They said that trying to reason with a woman when she's angry was the dumbest thing a man could do, but John couldn't help himself.
He had to argue with Sophia.
"According to you," John said, trying to keep his voice calm, "as long as Laura doesn't do anything too extreme, we do nothing? So, we just wait until she hurts my sister? What's the point of fighting back then?"
John wasn't one to be passive. In a crisis, he always took the initiative.
Only a coward would sit back and do nothing.
"No way!" Sophia snapped, not backing down. "Laura won't make that mistake. Even if she married into the Swift family, she wouldn't dare provoke my family. If she wanted to, she would have done it already."
To Sophia, as long as Laura stayed within the boundaries acceptable to the Long family, she was just another paparazzi, slandering and spinning rumors for attention. And Anita didn't care.
John was having none of it. "Just because Laura hasn't crossed the line yet doesn't mean she won't. She's a potential threat. She's been scheming for months but hasn't found anything sharp yet. What if she gets desperate one day? You're not Laura—how do you know what she's thinking?"
"There's no 'what if' in the world. No one is as stupid as you are!" Sophia shot back, her voice filled with frustration.
She cursed him again. John couldn't believe it. How could she curse him so easily?
He had tried to be respectful, assuming she was a friend of his sister. But this woman seemed to be addicted to insulting him.
At this point, John couldn't take it anymore.
"You said there's no 'what if,' right?" he began, his voice taking on a darker tone. "Let me give you a simple example: What if you and I sleep together?"
Sophia recoiled, her face turning red. "Who the hell wants to sleep with you?!"
Ignoring her outburst, John continued, louder now. "Shut up! It's just an example. Okay? The two of us sleep together a hundred times, and every time, I tell you I won't do anything to you. I didn't touch you the first ninety-nine times, so you trust me, right? You think there's no 'what if' left, right?"
Sophia was about to speak, but he cut her off.
"But then, on the last time, I do something. Because there's never a 100% certainty in life. If you say that Laura won't ever do something extreme, it just shows you're too naive. You don't understand how dark the world can be."
For a moment, Sophia didn't speak. She stared at him, her finger trembling as she pointed at him, too flustered to respond. "How... how could you say that?"
John tilted his head, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "What, can't you think of anything to refute me? If you can't, I can give you time. But don't look at me like that. People might start thinking I've done something to you."
Sophia's face flushed even more, but she managed to force out an angry hiss, "You... You are shameless!"
John shook his head, unfazed. "That's not how you insult someone. Just because you can't win an argument doesn't mean you get to curse me out. We're civilized people, Sophia. Let's have civilized communication, alright?"
Sophia was so furious, she could barely stand it. "How dare you talk about 'civilized communication' after what you just said?"
John chuckled darkly. "I see you're still not convinced by my example. Alright, I'll give you another scenario. You think Laura doesn't dare go too far because she fears the Long family? But what if the Long family falls apart one day?"
Sophia froze, her eyes narrowing. "John—"
"You can't rule out that possibility, even now," he continued, leaning in, his tone colder. "When your family loses its power, you won't be able to stop Laura anymore. And when that happens, Anita will lose the support of the Long family. Will Laura still be so polite then?"
Sophia stood there, trembling. The words stung deeper than she'd expected, and she found herself speechless.
Suddenly, she blinked, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
John froze.
Was Sophia crying?
She didn't seem like the fragile type. But what he'd said… did it hit a soft spot? Was he too harsh?
His anger started to dissipate. He softened his voice, now genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry," he said, looking down. "I went too far. I didn't mean to offend you or your family. It was just an example. I won't say anything more if it upset you."
Sophia didn't respond right away. She just wiped her cheek, trying to hide the tear, but it was clear that his words had touched a nerve.
The truth was, Sophia wasn't crying because of the example he'd given. She was crying because the reality behind his words hit her harder than she had expected.
The Long family had been struggling lately. The slow but steady decline, the subtle shift in power, all of it weighed on her.
John, for once, understood that he had pushed her to an uncomfortable place. And for the first time, his bravado faltered.