Chapter 702
“I’m serious, too. Don’t worry. I can protect myself, I swear. This incident is purely an accident, and it won’t happen again.”
There was nothing Mark could do to persuade her.
“You won’t change your mind no matter what I say, right?”
Sophie kept quiet.
She wasn’t fond of Mark behaving in that manner.
“Mark, I’m really fine,” she reiterated. It’s just a minor injury. There’s no need for everyone to be so worried.
“All right, then.”
Meanwhile, Tristan sat on the leather couch behind the desk in the study. The other three people either sat or stood around him. An unlit cigarette was placed in between Charles’ lips.
“Mr. Tristan, Sophie isn’t here, so why don’t you let me take a few puffs?”
Charles had a severe smoking addiction. However, since they were in Tristan’s territory, he didn’t dare to light up the cigarette as Tristan forbade him from smoking.
Having said that, only the four of them were present in the study at that moment, so Charles wondered why he couldn’t smoke.
“It’s better if you don’t smoke. If you really wish to do so, I suggest you do it outside.”
Charles was stumped.
He didn’t feel like conversing further with Tristan. Does he not realize the weather outside is freezing? I can’t believe he’s asking me to smoke outside.
“Mr. Tristan, I didn’t know you are someone who puts your woman before your friends.” Rendered speechless, Charles could only sniff the scent of his cigarette to satiate his desire.
“That’s enough. It’s not like you’d die if you don’t smoke. Mr. Tristan, I’ve been following up on the collaboration with Yartran, but you’re also familiar with their queen’s character. She’s very shrewd, so it won’t be easy for us to make money.”
As Tristan had been in Jetroina, Sean was tasked to handle the collaboration between Lombard Group and Yartran. Now that Tristan had returned, the task was naturally handed over to him.
“Okay. I got it. I’ll make time to meet with her.”
Yartran’s queen was indeed astute, so Tristan reckoned he would need to put more effort into dealing with her.
“By the way, Princess Elyssa has been looking for you,” said Sean, casually bringing up the matter. Elyssa was young, and the queen doted on her. Even after learning about the incident at Chanaea, the queen merely gave Elyssa a light punishment.
Tristan couldn’t help but frown at the mention of Elyssa. She’s nothing but huge trouble.
“That’s all right. Sophie is not concerned about her.” Elyssa’s existence wouldn’t affect anyone or Lombard Group’s cooperation with Yartran.
The quartet discussed some underlying problems related to that collaboration.
The trio hadn’t been able to resolve those issues, but Tristan managed to sort out those problems effortlessly in less than an hour.
“Is there any other complication? If there isn’t, we should go downstairs to have our meal now.” It was already dinnertime.
“Everything is settled on my end. Let’s call it a day. If there are any other problems, we can discuss them on another day since you’ve returned.”
Many people were waiting for them to have dinner together downstairs.
“Okay. That’s right. I’m hungry too.” Charles only wished to finish his meal as soon as possible so that he could leave that place to puff on a cigarette.
“You guys may go downstairs first.”
Tristan had to make another phone call.
“Okay.”
Sean and the other two went downstairs. They noticed the others still surrounding Sophie upon descending the stairs.
Sean couldn’t help but feel jealous when he took in that harmonious scene. When can I experience this kind of bliss too?
Sarah had finished preparing their dinner. When she noticed the trio, she exited the kitchen and asked, “Where’s Tristan? Why isn’t he coming down yet? It’s time for dinner.”
It had been a long time since she prepared such a plentiful meal.
She felt a little exhausted after cooking inside the kitchen for so long. Nevertheless, no matter how tired she might be, she was delighted because of Sophie’s return.
Sean answered, “He’s on the phone, but he’ll be joining us soon.”
“Are you hungry already? Should we eat first?” Sarah didn’t feel it would be appropriate for so many people to wait for Tristan.
“It’s all right. Let’s wait for him.” Tristan and Sophie finally returned from Jetroina after much difficulty. Now that everyone was able to gather together, naturally, they should wait for everyone to be present before having their meal.
Tristan walked down the stairs as they spoke.
“All right now. Let’s have dinner.”
Everyone went to the dining room and took their seats, including Sarah.
“Sarah, thanks for everything today.” Sophie raised her wine glass.
Seeing that, Tristan furrowed his brows. “Sophie, you can’t drink wine. You’re not allowed to consume alcohol yet.”
“I’ll just take a few sips. It’ll be fine.”
Tristan continued wearing a frown.
“No, you can’t, not even a little bit. I’ll let you drink whatever you want after you recover, but you can’t drink wine now.” Although Tristan was denying Sophie of her request, he still uttered those words with exceptional tenderness.
Cecelia envied Sophie when she saw Tristan’s demeanor. Sophie must’ve used up all her luck in this life to encounter Tristan.
“Arius, you tell him. Am I allowed to drink a little alcohol?”
Tristan shot him a death glare.
Arius shook his head.
“Sophie, although you’re my best friend, you must listen to Mr. Tristan this time. He has your best interest at heart, so you should avoid drinking wine today.” What the h*ll? How dare I defy Mr. Tristan when he’s glowering at me? Needless to say, I’ll agree with anything he says.
Sarah immediately poured Sophie a glass of warm milk.
“That’s enough. Tristan is doing this for your own good. We will consume alcohol today while you drink this glass of warm milk.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Sophie sighed. Nevertheless, she knew everyone cared about her, so she had no choice but to accept the glass of warm milk.
“Okay. I’ll drink wine with all of you another time.” I shall let this matter slide today.
“Thank you, Sarah and all of you. I’m sorry for worrying you, and you have my utmost gratitude for staying by my side all this while.” Because of them, Sophie’s life became much more vibrant.
She had always been a relatively aloof person.
Even her parents didn’t like her that much. Still, those people sitting beside her at that moment were genuinely nice to her.
They had experienced life-and-death situations together and were so strongly bonded to the extent of being willing to sacrifice their lives for one another.
“Sophie, nothing is more important than your well-being.” Cecelia’s eyes reddened. She was an actress, but those were her heartfelt feelings at that instant.
Felix got to his feet and said, “Okay. Let’s raise our glasses to welcome Sophie’s safe return. All of us must stay well in the future.” Others stood up too.
That’s right. Everyone will be fine from now on. There will always be a solution regardless of the problem we’ll face.
Sarah stood up as well after noticing everyone was on their feet. She sipped her red wine before saying, “We’re all friends, so there’s no need to be so courteous. Let’s sit down and have our meal.”
After everyone sat down, Felix lifted his wine glass and got up from his seat.
