Over the past four days, Alexander seemed to have lost weight. Nonetheless, that didn’t have anything to do with Sophia. She only spared him a plain glance, then looked away. The moment Alexander stepped in, the vibe in the room instantly changed.
There was displeasure written all over Katherine’s face. Even though she didn’t say a word, it was obvious that she didn’t welcome his arrival whatsoever. On the other hand, Sophia’s expression didn’t change much. Everyone in the room remained silent, which caused the atmosphere to become stiff.
Samuel stared at Alexander, then at Sophia. In the end, he decided to sacrifice himself to break the tension. “Don’t mind him. I just felt bad leaving him to eat alone, so I had him come over to join in on the fun.
Even though Katherine called Alexander a jerk and a piece of trash behind his back, she was actually the type who tried to keep the peace. Since he had actually shown up, she stayed quiet despite the flames of fury blazing in her heart.
She wanted to reply to what Samuel had said, but all she did was think about it.
Katherine didn’t speak up, and neither did Sophia. Right then, Samuel felt alone in his efforts to liven things up.
He turned to look at Alexander, who looked as arrogant as always.
Whatever. He’s going to be alone forever if he keeps acting like that.
Samuel had made up his mind not to worry any longer but couldn’t take it after nobody spoke up for two whole seconds. He took a sip of coffee and commented, “You’re pretty good at poker, Sophia!”
In the meantime, Katherine had just swallowed a slice of meat. When she heard him say that, she couldn’t help but remember the tragedy that had occurred when she had gone to play poker with Sophia. She helplessly grumbled, “She has a photographic memory, so she remembers all of the cards. Of course, she’s pretty good.”
That left Samuel in shock. “What a coincidence. I have a friend who happens to be able to remember all the cards as well.”
Alexander was unable to hold back his frown, considering he was the friend that Samuel was talking about. He lifted his head to stare at Samuel.
Even though no words came from his mouth, his gaze was enough to communicate his thoughts. What? You can’t even admit that I’m the one you’re talking about?
Samuel eyed Sophia, and his thoughts were clear as day. They already dislike you. As if she would like the thought of having something in common with you.
Alexander looked at her as well, who seemed to be able to understand the unsaid conversation between the two men. There was a vague smile on her face as she nonchalantly continued grilling meat for Katherine.
Out of nowhere, Alexander felt his heart aching terribly. He gulped and blurted, “Can you grill some for me, too?”
While speaking, he moved his hand to push the plate of raw meat over to her.
Katherine and Samuel, who were talking about Sophia’s terrifying prowess in poker, froze up when they heard Alexander chime in. The two of them couldn’t help but turn to look at him.
Katherine tried her best to hold back but ended up failing. “Do you not have hands of your own, Mr. Xenos?”
Upon hearing that, Alexander shot her a look. “I don’t know how to grill meat.”
How shameless!
His words enraged her so much that her cheeks puffed up. Nevertheless, she was also scared of him, so all she could do was choke back her anger.
Sophia arched her brow and gazed at Samuel. “Don’t you know how to, Mr. Schild?”
That was her own form of subtle refusal.
Samuel immediately tried his best to shift the blame away from him. “Actually, I don’t really know how to, either.”
That made Sophia smirk as she stared at him cheerfully. “So, the two of you came to eat barbecue even though neither of you knows how to grill meat. Interesting.”
Her response felt like a direct slap to Samuel’s face. He compulsively turned to look at the instigator behind all of it.
Said instigator was none other than Alexander, who didn’t even flinch. It was like he couldn’t detect the hidden implications in Sophia’s words.
At that point, Samuel already felt shameless enough. He couldn’t believe that Alexander was acting even more outrageous than him.
The barbecue they had that day was relatively filling.
Sophia didn’t eat much. Instead, she was mostly busy helping to grill the meat.
On the other hand, Katherine and Samuel were squabbling among themselves. Sophia watched them from the side as she grilled. It was like they were acting out a play, and she was just an onlooker.
Once the meal was over, Samuel paid for it all and asked Sophia what plans she had for the afternoon. He invited her for a game of poker in the event that she was free.
She wiped her wet hands and shot him an amused look. “Do you think I was holding back out of consideration last time, Mr. Schild?”
Samuel had suffered thirty thousand in losses in a little over an hour. No matter how one saw it, she clearly wasn’t holding back at all.
Even so, he could stand to lose thirty thousand. “It was not that bad.”
Sophia bore an indifferent grin on her face. “We’re busy now, so we’re going home.”
While saying that, she turned to glance at Katherine. “Let’s go.”
Katherine, who had been in a daze, took a few seconds to react after being stared at by Sophia. “Oh, okay.”
They then took their leave as soon as Sophia suggested to do so. Samuel had wanted to say something but ended up keeping his mouth shut in the end.
He watched as Sophia’s figure disappeared into the distance and couldn’t stop himself from frowning. “Is it possible that you’ve given up?”
Alexander huffed in response and gave him a side glance. “Don’t be so presumptuous next time.”
Alexander huffed in response and gave him a side glance. “Don’t be so presumptuous next time.”
“Ugh. Don’t you think that’s a bit too much, Alexander? I only set up this meeting between you and Sophia because I noticed how lifeless you’ve been for the past few days, so I wanted her to serve as a cure. Even so, you’re calling me presumptuous?” Samuel asked incredulously.
If she doesn’t like it, then I won’t do it.
All of a sudden, Samuel found himself unable to say that their friendship was over. Sigh… He’s a pretty miserable guy, huh?
Nonetheless, he remained brutally honest. “It does seem like Sophia has no intention to turn back. If you really want to respect her wishes, you might as well just give up.”
Alexander, who had actually felt rather touched, stiffened up. “You know you’re no match for me, right? How about next time, you just lie down and let me beat you up?”
“I’m being serious, Alex,” Samuel stated.
“So am I,” Alexander retorted.
Some friend he is. He’s pouring salt into an open wound!
He let out an icy snort before turning to leave.
His actions left Samuel dazed, who hurriedly caught up to him. “What are you acting so arrogant for, then? Do you really think you can win her back like that? Moping around like that isn’t going to touch anyone’s heart but your own.”
Alexander’s cold made him a little dizzy. To him, Samuel was like a fly buzzing around his ear, which only served to worsen his headache.
When he got to the escalator, he suddenly came to an uncontrollable stop. He turned to look at Samuel and uttered, “What I mean is that she doesn’t like seeing you. You should avoid hanging around her so that she doesn’t get annoyed.
Samuel was rendered speechless.
Where does Alexander even get that blind confidence from?
At the same time, Katherine, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked the same confused question, “Where on earth does Alexander get his confidence from?”
Sophia gave her a small smile. “Maybe it’s because he’s rich.”
As a poor person, Katherine was stunned into silence. She would never be able to relate to that.
After sending Katherine home, Sophia drove off. The sun was shining bright that day. When she turned into a narrow street, she could see Alexander’s car parked near her house from far away.
She furrowed her eyebrows but quickly looked away and drove over to the gate. When it opened, she kept her gaze straight ahead while driving into the mansion.
The afternoon sun was warm. She changed into some yoga clothes and began calmly practicing yoga in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
