Chapter 196 Attractive but Useless
Someone behind them mocked, "That doctor might not even be interested in your son! I heard she's from a big city and is a really excellent doctor."
The middle-aged woman got upset when she heard this. She slapped the table and retorted, "My son is excellent too. Besides, when two people live together, you can't just look at appearances. Some people may be good-looking, but if they only know how to spend women's money, that's no good! Useless!"
Hearing that last sentence, Benjamin's face darkened. "Do I look like someone who spends women's money?"
"Yes!" Sophia burst out laughing. Her gaze shifted to the man with the gloomy expression, and she couldn't help but look him over carefully.
This face did indeed have the potential to spend women's money.
But Sophia knew clearly that this was all just appearance. Some people looked like perfect gentlemen on the surface, but when they got serious, they were overwhelming.
Thinking of her lips that had been kissed swollen, Sophia's cheeks flushed and she quickly looked away.
Seeing Sophia laughing so happily, Benjamin's frustration eased a bit.
Whatever, as long as Sophia was happy.
However, some things involved a man's dignity. He leaned down close to Sophia's ear and murmured softly, "Tonight I'll let you know whether I'm useful or not."
Sophia's face heated up. She pushed him away in a fluster, "What nonsense are you talking about!"
That evening, seeing Sophia so tired she couldn't even lift her eyelids, all thoughts of male dignity and proving himself became unimportant.
He sighed helplessly and picked up Sophia, who had fallen asleep at the table.
Holding Sophia in his arms, Benjamin couldn't help but frown.
Why was Sophia getting lighter and lighter?
She had barely any weight before, and now she was even lighter than before. All the weight she had finally gained over these months was gone, and her chin had become pointed too.
Benjamin tightened his arms around Sophia, feeling distressed.
Francis walked over, glanced at Sophia in Benjamin's arms, and reminded him in a low voice, "Take good care of her. She's been exhausted these past two days. You two can come in later tomorrow. There are already fewer patients than before."
Benjamin nodded, looked down at Sophia, and asked quietly, "When are we going to the countryside?"
"Tomorrow evening."
"Alright, got it."
With that, he strode away with his long legs.
Watching their backs, Francis sighed, "I can't believe he's grown up so much in the blink of an eye."
"Francis, who are you talking about?" A student suddenly appeared behind him and looked in the direction Francis was looking, but found nothing there.
"Nothing. Pack up your things and get some rest. We still have to work tomorrow." Francis smiled and shook his head, changing the subject.
The accident over twenty years ago involved illegal research experiments. This matter was classified, so only high-level officials knew about it.
He had met Benjamin before, on a rainy night seventeen years ago.
When he was brought to the lab, he was already barely alive, suffering tremendous torment, yet he still didn't make a sound.
Even then, he was secretly amazed, thinking this child had remarkable endurance, so he had been quietly following his news all these years.
Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, seventeen years had passed, and he had married his own prized student.
Life was truly unpredictable!
Back at the hotel, Benjamin placed Sophia on the soft bed, took off her shoes, and held her small, pale feet in his large palm. He couldn't help but frown.
Why were they so cold?
He thought carefully and realized that Sophia's body always seemed to be this cold.
Even in the hot summer, she barely broke a sweat.
This wasn't normal.
Benjamin tucked Sophia's small feet into the bedding, tucked in the blanket, got up, and left the hotel room.
Joshua had been particularly irritable these past few days. The filming location he had finally found, a natural scenic area with pristine landscapes, but now... everything had fallen through.
Not only that, several actors had been injured and were still recovering.
Especially Isolde—she was his chosen third female lead, the person he could find who best fit the character.
But now, until Isolde's leg healed, he couldn't film any of these scenes.
He sat at his desk, staring at his laptop screen, lost in thought, somewhat at a loss, even beginning to feel a bit confused.
What should he do?
Give up?
As soon as this thought emerged, his head started to ache.
Joshua frantically scratched his head in frustration and irritably closed his laptop.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Joshua put on his shoes and walked toward the door.
Who would come here this late? Could it be family members of the injured crew members, coming for revenge?
His heart jumped. Joshua carefully walked to the door and pressed his ear against it to listen.
After confirming there were no strange sounds, he slowly turned the doorknob.
The door opened. Benjamin looked at the person in the room with an indifferent expression, lifting the two bottles of wine he was carrying. "Want to drink?"
Joshua stared at Benjamin for a while, and after confirming he hadn't been swapped out, stepped aside to let him in.
"Why would you come to me for drinks? I don't think we're close enough to be drinking together in a room at night?"
Benjamin chuckled softly, bent down, and sat on the sofa, placing two bottles of fine red wine on the coffee table.
He had investigated and found that besides being obsessed with theater, Joshua was also a wine lover who particularly enjoyed various vintage red wines.
"I came to you today because I want to ask you about something."
Joshua took out two clean glasses and a decanter from the side, opened the red wine, poured it into the decanter, and sat down across from Benjamin.
"What is it?"
Benjamin pressed his thin lips together, slowly raised his eyes, and looked at the man in front of him. "The poison in Sophia's body... is different from mine."
Joshua's hand paused slightly as he poured the wine, then he sneered, "Benjamin keeps saying he cares about Sophia, but you didn't even notice she was poisoned. How ironic."
Benjamin lowered his eyes. His hands on his knees clenched slightly into fists, and a dull pain spread through his chest.
Joshua was right. Sophia was a good wife, but he wasn't a good husband.
He didn't even know his own wife had been poisoned, and hadn't even had time to ask if it hurt when the poison flared up, if it was painful, what symptoms she had.
He had always felt that Sophia's body was cooler than normal people, but he just thought it was a matter of constitution.
It wasn't until just now that he realized all of this had traceable signs—he had just subconsciously ignored them.
"I'm sorry. I know too little about Sophia. I always thought that if she didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't force her. After all, everyone needs their own space... but I didn't expect..."
Joshua chuckled softly, slowly shook his head, and began to talk about Sophia's childhood.