This man was about the same age as Leo, tall and handsome in appearance, wearing a well-fitted suit that exuded his successful demeanor.
He had a female companion by his side, in her early twenties, dressed in a white long dress with a precious diamond necklace around her neck. Her hair was styled simply and adorned with a jade hairpin, giving off an air of nobility.
From this woman’s demeanor, it could be seen that she was definitely not an ordinary person.
To be honest, this woman was also very beautiful. However, compared to Sophia, she still fell short. Leo noticed that she was staring at Sophia and could read the jealousy from her gaze.
“Hello there! I am Sophia’s husband. My name is Leo Bloomer.” Leo took the initiative to extend his right hand to the handsome man in front of him.
The man also looked at Leo up and down before responding: “I’m Frank William. I am Sophia’s… old classmate and friend.”
As they shook hands together firmly, Frank secretly increased his strength on purpose.
He studied martial arts under a Chinese master while abroad before returning home to Langstel City recently. He knew that if he applied just slightly more force than usual when shaking hands with someone else like now with Leo Bloomer here, then it would cause them pain or even make them cry out loud involuntarily.
However what surprised Frank was that instead of crying out loud from pain as expected, Leo returned him an even greater amount of force back through their handshake!
Pain spread along his arm all the way into Frank’s chest instantly, which made him instinctively jerked away from Leos’ hand. He hided it behind himself while rubbing it discreetly without anyone noticing anything wrong yet.
Frank looked at Leo again but now with fierce eyes full of anger. He didn’t expect such great power coming from someone who everyone thought as useless son-in-law.
Frank had returned home for about one month. He immediately came straight back here, because there were two things he wanted most: taking over family business and seeing Sophia once more.
Today he specially came over for gambling stone auction event, hoping to see her there too – which indeed happened. That’s why he sent roses earlier.
Looking at Leo again coldly, he sarcastically spoke: “Mr. Bloomer you are really lucky enough having married such an outstanding lady like Sophia. Where are you working now?”
Leo originally wanted to say ‘at Wilde Jewelry Group’, but changed his mind halfway and responded instead: “I don’t work anywhere right now, so I’m just idle.”
“So, it seems like Sophia is supporting you. This kind of life where you’re living off someone else’s money must be pretty comfortable, huh?” Frank’s face was filled with a thick sense of mockery as he spoke and even stole a glance at Sophia while doing so.
Sophia couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Leo, not understanding why he would say something like that.
Frank looked towards Sophia with a hint of anger and resentment in his eyes. “Sophia, do you know how heartbroken I was when I found out that you married a man who lives off your money? Why didn’t you wait for me? I told you to wait for four years!”
Sophia remained silent with an expressionless face.
The woman next to Frank couldn’t bear to watch any longer and pulled him aside while looking displeased. “Frank!” she called out.
Only then did Frank take his gaze away from Sophia’s face and look towards the woman with a gentle expression. “Yoyo, we were just catching up. Nothing more,” he said before introducing her to Sophia. “Oh right, Sophia! Almost forgot to introduce my lover here -Yoyo, daughter of the State Councilor.”
Frank looked at Sophia arrogantly as if telling her what kind of man she had chosen compared to the prestigious status of his own wife.
Frank’s appearance reminded Sophia about some things from their college days which made her feel quite depressed.
Frank was the first man who made Sophia feel attracted in college, although they never officially confirmed their relationship. But they were seen by their classmates as already being together.
Perhaps due to Teresa’s influence, Sophie was very conservative in relationships between men and women, which meant that during their time together, there were only hugs or hand-holding between them, but no kissing or intimacy beyond that. Sophie clearly stated for Frank back then, wait until marriage.
At that time Frank loved Sophi passionately, so naturally he wouldn’t force anything on her, which led them both into maintaining this simple ambiguous relationship until the graduation day.
On that day Sophie begged Frank not go abroad, but even though it pained him deeply leaving behind Sophia, he still went ahead because it was necessary for his family business.
He promised Sophie one thing though – waiting four years after which he would return home, proposing to her and holding the grandest wedding ceremony possible.
To Frank’s surprise, just two months after he went abroad to further his studies, news came that Sophia had gotten married.
If Sophia had married someone even more impressive than herself, Frank would have accepted it. But she ended up marrying a useless freeloader, which made Frank feel like Sophia was getting revenge on him.
After finishing his studies abroad, Frank followed his family’s advice and married Yoyo. He wanted to bring Yoyo in front of Sophia and use hard facts to show her how foolish it was for her to marry a useless man instead of waiting for him.
Just as the tension was rising between them, the afternoon auction officially began.
Frank straightened out his expensive suit and looked proudly at Sophia and Leo before returning with Yoyo to their seats.
Seeing that Sophia’s face had turned sour again, Leo suggested: “Sophia, if you’re feeling uncomfortable, we can go home now.”
Sophia shook her head: “You said it yourself earlier – running away won’t solve anything. Besides I have nothing to do with Frank now, so why leave? Let’s wait until the auction is over.”
Leo didn’t say anything else but held onto Sophia tightly by the hand.
It had been four years since they last saw each other. In Sophia’s mind she thought she’d completely forgotten about Frank. But when he appeared in front of her again today, she couldn’t help but feel emotional once more.
Perhaps this is what remains from first love – even though there are no longer any thoughts about that person, these feelings are still unforgettable.
After a brief speech from the host , a waiter pushed a small cart up onto stage carrying an enormous piece of gambling jade stone.
On screen behind them appeared high-definition photos of every angle of the stone. The gamblers or jewelers attending started pointing at different parts on screen while whispering amongst themselves .