Chapter 216: Erasing His Traces

Chapter 216: Erasing His Traces

Zachary froze in place, asking in return, "Do you think I don't have any genuine feelings for Julia and Simon?"

She replied coolly, "I'll admit you're sometimes very convincing in your act—so convincing that even I forget you're not actually their father. By letting them think of you as their father, have you ever considered how they'll cope when you eventually marry someone else?"

He looked even more shocked and incredulous. "Marry someone else?"

Zachary laughed bitterly. "You're my wife right now. Who exactly do you think I'd be marrying?"

"After our divorce, you'll be free to choose whoever you want," she said coldly. "My point is, since your future doesn't involve the children, don't give them false hope."

Sophia had said these words to Zachary countless times.

Her only regret was that while she'd seen this day coming, she hadn't taken decisive action to remove Zachary from the children's lives.

This time, Sophia didn't hesitate. She said, "The damage you've done to the children can't be undone. If you truly care about them at all, then don't appear in front of them again."

Seeing that Sophia's mind was made up, Zachary slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine..."

Then he continued, "I understand what you mean, but I have my own demands. I'm being misunderstood right now, and until I get to the bottom of this, I won't accept any slander from you. So whatever you want to do, wait until I've investigated everything."

He could tell something was off about Sophia's attitude, as if she was hiding some secret he didn't know about.

He just needed to find out what exactly he'd missed after leaving last night—that would be the key to unraveling this misunderstanding.

Seeing that Zachary was finally no longer blocking her way, Sophia immediately pulled her wrist free and hurried past him toward the hospital room.

Zachary watched Sophia's figure disappear through the hospital room door.

After entering the room, Sophia checked Dylan's vital signs on the monitors.

His hospitalization was entirely due to the emotional upheaval from seeing the trending news. Fortunately, he'd received prompt medical attention, so there weren't any serious consequences.

Dylan would need to rest peacefully in the hospital for a few days, and once his emotions stabilized, he could be discharged.

Sophia thought of Julia and Simon at home, so she organized the medical records and carefully briefed the nursing staff, planning to take advantage of the night to go home and check on the children.

After mentioning Julia and Simon to Zachary earlier, she felt an urgent need to see them safe and sound before she could feel at ease.

Just as Sophia stepped out of the hospital room, she happened to see Paula outside the door, about to knock.

Not far behind her stood Zachary, who hadn't left yet.

Paula stood frozen for a moment, then upon recognizing Sophia, her face filled with shame and remorse.

She grabbed Sophia's hand and said with a pitiful bite of her lip, "Ms. Taylor, I only just found out about this morning's trending news. Everything online is just rumors—please don't misunderstand anything between Zachary and me."

Sophia frowned and pulled her hand back, displeasedly closing the door behind her and speaking to her outside. "Who told you to come to the hospital? Will you take responsibility if you disturb the patients?"

Paula's voice suddenly caught, and the shame on her face nearly failed to hold.

She hadn't expected Sophia to ignore the online rumors and instead directly criticize her.

And with such an irrefutable reason at that.

A flash of resentment crossed Paula's eyes, but her eyes reddened again as she looked back at Zachary helplessly. "Zachary, is it because of my situation that Mr. Dylan Spencer got sick and had to be hospitalized? I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm willing to take care of Mr. Spencer to make up for my mistake."

She stepped forward, saying to Sophia hesitantly, "Just let me make amends."

"Make amends for what?" Sophia looked at her indifferently and said, "You said this whole thing was a misunderstanding. Why would compensation be necessary?"

Paula was again left speechless, cursing Sophia viciously in her mind. Her arrogant demeanor made Paula want to tear her apart with her bare hands.

This tactless woman was as cold and hard as stone—no wonder Zachary had abandoned her years ago!

Holding back her rage, aggrieved tears suddenly spilled from her eyes.

Her tone toward Sophia became even more submissive. "Ms. Taylor, are you still blaming me for the trending news? I can explain—this whole thing is a misunderstanding. Please don't blame Zachary because of this."

She turned to look at Zachary, showing an innocent expression, with tears still clinging to her face.

She apologized to Sophia in a soft, humble voice. "It must have been those reporters who've been stalking me, camping outside the hotel. That's how they accidentally caught Zachary in the photos. It's all my fault..."

She said to Sophia through tears, "I heard you misunderstood Zachary because of this. I don't want you two to fight because of me. Ms. Taylor, if you're going to blame anyone, blame only me. It's my fault for contacting Zachary when I was injured—he had no choice but to come see me."

Throughout it all, Sophia remained unmoved, coldly watching Paula's tears.

Paula continued pitifully, "I'm still injured, but as soon as I heard about this, I came to find you immediately. Ms. Taylor, if you're upset, just take it out on me alone."

She looked genuinely sincere, as if she truly meant every word.

However, Sophia's gaze was ice-cold, with a hint of assessment and scrutiny in her expression, easily seeing through Paula's facade.

This wasn't about apologizing—it was about flaunting her victory and admiring her handiwork after achieving her goal.

Fortunately, Sophia didn't care.

Without waiting for Paula to finish crying, she raised her hand and brushed her aside, saying, "Don't make a scene crying in the hospital—you'll disturb other patients. Also, you're blocking the way."

With that, she couldn't be bothered to look at Paula's dark expression and simply walked past her and left.

She also completely ignored Zachary, who had witnessed everything from nearby.

When Sophia returned home, Julia and Simon were, as expected, still unable to sleep, lying quietly in bed with Simon reading a storybook to Julia.

The sight made Sophia's heart ache again.

She felt sorry for Julia and Simon's thoughtfulness and maturity, yet guilty that they'd experienced the complexities of the adult world so early.

She didn't show any of this in front of the children, forcing a smile and taking the storybook from Simon. "How about I tell you a story?"

They nodded obediently, quietly hugging Sophia from both sides, the three of them nestling together.

Flipping through the pages of the storybook, a photograph suddenly fell out.

She caught sight of four figures in the photo and her heart skipped a beat. It was an old photo of them with Zachary at the park.

However, now only the three of them remained in the photo.

Zachary's face had been blacked out and half his body had been torn away, as if the children had been desperately trying to erase any trace of Zachary's existence.