Chapter 152: To Him, It Is Redemption
William has always treated his two children as equals, never forcing his own opinions on James and Michael simply because they are young.
"Go ahead, I'm listening," he said gently.
James took a deep breath and said, "I know it's all because Dad doesn't like Mom, that's why they bully her."
"Because they know no one will protect Mom."
As he spoke, his voice was full of concern for Sophia, leaving William momentarily stunned.
His throat tightened. He looked down and asked in a hoarse voice, "James, why do you think I... don't like your mom?"
James furrowed his brow and thought carefully before answering.
"Because Dad never goes to parties with Mom, doesn't kiss her before leaving, and doesn't hug her when he comes back."
"Every meal, it was just Mom, Michael, and me. I often see Mom hiding in her room, crying alone."
William's heart clenched at these words!
He thought about Sophia's cold attitude toward him now, then remembered how she smiled at him when they first got married, how she looked forward to the birth of their two children. He suddenly realized she didn't lose hope in him all at once.
Though James was young, he had a good memory.
He lowered his head sadly. "Dad, actually, I'm also at fault."
"I know Mom doesn't like Ms. Rivera, but I still didn't stop Michael from being around Ms. Rivera. That was wrong."
"Mom is our real mom, isn't she?"
James's words hit William like a bolt of lightning, jolting him out of his thoughts. Even a child understood this truth, yet he only realized it after the divorce.
Michael hung his head sadly after hearing James's words.
In the past, because Sophia often wouldn't let him eat snacks or stay up late, he thought she was mean to him and preferred the gentle Alice instead. How sad Sophia must have been when she knew about this back then?
To both children, William had always seemed like a hero. They thought their dad could do anything.
He suppressed the bitterness in his heart, patted James's head, and asked softly, "James, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
James pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Dad, you should rest early. Michael and I are going back to our room, too."
Although the child said this, William still walked them back to their room before returning to the bedroom. He slumped onto the sofa in the dark, his figure swallowed by the shadows.
-
When Sophia returned to the car, Emily was already asleep in Monkey's arms, covered with a little fox blanket.
As Monkey handed the child to Sophia, he kept his voice low to avoid waking Emily. "Sophia, let me carry her. She just fell asleep."
Sophia nodded.
After returning to the Johnson Villa and settling Emily, she went to the study where Monkey was already waiting for her.
Sophia told him about Ethan.
"The way he looked at you wasn't right. Have you ever met him before?"
"No, I only lived in the country for a while when I was little. Later, I went abroad with my adoptive father and haven't been back for over ten years."
He only started occasionally returning to the country after meeting Sophia, to take her and Emily to the Seraphim lab for treatment. Otherwise, he stayed abroad.
"Then he very likely saw you when you were little."
Tonight, if it weren't for the intense fear and killing intent in Ethan's eyes toward Monkey, Sophia wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.
Before being adopted and taken abroad by his adoptive father, Monkey had lived at Sunrise Haven Orphanage in the county closest to Rain Village.
When Sophia returned to Rain Village with her grandmother as a child, they had visited this orphanage together to do charity work.
That's when Sophia first knew about him - withdrawn, a loner, often covered in wounds.
She tried to chat with him, but he kept avoiding her. Even on the day she left Sunrise Haven Orphanage, he still hadn't let down his guard around her.
Because he never spoke and was as thin as a little monkey, She secretly called him "Monkey" in her heart.
After that, every year she would donate part of her allowance to support the orphanage children, and would write him letters, send books, toys, and snacks, but never received any reply from him.
"I'll arrange for someone to investigate."
Sophia asked curiously, "Monkey, before you were adopted by your father and given the name Joe Watson, what was your original name?"
Monkey shook his head. "I didn't have a name. The director called me Buddy."
He only got his own name after being adopted by his father.
Sophia asked him, "So you have no memory at all of before you appeared at the orphanage?"
She had learned from the orphanage director that Monkey was already four or five years old when he arrived at the orphanage, old enough to remember things.
Joe sighed. "No."
Too much time had passed. He didn't know if he had forgotten or lost his memory, but either way, it wasn't very important to him now.
He smiled rarely and said, "Do you know why I gave myself the code name Monkey?"
Sophia really didn't know this.
He had such a nice name like "Joe," yet he still had people around him call him Monkey.
"Because that's what you called me."
"You probably forgot yourself, but once you quietly muttered, 'Monkey is so stubborn.' I've always had good hearing, so I remembered it."
Back then, he was too insecure to talk to Sophia. Every time she brought him food, he would look at her hands, then at his own dirty hands, and curl up into a ball, ignoring her.
After she left, he would wash his hands clean every day, but she never appeared before him again.
Later, the director gave him the letters Sophia had written to him. Seeing her neat handwriting on the white paper made him feel even more insecure, because he hadn't gone to school yet and couldn't read.
"I was illiterate then, couldn't read what you wrote, and could only have the director read it to me."
Sophia was only a year or two older than Joe.
But back then, the Johnson family hadn't gone bankrupt yet, and she had started having tutors early, knowing more than her peers.
"So... that's why you never wrote back to me?"
Joe said helplessly, "You expected someone who couldn't write to reply to your letters?"
After receiving her first letter, he worked hard to improve his handwriting, hoping one day to write as beautifully as Sophia.
But before he could send that letter, he was adopted by his father and taken abroad, losing contact with her.
She nodded, finally learning the truth from back then.
Joe, now tall and well-built, was no longer the frail, pitiful child he once was. He looked lean when clothed but had muscles all over when undressed - strong but not bulky, appearing full of power.
But for him back then, She was his redemption, revealing to him the beauty and light of the world.
"Sophia, remember when we were in Rain Village, I mentioned several groups of people were secretly investigating your information?"
Sophia nodded. "I remember."
Joe said seriously, "The Franklin family from Port City is one of those groups."
"Not Benjamin, but his mother... Evelyn Thomas."