Chapter 4

I took a deep breath, not wanting to waste any more time with these people.

But I didn't want my personal issues to cause Ethan to miss out on a good project.

"Ethan Gray will be back at 3 PM. You can discuss it with him then."

With that, I turned to leave.

But Lucas grabbed my wrist.

"Sophia, have you made enough of a scene? Are you still holding a grudge about what happened back then?"

He stared into my eyes, his tone gradually softening, returning to that condescending benefactor.

"Sarah already explained to you about those photos from back then—they were to help her suppress the trending topic. Don't be so petty as a woman. Besides..."

He paused, a confident smile playing at his lips.

"You came here to work as a nanny because you heard I was going to collaborate with Mr. Gray, didn't you? You came here specifically for me."

I was amused by his arrogance.

"Lucas Rivers, you—"

Before I could finish, Sarah suddenly rushed over from the side and shoved my shoulder.

Caught off guard, I fell backward, my knees hitting the ground. I gasped in pain.

Before I could get up, Sarah had already crouched down and roughly yanked the earring from my ear.

"Sophia, for Lucas's sake, you have to return this earring! What would happen if Mr. Gray discovered his things were stolen and worn by a nanny? If he gets angry and refuses to work with us..."

She turned to look at Lucas, her eyes reddening:

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I was too anxious just now and lost my composure!"

"We're almost at our appointment time with Mr. Gray. If he comes back and sees this... our collaboration would be ruined. You've invested everything you have into this project..."

Lucas glanced at my bleeding earlobe, a flash of heartache crossing his face, but listening to Sarah's words, he looked away.

"Sophia, listen to Sarah. Return the earring immediately."

Just then, a childish voice came from the doorway.

"Daddy, why are there so many people at our house today?"

Then they saw a small figure jump down from Ethan Gray's arms and rush into my embrace.

It was my three-year-old son, Evan Gray.

His chubby little hands cupped my face. He frowned as he looked at my swollen cheek, then at my bleeding earlobe. His little mouth turned down, and his eyes immediately reddened.

"Mommy, who bullied you?"