Chapter 171 He Went Back to Rain Village with Her
Sophia rested at the hotel for two days.
During this time, William came knocking on her door several times, but Joe turned him away each time. Three meals a day were delivered directly to her room.
Fortunately, Sophia knew some medical skills herself.
With the combined effects of the special spray and self-massage, her ankle recovered by the third day.
On the day of the bidding for the Redwood Resort land.
The land seller invited all bidders to attend. Sophia's seat happened to be arranged together with William and Benjamin.
The evaluation committee reviewed the bid documents. After several rounds of fierce competition, the company behind Sophia won the bid.
Both William and Benjamin were shocked.
To be fair - Sophia had genuinely won this bid through her own abilities.
Once the follow-up details were announced and the relevant contracts signed, Sophia's plan to plant medicinal herbs on the land could proceed step by step.
These past two days, she'd been in a noticeably good mood.
Not only had she won the Redwood Resort land, but the seeds sent to the ZN laboratory had also been confirmed as viable seeds that could be cultivated.
After the bidding ended, people from other companies gradually left Forton County.
Sophia wanted to return to Rain Village to pay respects to her grandmother.
Joe had originally planned to go back with her, but his adoptive father had just run into some trouble abroad, and he needed to fly over personally to handle it.
"Monkey, I'm fine."
"I just want to go back alone to pay respects to my grandmother. Don't worry, nothing will happen to me."
"Logan is still in the hospital recovering. Just go take care of your business. I'll return to Empire City tomorrow."
Sophia wanted to drive back alone, but Joe wouldn't hear of it and arranged for bodyguards to accompany her to Rain Village.
Little did she know... car after car was following behind her.
Before returning to Rain Village, Benjamin came to say goodbye. He was going back to Port City to ask his grandmother and mother in person why they had done those things to Sophia back then, why they had forced her to leave.
"Sophia."
He wanted to apologize to her, but didn't know how to begin.
The wounds from back then had probably already scabbed over. If he suddenly apologized now, wouldn't that just be tearing open her wounds again?
Benjamin's gaze toward her was always gentle, his voice clear and smooth - the most tender voice among all the voices Sophia had ever heard.
If anyone embodied remorse, it was Benjamin at this moment. Sophia's hand tightened on the door handle.
"Have a safe trip."
Benjamin nodded. "Take care of yourself. Call me anytime you need anything. My number is..."
He believed that with Sophia's memory, she could easily remember the phone number he was giving her, but whether she'd be willing to contact him, Benjamin had no confidence about that at all.
Silence spread between them.
The air outside Sophia's room door seemed frozen in stillness.
Benjamin's luggage was already packed, and his car was waiting downstairs. He could leave this remote small city at any time.
But because she was here, he felt an inexplicable pull in his heart, and his feet never moved.
Sophia clearly sensed the stubbornness radiating from Benjamin. She sighed inwardly, looked up, forced a smile, and took the initiative to break the current deadlock.
"Okay, I've got it. I'll contact you if I need anything. It's getting late, you should leave soon."
Benjamin smiled and said, "I'll wait for you."
Just then, William opened the door across the hall and saw the scene of the two people smiling at each other.
He looked at Sophia across from him with an expressionless face.
And she, even without looking at William, could feel the cold aura coming from him and his gaze that kept lingering on her face.
Sophia stubbornly didn't look at him once. After saying goodbye to Benjamin, she immediately closed her door.
And William didn't come knocking either.
Inside, her luggage was already mostly packed. Sophia finished the last of her preparations and left the hotel.
She drove alone toward Rain Village.
More than two hours later.
Sophia returned to the house she hadn't seen in several months. The sofa and carpet in the living room had all been replaced with new ones.
When she left last time, Joe had specifically left two people here to clean and also to prevent anyone in the village from getting ideas about the empty house.
"Ms. Johnson, the rooms are cleaned every day. You can go upstairs and rest for a bit. I'll start preparing dinner now."
Sophia nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."
She went up to the study, where there were still toys left by James and Michael. Picking up a toy car from the desk, her mind wandered.
Though it had only been a few short months, Sophia had a feeling like it was a lifetime ago. Her relationship with James and Michael had become much warmer and closer, and they were becoming increasingly dependent on her.
Her phone vibrated - it was a video call request from Lucas.
Sophia answered without hesitation.
As soon as the video connected, she saw three smiling faces crowded in front of the camera. The three siblings immediately called out "Mommy" when they saw her.
On the sofa behind them, Lucas was lounging with his legs crossed, eating something, while the TV was playing Emily's favorite cartoon.
"Mommy, Mommy."
Emily kept calling her repeatedly.
Sophia's heart softened. "Mommy's here. Emily, what did you play with James today?"
Emily immediately grabbed a newly opened blind box gift from the table and held it up to the phone to show Sophia. "Opening dolls."
James added, "Mommy, Michael and I brought blind box gifts for Emily. There are lots of little dolls inside. We've already opened half of them, and each one is different. Emily loves them so much."
"You're all wonderful." Sophia praised them with a smile.
The phone was placed on the sofa, leaning against the backrest. The children climbed on the sofa, talking while demonstrating how to open the blind boxes for her.
"Wow! It's a hidden edition!"
Michael couldn't help but jump up excitedly.
Emily didn't understand what a hidden edition was, but seeing another new doll in a different style, she happily hugged Michael beside her and nuzzled against him. "Michael, amazing!"
Michael immediately hugged her back and declared earnestly, "Emily, I'll open more new ones for you. I'll definitely complete the whole set for you!"
Each time they opened a blind box, they held it up to show Sophia, until they had opened all the blind boxes.
James and Michael were a bit disappointed - they were still three styles short of completing the set. But Emily hugged them both and kissed each one on the cheek.
"You're super amazing!"
"Very good."
"I'll give you candy, Uncle Lucas bought it."
The disappointment on the two brothers' faces was completely swept away by Emily's praise and coaxing.
James smiled a bit shyly and said, "Emily, I'll buy more for you tomorrow."
Emily nodded cutely. "Okay, I'll wait for you."
While chatting with the children, Sophia went to draw the curtains. The sky that had been clear just moments ago was now covered with dark clouds.
Raindrops tapped against the window.
She had just pulled the curtain when her gaze casually swept past the window and caught sight of a black Maybach parked not far from the house.
The model looked familiar.
It looked a bit like the car William drove.
Sophia pulled the curtain open again to get a better look. The car was parked quite far away, and she couldn't see the license plate clearly from the study.
She went to the master bedroom. This time, she could clearly see the license plate, and she also saw the man sitting in the driver's seat.
...It really was William.
Sophia was puzzled. What was he doing coming to Rain Village?