Chapter 216

Chapter 216

Sophie could feel the waves of resentment and simmering fury radiating off Matthew, yet he somehow managed to keep it bottled up while he prepared a meal for her.

She couldn’t be sure if he was doing this because Victoria had put him up to it or of his own volition.

"Matthew, what exactly is it that you want?" Sophie asked, picking at the food he had made. "I’ve already wiped your contact information from my phone."

Matthew looked up at her, the rice he'd just put in his mouth still unchewed.

The moment Sophie met his eyes, she instinctively flinched and looked away.

He had lost count of how many times he’d caught himself sneering at the absurdity of it all.

He felt like a complete fool for still giving a damn about this woman.

He was here looking after her, cooking for her, and she had responded by deleting him from her life as if he meant nothing.

It would have been laughable if it didn't hurt so much.

Sophie continued to eat in silence. She truly hadn't expected him to still be here.

Matthew, however, had lost his appetite entirely, he was determined not to let his anger slip through the cracks of his composure.
Forcing down the rest of his meal, he sat back and watched Sophie eat slowly and deliberately. She never dared to look up, taking nearly half an hour to finish a single bowl of rice under his heavy stare.

The silence was finally broken by the sharp ring of Matthew’s phone.
It was Evelyn calling.

Matthew glanced at Sophie before picking up his phone and walking over to the living room window for some privacy.

"Where are you?" Evelyn demanded the moment he picked up.

"Out," he replied tersely.

"Did you go to see Sophie?"

Matthew frowned slightly. The family doctor must have talked, he realized.

He didn't deny it. "Do you need something?"

"You're already divorced, Matthew. Stop getting dragged back into her orbit," Evelyn reminded him sharply. "Victoria is the one you should care about."

Matthew had no interest in having this conversation. "If that’s all you called for, I'm hanging up."

He ended the call before Evelyn could get another word in. When he turned back toward the table, Sophie had already cleared the dishes and was at the sink, washing them.

Matthew didn't offer to help, He simply stood there in the quiet, waiting for her to finish.

Sophie eventually stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, her voice flat.

"Ted came to see me," he replied.

Sophie’s brow furrowed in a frown.

Matthew's gaze was cold. "Your life is already a complete mess, yet you still find the energy to meddle in everyone else’s business?"

Sophie was annoyed by this.

"He’s engaged, yet he’s still hanging around Jane," she countered.

"And how do you know Jane isn't the one who wants him there?" Matthew shot back. "In relationships, even the people involved can't always see the truth. What makes you, a complete outsider, think you have it all figured out?"

Sophie took a deep breath, staring at Matthew. "So that’s it? All men are the same, then? You all want to have your cake and eat it too, a woman by their side wherever they go. Have someone new, but still keep the old flame, and shameless pestering somehow becomes devotion."

Matthew knew she was just looking for an excuse to vent her frustrations on him. "I told you before: no one could come between us. You didn't believe me. Truth is, from start to finish, you never took our marriage seriously. You wanted to get married, so we did. You wanted to divorce, so we got one. And in the end, you blamed the whole thing on Victoria’s return."

"Even if she hadn't come back, you would've found a dozen other reasons to leave me," he continued, his voice rising. "The bottom line is, you treat marriage like a game."

Matthew rarely lost his temper, but right now, he was incandescent with rage.

He'd been holding this back for a long time.

Sophie had left so decisively, and every time she saw him now, she acted as if he were a complete stranger.

Had he really treated her that badly?

He'd told her a thousand times not to worry about what people whispered, but when had she ever listened?

Sophie froze.

His anger was palpable, vibrating through the room until he looked like he was seconds away from slamming his fist onto the table.

So, he had only stayed because he wanted a fight.

"Fine! You're right. I didn't take my marriage to you seriously," she snapped back, her voice trembling with defiant fury. "Why should I? Between your ex and your first love, who knows how many admirers might pop up in the future? You want the truth, Matthew? When I married you, I was after your money. I'm just waiting for you to drop dead so I could claim my share of your inheritance!"

