Sophia trusted that her brother had better sense than to court someone as childish as Anne, so she figured she should prioritize finding Cooper. There were a few lounge rooms beside the exhibition venue, but she wasn’t sure if Cooper was in any of them. She gave him a call, but he wasn’t picking up, so she wondered where he went.
Just when she tucked her phone away while muttering to herself, she felt someone, or rather, something, hit her on her calf. Turning around, she saw an angry Norwegian Forest cat behind her, which leaped up to hit her on her calf again once she turned around, damaging her silk dress in the process.
“Hey, it’s you, General!” Sophia immediately recognized the cat as Anna’s. Leaping toward Sophia, the cat gave her another slap on her calf, which Sophia surmised as being a revenge of sorts. After spending a single night at her house, General was slapped multiple times on the face by Chrysanthemum, so much so that its face was swollen. At seven years of age, General never suffered such a humiliation, so the cat was determined to seek revenge.
“You petty cat! Stand right there! I’m gonna rub you so hard that all your fur falls off!” Sophia began chasing after the cat, all the while wondering if the cat’s presence meant that Anna was around.
On the other hand, walking behind Anne, Sandra was on the way to meet Anne’s family, which was something she had been dreaming of. She was elated when Anne opened the door that led to one of the lounges to reveal the few people sitting on the sofa in it, with the first of them being Lucy Edwards.
Lucy was surprised by their arrival. She dropped by the exhibition venue to attend a business negotiation with the Yard twins, but she wasn’t expecting Sandra. To her credit, Sandra isn’t half bad. She is a sweet-talker, as well as a social butterfly, whereas her identity as a former world champion allowed her to get in touch with a few noble ladies. I just didn’t expect her to get in touch with Anne so quickly… It seems like the relationship between the Osbornes and the Yards is now an open secret.
Meanwhile, sitting beside Lucy were the Yard twins, who were savoring the tea in their royal sweetheart cups while sitting on the sofa in identical poses. Upon seeing the twins, Anne smiled before saying amicably, “Hey, Callum, Cade, why do you never invite me for anything fun?”
…
In the meantime, Sophia gave General a good rub after catching it, only to realize that the cat had shed a lot of fur. It prompted her to stick some of the fur back on the cat in shock before bringing General with her while searching for Anna. Since I saw the Yard twins earlier, Anna must be around, too.
She was about to give Anna a call to ask where she was, but she changed her mind as she figured it would be more polite of her to bring the cat to Anna directly since they were at the same place. Much like a hotel, the lounge area had a lot of rooms, so she had a hard time finding anybody. While she was searching for the Yard twins, she ended up bumping into Cooper after turning a corner, who was standing behind a wall in stillness. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Raising his hand, Cooper held a stern gaze as he shushed Sophia. She quickly shut her mouth while inching closer to him before asking in a hushed voice, “Dad, what are you looking at?”
Judging from how Cooper was sticking close to the wall, he seemed to either be hiding from someone or setting up an ambush in order to scare someone that would soon pass by. However, he only repeated himself in a low voice. “Don’t talk.”
Cooper took the cat from Sophia before returning it to the woman, which she received with both hands while nodding at him appreciatively. “Thank you, sir. This cat of mine really likes to run around. General, you ought not to do that anymore.”
On the other hand, Cooper was utterly crestfallen, and his blue eyes no longer harbored any emotion. “It’s a piece of cake, so don’t sweat it.” With that, he turned to leave, whereas Sophia followed suit after glancing at the woman.
Since General belonged to Anna, Sophia wondered if the fact that the woman claimed to own it, as well as her almost identical appearance to Anna, meant that she was Anna’s sister. Rumors had it that only twins could become heir to the Yard Family, so the fact that Anna got to take over the family meant that she was a twin, but it was curious that nobody ever heard she had one. Even Michael said Anna was the only direct descendant that the Yards had, who managed to make it to the top by fighting tooth and nail to fend off the members of the branch family.
Back in the private room, Sandra mingled well with the Yard twins, owing to her clever tongue; she even got their phone number and added them on Messenger. They were chatting merrily when Cade suddenly spoke. “We’ll have to go now that our mother has arrived.”
Both Lucy and Sandra were ready to move when Anna’s presence was announced. Lucy wanted to meet in person the legendary woman, whereas Sandra was thinking of forging a connection with Anna, but she backed out as she knew it was impolite of her to do so, seeing that the timing wasn’t right.
Elatedly, Anne and the twins left for the room next door. As soon as they opened the door, they saw two identical women sitting in there, with one of them holding a Norwegian Forest cat. Anne launched herself toward both women happily. “Aunt, Mom, you’re finally here!”
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