Sophia used work to distract herself, but Aiden instructed her assistant to watch out for Sophia, so the latter pestered her to eat and sleep on time. Bombarding her incessantly with messages and phone calls, she was getting annoyed.

After a few days, the woman she met at the shopping mall called her, asking her to hang out. Sophia readily agreed to get her assistant off her back.

Mrs. Cooper smiled and waved as she saw Sophia. They agreed to meet at a seven-star restaurant so they could sample the dishes there.

'I'm so glad you're here, I didn't think you'd come when I invited you. I was expecting you to make an excuse," said Mrs. Cooper.

"I'm sorry, I was late because there was so much traffic," Sophia replied.

"I'm glad you made it safe, dear. Let's go, they're waiting for us," Mrs. Cooper held Sophia's hand, guiding her to the elevator.

"Did you just say they?" Sophia was confused, remembering that there was no mention of meeting a group of people. She thought they were going to be alone, "How many people are we meeting, and who are they?" she asked as the elevator opened and her host guided her to their destination.

Mrs. Cooper patted Sophia's hand, "It's just some of my friends. Don't feel nervous. They always bring their daughters. I get jealous because I don't have one." She was playing the sympathy card. "But if you don't want to meet with them, it's okay. I'll just tell them I have to leave. I can't sit there while they have all their daughters with them."

"No, it's okay," Sophia agreed, albeit reluctantly. She was a little hesitant to meet new people because she feels like she will have nothing in common with them unless they talk about business matters.

All the women in attendance were wearing designer clothing and decked out in their finest jewelry. One could definitely see that they all came from affluent families. A few women looked like they were her age, so she knew that they were the daughters Mrs. Cooper talked about.

"Oh, you brought someone new. Who is she?" someone asked.

Mrs. Cooper answered, "Her name is Sophia, she's my new friend. I brought her to meet all of you."

Sophia smiled and gave a small wave of hello to everyone and the women seemed welcoming, so that allayed her fears of being looked down upon.

"There are empty seats over here," waved one of them.

"She's very beautiful," another replied.

"Of course, and she is talented as well. She is the CEO of the Collins beauty company," she bragged.

The women around them gasped and started chiming in their replies.

"Oh my, I tried the new serum that came out last month, and the results are phenomenal."

"Oh, I'm using the makeup right now, and there's no build-up. I can use this the whole day without touching up."

"I use the cleansers and night treatment, and I've seen the difference."

"Ladies, ladies, stop bombarding her with these things. We have time to talk about that. Let's eat first, then talk," Mrs. Cooper said, trying to steer all the women's attention from Sophia, just in case she feels conscious.

"Hey, isn't your son still single? Are you planning on making Sophia your daughter-in-law?" Someone asked pointedly.

All the women have tried setting up their daughters with Aiden, but he has never paid them any attention. But since Mrs. Cooper did not reveal her identity to Sophia, the younger woman did not have a clue that she was sitting with her mother-in-law and her friends.

"I don't…," Sophia wanted to clarify her status to her new friends, but Mrs. Cooper interrupted her, trying to divert their attention, so they wouldn't mention Aiden. She could not blow her cover this early. "Sophia, be a dear and pass me that pastry, and the cake beside it."

While everyone was having their fill of tea, cakes, and pastries, the women started asking Sophia about her company again. About how she started her whole operation, and the products she could recommend for their specific needs.

They veered onto other topics later on, and Sophia was glad she came. The apprehension she had of spending time with new people had completely disappeared. By the time it was time to go home, she had acquired a new set of friends. Making her smile the whole time.

"Sophia, I really enjoyed tea time today. Did you have a good time?" Mrs. Cooper asked. "Wasn't it nice to have them for company?"

"Yes, I had a very good time, thank you for inviting me," and she genuinely meant it because all the women had been nice to her. She never had girlfriends to spend time with the outside of work, so this was a nice change to how she spent her time off.

"You think you'd want to go out again?" Mrs. Cooper asked, and she eagerly agreed.

-=-

Three weeks had passed, and still, there was no news from Aiden. Sophia didn't it would happen, but she missed Aiden, she had gotten used to his daily messages and phone calls and was now looking forward to getting them every day. So for the past few days, she noticed that her gaze would automatically go to her phone, hoping there was a text from Aiden, even a good morning text was enough.

Everything reminded her of Aiden. Even her own apartment that used to offer her solace when she needed it, had been too silent. Not hearing his constant chatter made her miss him more. There were several times when she thought about knocking on his door just to see if he was home. Not knowing the full details of his trip made her apprehensive. 'When is he going to come back?' she asked herself several times.

To fill her house with noise, she decided to watch the news like Aiden would, when he visited. That's where he saw the news about him having dinner with Princess Gloria of Country X. There were a lot of speculations about their relationship. The headlines just got worse and worse.

"Aiden Cooper romancing Princess Gloria in their own candlelit dinner."

"Did the Aristocratic heir finally find his bride in Princess Gloria?"

"Is Country X ready to welcome Aiden as their son-in-law?"

They showed several blurry and far away pictures of Princess Gloria and the man who was supposed to be Aiden. But Sophia knew his stance anywhere, so there was no denying it was him.

In the pictures, they looked very cozy together, their heads close to each other. Some of them even looked very intimate.

Sophia's blood ran cold. She believed him when he said he loved her. How could he be with another woman he promised to be with her forever? She was such a fool to believe in him.

She had been swayed by his caring and persistent nature, he melted her frozen heart, and she would have agreed to be with him, had he not gone on this trip.

Good thing she didn't tell him anything. She didn't make a fool of herself in front of him, declaring her feelings. Now he will never, ever know. They were back to being business partners.

"I was hoping you were the one, Aiden. Why did you have to do this to me? You're nothing but another cheating bastard. The fates keep playing this cruel joke on me. What did I do wrong?" she asked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was tired of being played. Her only wish was to find her happy ending. How hard was that?