Chapter 5
Due to the unexpected turn of events, James was completely preoccupied with Sophie, paying no attention to how Nichole was faring.
As the auction came to an end, Sophie was about to leave and bumped right into James and Nichole.
“Sophie, if you don’t understand real estate, you shouldn’t stir up trouble,” James said bluntly, not sparing Sophie any face.
Nichole chimed in, “Yeah, Sophie, your actions just cost Mr. Burke ten billion.”
Sophie chuckled lightly. “You must be mistaken, Ms. Nichole. I was the one interested in buying that property. What does it have to do with James?”
Nichole blurted out, “But you bid ten billion!”
“It’s just a mere ten billion, pocket change for us,” came a voice from nearby. It was Adler.
Sophie caught a glimpse of Colby standing next to Adler and commented nonchalantly, “Ten billion is just something to play around with.”
Nichole’s face turned sour instantly. Ten billion might be nothing to James and even less so to Sophie!
Nichole’s face turned beet red, feeling utterly insignificant among them.
Out of the blue, Colby asked, “I heard you got married, Mr. Burke. Is this young lady Mrs. Burke?”
Nichole was flustered and stammered, “No, no…”
“This is my wife, Sophie, James said as he pulled Sophie closer to him.
Sophie tried to casually shake off James’ grip, but he held on tightly.
James had noticed Colby’s gaze lingering on Sophie. Men understood men; he instantly recognized Colby’s intentions.
“So, Ms. Sophie is actually your wife. Oh, my, what was I thinking? I saw you joking around with this young lady during the auction and thought she must be Mrs. Burke,” Adler slapped his forehead. “Then this fady must be your secretary, Mr. Burke. No wonder she was bidding on your behalf earlier.”
Sophie almost couldn’t help laughing. Although she no longer cared about Nichole and James, hearing Adler say that secretly delighted her.
Meanwhile, Nichole’s face was alternating between pale and flushed. James noticed this and instructed, “Colt, take Nichole home.”
“Yes, Mr. Burke.”
Adler said cheerfully, “We’ll leave you to it then. See you around.”
After Adler and Colby left, Sophie finally shook off James’ hand. “Haven’t you had enough of holding my hand?”
James did not expect Sophie to break away from his grasp. Previously, Sophie would have relished any physical contact with him. She even followed him around like a shadow. Tonight, however, Sophie seemed completely different from before.
Finally, James said coldly. “If you were trying to get my attention, there was no need to go to such lengths.”
13:14
Chapter 5
Sophie was left speechless by his remark. She wanted to argue back but didn’t know where to begin.
After all, considering how much she used to care about James, it was plausible that she might have done something like this to catch his eye.
However, that wasn’t the case now.
Annoyed, Sophie responded dismissively, “Think whatever you want.”
“Wait.”
“What now?”
“What’s going on with you and Colby?”
“Nothing is happening. I don’t even know him.”
James said icily, “Sophie, remember, you are Mrs. Burke in public. You’d better mind your status and keep your distance from other men.”