Chapter 13
Sophie pouted, "You changed my clothes."
Matthew clenched his fist, his gaze returning to her face.
She was drinking water, her bright eyes carrying a hint of a smile, full of mischief.
"Do you mind?"
"What's there to mind between husband and wife?" Sophie was very generous. "Just consider me a bit disappointed."
Matthew had seen plenty of women who wanted something to happen with him, but few were as enthusiastic as her.
Saying such things right to his face without even blushing.
Matthew knew she was shameless and couldn't be bothered with her.
"Matthew," Sophie called him.
Matthew glanced at her impatiently.
Sophie's eyelashes fluttered lightly. "I hope you'll be okay."
Matthew's fingers stiffened slightly.
Without looking at her, his fingers resumed typing on the keyboard. "Before I die, you'd better think it through. Divorce sounds better than widowhood."
The water in Sophie's cup rippled. She took a breath and smiled. "I'm not planning to remarry."
"No need to show loyalty to me. You won't get any benefits from me."
"I'm serious." Sophie looked at his face, always feeling that beneath his cold exterior was loneliness and sorrow.
"Matthew, I really like you."
She was just shallow, liking good looks.
Call her fickle if you want, she just liked him.
Matthew stopped again.
When he looked up this time, his eyes held a darkness Sophie couldn't understand.
"You're violating the agreement."
Sophie raised her eyebrows slightly. "We've already had physical contact. Worst case, I'll go bark like a dog in the city center."
Matthew stared at her, finally realizing his own naivety.
Could that kind of thing even work on her?
For a moment, Matthew couldn't think of what to say.
He stood up, grabbed his laptop, and walked past her.
As they brushed shoulders, he stopped, turned his head slightly, and looked down at the woman's fair, beautiful face. "You're not my type. Put away those thoughts of yours. If you want to stay, behave yourself."
His cold, heartless tone was even more chilling than the cold air outside.
Matthew returned to the study, leaving Sophie alone in the living room.
His words didn't upset Sophie much, but she understood clearly that he must still love the woman who had left him.
When someone occupies your heart, everyone else is just an outsider.
He wasn't even willing to settle.
Sophie glanced at the tightly closed study door. He must be so sad. At the end of his life, the one with him wasn't his beloved.
How much regret must be in his heart?
Sophie went to the company early to report. Coming out of the manager's office, she saw Nicholas.
She was about to greet him when he walked right past without even looking at her.
Sophie raised her eyebrows. The person next to her waited until Nicholas was far away before leaning over to say, "You rejected him, and he feels embarrassed. You don't know how resentful he was at first. He even had a fight with the manager."
"No wonder." Sophie didn't care, shrugging. "Whatever."
"Sophie, what does your husband do? And you have a driver too. Your family must be really rich, right?" her colleague gossiped.
Sophie smiled. "I'll let you ask him yourself when there's a chance."
"Great!"
Sophie said, "I'm going to get to work."
Transferring back to Silverlight City, although the work was more or less the same, there were still big differences.
Sophie needed to adjust and also prepare for next year's exhibition.
Busy work makes people tired, but the good thing is time flies.
It was already dark. Her colleagues had called her when they left work, but she had some unfinished business, so she didn't leave.
Now she was the only one left in the office.
Looking at the time, it was already past eight. Since she had nowhere to go anyway, she worked overtime a bit longer.
Around nine, she finally shut down her computer and left.
Silverlight City's winter was dry and cold, the wind cutting like knives across her face.
Wrapping her scarf around her, on the way back she ate a bowl of noodles, bought a pancake to eat, and returned to her own place.
She got home at half past ten.
Emily chatted with her, and knowing she hadn't gone back to Matthew's place, asked, "Giving up?"
"I never had to have him." Sophie took off her coat, boiled water to soak her feet, comfortably applied a face mask, and leaned back against the sofa with her head tilted back. "I just didn't want him to have no one to care for him at the end."
Then she smiled again. "But it's just my wishful thinking. He doesn't need it at all."
"Then why don't you divorce?" Emily didn't understand. "You can't really be doing it to inherit his estate."
Sophie touched the mask on her face. "Once married, I don't want to divorce. Too lazy."
Emily snorted lightly. "But honestly, being that handsome, if it were me, I wouldn't want to divorce either."
At eleven at night, Sophie lay in bed scrolling through short videos, feeling a faint expectation in her heart.
Unfortunately, Matthew didn't call her, didn't even ask.
The following days were very busy.
Emily was also busy with year-end wrap-up work, and neither had much time for idle chat.
A week before the New Year, they finally finished everything that needed to be done. Some people simply took leave to go home and wait for the holiday, or went traveling.
The remaining people made plans to relax at a KTV.
Sophie was always the one who listened to others sing at KTV. She just sat in a corner playing on her phone, or watching the lyrics on the screen, humming along in her mind.
Not very interesting, just going along to fit in.
Midway through, Sophie went out for some air.
Just as she stepped out, she ran into Matthew and Joshua, along with another man she didn't know.
It had been almost half a month since they'd seen each other or been in contact.
Running into him suddenly, she didn't know whether she should greet him or not.
Matthew had said not to mention their relationship in public, so she wouldn't.
After their eyes met, Sophie walked right past them.
"Hey, that girl just now was pretty hot." Henry turned to look at Sophie's retreating figure, a flash of amazement in his eyes behind his glasses.
Joshua frowned at this, noting Matthew's expression.
His face showed no reaction whatsoever.
The three men walked inside. After reaching the private room and chatting for a bit, Henry suddenly stood up.
"Where are you going?" Matthew asked.
Henry smiled, adjusting his glasses. "To get to know that beauty we just ran into."
Matthew's eyes darkened slightly.
Joshua pressed his lips together, wanting to give Henry a heads-up.
"Don't try to get to know just anyone." Matthew smoked, his expression indifferent.
"I don't try to get to know just anyone, only beautiful women." Henry looked refined, but deep down he was the most flirtatious.
With his excellent appearance, he'd fooled countless innocent girls' hearts.
Matthew exhaled a smoke ring, narrowing his eyes. "Beautiful women are all fake."
"Don't worry," Henry said again. "Just getting to know her, not marrying her." With that, he left.
Joshua really hadn't expected Matthew to be able to hold back from revealing Sophie's identity.