Chapter 64
Matthew's appearance caught Sophie completely off guard.
She never expected Matthew would show up here.
And especially not under these circumstances.
Suddenly she felt that awkward embarrassment of being caught cheating.
But then she thought - Matthew and Bella had always been unclear about their relationship, and she never said anything about that.
Besides, she had signed the divorce papers. Their marriage wasn't good to begin with, so there was no loyalty to speak of.
Alex felt Sophie's body tense up. He gently let go of her and turned to follow her gaze, also seeing Matthew.
Matthew was the legitimate spouse, which made Alex the other man.
But Alex didn't hide. He stood beside Sophie, facing Matthew.
Matthew looked at them standing side by side. Anyone who didn't know better would definitely think they were a couple, husband and wife.
While he was just a stranger interrupting someone else's intimate moment.
The three of them just looked at each other. Sophie took a deep breath and said softly to Alex, "You should go back first."
"It's fine." Alex knew what kind of scene might follow, but he wasn't leaving.
"I need to talk to him." Sophie felt it was really necessary to have a proper conversation with Matthew.
Alex was a bit worried.
Sophie said, "You go first. We'll talk later."
With those words, Alex finally relented.
"Call me if anything happens." Alex still wasn't completely at ease.
"Okay."
Alex walked past Matthew. The two men exchanged glances, neither looking particularly friendly.
Sophie stood at the doorway, waiting for Matthew to come over.
Matthew walked toward her step by step, and each step changed something in Sophie's state of mind.
She thought she'd be flustered, but she wasn't.
When he stood in front of her, she was very calm.
"Don't you owe me an explanation?" Matthew spoke first.
Sophie looked at him calmly and pulled out a faint smile. "Didn't you already see everything? What needs explaining?"
Her bland, tasteless words made Matthew's eyes darken.
He had booked a flight and rushed over as soon as he saw that photo in the afternoon. He went to the club looking for her but couldn't find her, then came to the hotel and saw this scene.
Now she wasn't even giving him an explanation!
"Do I need to remind you that you're married?" Matthew narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Sophie looked down at the tissue stuck to her finger and pulled it off, revealing the wound that had stopped bleeding.
"Matthew, I already signed the divorce papers you gave me. So let's just get divorced when we go back." As Sophie said this, her heart felt a little uncomfortable.
Matthew stared at the wound on her index finger, swallowing. "One business trip and you couldn't wait?"
Sophie raised her face, her beautiful eyes full of mockery. "If we don't divorce, how will you explain things to Bella?"
"Don't bring up irrelevant people."
"Is she irrelevant? One phone call from her and you go running. When she's sick you're there, when she has a car accident you're there, staying out all night. Did you ever think about being married then?"
Sophie didn't want to be a shrew, standing in the hotel hallway arguing with him.
But she couldn't help it.
How dare he demand that she remember her status?
Matthew clenched his fists but didn't refute her accusations.
Sophie took a deep breath and calmed down. "We never had feelings for each other anyway, so why act like we're deeply in love? Actually, if you really want to keep this marriage, that's fine too. We can just do our own thing."
"You go to your ex, do whatever you want. I won't interfere with you, and you don't interfere with me." Sophie stared at Matthew. "Whenever you want to divorce, we can divorce then. As long as we don't restrict each other, it's fine."
Matthew's face darkened.
Sophie didn't care.
She was too tired tonight.
"Let's both cool down. If you want a divorce, I'll still cooperate. If you don't, then we'll just live separate lives without divorcing." Sophie said, "I'm a bit tired. I'm going back to my room to rest."
After speaking, Sophie turned and pushed the door to go in.
As she closed the door, Matthew just stared at her.
He actually looked a bit pitiful.
It must be her imagination.
As the door was closing, his hand pressed against it, widening the gap again.
Sophie was pushed back helplessly, watching him walk in from outside.
"What are you doing?" Sophie didn't want to let him in.
"If you don't let me in, I'll go find that man from earlier to chat." Matthew's tone was cold.
Sophie frowned tightly.
Matthew walked straight in.
He took off his coat, threw it on the sofa, unbuttoned his collar, grabbed a bottle of water from the table, twisted off the cap and drank it all, then forcefully crushed the empty bottle.
The bottle was deformed in his grip.
Sophie closed the door, watching his restrained appearance, feeling a bit scared inside.
She didn't want to face him. She'd said what needed to be said.
She grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom to wash away the exhaustion.
Only now did she realize how tired her body was.
After showering and coming out, Matthew was standing in the same spot staring at her.
Sophie actually wasn't afraid Matthew would do anything to her. They had no feelings for each other, he didn't love her, and being in the same room with him was quite safe.
She walked to the bed, pulled back the covers and lay down directly, ignoring him.
In the large room, the air became somewhat thin.
All because of Matthew.
Sophie's phone lit up. It was a message from Alex.
Actually he'd sent several, but she hadn't seen them.
All asking how she was.
Before she could reply, his call came through.
Sophie answered.
"I thought something happened to you since you weren't replying." Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
Sophie said, "I was washing up."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Already in bed."
"What about him?"
Sophie bit her lip. In those few seconds of silence, Alex already understood.
Alex asked, "Sophie, are you getting divorced?"
Sophie was slightly stunned that he would ask this question.
She did want to divorce.
But this wasn't the right time to say such things.
"Do you love him?" When Alex didn't get the answer he wanted to hear, he asked another question.
Sophie answered decisively this time. "No."
"I understand." Alex's breathing became gentler. "Rest early. I'll pick you up tomorrow."
Without giving her a chance to refuse, Alex had already hung up.
He sent another message.
Alex: [Sophie, I'll wait for you.]
These few words stirred a ripple in Sophie's heart.
But it quickly settled down.
She put down her phone, pulled the covers up high, completely covering herself.
That night, she actually fell asleep without much tossing and turning.
The next day, she was woken by her alarm.
Turning off the alarm, she sat up and saw the silhouette of a man standing by the window. She almost forgot there was another person present.
Had he not slept all night?