"Together was your decision, and breaking up was also your decision. I didn't do anything wrong! Why can't we go back to how things were? I tried so hard, but you insisted on breaking up! Why?" Sophie pressed hard against her chest; she felt like she could barely breathe, her heart aching terribly.
"I don't want to break up, I don't want to break up!" Her voice was extremely faint as she struggled to the limit... using her last strength to beg him not to end it.
She didn't understand why! Why did loving someone hurt so much? Why could he be so ruthless? Why could he just give up like that?
"There's nothing more to say, and nothing more to ask. Just pretend everything I ever said was a lie—would that make it easier for you to let go?" Ned's expression remained cold throughout. His indifferent tone made it sound as if he were merely engaging in casual small talk.
Sophie stood frozen at the hospital entrance, the emptiness in her heart spreading bit by bit with each passing second. Silence stretched between them...
"You go ahead! I'm heading back too!" Sophie seemed to have made the biggest decision of her life as she said these words.
"Do you need me to give you a ride back? After all, you're still a patient," Ned offered.
"No need!" Sophie replied almost reflexively and immediately. "We'll each go our own way."
With that, Sophie turned woodenly and walked step by step toward her small apartment. It wasn't until she heard the sound of the engine starting behind her...
She stopped, stood stunned, then turned back. Ned's sports car had already driven out of the alley from the other end... coldly driving out of her life.
Archibald, who had driven over to the hospital with a packed lunch, naturally arrived full of excitement but left disappointed. After placing the beautifully packaged lunch at the nurses' station, he turned his car around and headed straight to the small apartment. But when he eagerly arrived downstairs at Sophie's place, he hesitated—taking advantage of someone's vulnerability didn't seem very gentlemanly.
Back at the apartment, Sophie sat dazed at her small desk, staring at the photo of her mother and herself on the table.
"Mom, what should I do? How am I supposed to move forward from here? I really don't want to go to America like this, without understanding why." She silently asked her mother in her heart. Of course, there would be no answer to her question, because her mother had never approved of her relationship with Ned from the beginning.
Only then did it suddenly hit her that she hadn't visited her mother in the hospital for two consecutive days, nor had she called her. She didn't know how her mother was doing in the hospital or how Uncle Jonathan's follow-up arrangements for the trip to America were progressing.
She also realized that there was only one week left before she and her mother would leave London. She still had so many things to sort out—at school, at the hospital, in the small apartment. There wasn't enough time left for her to continue wallowing in sorrow; she needed to pull herself together and move forward.
She went to the bathroom, wet a towel, and wiped her face. Lately, she'd been crying far too often; her eyes were red and swollen, and even the touch of the towel on her cheeks felt stinging.
Beep—beep—
The ringing of a phone broke the silence in the quiet little apartment. Sophie froze for a moment before realizing it was her own phone. She quickly walked back to her room and answered the call.
"Hello? Sophie? It's me, Hebe!" In her dazed state, Sophie barely recognized the voice on the other end.
After a brief pause, she replied, "Oh, hi! Yes, it's me—Sophie. Is something the matter?" She could hear the weakness in her own voice.
"The general manager just told me that you're resigning?"
She hesitated for a moment before answering, "Yes. I submitted my resignation letter yesterday."
"In that case, you need to come back to C&C to complete the resignation procedures. Oh, and there's also a document that needs to be handed to you— the general manager asked me to pass it on."
"Pass it to me? What is it?"
"It's a letter of recommendation. If you look for a job elsewhere in the future, you can give this letter to the interviewer. It should help a lot." Hebe's tone carried a hint of envy: "The general manager is really good to you. I've never seen a boss who takes the initiative to write a recommendation letter for a departing employee."
Sophie remained silent.
"Hello? Are you still there?" After a long pause with no response, Hebe asked.
"I don't need it. I don't want the recommendation letter," Sophie said faintly. "Please pass on my thanks to the general manager for his kindness."
"Uh—but why not? It would be very helpful for finding your next job—"
"Thank you for your trouble, Hebe!" Sophie prepared to hang up.
"Wait a second!" Hebe said hurriedly. "Even if you don't want the recommendation letter, you should still come back to C&C at least once to properly complete the resignation procedures. I already reminded you about that earlier. Just handing the resignation letter to the general manager doesn't follow the proper process."
Sophie was silent for a while before replying, "If it doesn't follow the rules, then HR can just deduct this month's salary from me."
"You signed a contract. It's better to come back and handle it properly!" Hebe insisted.
"I'm sorry!" Sophie hung up the phone. She didn't want to go back to C&C. Even though she knew it wasn't the right thing to do, she couldn't bear to face Ned's indifference again. She had completely lost confidence in herself!
On the morning of the third day, Victoria was leisurely sitting at the dining table having breakfast when the butler brought her a letter.
"Who sent this?" Victoria wiped her fingers clean and took the envelope.
"Madam, this is an anonymous letter. It was placed in the mailbox last night and is addressed only to you." The butler replied respectfully, "It arrived very late last night after you had already retired to your room, so I didn't bring it upstairs."
"Hmm, it's fine. If it were urgent, they would have called. Who still uses such an old-fashioned method these days? Hehe!" With that, Victoria opened the envelope and shook out a photograph from inside. It clearly showed a nearly naked Sophie gazing obsessively at her son, with the background unmistakably a hotel suite.
Holding the photo, Victoria was instantly furious. She gripped it tightly, almost as if she wanted to burn a hole through it with her glare. "How can this girl be so shameless? Does she really think she can trap my son with her body? A cheap woman like that naturally gives birth to cheap offspring."
She slammed the dining table hard, then stood up and stormed off, barking orders as she headed upstairs: "Butler, prepare the car for me. I'm going out—right now, immediately!"
"Yes, Madam. I'll arrange it at once," the butler replied calmly, his expression unchanged. The other servants, however, hardly dared to breathe, terrified that her anger might turn on them.
Victoria returned to her room and changed into a white dress. "Hmph, I refuse to believe that woman can keep up her pretense when she sees her own daughter acting so shamelessly—stripping naked to seduce a man! Today, I'm going to tear that hypocritical mask right off her face..."
Seething with rage, she got into the luxury van driven by her chauffeur and headed straight for the university hospital. She had long known that Sarah was admitted to a VIP ward there, but she had held back from causing trouble again—mindful of the major medical incident her previous outburst at the hospital had triggered. This time, however, she could no longer contain herself.
She was determined to cut through the mess quickly and get rid of these two infuriating women as soon as possible, no matter what it took.
...
Early that morning, when Sophie arrived at school for class and noticed her classmates looking at her strangely, she already sensed something was wrong.
This semester marked her final exams. Forty minutes before the test began, Class Teacher Chen called her into the office.
Class Teacher Chen had Sophie sit across from her desk, then said, "You must be wondering why I've called you in here when exams are about to start." Her expression was grave.
Sophie offered no reply; she knew the teacher hadn't finished speaking.
"I know you've been working part-time while studying, and I heard your mother has been ill recently. So, how have you been holding up lately? Has something happened?"
"Why do you ask, Class Teacher Chen?" Sophie asked, somewhat puzzled.
The teacher opened her mouth several times as if to say something but hesitated. After glancing at her watch, she shook her head, opened a drawer, and pulled out a stack of photos. "These were received by the LSE chairman two days ago. He had someone deliver them to the principal and demanded that the school address the issue. As for what these photos mean or what problem they represent, I don't even know what to say. See for yourself." With a heavy heart, she pushed the photos toward the student she cared for deeply.
Sophie hesitated before picking up the stack of photos...