Chapter 79 Sophia Gets Her Driver's License
Andrew never made any move against Emily, and she continued parading around class every day, much to everyone's annoyance.
But that didn't last long. When final exams arrived, Emily completely lost her confidence to show off.
The only puzzling thing was that Joshua seemed to be constantly paired with Emily, apparently dating her.
"Something's off. Really, really off," Amelia said, stroking her chin with a serious expression.
Wayne propped his cheek on his hand, staring at her intently. "What's off?"
"Joshua!" Amelia suddenly whipped around, and meeting those honey-sweet eyes, she awkwardly looked away again. "Does Joshua have some kind of aesthetic disorder? Of all people, why would he choose Emily?"
Hearing Amelia's words, Sophia chuckled softly and turned around. "Who can fathom a man's heart? Focus on preparing for exams instead. If you don't make the top fifty this time, they'll dock your allowance again."
After finals ended and winter break began, Sophia got busy.
Besides managing her businesses, she also enrolled in driving school.
The man who'd declared his intention to pursue her didn't miss this opportunity either, carving out a day each week to teach her how to drive.
"Sophia, when backing up, whichever way you turn the steering wheel is the direction the rear of the car goes. How do you keep mixing up left and right?"
Michael rubbed his forehead, his helpless tone still tinged with affection.
He wasn't scolding her—he just found it amusing.
Someone as brilliant as Sophia was actually stumped by a steering wheel.
The contrast was rather endearing.
Sophia shot him a look. "Obviously, your teaching skills need work."
"Right, right, it's all my fault."
Michael propped his elbow against the car window, gazing at her with eyes like still water. "You wouldn't prefer having John teach you, would you?"
When Sophia first enrolled in driving school, John had gotten wind of it and volunteered his services. A national racing champion teaching a rookie was certainly overkill.
Sophia naturally refused, but John never listened to her. He forcibly supervised her for two days, successfully causing her to crash into three instructor cars at the driving school.
At this rate, she wouldn't get her license in twenty years.
So she agreed to let Michael, the other volunteer, take over. With Michael there, she had an excuse to kick John out.
"I'm building a relationship with Michael. Why are you butting in? Get lost!"
To make John give up, she'd blurted this out, but it made Michae overjoyed.
He carved time out of his busy work schedule every day just to have these driving lesson dates with her.
But Michael hadn't anticipated that Sophia, who had a talent for everything, would clearly have some kind of obstacle when it came to driving. Half a month had passed, and she still got flustered and confused about left and right when backing up.
"Sophia, getting a driver's license isn't essential. I could be your personal chauffeur from now on."
After Sophia's 36th collision between her rear bumper and a utility pole, Michael was exhausted.
It wasn't that he lacked the patience to teach her—he was genuinely worried about pedestrian safety once Sophia got her license and hit the roads.
"I just can't park properly. My actual driving is very steady! Technology can compensate for my shortcomings."
Sophia argued her case. Modern cars had automatic parking features, so as long as she could safely get her license, everything would be fine.
Michael thought about it—that excuse was barely reasonable, so he resignedly continued teaching her to reverse.
After a winter break that felt neither long nor short, Sophia finally got her driver's license just before school started.
Clutching the license with both hands, she hadn't been this happy even when she'd earned her Grade 10 piano certificate.
To celebrate her being road-legal, Michael asked her to dinner.
Naturally, she had to use her freshly obtained license. Sophia pulled Michael out of the driver's seat and climbed in herself.
Michael laughed helplessly and obediently got into the passenger seat.
Aside from her frantic reverse parking, Sophia drove quite steadily during normal operation. She hadn't become a newly minted road menace.
The car stopped in the Celestial Peak Hotel parking lot.
"Celebrating your first successful road trip," Michael teased.
"All thanks to your excellent instruction, Mr. Green," Sophia said with mock flattery.
They got out of the car and had just walked through the hotel entrance when the manager hurried over.
"Boss, there's someone causing trouble in the garden. Please come take a look!"
Michael patted Sophia's shoulder gently. "You handle it. I'll go order our food and wait for you."
Sophia nodded, watching Michael walk away before turning to the manager.
"Who dares cause trouble at Celestial Peak Hotel? Where's security?"
Sophia appeared calm, not believing any major incident could occur under the hotel's strict management.
"Security's already there. The person has quite a high status and is demanding to see the boss!" The manager was frantic, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Which garden?"
"The rooftop sky garden."
"Let's go take a look."
Her high heels clicked crisply on the polished floor as Sophia strode forward with the commanding presence of a mafia boss, the manager following closely behind.
Taking the elevator to the top floor, as soon as the doors opened, she saw a crowd gathered there, bustling about, though she couldn't make out what they were discussing.
"What's happening?" Sophia stood at the periphery, but as soon as she spoke, the crowd pushed her forward into the center of the circle.
Only then did she see that the lawn was arranged with clusters of flowers forming a heart shape, with string lights draped over them.
An unfamiliar girl pushed her into the heart-shaped circle, and the lights suddenly illuminated, like stars fallen among the flowers. It was beautiful.
But Sophia was confused. She glanced around at the cheering crowd and realized no one was actually causing trouble—this was a confession scene.
And she had stumbled into it, mistaken for the person being confessed to?
Sophia looked bewildered as she stepped out of the heart-shaped circle until she saw Michael emerge from the crowd wearing a pure white suit and carrying a large bouquet of vibrant red roses.
The foot that had just stepped out of the heart went back in.
The surrounding crowd began cheering.
Sophia pressed her lips together but couldn't suppress her rising smile, looking at Michael approaching her with slightly helpless eyes.
Michael gently took Sophia's hand, leading her to stand in the center of the heart-shaped circle.
Then, he knelt on one knee before her, looking up at her like a devoted worshipper.
"Sophia, from the first moment I saw you when I was three years old, I've had improper intentions toward you. I thought to myself then, how wonderful it would be if such an adorable girl could become my bride someday."
Three-year-old Michael had moved with his parents to Emerald City's wealthy district, making rounds to visit all the neighboring families.
At the Smith family, he'd seen Sophia in a white tulle dress, looking like a princess.
But this princess was using a pink little shovel to dig in the yard, completely unconcerned that her dress hem was getting dirty.
Michael curiously ran over and asked, "What are you digging for?"
Sophia planted the shovel with one hand and put the other on her hip, saying, "I'm digging for treasure. Andrew said there's treasure buried in the garden, and if I can find it and give it to him, he'll play with me."
Michael thought this girl was silly—who would bury money in a garden?
But he'd never seen such an adorable girl, so he decided to dig with Sophia. "I'm Michael. Can I dig with you? If we find something, will you play with me too?"
Sophia's eyes lit up as she nodded vigorously. "Yes! Michael, even if we don't find anything, I'll still play with you!"
Of course, they ended up finding a love letter with crooked handwriting that John had buried under the big tree.
Andrew was quite satisfied with this and rewarded the two children with a big cake.
None of that was the point, though. The first time Michael heard Sophia say "Michael" in her sweet, childlike voice, he wanted to take her home.
"We've known each other for sixteen years. We've had misunderstandings and arguments, but more often we've depended on and supported each other. I know I still have many shortcomings, and there are many more sixteen-year periods ahead of us. I'll gradually become better, moving closer to you. It's too early to talk about marriage now, but I want to ask for a clear relationship status."
Michael offered the flowers in his hands, his eyes tender as water, never leaving Sophia's gaze.
"Sophia, do I have the honor of becoming your boyfriend?"