Chapter 9

Sophia let out a short, jagged laugh, her throat tight with the acrid taste of bitterness.

Telling her to be generous?

Before she could say anything, Scarlett slammed the bowl in her hand onto the table.

"Kind and generous?"

Scarlett stood , her chair screeching against the floor. The sudden movement paralyzed the room.

She turned her scorching gaze toward Benjamin and laughed in anger: "Benjamin, do you have no shame?"

Ainsley's brow furrowed, her voice dripping with disdain. "And who are you supposed to be? How dare you speak to him with such—"

She never finished the sentence. With a heave of her shoulders, Scarlett flipped the entire table.

All the dishes, soup, and bowls launched in the air before raining down on Ainsley's group.

Screams of terror erupted.

Ainsley unable to scramble away in time, was drenched; Her designer dress was ruined, and she looked completely disheveled.

Elara clutched her shoulder, grimacing in pain, while Calliope stumbled backward , tripping over a stray chair .

The unluckiest of all was Alice in the middle of the group.

Shards of porcelain whistled past her face. If the trajectory had been off by a mere fraction, her face would have been ruined.

Alice shrieked and instinctively hid behind Benjamin, clutching his sleeve with trembling fingers.

Katya was terrified by the scene.

She stood frozen for a few seconds before bursting into tears, her little face turning red.

"Daddy, Daddy, I'm scared..."

Benjamin's face darkened. He held Katya in his arms and shot a cold look at Scarlett.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Scarlett dusted off her palms. "Crazy? I'm perfectly clear-headed."

She pointed at the wreckage on the floor, then spared a sneer for Alice, who was still cowering in the shadow of Sophia's husband.

"Benjamin, didn't you want kindness and generosity? I've been kind and generous to Sophia. This meal's on me. No need to thank me."

Ainsley trembled with anger. "Who do you think you are, attacking us like this?"

"Who am I?" Scarlett arched an defiant brow. "I'm Sophia's good friend. When you bully her, don't think there's no one to stand up for her."

Scarlett took a menacing step forward. Ainsley instinctively stepped back.

"What, scared now? Weren't you quite talkative just now? What was it about natural beauty, about not being able to let go back then, about still not being able to let go now?"

She mimicked Ainsley's tone in a high-pitched voice.

"Let me clarify something for you: I don't give a damn if Alice has three months to live. Does having three months to live give her the license to poach another woman's husband? Does having three months to live give her the right to brainwash a five-year-old into hating her mother? Does having three months to live mean a wife should tie her husband's mistress's shoelaces?"

She pointed at Alice's nose, not forgetting about her. "What are you? A homewrecker."

Alice hid behind Benjamin, her eyes red, tears welling up, biting her lip without making a sound.

"I didn't think that way, I really didn't..."

She choked out, tugging at Benjamin's sleeve. "Benjamin, I should just leave. I don't want to cause more trouble. It's all my fault..."

As Alice tried to leave, Benjamin instinctively grabbed her wrist. "You're not the one at fault."

He turned his gaze to Sophia. She hadn't an inch.

Since Scarlett flipped the table, Sophia hadn't tried to stop her.

A drop of soup landed on the back of her hand; she stared at it with a detached, clinical indifference, her hair covering her expression.

As if everything around her had nothing to do with her.

Katya was crying nonstop, completely frightened.

She didn't understand why Scarlett suddenly flipped the table.

Only Sophia sat there, not stopping Scarlett from attacking Alice, as if she hadn't seen anything.

"Mommy..." Katya sobbed.

Sophia finally looked up.

Sophia and Katya's eyes met. Katya's blurred with confusion.

After a long silence, Sophia slowly stood .

She walked around the mess on the floor, step by step, toward Katya.

Benjamin instinctively tightened his grip on Katya,watching Sophia warily.

Sophia ignored Benjamin entirely. She knelt in front of Katya, looking into her eyes.

"Katya." Sophia felt countless eyes on her. "I want to ask you a question."

Katya sniffled and nodded.

"Do you think Alice is good?"

Katya paused, turned to look at Alice, and nodded firmly. "Yes."

"What's good about her?"

Katya thought for a moment and counted on her fingers.

"She's pretty. She never gets angry. She plays with me, gives me treats, and never yells at me..."

The more she talked, the smoother it got. Her lips curved up, and she turned to flash Alice a bright smile.

"Daddy likes her, too." At the end, Katya added this.

Sophia absorbed the words without flinching. When she finished, she said softly, "What about Mommy?"

Katya went silent. She kept her head down for a long, long time before finally saying, "Mommy, you always boss me around, won't let me eat this or that, and you yell at me..."

She looked up then, her eyes red, without the smile from before, staring at Sophia with resentment. "Mommy even poured soup on Aunt Alice today..."

Sophia listened until the very end. Her heart didn't break; it had shattered long ago.

She reached out wiping a stray tear from Katya's cheek.

"Katya," Sophia said, "Mommy wants to teach you one final lesson today."

Katya blinked , confused.

"You need to have dignity." Sophia was serious. "You can't throw away your dignity just to please others."

"You can't listen to everything someone says, give them everything, even give away the soup your own mother made for you, just because you like them."

"You can't bow and scrape, lose all your self-respect, for money, for so-called affection, for a man."

She paused, her eyes on Katya's face. "Do you understand?"

Katya stared back, blank and uncomprehending. She felt Alice starting to cry again.

She didn't understand what Sophia meant, but Sophia had made Alice cry again.

This was the second time today. Alice was good, Sophia was bad.

"Mommy..." She reached out, trying to grab Sophia's clothes.

Sophia stood up. Everyone was shocked that she dared to say such things about Alice.

Behind her, Ainsley finally reacted, shrieking, "Sophia! Who are you to talk about self-respect? Who exactly are you insulting?"

Sophia didn't even turn around.

Alice sobbed from behind Benjamin, covering her face. "Ainsley, stop it. Ms. Brown is in a bad mood. Even if she's talking about me, I'll take it."

Alice continued, tears streaming down. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't be alive. It would be better if I died. Then you wouldn't fight anymore..."

Alice clutched her chest and stumbled toward the exit. "I'll go. I'll leave right now..."

"Alice!" Ainsley rushed over to support her. "Don't be like this. You're ill. You can't run around!"

Elara and Calliope also crowded around, helping her up, coaxing and comforting her.

"Alice, don't blame yourself. It's all Sophia's fault."

"Right, you didn't do anything wrong. She's just petty."

"Alice, your health is important. Don't stoop to her level..."

Alice was supported by them, swaying unsteadily, looking at Benjamin through a fringe of damp lashes.

"Benjamin, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to. Please let me go... I don't want to make things difficult for Katya anymore..."

She really tried to leave, her whole body swaying as if she might collapse at any moment.

Katya suddenly broke free from Benjamin's arms and sprinted across the room, throwing her arms around Alice's legs.

"Aunt Alice, don't go!"

She looked up, her little face a portrait of desperation. "Aunt Alice, don't leave. I want Aunt Alice to stay with me."

Alice looked down at her and gently stroked her head.

"Katya, be good. I don't want to leave either, but if I stay, your mommy will be angry."

"Mommy's the one who's wrong!" Katya cried harder. "The bad person is Mommy! She's the one who should leave!"

Katya turned around and looked at Sophia.

Sophia stood by the door, watching her daughter cling to the mistress. The ache in her chest had finally gone numb, replaced by a cold, hollow silence.

"Mommy!" Katya glared at Sophia, showing enormous disgust. "Aunt Alice only has three months to live... I wish you were the one with the terminal illness instead. Then Aunt Alice could live healthy and be my real mommy."

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