Chapter 42

Raven's face turned pale. She pouted and said angrily, "I'm not sucking up to anyone! I've known her for a long time. She's different from the kind of person you're talking about!"

Unfortunately, no one listened, and they were completely misled by Olivia.

"Don't pay attention to her," Olivia said. "She's Sophia's assistant. Of course, she'll defend her. Anyway, if I had the ability to draw design drafts, I'd send my sister a few. This whole situation is unconscionable!"

"Besides," she continued, "didn't you realize something always happens to her? Isn't it because of her that Trifleming Jewelry is disgraced and involved in lawsuits? I didn't expect something to happen as soon as she arrived at Stratovski!"

"Tsk, tsk, calamity!" someone muttered.

"You're talking nonsense!" Raven's voice trembled.

They all stood there, talking without understanding the situation. After all, their designs weren't involved, so they didn't care.

Olivia looked at Raven with contempt, tugging sarcastically at the corner of her mouth.

I walked over calmly and pulled Raven up. "Don't argue with them. Even if you win, it's pointless."

I then addressed everyone. "Don't be too quick to take sides. It's not the last moment yet. It's too early to choose a side; you might get slapped in the face later!"

With that, I pulled Raven outside. Her eyes were red, like a little rabbit's.

In the elevator, she apologized. "Sophia, I'm sorry!"

I looked at her indifferently. "What are you apologizing for? You haven't done anything wrong."

Raven bit her lip. "I shouldn't have quarreled with them. I annoyed you!"

I sighed. "It's not that you annoyed me; it's that arguing with them is pointless. However, thank you for helping me!"

Raven looked pitiful. "Sophia, I… I knew about you five years ago. I heard you were coming to Stratovski Jewelry, so I applied for the assistant position yesterday. I really liked that design you made five years ago!"

I laughed self-deprecatingly. "Unfortunately, I haven't drawn any other designs since!"

"Isn't that because Alexa stole and plagiarized your work?" Raven looked indignant.

I replied with a complicated expression, "That's also because I gave it to her voluntarily."

Raven opened her mouth to speak, then stopped.

Exiting the elevator, I said, "Come on, it's lunchtime. Let me treat you. In the future, be more careful and don't get into conflicts with the design department. Only Olivia is truly targeting me. Don't assume everyone is your enemy. Many people just follow the crowd."

Raven nodded and followed me.

Midway through lunch, Hugo interrupted us. He stood before our table, glaring angrily. "Sophia, you're so good; I really underestimated you!"

I frowned, noticing the onlookers. "What do you want?" I said coldly.

Hugo sneered. "I heard you and Luka are married…"

I stood up. "Let's go outside and talk."

Hugo glanced at Raven, snorted, and followed me out.

"Don't worry," I told Raven, "eat first." Then I hurried outside.

Hugo said gloomily, "Sophia, you dare to accuse me of two-timing, but what about you? You're married to Luka, and you're acting innocent! You even intentionally designed to ruin my reputation and involve me in lawsuits!"

"If I tell everyone your marriage to Luka is fake, and that you intentionally set me up—how do you think the netizens will react?" Hugo glared fiercely.

I looked at him like he was an idiot. "Fake news? There are so many videos and voice recordings; do you think all netizens are stupid? Will they believe your nonsense?"

"What about your marriage to Luka Stratovski? I didn't make that up!" Hugo's eyes were like a poisonous snake's.

I distanced myself. "So, what do you want?"

Hugo took a deep breath. "It's simple. Help me clear my name online. Say you knew I was with Bella. When Bella confronted you, there was no evidence!"

Hugo hoped to muddy the waters online, hoping netizens would change their minds. Trifleming Group's reputation had already been damaged, leading to broken contracts and significant financial losses.

I looked at him like a lunatic. "You're dreaming! I won't retract my statements online!"

"Even if I gave you the earlier design drafts voluntarily, the last one wasn't! Come at me again, and I'll sue you for illegal coercion!"

I turned to leave.

Hugo grabbed my arm. "Sophia, stop! Aren't you afraid I'll expose your marriage to Luka Stratovski?"

I looked at him with disdain. "Go ahead. Let's see if Luka will let you off!"

Hugo froze, then tried to slap me. Before his hand landed, someone grabbed him.

(The final "Chap 12" seems to be an error and should be removed or corrected to continue the chapter.)