Chapter 10

Sophia? The name rang a bell, but I couldn't quite place it. "No need for that, I'll make my way there myself," I told her. There were already too many rumors flying around about me being some kept man by a sugar mommy. If another flashy car showed up for me, driven by a female chauffeur who wasn't even the same one as last time, people would have even wilder things to say. I hailed a cab and headed straight to the estate. As I approached the gate, I noticed a group of familiar faces standing by the roadside—they were Joshua and his crew. Joshua spotted me first and let out a mocking laugh. "William? What, did you change your mind and come to beg me to let you in?" Lina frowned, her expression full of disdain. "William, please have some self-respect." I wasn't in the mood to argue, so I walked straight toward the entrance. Zack's voice called out from behind, "Wait, is William trying to sneak in by pretending to be Joshua's roommate?" "How can he be so shameless? Unbelievable!" I was speechless after hearing that. I needed to use Joshua's name to get into my manor? What kind of backward logic was that? Without a word, I pulled out my keycard and swiped it at the gate. This card was one of only three in existence—one for me, one for my mom, and one for Sophia, Vincent's daughter. I was curious about how Joshua had gotten in, so I lingered near the gate to find out. About ten minutes later, the gate opened again, and I saw clearly that Joshua was holding a keycard! He had swiped his way in! I was stunned. Where did he get that card from? Could it be that after I stopped financially supporting Joshua, Mom secretly stepped in again? As I stood there, lost in thought, Joshua and his group approached me. "Well, I didn't expect that you made it inside. But let me guess—you're working as part of the staff for tonight's event, right?" Joshua laughed and turned to the teachers and classmates behind him. "This manor is usually empty, so we had to hire temporary staff like chefs, waiters, and other staff for the events." I am speechless. "And if I were working as a staff, so what? People who work hard deserve respect. What gives you the right to look down on them, Joshua?" Joshua burst out laughing. "Calm down, William. I was just making a guess, so you don't need to get so defensive." Roger was also behind him. When he heard what I said, he looked sternly at me. "William, let's be clear—we don't look down on hard work. We look down on fake people." "Exactly, working for a living is one thing, but being all about appearances is something else." I scoffed. "I am fake? Isn't that you guys?" Before I could finish, my phone buzzed, and I saw it was Mom calling. I shot them all a look before stepping away to meet with Mom. "William!" As soon as she saw me, she immediately hugged me excitedly. "I'm so proud of you! Carmen told me you not only came in first but completely dominated the competition. Dad couldn't stop bragging about you at his business dinners! We are so happy." That brought a small smile to my face. As long as Dad was happy, that was all that mattered. I couldn't care less what others thought, but I never wanted to disappoint my parents. "I wasn't that impressive, Mom. I had a lot of help from some top talents. Without them, my project wouldn't have been nearly as good." But deep down, I knew even without their help, I would've still won—just not by such a large margin. "Stop being so modest in front of me." Mom linked her arm with mine as we walked. "Anyway, I've arranged three separate party areas for you tonight." "The first one is for all the top industry people from Welsington City, near the winery." "The second one is for your friends, right by the stables." "And the third area is in the front courtyard, which Sophia is in charge of. It's for your classmates and teachers." "I'll introduce you to the industry bigwigs first, then you can handle the younger crowd on your own. I'm too old to keep up with you kids." I almost laughed. Mom looked old? She looked incredible for her age—so much so that my classmates often thought she was an actress I'd hired for the day. Soon, we reached the winery, where Mom proudly introduced me to everyone, singing my praises non-stop. The guests were gracious enough to indulge her, and before long, I'd exchanged numbers with several of them. After a little more small talk and red wine, Mom excused herself, claiming she couldn't handle any more alcohol. Left alone, I wandered around the stables, greeted a few people, and headed toward the front courtyard. Just as I was about to decide whether to go in, I heard Joshua's voice ring out. "Don't worry, guys! I'm bringing out my Koenigsegg. We'll take turns going for a spin—tonight's going to be epic!" That caught my attention. I wanted to see what he was playing at. Not long after, a car resembling Mom's Koenigsegg pulled up to the estate's main entrance. I froze. That was definitely Mom's car! She had it custom-painted, so there was no mistaking it. The driver's door opened and out stepped Sophia. She walked right up to Joshua and kissed him on the cheek. "There you go, babe. Got it here just for you." I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. So that's what was going on—Sophia was behind everything. Suddenly, it all made sense. The gate card, the spare car key—it was all Sophia. Sophia was supposed to be handling the invitations for my schoolmates, and she'd given the task to Joshua, who used it as an opportunity to show off and pretend this whole event was his doing. The duplicate key was also given to Sophia by Mom, and Sophia also passed the key to Joshua. I clenched my fists, ready to storm over and expose Joshua for the fraud he was, while teaching Sophia a lesson. But then I had a better idea. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Sophia's number. "Get over here right now. I'm at the back of the front courtyard." Sophia looked panicked as soon as she picked up. After giving Joshua another quick kiss, she hurried off in my direction. I saw Lina watching the two of them, clearly jealous. Joshua whispered something to her, and she quickly went from sulking to laughing. Moments later, Sophia arrived, panting. "Mr. White, you wanted to see me?"