Suddenly, the lights in the room went out.
The bright room was instantly replaced by darkness, causing Sophia to breathe rapidly. She subconsciously reached out to push Victor away. However, as soon as her hand touched his chest, it was grabbed by his large hand. His strength was immense!
"Mr. Hastings..." Sophia's voice trembled slightly.
Her soft voice made Victor frown, reminding him of the tearful whimper from the girl six years ago.
This was not the first time Victor felt that Sophia's voice was familiar.
In the darkness, he resembled a dormant beast, with an aggressive gaze that seemed to strip people down to see through them. However, such a gaze also terrified Sophia!
Her back pressed against the door. Whether it was because Victor's presence was too intimidating or because she was too nervous, her legs uncontrollably weakened.
"Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Hastings is looking for you," suddenly, there came a knock on the door from outside. It was Sam speaking.
Sophia, who was pinned against the door, seemed to see a glimmer of hope and hurriedly said, "Someone is looking for you."
Victor casually turned on the light. His eyes were no longer as fierce as before, but his gaze towards Sophia became colder.
He pushed Sophia, who was blocking the door, and then opened it.
Sam stood at the door with a smile.
"I'll be right there," Victor said to Sam before going back to his room to change into casual clothes. When he came out, Sophia was still there. Victor said, "Think carefully about how you want to answer my question from earlier."
Then, Victor left.
Sophia's face turned red as she quickly rushed out of the room, thinking to herself, 'I can't stand being in this place for even a minute. I can't tolerate that devil of a man!'
Seeing her hurried departure, Sam asked, "Miss, are you leaving? Mr. Hastings is busy. Aren't you waiting for him?"
"No, I'm going back. Thank you," Sophia politely shook her head.
She grabbed her phone and quickly ran away from Hastings Villa. It was only when she was far away that she called Liam. Liam didn't answer the call, but he sent Sophia a text message saying that he was fine.
Sophia was still very worried. On her way home, she kept thinking about how to bring Liam back home. Suddenly, she felt like she was going crazy. She shouldn't have followed Victor home today. Sam, the butler at Hastings Villa, had already recognized her. If she came to pick up Liam next time, Sam would definitely recognize her. Once Victor found out, there would be a high chance that Liam wouldn't be able to leave.
Jessica was now the boss of Johnson Group, wealthy and powerful. These days, she always went to Aadelha Group. Obviously, she had made up with Victor. If Jessica went after Liam, Victor might help her.
Sophia was very restless. Even after she arrived home, she couldn't fall asleep and buried her face in the pillow.
Suddenly, her phone rang. Sophia thought it was a call from Zach, so she didn't answer. Later on, the person sent a voice video. Sophia picked up the phone and realized it was her good friend Alice Zane calling. She pressed the accept button and immediately heard Alice's angry voice, "Sophia, you've been in Woerek for so long without contacting me. Did you forget about me?"
Sophia covered her ears, which were hurting from the loud sound, and apologized, "I'm sorry. I've been busy these past few days."
"What have you been busy with? Didn't I tell you to let me know as soon as you arrived in Woerek?" Alice shouted angrily. Even through the screen, Sophia could feel her anger.
Sophia said, "I've run into some trouble recently. I don't want to burden you."
"Trouble?" Alice suddenly calmed down from her rage. "Did Jessica cause trouble for you?"
"Yes," Sophia nodded. "She kidnapped Liam."
"Oh my god! She's a vicious madwoman! How is Liam now?" Alice anxiously asked.
Sophia said, "Liam escaped, but now he's staying at Jessica's fiancé's house..."
Alice was confused by Sophia's words and quickly interrupted her, saying, "Slow down and let me organize. Jessica took Liam and threatened you. Then Liam ran away and is staying at Jessica's fiancé's house? What kind of plot twist is this? Did he really run away? He clearly got himself into a more dangerous situation!"
Sophia also felt helpless. "I didn't expect something like this to happen."
"What's Liam's situation now?" Alice asked worriedly. "Is Jessica's fiancé abusing him?"
"He shouldn't be," Sophia shook her head and said, "He doesn't know that Liam is my child, and Jessica probably didn't tell him either."
"So Jessica has no idea that Liam is at her fiancé's house?" Alice asked.
Sophia nodded. "Yes."
Alice pondered for a while and said, "The truth will come out eventually. As long as Jessica goes to her fiancé's house, she will definitely find Liam. Then she will use Liam to threaten you. You'll be in real trouble. No, we must bring Liam back home first."
"But I can't go get him. If I go, I will reveal my secret," Sophia said, feeling lost and frustrated.
Alice suggested, "How about I go and bring Liam back for you? Liam has seen me before. If I go get him, even if I encounter Jessica's fiancé, I won't reveal your secret. He probably won't do anything to me or Liam."
"Really?" Sophia was extremely happy.
Alice nodded and said, "Of course, but you have to treat me to some good food."
"Sure. As long as you can bring Liam back, I'll treat you to whatever you want," Sophia nodded and smiled beautifully.
Alice said, "Then it's settled. I'll go get Liam tomorrow at noon. Let Liam know in advance."
"Okay!" Sophia nodded heavily. After saying goodnight to Alice, she lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling, thinking, 'I'll be able to see Liam soon. It's been so many days, I don't know if he has lost weight or gone hungry...'
The next morning, Sophia quickly organized the information Victor asked for.
Seeing how excited she was, Victor didn't say anything.
After Victor's morning meeting was over, Sophia entered the office with a thick stack of documents and placed them on the desk, saying, "Mr. Hastings, I would like to take a short leave at noon."
"Okay," Victor quickly agreed.
Sophia was very happy and said, "Thank you, Mr. Hastings."
"You can take leave, but..." he paused and added with a smile, "I'll deduct three months' salary from you."
Sophia's smile froze on her face. "I'll only be gone for a little while."
"I didn't say you couldn't go out, I just said I would deduct your salary," Victor casually opened one of the files and started reading it carefully.
Sophia wanted to say something, but when she saw David walking in from outside, she had to stand aside.
David said, "Mr. Hastings, Mr. Carter is here again."
Victor stopped flipping through the files and looked up at Sophia with a significant look. "Go."
"I didn't take the day off to see him!" Sophia explained.
Victor's expression did not change, obviously not interested in hearing her nonsense.
Disappointed, Sophia lowered her head and silently walked out. She angrily leaned on her desk and did not do any work.
David glanced at her and couldn't help but say, "Mr. Hastings, Sophia might really have an urgent matter..."
"What urgent matter can she have?" Victor sneered.