Chapter 67 There Was Almost Meat in the Pasta

Chapter 67 There Was Almost Meat in the Pasta

Sure enough, Arthur's body stiffened almost imperceptibly with his back to her.

He slowly turned his head. His deep, almond-shaped eyes narrowed as he looked at Sophia's face, which was burning with embarrassment. He smiled through gritted teeth.

"Ms. Taylor, you'd better mean the wound is too big."

Sophia felt like steam was about to shoot out of her head. He caught what she meant and even called it out on purpose. This annoying man!

But what could she do? Explain and make it worse by saying she wasn't talking about that, just the wound?

Mortified, Sophia chose to dodge the topic.

"I'll put the medicine on for you."

Arthur watched her fumble around, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. He turned back to face the window.

"Fine. Then... trouble you to handle it properly, Ms. Taylor."

Sophia pretended not to hear. She took a deep breath, forced herself to focus only on disinfecting the wound in front of her, and finally stuck on the last piece of gauze. She let out a long sigh of relief.

"All done, Mr. Mitchell," she said quietly while packing up the first-aid kit, still not daring to look around. "Try not to get the wound wet, and change the dressing on time. I'll leave you to rest then."

She grabbed the kit and tried to slip away. She couldn't stand being here another second, or she might faint from her racing heartbeat.

"Wait."

Arthur called her back. Sophia stopped, her heart jumping again. Now what?

"I'm hungry," Arthur said simply. "George doesn't know when he'll be back. Go to the kitchen and make me a bowl of pasta."

Sophia: "...?"

Make him pasta? Even capitalists don't exploit people like this.

Arthur stared at her, his face clearly saying: I'm the patient, I get special treatment.

The refusal on the tip of her tongue circled three times before she swallowed it. Fine. He was injured, and it was for her sake anyway. Cooking pasta was better than staying here staring at each other.

"Okay," she muttered, put down the kit, and headed to the kitchen.

Sophia washed vegetables and cut tomatoes absentmindedly, but her mind kept replaying what just happened in the bedroom like a slideshow. The more she thought, the more steam rose from her head.

"Sophia, you idiot! What the hell were you babbling about?" she muttered, chopping the tomatoes harder. "Now it's super awkward! How are we supposed to work normally after this? Won't he think of today every time he sees you? Won't you think of... that... when you see him? Ugh, so embarrassing!"

The angrier and more ashamed she got, the harder she chopped. The knife thudded loudly on the board, turning the tomatoes into mush.

"You got a grudge against that tomato?"

A low, slightly hoarse voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Ah!"

Sophia jumped, yelping as the knife nearly flew out of her hand. Her body jerked, her feet slipped, and she almost fell.

"Careful!"

Arthur frowned, reached out, and caught her waist as she tipped backward. Sophia was still shaken, her back landing against his warm, solid chest. His arm held her waist tight, and his big hand gripped her wrist firmly. The space between them vanished in an instant, their bodies touching through thin fabric.

Sophia's brain short-circuited again. All her blood rushed to her face, and that split-second image flashed in her mind once more.

"You... let go..."

Her voice trembled. She struggled on instinct, trying to pull away.

Arthur's voice came from above her head.

"You can stand steady, but put the knife down first before you talk."

Sophia froze, only then realizing she was still clutching the knife in her other hand, almost stabbing him. If Arthur got another wound today, it would be from her.

Her face turned even redder. She quickly let go and set the knife down. Once she did, Arthur slowly released her waist and stepped back half a pace.

Sophia was free but didn't dare turn around. She grabbed the edge of the counter to steady her shaky legs.

"Okay, go back to cooking the pasta."

Arthur left after saying that. Sophia finally breathed out. Then she heard his voice drift back from the doorway.

"Too bad. Almost had some meat in the pasta."

Sophia stood there for a few seconds, looked at the knife, then at her fingers, and laughed in genuine exasperation.

Sophia calmed down in the kitchen for a while before picking up the spatula and obediently cooking a bowl of tomato and egg pasta. She brought it to the dining room. Arthur had already changed into a full set of loungewear and was sitting at the table waiting.

Sophia glanced at him and laughed again in annoyance. So he was guarding against her? Did she really look that desperate?

She took a deep breath. Don't get mad, don't get mad. She forced a smile and set the pasta down. "Mr. Mitchell, the pasta's ready."

Arthur gave a short "Mm," picked up chopsticks, twirled some pasta, blew on it, and ate.

Sophia stood nearby, watching him eat so seriously that her little bit of resentment faded. Fine, at least he was enjoying it.

The bowl was empty in no time, even the soup mostly gone. Arthur put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a napkin, then looked up at Sophia, who was still standing there.

"Tastes okay," he said.

"I'm glad you like it," Sophia said quickly. "I'll clean up the bowl. You should go rest."

Arthur didn't argue. He stood up and only said, "Thanks for the trouble," before heading to the bedroom.

Sophia watched his matter-of-fact, bossy way of ordering people around without extra words and rolled her eyes silently. Whatever. She quickly cleaned the dishes, washed them, put them away, then left Arthur's apartment quietly and closed the door behind her.

Back in her own small place downstairs, Sophia kicked off her shoes, flopped onto the sofa, and let out a long breath. So tired. Not so much her body, but her mind. The whole day—from getting divorced at court, to hearing Arthur was hurt, to going to his place and dealing with all that chaos, blushing, and blurting things out—felt like riding an emotional rollercoaster, full of ups and downs.

She lay there for a while before dragging herself up to take a hot shower. After that, she climbed straight into bed and fell asleep quickly.

In the middle of the night, her phone vibrated lightly.