Chapter 111: A Mother's Love
Feeling the conversation had reached a natural pause, Sophia stood and knocked gently on the hospital room door.
Hearing the response from inside, she arranged her features into a warm smile and pushed the door open. "Mr. Green, Mrs. Green. When Michael told me last night you'd woken up, I knew you couldn't eat solid food yet, so I brought some light broth for you to try."
At the sight of Sophia, Sarah's anger evaporated completely. Her face softened with affection. "You're so thoughtful, Sophia. Thank you for going to the trouble."
"It's no trouble at all. I'm just so relieved you're awake." Sophia pulled a chair to the opposite side of the bed and sat down, unscrewing the thermos. She lifted a spoonful of broth to Sarah's lips.
Between sips, Sarah shot Matthew a cold glare. He pressed his lips together awkwardly, then cleared his throat under his wife's withering stare. "Sophia, about what I said before—don't take it to heart."
Sophia glanced over at him. After a beat, as if just catching his meaning, she offered a gracious smile. "Mr. Green, you were only looking out for Michael and Cloud Group. I understand that."
She genuinely cared for Michael, but she'd never thought Matthew's initial decision was wrong. In a city like Emerald City—where the waters ran deep and murky—one misstep could drag you under. Business was about leverage and advantage. How many people looked for sincerity in that world? She was a businesswoman herself. She understood the logic. She understood Matthew's choice.
The apology said, the matter was settled. Sarah gave Matthew another look. "You can leave. I want to talk to Sophia."
Dismissed by his wife, Matthew didn't dare protest. He wheeled himself out of the room.
With the nuisance gone, Sarah's smile relaxed. She reached for the thermos. "I can manage on my own."
Sophia blinked in surprise. "Mrs. Green, you have strength in your hands?"
"Thanks to Dr. Wright's treatment these past months. When I woke up, I felt surprisingly strong." Sarah lifted the container and finished the broth quickly.
Setting it down, she accepted the tissue Sophia handed her and wiped her mouth. Her eyes gleamed as she studied Sophia's face.
"I really should thank you. If you hadn't brought Dr. Wright in, I don't know how much longer I'd have been lying here."
Sophia smiled faintly, neither denying nor claiming credit.
Sarah extended her hand. Sophia clasped it instinctively. Sarah's voice turned gentle. "Sophia, Michael told me your parents are good to you now. Are you happy?"
"Yes. They're very attentive. Just like you are with Michael."
Over the years, Sarah had been too busy with work to spend much time with Michael. But whenever they were together, she always brought carefully chosen gifts and treasured every moment. She also made a point of spending a day or two each month in Eldoria with Ella, nurturing that bond.
You could see it in her eyes—she loved her children deeply.
Ray and Mary loved their children the same way. Especially Sophia, the daughter who'd been lost to them for seventeen years before finally coming home.
Sarah let out a breath of relief, her gaze soft as water. "Children are the embodiment of their parents' love. No parent doesn't love their child. As for the Smiths… leaving them was a blessing in disguise. You've suffered, but from now on, more people will love you."
Sophia shook her head. "Every cloud has a silver lining. I didn't grow up with my birth parents. I didn't feel their love. But if I hadn't been raised by the Smiths, I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't have met the friends I have. I wouldn't have met Michael. I wouldn't have met you."
She'd never resented her past. Growing up in that cold house, endured the cruelty of Andrew and John—it had made her rational, confident, and capable. It had given her connections, a thriving career, poise, and social grace.
In a way, it had been a stroke of luck.
Sarah smiled with satisfaction. "The first time I met you, you were just a naive little girl, always trying to win Andrew and John's approval. The smallest slight made you think the whole world had turned against you. Now look at you—a grown woman. Living with clarity is a gift. No matter what challenges come your way, you'll handle them."
Sarah had always liked Sophia—not because Michael liked her, but because she'd watched Sophia grow. Watched her reach heights in a matter of years that took others decades.
She admired that relentless drive. It reminded her of herself.
If anything, Sophia had started younger and already achieved more.
Just as the broth was finished, Ella arrived from Eldoria.
The moment she burst through the door and saw Sarah sitting upright in bed, looking alert and alive, her eyes filled with tears. She flew across the room and threw herself into her mother's arms.
"Mom!"
Hearing that cry, Sarah's heart clenched. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stroked the small head buried against her chest. "Ella, what are you doing here?"
Ella lifted her face, her lower lip trembling in an aggrieved pout. "It's the weekend. I woke up and saw Michael's message, so I flew back right away."
Ella had a sweet, cherubic face—round cheeks still full of baby fat, a delicate button nose. Her wide, grape-like eyes brimmed with tears, and her face flushed a natural pink. She looked like a soft little bunny.
Sarah's heart swelled. She brushed away the damp strands of hair clinging to Ella's temples, her gaze overflowing with tenderness.
"It's only been a few months, and you've already grown so much." The words came out lightly, but Sarah's nose stung, and more tears slipped free.
Children who grow up away from their parents always carry a certain resentment.
Ella had complained many times. Why does Michael get to stay with Mom and Dad while I'm stuck in Eldoria with Grandma and Grandpa?
She'd resented them. They visited once or twice a month, but she always accused them of favoring Michael. Her attitude toward them had been cold.
It wasn't until the accident—until Michael, barely two years older than her, took over Cloud Group and held their parents' legacy together with both hands—that she understood.
He'd managed the company, handled all the hospital arrangements, looked after her and their grandparents. No matter what happened, he stood firm.
That's when Ella realized: her parents had sent her to Eldoria to protect her. To let her grow up carefree, away from the cutthroat world of business. They hadn't abandoned her.
They'd left her with her maternal grandparents—the people Sarah trusted most in the world. Because they were her parents.