Chapter 211

Chapter 211

He shouldn't be that bored.

Logically speaking, he didn't want to see her at all.

He'd just blocked her, and then immediately came to ask what message she'd recalled. It didn't make sense.

"Why are you messaging me?" Matthew didn't deny it, and continued questioning her.

Sophie was honest. "I was just checking if you deleted me."

"Are you scared?"

"Scared of what? If you delete me, I'll delete you. No point keeping you and wasting storage space."

Matthew couldn't help clenching his fists. She was even more heartless than him.

The two of them stood separated by the doorway, the warmth of the past gone.

Sophie said directly, "Is there anything else?"

Matthew took a deep breath and sneered, "I thought you'd be living such a great life after the divorce. Turns out it's just this."

"This is life." Sophie gave him a very standard smile, knowing full well how fake it was. "Simple is happiness."

Matthew snorted coldly and turned around.

Sophie was closing the door when she called out to him, "Matthew."

Matthew turned back, a barely perceptible flicker in his eyes.

"Never mind." Sophie waved at him and smiled. "Take care."

She closed the door, and Sophie's smile disappeared.

She went back to the kitchen and rinsed her eyes with water, then sat down in front of her bowl of noodles. The noodles had lost their original texture.

Interrupted by Matthew, even these heavily seasoned noodles had lost their flavor.

After washing the dishes, she crouched on a chair, holding her phone and clicking on Matthew's profile picture.

She hesitated over whether she should delete his contact. That way she'd completely cut ties with him and wouldn't keep thinking about him.

Two years—she admitted she had some feelings for him.

Maybe it was liking, maybe it was love, but not much.

She'd always been too clear-headed, knowing they would eventually separate.

Because of that, she never dared invest too much.

After hesitating for a moment, she still didn't click delete. She'd keep it. Keep it without contacting him. Eventually, even seeing his name wouldn't cause any ripples. That would be truly letting go of those feelings for him.

The next day, shortly after Sophie started work, she got a call from Jane saying she was back and wanted to meet for lunch.

Aside from messaging her during New Year's, Jane normally didn't contact her.

She'd left before because Ted's family had arranged blind dates for him and he had a new love interest.

Now, it couldn't be because Ted was back, could it?

When she saw Jane, she looked great—her whole demeanor was gentle, radiating an elegant and peaceful aura.

"Why did you come back?" Sophie didn't bother with small talk.

She'd heard before that Ted was getting close to some girl, probably had chosen someone to marry, and the wedding was probably coming up soon.

"To see you."

Sophie was slightly stunned. "See me?"

Jane looked her up and down, eyes full of concern. "You and Matthew got divorced?"

"How did you know?"

"Matthew's status is what it is—lots of people are watching him. As soon as there's news, everyone knows."

Sophie hadn't expected that their divorce would become common knowledge.

Who spread it?

Not many people knew. The only ones who could spread this news, besides Bella and Evelyn, were probably no one else.

"Yeah." Sophie couldn't figure it out. "Wait, you came back just to see me about this?"

"Yes." Jane looked worried. "I was afraid you couldn't handle it."

Sophie laughed.

She poured tea for Jane. "What's there to not handle? I was the one who asked for the divorce. I'm happy about it."

"I heard Matthew's first love came back." Jane tried to smile, but it looked forced.

"People are even spreading that? Ha, yeah, we've met. Compared to Bella, she's more straightforward and more likeable." Sophie talked about it as if it were someone else's business.

Jane didn't know they'd met.

"You really don't care?"

"Others might not know, but don't you know how I married Matthew? I really don't care. Men—if not this one, there's always the next one. Just like anything else, if this one doesn't belong to you, there's definitely one that does."

The food arrived, and Sophie urged Jane to eat. "Don't worry about me, I'm doing great."

Jane didn't know Sophie very well. Because of their parents' relationship, they'd never been close, and before they'd even ignore each other when they met.

Not becoming enemies was already good enough.

After that incident, Jane realized Sophie was someone who could distinguish right from wrong.

"As long as you can handle it yourself." Seeing this, Jane figured she was probably worrying for nothing.

Sophie nodded. "Don't worry, I won't dwell on it. What about you—now that you're back, are you leaving again?"

"Yes." Jane said, "I opened a small shop there. The profit isn't great, but I'm very happy."

"I saw your Facebook posts. I've been thinking about visiting when I get a chance."

"If you come, you can stay at my place. The cost of living isn't high there, the environment is beautiful—it's a very healing place." Talking about her current life, Jane's smile was different.

Sophie didn't mention Ted, afraid of ruining her good mood.

"When are you leaving?"

"I'll stay for a couple of days. I want to visit my mom too." Mentioning this, Jane glanced at Sophie cautiously.

Sophie hated Jade, but she couldn't stop them from seeing each other.

"Okay. Are you going back home to stay?"

"I'm staying at a hotel."

After lunch, Sophie had to go back to work, so Jane left feeling reassured.

Jane took a taxi back to the hotel. She opened her room door, went in, and tried to close it.

The door was blocked from outside—she couldn't close it.

Looking closely, Ted was standing there, one hand braced against the door.

Jane's eyes filled with panic.

She pushed hard against the door, but that little bit of strength was useless against Ted.

He pushed the door open forcefully. Jane stepped back as he walked in brazenly.

He advanced step by step, and Jane kept retreating.

Ted closed the door behind him with one hand. Jane swallowed hard.

"What are you doing? Get out!"

There was resentment in Ted's eyes. He reached out and pulled Jane into his arms, holding her tightly.

His urgent, restrained breathing fell on Jane's ear. She tensed her body, trying to break free from his embrace, but he only held her tighter.

"Run? I thought you'd never come back. Jane, how dare you?" Ted bit her ear, accusing her of her wrongdoing word by word.

It hurt where he bit.

Jane turned her head away, her hands braced against his chest, and her face full of struggle. "Ted, let me go!"

"No!" Ted pressed her lower back, his eyes were red as he stared at her resistant expression. He gripped her chin forcefully, tilting it up slightly to make her look at him. "If you ran away, you shouldn't have come back. If you came back, you shouldn't have let me find you. Now that I've found you, if I let you run again, I'm useless."