Chapter 198: Understanding Requires Knowing
"W-What?" The entire Johnson family froze, staring at Sophia in disbelief, as if unable to trust their own ears.
"I do have psychological issues." Sophia said calmly as she changed her shoes in the entryway. She then straightened up with a half-smile as she looked toward Emily. "However, you got one thing wrong. I do have emotions. I can experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. I can distinguish between love and hate."
She walked forward slowly. As she passed Lucas, he seemed to snap back to reality and stepped back several paces while clutching the dog in his arms.
Not because he feared she'd hurt Snowball, but because he worried that any contact with the dog might cause her physical discomfort.
Sophia noticed this small gesture. Her red lips curved ever so slightly in the faintest of smiles before she finally stopped in front of Emily, a cold light gleaming in her bright eyes.
She said softly, "I'm curious—who told you about this? John? Or Andrew?"
Emily's pupils trembled violently. The Sophia before her now brought back memories of that day at Celestial Peak Hotel, when she'd pinned Emily to the bed and choked her breathless. That dangerous woman!
This woman isn't normal! Just like John—she's insane!
"Stop wasting words on her. Show her out!" Mary commanded coldly. She never should have let Emily in through the door.
Forget letting her stay the night—Mary couldn't stand having her in the house for even another minute!
"Why are you still here? Get out!" Lucas was the most furious. Thinking about how Emily had slandered Sophia to his face just days ago made him want to sic the dog on her!
Several pairs of eyes bore into Emily with cold hostility, showing no trace of pity or hesitation.
Emily refused to accept defeat. She clenched her fists until her hands trembled. "She admitted she's sick! And you're still keeping her around? Sooner or later, she'll end up killing you all!"
Sophia's red lips curved into a smile, her tone light and airy. "If you don't leave now, you'll be heading back to the hospital for more treatment."
Emily's heart lurched, her pupils dilating instantly. No matter how arrogant and domineering she might be elsewhere, she didn't dare act out in front of Sophia.
She had witnessed Sophia's terrifying side firsthand.
Emily swallowed hard, lowered her head to avoid Sophia's gaze, and scurried out in humiliation.
The atmosphere in the living room didn't ease with the unwelcome guest's departure. The tension remained.
Everyone pressed their lips tight, thoughts in turmoil, unsure how to broach the subject of Sophia's mental illness.
Finally, it was Sophia herself who broke the silence. She smiled, looking just as she always did. "I'm hungry. The food's getting cold."
Everyone snapped back to attention. Mary took a deep breath, suppressing the unease in her heart. "Right," she said quietly. "Let's wash up and eat."
She went into the kitchen to fetch a clean set of utensils.
Lucas carried Snowball out to the backyard. Evelyn picked up the utensils Mary had thrown earlier and headed into the kitchen with James to wash their hands.
Once seated, the dining room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. No one spoke as they ate, though none seemed to have much appetite. They chewed mechanically, the food tasteless as wax.
Since Sophia had publicly admitted to her psychological issues, she naturally didn't mind laying everything out in full.
She took the initiative to speak. "What Emily said was true. When I was nine, I witnessed Andrew stab John's dog to death. After that, I had frequent nightmares. Add to that the oppressive atmosphere of the Smith household, and my mental health suffered."
As Bruce had mentioned many times before, growing up around two lunatics like Andrew and John, there was no way she could turn out completely normal.
This was also why she slept so poorly.
Lucas bit down hard on his back teeth, his head hanging low with overwhelming guilt.
So Sophia had developed a psychological trauma from that incident—that's why she hated dogs. Despite the severe shock she'd endured and her strong aversion to dogs, she had still agreed to let him keep one.
And he had believed Emily's poisonous words, lashing out at Sophia without even trying to understand...
Sophia's lips curved into a smile as she continued. "But you don't need to worry. It's just a minor issue. It doesn't affect my daily life."
As long as she wasn't triggered, she wouldn't have an episode. So over the years she'd trained herself to maintain emotional stability, rarely experiencing intense mood swings.
Combined with her naturally more detached emotional baseline, many things simply didn't bother her. She didn't love easily, nor did she hate easily.
She'd hidden it well. Since that incident with Bruce over a decade ago, the birthday party had been the first time she'd had an episode.
All her close friends knew about her condition, so they never kept dogs at home and always tried their best to keep her away from dogs when they were out.
Only John, that lunatic, would send her a dog, practically hoping to make her lose control, to assimilate her, to drag her into the abyss with him.
That way, she would be bound to them forever.
James had tried to maintain a calm demeanor, but the heartache was too much to fake. He set down his spoon and looked up at Sophia. "Are you really okay? Have you seen a therapist? Is this causing any serious harm to your body?"
Sophia's eyes trembled slightly, an inexplicable ache in her chest. She had thought... the family would care about what extreme behavior she might exhibit during an episode, or perhaps show some wariness or prejudice toward her.
But their eyes held only heartache and concern. They had so quickly accepted this reality and immediately worried about her health first.
Sophia lowered her gaze with a small smile, recalling what Michael had told her today: Sophia, understanding requires knowing. If you don't give people a chance to know you, how can you expect them to understand?
She was used to hiding. Even from family—because in her understanding, "family" had always lacked a certain element of trustworthiness.
Now she could see clearly. Perhaps not every family in the world could understand each other, but this family would. Her parents, her brothers and sister would.
She could trust them completely, and they would understand her, care about her, worry about her.
"I've already seen a therapist. Apart from poor sleep quality, there's no major impact on other aspects."
Sophia answered James's earlier question. Seeing him breathe a slight sigh of relief, she added, "Since coming back to the Johnson family, I feel my condition has improved significantly compared to before."
This was true. Her emotional detachment stemmed from a psychological self-defense mechanism. Amelia had told her she seemed more human now than before.
Mary suddenly set down her spoon and covered her face as she began to sob.
To have developed such severe psychological trauma, leading to psychological distortion—she couldn't bear to imagine how much suffering her daughter had endured in the Smith household.
James also fell into silence. Only now did he truly understand what Sophia had meant when she'd described the Smith family as a hellhole.