Chapter 183
THIRD PERSON POV
Lyra Chen did not go far.
She moved to a place near the beverage table, close enough to watch without making it obvious. From there, she looked toward Sophia. She noticed how Zade’s entire posture changed whenever Sophia was near him.
She had known Zade Morrison for two years. They had attended business dinners, project meetings, and industry events together.
In all that time, she had seen many sides of him. She had seen him charming, clever and ruthless.
But she had never seen him attentive.
That word had never belonged to Zade before tonight. Yet now she watched him cross a room just to steady a woman who nearly lost balance. She watched him make three separate trips to bring food.
Lyra wasn’t the type of woman who wasted time on jealousy.
Still, she was honest enough with herself to admit what she felt was close to it. she felt it like a sting.
She set down her glass. Then she fixed her expression and walked back toward the main gathering.
Before leaving completely, she paused near the edge of Zade and Sophia’s corner.
“She’s the one,” she said softly.
She said it to no one in particular. Meaning she’s the reason. Meaning now I understand.
Then Lyra walked away.
The seating arrangement wasn’t Zade’s doing.
Still, it might as well have been.
The large central table seated twelve people. Damien sat at one end. Tiffany was naturally beside him, with Simon on Tiffany’s other side. Peter sat across from them. Nate was nearby.
Further down Damien’s side was Zade, then Sophia.
The arrangement placed Sophia and Tiffany directly within each other’s view. It placed Zade directly beside Sophia.
The people on the table started to talk and eat.
Lyra returned before the first course arrived.
She had clearly changed her strategy. She seemed calmer now.She approached the table near Zade’s chair.
“Zade, I wanted to clarify something from earlier. The Hainan project conversation may have created a misunderstanding about the nature of our collaboration.” She said.
Her eyes moved briefly to Sophia, then back to him. It was deliberate.
Let her wonder.
Zade looked up from the water glass he had just filled. He hadn’t poured it for himself. He had poured it for Sophia after noticing she was about to reach for the pitcher with her injured arm.
When he looked at Lyra, his expression was polite.
“There is no misunderstanding,” he said. “You work with my company. I sign your contract reviews. That is the full extent of what we are.I want that understood for everyone at the table p>
Lyra was a bit shocked but she hit it well.
She just nodded, then moved to her seat farther down the table.
Sophia had been looking at her menu during the conversation.
When Lyra left, Sophia looked at Zade directly. It
“I already belong to someone,” she said quietly, low enough that only he could hear. “Whatever you think you’re doing tonight, you need to understand that. I’m still technically a married woman p>
She paused before continuing.
“And even after that changes… I don’t know what I’ll be after it changes. I don’t know what I want. You keep acting like my answer is only delayed, like if you wait long enough and say the right things p>
“Sophia p>
His voice was very quiet.
“Don’t finish that sentence p>
She looked at him.
“Not tonight,” he said. “Just… not tonight p>
She opened her mouth to say something but she changed her mind.
The first course arrived.
At Damien’s end of the table, he and Tiffany lived inside their own small world. He cared for her in quiet ways. He refilled her glass before she asked. He made sure the dishes she liked were placed near her.
Tiffany received it with huge smiles Together, they looked perfect.
Sophia didn’t look directly at them. She didn’t need to.
Seven years of marriage had given her a kind of peripheral vision that worked even when her eyes faced elsewhere.
Zade didn’t watch Damien and Tiffany at all.
He watched Sophia.
When the soup arrived, he quietly checked that her spoon was on the side easiest for her uninjured hand. When the bread basket came around, he chose the softest roll and placed it on her plate. When the main course arrived and the meat on her plate clearly required two hands to cut, he quietly called the server and had it replaced with something easier.
He did every bit of it without asking her.
Several people noticed. No one said anything.
The difference between the two ends of the table was impossible to miss.
Peter noticed it too. That was why he chose his next moment carefully.
He waited until everyone had started eating before he spoke.
“I should announce some good news,” he said loudly enough for the full table. “Damien and I have officially finalized the Northern development partnership. Signed yesterday p>
He looked proudly toward Damien’s side.
“Simon’s firm is handling the legal structure. It’s going to be major for the family portfolio p>
Simon smiled. Tiffany turned to Damien with pride.
“You didn’t tell me it was finalized.” She told him.
“Yesterday,” Damien said.
“This is wonderful,” Tiffany said. She looked at Peter warmly. “The three of you working together makes sense. You complement each other p>
Peter smiled broadly. Simon raised his glass slightly.
Damien nodded at them.
The three men – Damien, Peter, and Simon – with Tiffany among them, lifted their glasses in a small shared toast. Nate joined them. Others nearby followed.
They looked exactly like what they were – a unit. They seemed like a happy family.
Sophia watched from her side of the table. Her face stayed calm and still. Inside her, she didn’t feel angry or jealous.
Tonight, it only gave her one clear truth. She had never been part of that unit.
She had stood beside it and lived near it but she was never truly part of it.
She lifted her glass, took a sip of water, and looked back down at her plate.
Beside her, Zade studied her face for a moment. Without saying a word, he picked up the bread basket and moved it closer to her side.
It was such a small thing. It shouldn’t have mattered.
It did.