Elise let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"You don't have any real power yourself. All you can do is play both sides, letting the truly powerful pull your strings." Sophia's expression immediately darkened. Elise had seen right through her.

"Let me give you some advice, Sophia—don't mess with people far out of your league. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

"Hmph."

Sophia snorted, dropping all pretense of politeness. She had come here to mock Elise anyway, and she had endured Elise's arrogant attitude for far too long! "Don't get so full of yourself, Elise. You're just jealous that I managed to secure backing from someone so influential while you've fallen into such disgrace!"

Sophia laughed, her eyes filled with contempt.

"It's your own fault for not knowing your place, for provoking people you shouldn't have. And I actually thought you were tough, that William Levine was hopelessly in love with you. So what? You've been here for twenty-four hours, but did he come to rescue you? How much do you think you're really worth when it comes down to personal interests?"

Elise stared coolly at Sophia, who grew more smug and excited with every word she spoke.

"Thank goodness I'm smart—I almost made the same mistake you did by trying to seduce William. If I were actually in a relationship with him now, I'd be the one suffering. In that sense, I should thank you."

"You're not in a relationship because you lack what it takes. It has nothing to do with you being smart," Elise stated bluntly.

The simple retort made Sophia flush with anger, but it was true—she hadn't even gotten a chance to get close to William. No, he had never even glanced at her! "So what?"

Sophia scoffed.

"Should women live just for men? I think nothing of them—they're all just stepping stones for me to climb higher. If anything, you deserved this for being so stupid, always suffering because of men!"

Elise actually had no response to that.

Every hardship she had faced was indeed because of men. But then, as if suddenly turning into an angel, Sophia said, "Elise, we're sisters after all, so you can't blame me for not warning you. There's no point in pinning your hopes on William now, and since you're so smart, you know exactly who did this to you. My advice is to give up this futile resistance, properly admit your mistakes, and accept your current reality. Who knows? She might be kind enough to get you a reduced sentence. Otherwise... Well, you know what will happen."

Although Sophia had come to mock Elise, her real purpose was to convince Elise to face reality.

Naturally, Victoria had sent Sophia, wanting to resolve this quickly and avoid further complications. However, Elise remained silent, which made Sophia scowl in turn.

"I'm being nice to you right now, Elise. If you don't cooperate, you'll suffer the consequences—I mean, who else can you possibly rely on now? Did you think you could get yourself out of this? It's a dog-eat-dog world, and the more you resist, the worse—"

Suddenly, the steel door swung open, cutting Sophia off. She turned and immediately panicked when she saw William entering the room.

What was he doing here?! Victoria had insisted he was stuck abroad and couldn't return! What was happening right now?! Was William really challenging the Stuarts for Elise's sake?! Sophia absolutely couldn't accept it.

She had nothing to her name, while Elise had everything she lacked! And she had been mocking Elise so viciously just moments ago—but now it felt like she had slapped her own face! That was when she saw Victoria entering the room behind William.

Sophia was completely dumbstruck!