Chapter 126 Thank You, But Don't Do It Again
By the time they arrived at the hotel, it was already afternoon.
Monkey and Gerald helped settle all the villagers.
Once they had signal, they learned that just an hour after they left, a flash flood hit Hillwater Village. Those who stayed behind were likely doomed.
Hearing this news, the villagers felt a wave of fear and came over one after another to thank Sophia and William.
But Sophia didn't stay long at the hotel. She'd been away from home for almost a week and really missed her children.
After handing over the follow-up matters to government officials, she prepared to return to Empire City.
Before leaving, Gerald came to thank her. "Ms. Johnson, thank you so much, you and Mr. Smith. If it weren't for you, our village..."
At this point, his voice choked up.
Sophia didn't try too hard to comfort him. She just patted his shoulder and told him to rest well these few days.
Gerald handed her a black bag. "Take a look, is this what you were looking for?"
Sophia said, "This is?"
She opened it and found it was filled with Revival Herb.
"I'm not sure if this is what you need, take a look." Gerald scratched his head sheepishly.
Originally, he had planned to use these herbs to extort Sophia, but after the flood and all the help Sophia and her team had given the village, he didn't know how to show his gratitude, so he thought of these herbs.
Sophia nodded. "Thank you, this is the herb I need."
When she was about to pay, Gerald waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no need. You've helped us so much; consider it a gift from me."
He was ready to leave right away after giving her the herbs, afraid Sophia would force money on him.
"Gerald, these are herbs, but they're also poisonous. They need to be mixed with other medicines to remove the toxicity."
Sophia reminded him that if he found more of these herbs in the mountains later, he couldn't just sell them directly.
Gerald immediately nodded to show he understood. He went to that mountain several times every month, but had only seen these herbs once.
"Ms. Johnson, leave me your contact info. If I find more later, I'll have someone mail them to you."
Sophia gave him Monkey's phone number. "Call him, he'll arrange for someone to come directly to the village entrance."
After settling everything, she and William immediately headed to the nearest airport where they could take off.
It was several hours' drive.
By the time she reached the airport, it was already evening.
Before boarding, she checked her messages and learned that all those who refused to leave Hillwater Village had lost their lives in the flash flood.
By the time she arrived in Empire City, it was already past midnight.
She declined William's offer to take her home, telling him he didn't need to put himself in danger for her anymore.
"William, I'm an adult. Before making decisions, I consider all aspects of the situation."
"I appreciate you coming to Hillwater Village to rescue me this time, but don't do it again. With so many bodyguards around, nothing will happen to me."
Perhaps because he already knew she would say this, William's expression didn't change much. He just looked at her deeply.
William said, "Go home and rest early."
Sophia turned and got in the car. By the time she got home, it was two or three o'clock. She first went to the children's room to check on James and Michael, then returned to the master bedroom.
After showering and changing out of her dirty clothes, she lay back in bed and kissed Emily's soft, chubby face. There was no time more satisfying than this moment.
The next morning.
Half asleep, Emily felt herself nestled in a warm embrace, her nose catching a familiar scent.
She opened her eyes and saw Sophia's sleeping face. She blinked, hardly believing it. "Mommy..."
Having returned too late last night and not having slept well the past few days, Sophia was still sleeping and didn't notice that Emily in her arms had woken up.
Emily confirmed it was Sophia who had returned. She gently kissed her face, carefully crawled out from under the covers, and skillfully got down from the other side of the bed.
With her messy hair hanging loose, she first went next door to find James, happily throwing herself into James's arms as he was already awake.
Emily said, "James, brush your teeth."
Lately, Emily liked to come find James to brush teeth together. She'd even moved her chair to James's bathroom.
James had just finished getting dressed. Seeing her, he immediately smiled. "Okay."
He touched her unbraided hair, took out two small butterfly clips from the nightstand, clipped back the hair on her forehead, then held her hand as they went to the bathroom to brush teeth and wash faces.
He took the initiative to squeeze toothpaste for Emily. She stood on her chair brushing her teeth seriously. When they went to the next room to find Michael, he was, as always, refusing to get out of bed.
"James, brush teeth, go to school."
Hearing Emily's words, Michael burrowed his head further into the blanket, mumbling drowsily, "Let me sleep five more minutes."
Hearing this, Emily looked at James. He nodded, and she immediately climbed onto the bed and pulled off Michael's blanket.
She said loudly in his ear, "The sun is up! Time to get up!"
Michael opened his eyes to see Emily's cute face, then turned to see James, and finally resigned himself to getting up to brush his teeth and wash his face.
Once they were all dressed, Emily told them Sophia had returned. Michael immediately ran to the master bedroom to check, and sure enough, saw someone in the bed.
Sophia felt her cheeks being kissed several times. She woke up to see three adorable little faces. "Good morning, my darlings."
Michael's eyes sparkled. "Mommy, I missed you so much."
Emily also leaned in. "Me too!"
Though James was a bit shy, he also nodded.
He held Michael and Emily's hands and said to her, "Mommy, you keep sleeping. I'll take Emily and Michael to eat breakfast."
She ruffled his hair. "Okay, James, you're wonderful."
But Sophia didn't sleep much longer.
By the time the three children finished breakfast, she was just coming downstairs, and immediately noticed the car at the entrance.
It was William's car.
Parked at the entrance, he was leaning against the car door with his legs crossed. Sensing her gaze, he looked over through the decorative iron gate.
"Mommy, Michael and I are going to school now."
Sophia nodded. "Daddy's at the entrance, you two walk slowly."
Michael waved along with James. "Bye, Mommy."
Emily, who stayed in the dining room, asked the servant to make coffee. Sophia turned around to see her carrying the coffee, having spilled half of it along the way.
Emily looked up with a smile. "Mommy drink."
"Thank you, Emily." She quickly took the cup from her hands and wiped her hands clean with a wet tissue.
The air was filled with the rich aroma of coffee.
Emily nimbly climbed onto her own chair and sat at the dining table, obediently watching Sophia eat breakfast.
She stayed home with Emily for a day, and only went to the lab the next day to process the herbs she'd brought back.
The other herbs sent from Seraphim had also arrived. Sophia spent a whole day in the lab before making a small batch of pills, plus a special ointment for Raymond.
She had someone mail the ointment back to Seraphim. Raymond was recovering there. Except for his most serious leg injury, his other external wounds had healed.
Two or three days passed, and Sophia received Raymond's reply. The ointment worked very well, and his leg didn't hurt as much as before.
He had also returned to the country and came personally to pick her up for the party Vincent was hosting.
When she arrived at the venue, Sophia realized this wasn't an ordinary party.