Chapter 43

Hugo spun around angrily. "Choosing death! Who is it?"

He turned his head and saw Luka Stratovski's expressionless face. His words caught in his throat.

I felt awkward when I saw Luka. "Why are you here?"

Luka glanced at me indifferently and said concisely, "To eat!"

After speaking, he shook off Hugo's hand, took a handkerchief from his suit pocket, and slowly wiped his fingers as if they were dirty. Hugo's expression soured. I couldn't help but twitch the corner of my mouth.

He threw the handkerchief in the trash can and subconsciously shielded me behind him. Lazily raising an eyebrow, he looked at Hugo. "How do you know I'm married to Sophia?"

He'd arrived for dinner and seen Hugo and me arguing from afar. Hugo had threatened to expose his marriage to me. Luka found this ridiculous. When had his marriage become a threat to anyone?

Hugo looked at Luka and blurted out, "BelBella told me!"

Luka's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then, do you think this matter can threaten me?"

Hugo shrugged as Luka remained silent.

At that moment, Martins caught up and whispered in his ear, "CEO, Bella Lopez attempted suicide this morning and is trending. She claims she and Miss Sophia are sisters and that Hugo deceived her. She didn't know about his relationships with two women or the plagiarism. Her story is convincing, and the internet is full of sympathy. They're saying Miss Sophia is heartless, pushing Bella to her death. If people find out Miss Sophia is married to you, they'll definitely think she's exploiting her position!"

Luka raised an eyebrow and looked at him coldly. "Then why didn't you say so before?"

Martins shrugged and lowered his voice. "Didn't you say not to mention Miss Sophia's matter in front of you today?"

I looked at Luka in surprise.

Luka remembered immediately and became slightly unnatural. "Okay, I understand. I'll handle this."

He looked at me. "Go and continue eating."

I hesitated.

Luka raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't want to eat?"

I shook my head immediately. "No!"

Luka lazily raised his eyelids. "Then let's eat!"

I stubbornly stood my ground. "I won't withdraw the lawsuit!"

Luka chuckled. "Who said you had to? Withdrawing the lawsuit would make Stratovski Jewelry look bad! I won't allow that!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. My eyes lit up. "Thank you!"

Smiling, I turned and ran into the restaurant. Luka was stunned. He seemed to have seen stars in my eyes.

Martins secretly glanced at Luka. "CEO…"

Luka snapped back to attention, glancing at Martins, then at Hugo. "If you want to keep Trifleming Jewelry, come with me!"

Hugo froze and quickly followed.

After dinner, I returned to the design department. Everyone was quiet, not discussing the morning's events. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. As soon as I sat down, Raven quietly approached and whispered, "Sophia, look at Weibo! The company has issued a statement!"

My eyes widened in surprise. I opened Weibo and saw Stratovski Jewelry's statement:

@Stratovskijewelry: Regarding Miss Bella Roberts’ suicide attempt, we at Stratovski sympathize with Miss Bella’s experience. However, the jewelry industry cannot tolerate plagiarism. Stratovski supports Miss Sophia Lopez in appealing the plagiarism case and will never withdraw the case!

Luka had made this announcement upon learning of Bella's suicide attempt.

Within a short time, there were tens of thousands of comments. Netizens were roughly divided into two groups.

One group said Stratovski Jewelry's statement was reasonable. Plagiarism should never be tolerated. Why were so many people being unreasonable?

The other group said Stratovski Jewelry's refusal to withdraw the lawsuit must be Sophia's decision. Sophia was the victim, yet unwilling to let Bella go, pushing her to her death.

Most people sympathized with Bella.

Soon, "Sophia withdraws the lawsuit" became a trending topic. People viewed me as a heinous person, berating me as heartless and inhumane.

I was prepared for this, but the comments still made me uncomfortable.

I browsed Weibo for a while, then closed it, bored.

Meanwhile, Bella received a call from Hugo: "Bella, I'm at the hospital entrance. Come out, let's sign the divorce agreement!"

Bella frowned. "I cut my wrist, I'm in the hospital, don't you know?"

Hugo retorted, "Did you fucking cut your wrist or your ankle?"

The final "CHINA" appears to be extraneous and has been removed.