Chapter 1035
In exchange for those children? Sophia started to frown. Isn’t that rather unreasonable?
The Yard Family bought that child because of her good genes, but it was clear that Sophia did not buy
those eight children for the same reason.
The price of the eight of them did not amount to that one child; the Yard Family was suffering a loss.
Sophia’s eyes shifted, then she let out a smile. “Mrs. Yard, you should know how much that child is
worth. She will prove to be very useful in the future if you keep her. However, even if you doubled the
total worth of the eight children that I bought, it is still lower than hers. Why don’t we settle this in a more
direct manner? I’ll give any amount you want for the child.”
At the mention of money, the Yards started tough.
Money was no more than a number to them.
They had long passed the stage of looking at price tags.
Anna pinched the teacup in her hand and admired its exquisite jade pattern. Her long eyshes were
elegant beyondparison. Callum and Cade looked around the same age as Sophia, but Anna still
looked very young. She should be the same age as Cooper!
“Miss Edwards, I think you’ve misunderstood. I don’t want money. I just need you to make a choice. What
if I insist that you give me those eight children in return for the one?”
Her gaze fell on Sophia’s face. Those bright eyes looked like they were piercing through Sophia’s body
and looking into her soul, making her feel tormented.
Sophia lowered her head and did not make a choice right away.
She bought those eight children and promised to find them a home. The Yard Family might lookvish
and magnificent, but they were the biggest financial backer of the human trafficking ring in Ronney! If I
put those eight children in their hands, who knows what will happen to them?
Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.
But, I must get Katrina and de’s child back!
Sophia was stuck between those two options. Seeing her hesitation seemed to please Anna. With a
smile, she mocked, “Isn’t it hard to choose? One is your guilty conscience and the other is the Fletchers’
child. Do you want to stand for your conscience and justice or do you want the child of the Fletchers? I
think you already know the answer.”
“In your heart, the Fletchers’ child is more important, isn’t that right? If you leave those eight children
behind, I will put them back in the human trafficking market immediately where they can find new buyers.
Meanwhile, the Fletchers’ child will be able to go back to the Fletcher Family with you. Those eight
children have nothing to do with you. Naturally, blood is thicker than water. As for your supposed
conscience, how much is it really worth?”
Anna seemed very proud of herself as though she had managed to destroy Sophia’s hypocritical altruism
with just a flick of her finger. It proved that she was no different from those people who trafficked children.
Was there anyone out there who wasn’t selfish? Those who fought for justice were hypocritical for the
most part. They were born as predators, yet they insisted on wearing a mask of good-naturedness. If
they were to encounter a favorable situation for themselves, they could just as easily suppress any
kindness and conscience they had in the back of their minds.
Anna had personallye across many ‘kind’ people like Sophia.
Suddenly, Sophia looked up and stared back at Anna with a sharp and unwavering gaze.
Neither one wanted to give way.
A smirk appeared on Sophia’s face and a ferocity grew in her amicable eyes.
“I did save those eight children out of the kindness of my heart. As a mother, I couldn’t watch a girl
around the same age as my own child get sold off to the pornography industry and be a sex ve
from such a young age.”
She made herself clear. “I’m not a phnthropist. But, since I have bought those eight children, I will give
them a perfect home. I will also bring home the child that belongs to our Fletcher Family! If you want to
prove my true nature with this one choice, then you’re sorely mistaken, Mrs. Yard. I won’t choose.”
The surface of the tea in the teacup that she was holding trembled lightly. With scorn in her eyes, she
said, “Mrs. Yard, don’t you think that your question isn’t any different from the idiotic questions that an
ignorant hag teases children with in the marketces in Cethos?”
Anna’s brows raised up, but she did not respond right away and continued to listen.
Sophia continued, “There are people who ask my child this question too—if either one of your parents
must die, and you can only save one, who would you save? I didn’t think a gracious entity like yourself
would be the same as those ill-informed housewives to be able to ask such a distasteful and ignorant
‘either/or question’. Looks like I’ve really overestimated you.”
As soon as she said that, the twins mmed the table and stood up at the same time. “Miss Edwards,
please watch your words.”
They had the exact same movements, expressions, and words. Indeed, they were twins.
On the other hand, Anna was not angry. She asked the twins to sit back down and posed a question for
Sophia. “How would your child answer?”
Sophia scoffed. “I will tell my child that it isn’t her fault whoever she chooses. No matter who she picks,
the other will die, but it isn’t her fault. The culprit is the person who forced her to make that choice and
killed her parents. When she grows up and bes capable, she must kill that person in return!”
Sophia’s outburst left Anna dumbfounded.
That was the first time she had heard such a pointed answer. Sophia might have looked young, but she
had an exceptional sense of moral integrity. It did not match her delicate and weak outer appearance.
Sophia stood up and gave a biting remark. “Mrs. Yard, I don’t have time to be answering these silly and
crude either/or questions, but there is something I must say before I go.” Her hand was pressed against
the table. “If something happens to the Fletchers’ child under the Yards’ jurisdiction, they wille for
you. They won’te for me, their daughter-inw who didn’t exchange those eight children for one. I
hope you get the picture now.”
Anna slowly looked up at Sophia with the same smirk on her face. “You should know that because of
your rash behavior, I might send that child back to the ck market. Her future will be much worse than
being a guard for the Yard Family. Aren’t you afraid of being condemned for it?”
“Condemned? Huh! If it doesn’t hurt the conscience of the great Mrs. Yard that brutally pushed her into
that hell pit, then why should I be afraid?” Sophia had gathered all her things and bid a merciless
farewell. “The Yard Family should be aware of the Fletcher Family’s power in Cethos. It has only been a
few years since Ronney’s brand entered the country. The market has just opened up with high prospects.
If you don’t want sales to rely solely on surrogate buyers in the future, then you better not make an issue
with the child.”
With that, she stormed off.
The Yard Family did not want to let the child go so easily. It was no use to try to be nice; they should
have been brutal from the start.
Once Sophia was far off into the distance, Anna stood up and casually watched them leave from the
gazebo.
Looking at Sophia dressed in exquisite business attire from behind, she suddenly let out a smile that
reached all the way to her eyes. It was a smile that came from a genuine sense of admiration.
“Mom—” Callum suddenly called. He could see that Anna was very fond of Sophia.
Sophia and the others were long gone, but Anna remained standing there without moving as she looked
at the scenery. The wind blew through her white chiffon blouse, making it flutter in the air. As she
admired the beauty of the garden before her, she turned back to Callum and Cade and said, “When you
two were younger, you were once kidnapped by the extended members of the Yard Family. I went to ask
them to return you, but they humiliated me. They forced me to choose between the both of you and said
the other would be dropped right in front of me.