Chapter 74
Linda White's voice was loud and piercing.
She rushed over to Sophia Sullivan in a few quick strides, her eyes gleaming.
"My goodness! It really is Sophia! I thought it looked like you at the gate, and it is!"
This neighbor was famously nosy. Her husband also taught at the second high school.
Both families had moved into the faculty housing complex the same year.
Linda White circled Sophia, clicking her tongue in admiration.
"The big city really changes a person! Look at this style, this outfit. It's a complete transformation!"
Sophia pressed her lips together and said nothing.
"That dress is a designer brand, isn't it? Those shoes aren't cheap either! Sophia, I heard you're doing really well in Kyoto. You must know a lot of important people?"
Sophia frowned.
"What are you trying to say, Auntie White?"
Linda White lowered her voice.
"My second daughter is twenty-two. Pretty as a picture, and a great figure too... Do you know any suitable gentlemen you could introduce her to?"
Sophia's face turned cold. She took a half-step back.
"You're mistaken. I'm just an ordinary office worker in Kyoto."
Linda White's face immediately fell.
"We're neighbors! You won't even help with such a small thing? You've climbed so high, you should pull others up with you!"
Sophia let out a short, humorless laugh.
"What makes you think I have that kind of power?"
Seeing her refusal, Linda White's expression shifted instantly.
"Don't act so high and mighty! Everyone knows what you're really doing out there! Dressed like that, who are you trying to impress?"
"Linda White!" David Sullivan threw down his bicycle and rushed over, shielding his daughter.
"Stop spewing nonsense! My Sophia has always conducted herself with integrity!"
"Hah! Who are you trying to fool?" Linda White planted her hands on her hips.
"Everyone in the complex knows your daughter found herself a sugar daddy! Try silencing everyone!"
David trembled with anger.
"Slander!"
"Brave enough to do it, but not own up to it? Dressed like a cheap hussy. Disgusting!" Linda White spat, her saliva flying.
David clutched his chest, his breathing becoming labored.
"Dad!" Sophia hurriedly found his blood pressure medication.
When she looked up again, her eyes were icy.
"I tried to be polite, but you just wouldn't take it, would you?"
She grabbed the wet mop leaning against the wall and swung it hard at the woman.
Linda White shrieked and dodged.
"Assault! She's assaulting me!"
Dirty water from the mop splattered all over her.
Sophia gave a cold smile.
"Just finished mopping the bathroom. Haven't rinsed it yet."
Linda White caught a whiff of the smell and turned green.
"You little bitch!"
Sophia made as if to swing the mop again.
Linda White covered her head and fled. At the gate, she still managed to shout back.
"Your wretched wisteria is creeping into my yard! I'm burning it all tomorrow!"
Sophia raised the mop and chased after her.
"Show your face here again, and I'll beat you every time!"
After driving Linda White away, she turned and saw her father's complicated expression.
"Dad, I..."
David frowned.
"Where did you learn to act like that?"
Sophia was stunned.
"A young lady should be refined. You can't go around brawling like a fishwife."
Sophia linked her arm through her father's.
"Just tell me, did it feel satisfying or not?"
David coughed lightly.
"...Satisfying."
"Did she pull out all our wisteria?"
The empty space between their houses was originally a common area. Linda White had cultivated it for vegetables and often splashed manure water around. The Sullivans' wisteria had barely crept over the wall before she yanked it out by the roots.
David was mild-mannered, and Isabella wasn't one for conflict. They had put up with it all these years, which only made Linda White believe the land belonged to her.
"She said it was blocking the sun for her vegetables," David sighed.
"Your mother was heartbroken for a long time."
Sophia bit her lip. She hadn't realized her parents had endured so much.
"Dad, those rumors..."
"Don't pay them any mind! I know exactly what kind of person my daughter is!"
Sophia's eyes grew warm.
"Don't tell your mother. She tends to worry."
"Okay."
...
The second day of the New Year was for visiting relatives.
Isabella woke her daughter early.
"Hurry up and get ready. We're going to your uncle's house for New Year's greetings."
There were four siblings in the Sullivan family. David was the third. The eldest, William Sullivan, had dropped out of school early to work. He later made a fortune in the building materials business. Now he lived in a villa and drove luxury cars, a well-known local entrepreneur.
The grandparents lived with Uncle William's family. Every year on the second day, the whole family gathered there.
In previous years, only David and Isabella went. This year, Sophia joined them.
"Auntie, Happy New Year."
Sophia Sullivan stared blankly at the opened door.
"...Sophia?"
Isabella smiled and offered a gift.
"Happy New Year, sister-in-law."
"You didn't need to bring anything," Sophia Sullivan said, taking the gift box.
"We were just waiting for you. Come in, come in."
A sharp, high-pitched voice carried from the living room.
"Oh, Sophia's back? Haven't seen you in years. What made you decide to come home this time?"