Chapter 24
Both of them parted ways after the meal. Sophia had planned on dropping by Sunshine Group when she came across Yvonne who had helped her finalize the contracts with Robert.
"Ms. Yarrow," greeted Yvonne.
Sophia dipped her head in acknowledgment and received the contract papers. "Good work for today. I'll ensure that there's an extra bonus for you at the end of the month."
Sophia had always been generous throughout the five years Yvonne had worked under her. The second year had seen Yvonne taking over part of her company's options, and her basic salary per annum far exceeded a million by the third year.
She had no complaints whatsoever.
Yvonne's face broke into a rare smile. "Thank you so much, Ms. Yarrow!"
Sophia was pleased with her reaction. "By the way, wasn't Midway Media planning to purchase the film rights for 'Dreams' a while ago?"
"That's right. They bid two and a half million for it. The copyrighting department of New Dawn Publishing is already setting the terms for their contract."
New Dawn Publishing was a broadcasting company that Sophia had invested in three years ago that had just started gaining traction. She had appended another five million during the venture round and now owned thirty percent of its stocks.
As a shareholder, she rarely participated in the company's daily decision-making and only voted when necessary. However, the process of procuring licensing was a major enough affair to warrant her involvement.
Sophia had been fairly neutral about the entire undertaking back then, but that didn't stand now.
Midway Media belonged to the Schild family and was one of the major players in the entertainment industry. It had seen a promising rise in popularity with its cable dramas and was a potential cash cow to New Dawn Publishing.
However, Samuel was Alexander's crony, and she recalled him advising Alexander to keep his distance from her due to her supposed viciousness.
"If that's the case, then I would like you to make a call to New Dawn Publishing informing them that I've changed my mind and won't be signing the contract. I've my eyes set now on Planetary Media instead."
Yvonne was surprised by the sudden change of plans. "May I know the reason behind this?"
Sophia grinned in delight. "No particular reason whatsoever. I'm simply not too fond of the crown prince of Midway Media."
"Are you referring to Samuel?"
"Who else would it be?"
Yvonne took in Sophia's look of gratification and felt the urge to question whether Alexander was part of the picture, but thought better of it.
She was one of the few who were aware that Alexander and Sophia used to be married. She had felt pity for Sophia when their marriage had dissolved into divorce.
In spite of that, Sophia had gotten back on her feet in a matter of months and had another company under her belt.
Sophia was not someone who spent her days wallowing in the sorrow of her past failed relationships.
"I'll get to it immediately, Ms. Yarrow," Yvonne chirped.
"Good. I'll be taking my leave then."
Sophia waved the sheaf of contracts and turned to enter the elevator, the sound of her stilettos clacking against the ground echoing her departure.
Yvonne's sympathy over Sophia's unsolicited clout instantly morphed to envy as she stared after the closing elevator doors.
Money did in fact make the world go round.
It was already four o'clock in the afternoon by the time Sophia reached her mansion. She paged through the contract and left her frozen steak out to thaw. Her culinary skills were mediocre at best, which she used to scrunch up her dinner. She popped open a glass of champagne after that and curled up on her couch to enjoy a classic romantic Ferropenian film.
At the same time, Twitter was once again bursting with several tweets that Sophia, username "CloudWontSoften", had been tagged in.
Mason and Howard had posted the exact same tweet which wrote: Have mercy on me, Ms. Yarrow! Don't diminish our livelihood! The images attached were ones that they both had taken together with Katherine and Sophia respectively.
Katherine had also tweeted at about the same time: SOS! Come back to the company now that you're done with your divorce. I can't take it for much longer! A photo of Sophia holding a meeting in a conference room was the accompanying image to her tweet.
Ten minutes later, James tweeted: Nice to meet you, new boss. A photo of Katherine, Sophia, and himself at the airport was included with the tweet.
Coincidentally, James' account had become verified as an artiste under Specter Entertainment. His online status had been significantly elevated from his former identity as a random model belonging to a small company.
The internet was ablaze over those four tweets.
Is Sophia sugaring a hot young man?
What is the story behind these?
Why was she referred to as "boss?"
The netizens that had been promising fire and brimstone on Sophia during the day seemed to be completely silenced.
Who would have ever imagined that?
The internet was a fickle place, yet Sophia had remained as firm as a mountain. She was still completely absorbed in her romance film when she received a call from Katherine informing her of the recent happenings on Twitter.
Sophia hung up and took her time retrieving her tablet. She was prevented from logging into Twitter due to the overwhelming activity in her account, so she resorted to using Twitter on her phone without signing in.
Sophia was filled with grim satisfaction as she witnessed the dying struggles of her anonymous haters online. Several of them were still attempting to disparage her, which ignited the flames of her anger. She took to calling Yvonne immediately.
Yvonne was having a field day when she picked up Sophia's call. "Are you finally planning on a comeback, Ms. Yarrow?" She was in a rather jaunty mood and had dispensed with the formalities.
Sophia felt unnerved by her casualness and had unknowingly associated the usually uptight Yvonne with the happy-go-lucky Katherine.
Yvonne noticed her heightened emotions and hurriedly rectified herself, "I apologize for my rudeness, Ms. Yarrow. I was feeling a little too emotionally charged. How can I help you?"
"There's something I need your help with. Could you contact Mr. Webber for me? I need him to put together a clause for a warning letter that I plan to attach to my account."
Yvonne caught on swiftly. "Right this instant, Ms. Yarrow."
"Good," uttered Sophia with a cruel smile.
She was going to root out her naysayers once and for all.
She wouldn't let Thalia and all those commercial accounts off.
Come forth and face me if you dare.
Sophia was basking in the positive turn of events and the thrill of getting back at her enemies that she decided to soak in a luxurious bubble bath before her beauty sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be another wonderful day.
Sophia was asleep by the time it was barely ten o'clock that night.
Alexander on the other hand had just return from a dinner and was updated of the recent happenings by Felix. "Who instructed you to say these?" His face was a stormy gray.
Felix froze and looked down at his feet in guilty silence.
Alexander had asked him to keep an eye on Sophia earlier in the afternoon when they were discussing Thalia.
However, Felix had heeded his instructions only to end up being reproached.
Felix was indignant, yet fear prevented him from speaking up.
Alexander noticed the discomfited expression on Felix and asked, "What's with this face you're making?"
"I-It's nothing at all!"
Alexander was in a prickly mood and refrained from commenting on it. He massaged his temples and left the hotel with a harrumph.
His emotions were in turmoil despite his placid exterior.
What else was Sophia hiding from him?