The venom in her own words seemed to catch in her throat, and Sophie began to cough uncontrollably.

She slumped against the table, coughing until her eyes turned bloodshot and she struggled to draw a breath.

Seeing her distress, Matthew instinctively stepped forward to rub her back.

Sophie violently shoved his hand away, took a step back, and, after catching her breath, said without looking at him, "You know exactly what I'm like," she said, her voice brittle. "Once I break up with someone, I cut them out completely. Matthew, we're the same in that regard. Let it go."

Matthew felt as if his heart were being squeezed hard by a hand, twisted forcefully, the dull pain that suddenly turned razor-sharp.

He stepped back. "Fine. If I ever show you an ounce of concern again, I'm a fool!"

His eyes also reddened. Without another word or a backward glance, he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rattle the walls.

Only when the echo of the door died away did Sophie finally blink, letting the tears she had held back overflow.

Sophie had a cold and took the next day off to stay home in bed.

Emily knocked on the door for quite a while, eventually growing so worried she considered calling the police before the lock finally turned.

"What are you doing here?" Sophie looked completely drained as she opened the door and headed straight for the bedroom.

Emily quickly kicked off her shoes and followed, catching up to Sophie to feel her forehead. "Your fever still hasn't broken?"

"It has," Sophie murmured, collapsing back onto the bed. "I just have no energy." Her complexion was deathly pale.

Emily poured her a glass of water and handed it over. "How did you end up like this?"

"No idea." Sophie took a small, careful sip of water. "But really, why did you come by?"

"Yesterday, Joshua told me you were sick. I was going to come then, but he said Matthew was here with you, so I stayed away. This morning, Joshua called again and asked me to check on you."

Sophie managed a weak, tired smile. "Joshua is pretty thoughtful."

"Well, Joshua also mentioned that Matthew tore into the senior management team today, and even Henry got yelled at. Joshua guessed you two might have had an unpleasant time yesterday."

Emily studied Sophie’s face closely. "Did you two have a fight?"

Sophie closed her eyes, the weight of the previous night settling over her. "Something like that."

"You're in this condition, and he still fought with you?" Emily’s voice was laced with disapproval.

"We just exchanged a few words." Sophie replied, offering a brief, sanitized version of the blowout.

Emily frowned, seeing right through it. "He doesn't want to divorce you."

"You know what? Being with him feels empty," Sophie confessed, struggling to articulate the hollow sensation in her chest. "Even when you have it, you can't hold onto it." Sophie found it hard to describe the feeling. "He and I, we've never felt secure."

Emily asked, "Is it because of Victoria?"

Sophie wasn't sure. "Maybe, maybe not. Even if Victoria hadn't appeared, we still couldn't have avoided ending up here."

"You lack a sense of security," Emily observed.

"If we have to put a label on it, I guess that's it." Sophie leaned back against the pillows. "Maybe it really is my problem. He made it very clear that no one could change our marriage. But I was the one constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. When you have that thought long enough, you eventually make it a reality."

Emily knew Sophie's romantic history; her relationships were notoriously short-lived. Lasting two years with Matthew was, in many ways, a record for her.

If it hadn't been for the legal commitment of marriage anchoring her, they probably would have split up long ago.

"You don't believe in love, and you certainly don't believe in marriage," Emily said quietly.

Sophie's eyes flickered, but she didn't deny it.

Emily held her hand, eyes full of sympathy. "Forget bout the 'shoulds.' However, you feel most relaxed and comfortable living, that's how you should live. Perhaps Matthew really isn't the person who can provide the stability you need."

"Matthew always tells me I'm heartless," Sophie said with a bitter, thin smile. "And thinking about it carefully, maybe he's right." Sophie smiled bitterly. "I'm the one who has no faith in marriage."

Emily understood the root of that cynicism.

When her mother jumped off a building and killed herself over a relationship all those years ago, had left Sophie with a deep-seated, invisible trauma.

It was the reason why, for all these years, whenever she was in a relationship and couldn't continue, she would decisively cut off contact with the other person.

For Sophie, being clear-cut wasn't an act of cruelty—it was a means of survival.