Chapter 208 The Call of Dawn
William had his back to Sophia. Although he heard her voice, he thought it was just a hallucination from his dazed state.
How could she possibly be here at this time?
But the next second, he heard Emily's call.
"Daddy."
This was the voice he had been longing to hear.
William's grip on Henry's neck loosened. He turned around slowly.
Seeing the figure running toward him from a distance, William froze in place like a puppet that had suddenly lost all its power.
Sophia played a pre-recorded sound of Emily calling out. Seeing William finally stop, her anxious heart finally settled down.
She rushed up and slapped him. "William, have you lost your mind!"
William's face turned to the side from her slap.
He turned his head back, looking at her almond-shaped eyes full of anger. His foot was about to take half a step forward, but as if remembering something, he instantly pulled back.
Sophia's anger hadn't subsided.
She questioned William like she was scolding a child.
She had seen it very clearly just now - if she had arrived just a bit later, Henry would really be dead.
William really wanted to kill him!
"Do you know the consequences of doing this? Is it worth it for someone like him? Have you thought about how the kids would feel!"
"Do you know that James and Michael are still at home waiting for you to come back and help them with their new puzzle? Do you know how much they're looking forward to it?"
Her voice was wrapped in fury. "William, look at me!"
William's thin lips parted slightly. "I've been looking at you all along."
Sophia fell silent.
She actually saw a hint of grievance in his eyes.
For a man like William, who was good at suppressing his emotions and never showed weakness, what terrible thing must have happened to make him show this expression that looked even worse than crying?
Her almond eyes widened as she glared at William, then she turned and slapped the hanging Henry.
Sophia suppressed the anger in her voice and questioned him, "What did you do to him, you lunatic?"
Henry, "?"
Henry had already seen Sophia coming over to stop William.
His throat burned with pain. Unfortunately, with his hands tied and his whole body hanging from the tree trunk, he could only touch the ground with his toes to barely relieve the severe pain in his arms.
Just as he caught his breath, Sophia slapped him.
Henry's anger also flared up. "None of your business!"
Sophia understood William's personality and temper. If Henry hadn't done something extremely outrageous, William would never have done something as irrational as tying Henry up at the Smith family cemetery.
This tree was right next to the Smith family ancestors' cemetery. The direction Henry was facing was directly toward his biological mother's tombstone. In the moonlight, the person in the photo on the tombstone seemed to be smiling at him.
"Henry, I'm not William, and I have no blood relation with you. I won't get bad karma for hitting you. Want to try?"
From the moment Sophia slapped Henry, a light flashed in William's dead eyes, and he stared at Sophia in front of him without blinking.
Now hearing her defend him, his cold heart seemed to be placed in a greenhouse, slowly returning to its beating state.
Henry cursed loudly, "Crazy! You're all crazy!"
Hitting people was too exhausting, and Sophia didn't want to tire herself out. She turned her gaze to Mark behind William and asked him to get her bag from the car.
Mark knew how important Sophia was to William and ran down the mountain without a word.
At this moment, William's numb limbs gradually regained feeling. He pulled Sophia aside, telling her not to get involved in his business with Henry.
"If I don't get involved, you'll kill him!"
"William, didn't you say everything was for the kids? Haven't you thought about what consequences your murder would have if James and Michael want to work in government departments in the future?"
William told the truth, "They said they wouldn't..."
Sophia, whose fighting spirit had reached its peak, sneered. "Just because they say no now means it'll be 'no' forever?"
"When you got divorced before, didn't you also swear and tell me not to regret it? Weren't you just saying a few days ago that you wanted to remarry me?"
William fell silent. There was no way to argue with that.
William had just acknowledged Emily a few days ago and was already testing the boundaries of the law. Sophia was about to die of anger.
Then she turned around and saw Henry mocking William, and in her anger, she slapped Henry again.
Henry looked shocked.
Just then, Mark brought back her bag.
Sophia took out a small spray bottle from it and sprayed it on Henry several times. The spray had a pungent, unpleasant smell.
"What did you spray on me?" Henry shouted.
Sophia said calmly, "Good stuff extracted from female snakes. In just half an hour, all the male snakes nearby will smell it and wrap around your body, treating you like a female snake and..."
She had learned from the servants at the Smith Manor that Henry had been terrified of snakes since childhood, to the point where just hearing the word "snake" would immediately cause a severe allergic reaction in his body.
The Smith family cemetery was backed by green mountains and water - a great place that snakes, insects, rats, and ants loved most in this natural environment.
The setting, the drug, the verbal suggestion... everything was in place. His imagination would infinitely magnify the fear in Henry's heart.
Sure enough.
Henry soon began showing allergic reactions with rapid breathing. Even though no one was choking him, he felt like he couldn't breathe.
William's gaze fell on Sophia's hand behind her back, watching as she opened the next audio file on her phone.
The sound of a snake hissing made Henry's scalp tingle. As Sophia turned up the volume, his physical discomfort became even stronger.
"You... I'll make you lose everything..."
Before he could finish, he completely passed out.
The feeling of being protected by Sophia made some of the coldness around William dissipate, but he still felt uncertain inside.
When he woke up in the apartment, although his clothes were off, as a man who had been married for five years, he was very clear about his body's condition that morning - he definitely hadn't had sex.
Although no needle marks were found on his body, William wasn't sure whether Henry, who was full of hatred toward him, had injected him with some other new drug. After all, many technological products that couldn't be detected had appeared internationally.
Also, he suspected Henry had photographed something.
When Henry was captured, his fearless attitude was completely unlike his usual cowardly character - it was more like he was holding some kind of leverage.
After dealing with Henry, Sophia turned to look at William and said, "You're a CEO of a corporation, and you need to personally threaten people?"
"Even your one-year-old daughter understands this - don't you?"
William, who had a strong presence in public, now lowered his eyes and tucked in his chin, looking exactly like Emily when she made a mistake.
Sophia felt like her anger had deflated halfway through her scolding.
Mark, standing to the side, quietly stepped back and looked up at the night sky. William's current appearance was really something he didn't want to see.
"Come back with me. The kids are still waiting for you to do the puzzle."
Sophia walked down the steps first. After taking two steps and hearing no movement behind her, she turned back and glared at him. "Do you need me to have Emily come see what you look like right now? See if she still wants you as her daddy."
Finally, William's feet moved.
He shot Mark a subtle glance. Mark nodded knowingly, signaling that he would handle the rest.
Sophia urged him, "Hurry up. If you dare keep the kids up late, you're in for it!"
Watching their departing figures, Mark touched his nose. Why did he feel like William was just trying to gain sympathy?