Chapter 131 Bringing a Man Back to the Johnson Villa
Seraphim, ZN Laboratory.
Sophia asked Amelia, "How long has he been like this?"
"He's been like this since he came back from Port City."
Amelia said helplessly, "He won't eat or drink, doesn't open the curtains during the day, doesn't turn on the lights at night, just stays alone in his room."
Everyone else had come to check on him, but he just wouldn't open the door. With no other choice, Amelia could only call Sophia.
The two of them were now standing outside his room.
On the small cabinet by the door, the breakfast brought over this morning sat there untouched.
Sophia knocked on the door, "Lucas, open the door."
No sound came from inside the room.
If it weren't for the life-monitoring watches everyone in the lab wore, with the backend data showing Lucas was still alive.
They would really suspect he had killed himself alone in his room.
"Lucas! I'll count to three. If you don't open up, you can forget about being Emily's uncle anymore."
"One... two..."
The door in front of them opened, and both Sophia and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief.
Lucas's palm-sized face was pale as paper, his eyes looking at her lifelessly. His whole being seemed trapped in pain, struggling but unable to break free from his restraints, utterly helpless.
Sunlight fell on his facial features, making his already somewhat mixed-race features appear even more defined. Behind him was the pitch-black room, with a mixed smell of smoke and alcohol wafting out.
Sophia looked at Lucas before her, took a deep breath and exhaled, her shoulders dropping as she silently sighed to herself.
She told Amelia to go back to work first, that she would handle things here.
Amelia took away the inedible food from the doorway and reminded her, "Sophia, don't get too angry. If beating Lucas up once can solve this, don't waste your breath."
Having opened the door, Lucas turned and went back into the room.
Sophia followed him in and closed the door. While the room wasn't completely pitch black, it was indeed too dark.
She didn't rush to pull open the curtains to forcefully dispel the darkness inside. Instead, she put the food she'd brought on the dining table nearby, then casually opened the double-door refrigerator next to it. Inside was completely empty, like new.
In the cool light from the refrigerator, Sophia's gaze fell on the messy living room, where she saw Lucas sitting on the floor with his knees up, back against the sofa, surrounded by densely packed empty wine bottles.
Lucas was still holding a half-finished bottle of red wine, his whole being shrouded in an invisible force of sadness.
Sophia sent someone a message, and soon someone brought over many more bottles of red wine.
All of them were rare vintages she'd collected from various places over the past two years.
She walked to the sofa and sat down, placing all the wine on the table, and asked him, "Still drinking?"
"If this isn't enough, I have more."
Lucas had thought she came to scold him for not taking care of himself, but instead, she was asking if he wanted to keep drinking.
He could hold it in when he was alone, but now, after Sophia's two sentences, the grievances he'd been holding in for days burst out.
The numbing sensation of alcohol filled his limbs and body, swallowing his reason and calm.
Lucas cried out to her, "Sophia..."
His thoughts were very confused. He wanted to tell Sophia about the grievances in his heart, but didn't know where to start.
She ruffled his long, soft hair like she usually did with Emily's head, but then felt a handful of grease.
Sophia's hand froze. "Lucas, while I can still control my temper, get your ass to the shower right now!"
"Sophia, are you disgusted by me?" Lucas felt even more wronged.
She directly kicked his slender calf. The force wasn't great, but the attitude was very strong.
"You haven't left your room or showered these past two days - you could wring oil out of your hair!"
Sophia glanced at him, "Tell me yourself, shouldn't you be disgusted with?"
Lucas fell silent.
In the quiet, dark room, all his emotions were disrupted by her words.
Lucas couldn't care about feeling wronged anymore and "rolled" off to the bathroom. Several times along the way, he wanted to say something but stopped, finally holding it back.
Lucas thought to himself: 'Forget it, women who've become mothers save all their gentleness for their kids.'
Sophia went to the dining area sink, squeezed out hand soap and scrubbed, finally washing away the greasy feeling on her hands.
Lucas lived in the high-end apartment building that came with the lab facilities.
It was an apartment - not large in area, but fully equipped with everything.
Sophia glanced toward the bedroom, listening to the sound of water from the bathroom, and opened all the food she'd brought, arranging it on the table.
When Lucas came out, he smelled waves of rich, enticing food aromas.
The curtains still hadn't been opened, but the floor lamp in the dining area was turned on, warm light spilling all around.
And Sophia was already seated at the dining table, eating.
Lucas touched his nose. After brushing his teeth, the bitter taste of alcohol in his mouth had faded.
Except for the faint blush on his face, probably only the floor full of wine bottles in the living room revealed his past few days of drowning his sorrows.
He obediently went to the dining area to get clean utensils and walked over to sit at the table.
Just as he was about to start eating, Sophia pulled the dish in front of him to the other side. She raised an eyebrow, "Now you know you're hungry?"
Although she hadn't said any comforting words, Lucas's inner sorrow was just driven away by her like this.
He smiled sheepishly, "Sophia, I know I was wrong. I'll never do such foolish things again."
She knew how much Lucas valued Emily.
Sophia said, "Emily is over a year old now, right at the age when she loves to learn. If she sees you going on a hunger strike, what if she learns from you in the future?"
Thinking of cute Emily, Lucas felt he really should set a good example.
Lucas raised three fingers and swore, "Sophia, I promise, there won't be a next time!"
Sophia saw through his little trick at a glance, "Take out that other hand you're hiding behind your back and swear again."
Caught in his little trick, he grinned. This time, he really felt hungry.
She continued, "Alright, hurry up and eat."
Though Sophia appeared very calm about Lucas's situation on the surface, she was genuinely worried he might become depressed.
Emily, who could make Lucas change himself unconditionally, was at the Johnson Villa in the country.
After thinking it over, she decided to give Lucas half a month's leave and have him return to the country with her.
Given Lucas's current state, staying at Seraphim Laboratory wasn't safe either. If he spaced out while operating an experiment, he could lose his life.
That afternoon, Sophia had Lucas pack his luggage and return to the country with her to stay for a few days.
"Sophia, I'm really fine."
"Well, your Sophia is not fine. These next few days, you're going back to the country to help me watch the kid. I have an important experiment to start."
The lab she'd set up in Empire City, though completely incomparable in scale to Seraphim, could still run some small experiments.
By the time Sophia and the others landed in the country, it was almost evening.
Having left in a hurry, she'd only had someone send over her passport. As for clothes and such, she had everything at Seraphim's apartment.
This return trip was similarly empty-handed.
The moment Lucas stood in the Johnson Villa, he still felt a bit light-headed and unsteady.
Emily, who had been playing hide-and-seek with James and Michael in the living room, was hiding sideways behind the curtains. When she turned her head, she saw Lucas with his suitcase. Her big eyes suddenly widened, her mouth opening wide.
Emily couldn't care about the game anymore. Wearing her pink fox slippers, she ran toward the entrance.
Before she arrived, her voice carried far.
Emily's excitement mixed with joy, "Uncle Lucas, Uncle Lucas—"
Lucas crouched down and caught Emily as she rushed over, "Did Emily miss me?"
Emily nuzzled his neck, "Yes!"
While the two were being affectionate, a black car stopped outside the courtyard. The window of the passenger seat slowly rolled down.
The person nodded at Sophia.
Her gaze fell on the back seat where the window hadn't been opened. She was puzzled - why would this big shot appear here?