said.
Just then, the doors to the grand ballroom swung open.
A group of people escorted a middle-aged man out, surrounding him as they stepped into the lobby.
It was the president of Westbridge University, Lynwood King.
"What's going on here? All this noise at the entrance. This is unacceptable!" the president barked, his voice full of authority.
Andrew quickly stepped forward.
"Sorry, sir, I'll handle it right away," Andrew said.
Claire chimed in, eager to make me look bad in front of the president.
"Yeah, President. This woman is a little unhinged. She keeps deluding herself into thinking she's some big investor and even threatened to pull her funding. It's honestly hilarious," Claire said, her voice dripping with mockery.
Lynwood frowned and looked in the direction everyone was staring.
The moment he saw me, his face went pale in a flash.
He rushed over, shoving Andrew aside, and gave a slight bow, his voice trembling with panic and respect. "Ms. Sterling? Why are you standing out here?
"We've been waiting for you inside for ages. Your father made it clear that today's signing ceremony has to be led by you."
Andrew's face went ghostly pale. He stared at me in utter disbelief, his lips trembling.
"Sophia, you're..." Andrew stammered, completely at a loss for words.
I straightened out the cuff Claire had grabbed, not even sparing him a glance.
My gaze stayed locked on Lynwood.
"President King, my father did say that. But now, there's been a change of plans," I said.
I raised my hand, pointing straight at Andrew and Claire.
"I would like to know: are the standards so low for a top‑tier research group at Westbridge University? Where's the science? All I see are personal attacks and rumors. Is this how you treat your investors?" I demanded.
Lynwood's face went from pale to livid, then to downright furious.
He whipped around, his gaze cutting through Andrew like a knife. "Andrew! What the hell is going on here?"
Andrew jerked, as if he'd just woken up from a bad dream.
He hurried over, trying to grab my hand. "Sophia, please, let me explain. I didn't know, I swear, I really didn't know."
I stepped back, dodging his hand.
I gave him a cold, dead stare.
"What didn't you know?" I asked.
"That I'm the heir to Sterling Holdings?" I shot back.