Chapter 32
After dinner, it suddenly started raining outside.
Watching the rain getting heavier, Sophia frowned slightly: "Why is the weather forecast so unreliable? Didn't it say it wouldn't rain until tomorrow?"
Gregory smiled at her: "It's fine, I'll drive you home later."
Sophia looked troubled: "But didn't Mr. Lopez ask you to stay at the Lopez Manor? You haven't spent time with Mr. Lopez in a while. I can just go home by myself."
Looking at the stormy weather outside, Gregory glanced back at Robert and said, "We have plenty of guest rooms. You've stayed here before. I'll call your parents, and I'll take you home first thing tomorrow morning."
Robert looked at the darkening sky and sighed: "Gregory's right. We'll call your parents in a bit. Just stay here tonight."
Sophia blushed and said softly, "But... because of what happened a few days ago, things between Gregory and me are already unclear. If I stay, won't people misunderstand?"
She was talking about the day I came back, when I mentioned her relationship with Gregory in front of everyone.
Gregory quickly said, "You're like my sister. What's there to misunderstand? You just overthink things too much."
What were these two acting out now?
I looked at Gregory. Our eyes met in the air. He seemed guilty and quickly looked away.
Sister again. He'd said that so many times.
On our first date, I waited for him at the movie theater for two hours. When the audience from that showing came out, I was still holding the ticket, looking at my phone that wouldn't connect, and left disappointed. When I got home, I saw him lounging on the sofa, laughing and chatting with Sophia.
When he saw me, he only explained that Sophia had suddenly felt unwell with her heart, and they'd just come back from the hospital. That's what he said - she was like a sister to him, and I shouldn't overthink it.
Later, he said this more and more often, until I finally broke up with him. That day was also a rainy night. He stood under my bedroom window, like a male lead in a novel, and stayed there all night.
"I only see her as a sister. You and she are different," he still told me.
Because of standing in the rain, he got a high fever. Our breakup only lasted one day.
After that, he seemed to say this phrase more and more. At first, he'd say it with guilt, but gradually it became a habit.
I still don't understand - if he always chose Sophia, why did he date me and marry me?
I had no desire to watch this continue. Whatever they did, even if they had sex, it had nothing to do with me anymore.
But Sophia quickly walked up to me, looking at me hopefully: "But I don't want you to be gossiped about because of me. Ms. Wilson, how about I sleep with you?"
I looked surprised. I didn't expect her to make such a request.
Sophia grabbed my arm, hugging it affectionately and acting cute: "Ms. Wilson, I know this request might be sudden, but I'll be a bit scared alone. Mr. Lopez, can you lend me Ms. Wilson for one night?"
Oscar was replying to messages on his phone. When he heard Sophia say this, he glanced over. Seeing Sophia throw the question to him, he smiled and closed his phone: "Emily has some cleanliness habits. She doesn't like sleeping with people she's not familiar with. If you're really not used to the bed here, just have Gregory take you home."
Sophia's smile remained calm: "Mr. Lopez, is it really that Ms. Wilson isn't used to sleeping with others, or are you just unwilling to lend her to me for one night? I'm not going to kidnap Ms. Wilson from you. Please, can you let Ms. Wilson keep me company?"
Her natural way of acting cute was hard for most people to refuse.
But clearly, Oscar wasn't most people: "Dad, why don't you have her sleep with Lina? She says she's scared."
When he said this, I almost laughed out loud. I coughed, struggling to manage my expression, and pulled my arm from her grasp: "It's not that I can't keep you company, but I'm not used to sharing a bed. It would be rude to make you sleep on the floor."
Sophia was left red-faced after Oscar's cutting remark, and now I was offering her a way out. But she would have to take it anyway. "It's okay, Ms. Wilson. I respect your habits. Sleeping on the floor - that's no problem for me."
Gregory looked at me, then asked Sophia with some concern: "You've been pampered since childhood. How can you sleep on the floor?"
"It's fine, Gregory. It's not like I haven't suffered before. Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I can sleep on the floor, really. I just won't be scared if someone's with me." Sophia smiled brightly at me.
I wasn't sure what she was planning, but I knew it wasn't anything good. Whatever - I wanted to see what her ulterior motive was. The current me wasn't the Emma who had nothing. In the face of real power, all little tricks were just a joke.
I went with her to another guest room. She held a blanket and spread it out bit by bit on the floor. The room's lighting was warm, casting a soft glow on her face like an automatic filter.
"Can we turn off the lights, Ms. Wilson? Are you afraid of the dark?" She looked up at me with a smile.
The old me was afraid of the dark. When sleeping alone, I had to keep the lights on.
"Sure." Compared to being locked alone in a box so small I had to curl up, what was there to fear about turning off the lights?
This answer surprised her. She smiled and asked, "Ms. Wilson, I heard that wealthy people in Solstice have other businesses. Besides SoftGlow Biotech, what else do you do?" She looked up and asked casually, as if making idle conversation.
Maybe she thought she was clever, but it was just a clumsy tactic. She'd been fishing for information since dinner, and anyone smart could see it: "Are you interested in business too? Want me to introduce you? There are plenty of opportunities in Solstice. If you want, earning hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars a year isn't a dream."
Sophia laughed: "Your pitch sounds a bit like an online scam. You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
Seeing her innocent smile, a coldness flashed through my eyes, though I kept smiling: "People who get scammed either trust the other person, are pretty stupid, or there's another type..."
"What's the other type?" Sophia seemed eager to find common ground with me.
"The other type is being trafficked. Whichever it is, Ms. Brown probably won't encounter any of them." I turned to look at her face. In the side lighting, half her expression was hidden in shadow, somewhat unclear and hard to read.
But soon, Sophia adjusted: "Ms. Wilson is right. I was just joking. Actually, to be honest, at first I really did think you might be involved with Solstice's underworld. By the way, have you seen people who were trafficked there? If someone gets trafficked, do they all have terrible experiences?"
I found a comfortable position to lie down: "I have seen them. For those who were trafficked there, 'terrible' doesn't even begin to describe it. I've even seen people who had their faces ruined and scarred."
Sophia's hand paused while making her bed, her voice excited: "And then? What happens to people like that in the end?"
I laughed softly, picking up my usual eye mask and putting it over my eyes: "What else can happen? Goods of little value are naturally used for whatever they're worth. Whatever they have on them, they pay with that. If I say more, you might have nightmares and can't sleep. Go to sleep."
Sophia's voice dropped half a degree. I couldn't see her expression, but I could hear the coldness in her voice: "Is there another possibility - that she could get plastic surgery and come back for revenge?"