Chapter 71
The fire was about to ignite.
At the last moment, Matthew suddenly stopped.
Sophie's eyes were hazy, her face flushed, confused about what was happening.
Matthew picked up the clothes he'd tossed aside and put them back on her. A man stripped of desire became even more ruthless.
"Go wash up and sleep."
Sophie was still sitting on the counter. She sobered up a bit. "What's wrong?"
Matthew picked up his clothes and put them on too, not looking at her.
"Matthew, what exactly do you mean?" Sophie was furious.
She was a bit unsatisfied, but what made her angrier was his attitude.
Just moments ago he was all over her, kissing and biting, and then suddenly this. Anyone would be upset.
Matthew buttoned his shirt, his deep eyes unusually cold. He said flatly, "I don't love you."
Sophie froze for a moment.
She'd thought of any reason except this one.
"So, you can't do it?"
"Yes." After Matthew spoke, he turned and walked out of the bathroom.
Sophie grabbed the face wash from the counter and threw it at him. "Matthew, you bastard!"
That night, Matthew left and didn't come back.
Sophie lay in bed, unable to figure out how he managed to stop himself in that situation.
She had already fallen into it.
"Damn jerk!" Sophie punched her pillow in frustration.
He'd better never fall in love with her, or else she'd make him pay!
Sophie was too angry to sleep.
The fire in her body had long been extinguished by Matthew's words.
If it had been Bella, he probably would have gone for it.
Sophie clenched her fists. This anger was stuck in her chest with no way out.
Her foot hurt, her heart was blocked. She was destined to have insomnia.
There was another person with equally complicated feelings.
Matthew was drinking. He hadn't drunk like this in a long time.
When Henry arrived, there were two empty bottles on the table.
"What happened? Why are you drinking so much?" Henry walked over to stop him. "Your body just recovered, you can't drink too much."
Matthew found him nosy. "Why are you here?"
"Someone from the club called me." Henry sat down. "What happened?"
Matthew had forgotten that back when his health was poor, everyone worried about him, afraid something might happen. They'd informed all the places they frequented that whenever they saw Matthew, they should notify Henry or Joshua.
He'd forgotten to cancel that arrangement.
"Nothing." Matthew felt irritated and poured himself another drink.
Henry had been his friend for years. He could tell whether something was wrong or not.
"Weren't you having a late-night snack with Sophie? Did you fight with her?" The only person who could make Matthew lose control of his emotions now was probably Sophie.
At the mention of Sophie, Matthew downed his drink in one gulp.
Seeing this, Henry knew he'd guessed right.
"Did she upset you again?" Henry asked. "Is it because of Bella?"
"No."
Henry sat down, even more curious now.
"If it's not because of Bella and you're still this angry, that's something."
What made Matthew angry was his reaction to Sophie.
Just a little more, just a little more, and he would have done it with her.
Henry suddenly stared at Matthew's neck, then stood up and turned on his phone's flashlight to look closer.
"What's this?"
Henry tugged at his collar. "Hickeys?"
"So many!"
Henry stared at Matthew in shock. "Who did this?"
Matthew pushed Henry away, glaring at him with displeasure. "Have some boundaries."
"After all these years, this is the first time I've seen these on you. Who did it? Sophie?" Henry was asking, but he'd already decided it was Sophie.
It couldn't be him and Bella.
It could only be Sophie.
"You and she..." Henry trailed off.
Matthew frowned.
Henry shook his head. "No, that's not right. If you'd actually done it, you wouldn't be sitting here angry right now. You'd be sleeping. Did she reject you? That doesn't make sense either. If she rejected you, there shouldn't be such intense evidence."
Henry was analyzing.
Matthew glared at him.
"Don't tell me you rejected her!" Henry understood Matthew to some extent.
Matthew said nothing.
Henry laughed. "I guessed it. So what kind of wine are you drinking now?"
"Get lost!" Matthew didn't want to deal with him.
Henry shrugged. "Not going anywhere. It's a long night, I don't have any plans, I'll keep you company."
"Then shut up."
"OK."
Henry took off his glasses, put his legs up on the table, and closed his eyes. "Don't sneak off."
Instantly, it was quiet.
Matthew ignored Henry. After his interruption and finishing another bottle, he finally calmed down.
He lay down too.
He reached up to touch his neck, images of what just happened with Sophie flooding his mind.
He could feel Sophie's urgency.
He was also clear about his own state.
Just a little more, and they would have become a real married couple.
Thinking of Sophie's frustrated and furious expression, Matthew took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
The next day, Sophie went to work.
Her limping drew concern from her colleagues.
Even though they argued at work, outside of work everyone got along pretty well.
At noon, Sophie ordered takeout.
She ate while looking at her phone. The moment she saw Matthew's avatar, the food instantly became tasteless.
That jerk, running away at the critical moment.
Just wait until he comes back!
A new message appeared.
Sophie clicked on it—it was from Bella.
Bella: [Sophie, are you free? I'm downstairs at your company. Can we meet?]
Sophie frowned.
She didn't manage to call Matthew away last night, and now she's coming after her today. What does she want?
This showed that when Matthew left last night, he didn't go to her place.
Sophie didn't reply.
She wants to meet just because she says so? Ha.
Colleagues gradually returned from lunch.
"Sophie, someone's looking for you downstairs."
"Man or woman?"
"Woman."
"What's the point of meeting a woman?" Sophie said deliberately with a smile. "Now if it were a guy looking for me, I'd go down right away."
Her colleague laughed. "Same here."
Everyone laughed together.
Bella sent Sophie another message later, but Sophie still didn't reply.
After work in the afternoon, a colleague helped Sophie walk out of the company. Bella was still there.
Sophie couldn't help but admire Bella a little.
With that kind of determination and patience, what couldn't she accomplish?
"Why is she still waiting for you?" The colleague was also surprised.
Sophie joked, "If it were a man waiting for me like this, I'd definitely give in."
Bella heard this too.
After Sophie said goodbye to her colleague, she limped a couple of steps and stopped.
Bella had no choice but to walk toward her.
"So Matthew didn't come last night because your foot was injured?" Bella spoke first, dropping all pretense.
Sophie didn't answer but asked instead, "Did you need something?"
Bella's gaze fell on her face. In terms of looks, she couldn't compare to Sophie.
This was also why she couldn't keep her composure and took the initiative to find Sophie.
"Nothing much." Bella smiled faintly. "Just wanted to chat with you."
Sophie shrugged, puzzled. "What do we have to chat about?"
Bella said with a smile, "About Matthew."