After she was done with yoga, she immediately took a nap. By the time she woke up, it was exactly six in the evening. The sky outside was getting dark, and it seemed to be drizzling when she took a closer look.
Katherine had sent a picture of her weighing scale on WhatsApp to her, saying that the former hadn’t gained any weight even after eating so much grilled meat. In Katherine’s opinion, Jonice had overreacted.
The message made Sophia chuckle. She replied: Next time, you should really crop out the clock in the picture.
She was amazed that Katherine was trying to use an old picture to try and trick her.
There wasn’t any food in the fridge, so Sophia decided to order some seafood pasta.
When Felix called her, she thought it was the deliveryman. Unexpectedly, however, she saw a familiar number when she looked at the screen.
Naturally, she recognized it as Felix’s.
Sophia raised an eyebrow. Just as the call was about to time out, she picked up. “Yes, Mr. Lane?”
“I’m sorry to disturb, Ms. Yarrow. I’m unable to get in contact with Mr. Xenos right now, not to mention that he has a fever. I’m worried that something might have happened to him, so I decided to call you and ask. Is Mr. Xenos with you right now?” Felix inquired.
That caused her to frown. “Hold on.”
While on the phone, she grabbed an umbrella and went downstairs. She had only just stepped out when she saw the black car beyond the fence.
It seemed that Alexander was still outside her gate.
“Mr. Lane,” she called.
“I’m listening, Ms. Yarrow,” Felix replied.
“He’s with me.”
“Mr. Xenos is currently suffering from a high fever, Ms. Yarrow. Could I bother you to take him to the hospital?” Then, as if he had realized how rude his request was, Felix felt a wave of regret. “I apologize, Ms. Yarrow. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I’ll get Mr. Schild to pick Mr. Xenos up.”
Sophia gripped the umbrella. Rain poured from the gloomy night sky, and she couldn’t get a good look at Alexander, who was inside the car.
It was true that she didn’t intend to bother herself with it, though. Felix was a capable man, so she wasn’t going to make any more trouble for herself. “Okay. I’m hanging up.”
Once she ended the call, she walked over with the umbrella in hand. “Alexander?”
He looked to be asleep. She knocked on the window, but he stayed motionless.
The rain was not heavy, but it was drizzling a lot. The entire road was wet. She had worn a pair of furry slippers outside, which had gotten soaked from the rainwater in no time.
A gust of wind swept through the rain, which made her even colder. She had only planned to step out and have a look, so she was only wearing a loose sweater. It wasn’t enough to block the rain.
There was no response from Alexander. Sophia stood next to the windshield and continued staring at him. He was leaning against the seat with his eyes shut, and his face seemed to be a bit pale. His lips were dry, and it was clear that he wasn’t in the best state.
She recalled what Felix had said to her over the phone, then knocked on the window again.
The window wasn’t fully closed. There was a roughly five-centimeter wide gap to let some air in.
“Alexander?”
She called out his name while rapping on the window. His eyebrows twitched from inside the car, which made Sophia think that he had woken up. However, his eyes were still closed.
Alexander was having a dream that Sophia kept calling for him. He wanted to go to her side, but for some reason, he was physically unable to close the tiny distance between them.
The moment he opened his eyes, he continued looking straight forward motionlessly. It wasn’t until he heard Sophia’s voice coming from beside him that he finally moved.
When he looked to the side, he saw her standing outside of the car while holding an umbrella.
It was so cold outside, but she was only dressed in a thin sweater.
The nighttime wind had made her pale face flushed. She stared at him impassively. “Are you awake?”
It was just a dream.
Alexander put his hands to his temples. “Why are you here?”
“Mr. Lane gave me a call. He said he couldn’t reach you and was very worried,” she explained. She also added, “Since you’re awake, you should just sit there and rest for a while. Mr. Schild will come and pick you up soon.”
Alexander was having a hard time because of his high fever. He had no idea how long he had slept.
When he heard Sophia say that, he looked down at his phone. The first thing he saw was a notification from Samuel.
He clicked into it and skimmed through the message, in which Samuel was asking if he had to go and pick him up. He also said that if Alexander didn’t reply, that meant there was no need for it.
Since he had just woken up, he was still rather dazed. However, the message from Samuel and what Sophia had stated allowed him to quickly figure out what he had to do.
He put his phone away and hoarsely asked, “My throat kind of hurts. Can I get some water inside?”
After staring at him for a second, she nodded. “Get out of the car, then.”
Following that, she took a step back and waited outside the car with her umbrella.
“Allow me.” Alexander got out and took the umbrella from her.
The umbrella wasn’t exactly a big one. It was more than enough for Sophia alone, but it was clearly too small for both of them.
The combination of both rain and wind at night was enough to chill someone to the bone, but the moment Alexander pressed up against her, she felt heat rush through her body.
When Sophia sensed his oddly warm body, she couldn’t help but tilt her head to look at him. “Why did you go to the barbecue place even though you have a fever?”
“It’s only a mild one,” he said defensively.
It was a mild fever when he had gone out, at least. The same couldn’t be said for his condition right then.
Sophia did not say anything more and led him into the mansion.
That was Alexander’s second time in the mansion. He had just sat down, and Sophia was already handing him a cup of warm water. The moment she put the cup down, the doorbell rang.
She eyed him. “I’m going downstairs to get my food.”
Once she told him that, she twirled around and left.
Alexander observed her retreating back. It wasn’t until she disappeared to the first floor that he looked away.
It was true that he was thirsty. After all, he had sat in the car for four hours, not to mention that his fever caused him to get dehydrated more easily. By then, he hadn’t had a sip of water for over four hours.
It was true that he was thirsty. After all, he had sat in the car for four hours, not to mention that his fever caused him to get dehydrated more easily. By then, he hadn’t had a sip of water for over four hours.
His body felt incredibly weak, and even his breath while talking felt hotter than usual. He could tell that his body temperature had risen.
A single glass of water wasn’t enough to quench his thirst. He was able to gulp it all down in just one go.
She set the food aside and took a cloth from the kitchen. “When is Samuel coming to pick you up?”
Alexander stared at the glass cup and acted as if he hadn’t heard her.
His blatant action caused Sophia to frown. After cleaning up, she grabbed a thermometer. “If your temperature is over thirty-eight degrees, then you’d better go straight to the hospital.”
“Okay,” he agreed quietly.
Without another word, he stuck the thermometer in his armpit.
Meanwhile, Sophia opened up the food she had ordered. The delicious aroma of seafood pasta wafted into the air. She was just about to dig in when she noticed that his eyes were glued onto her as well as the seafood pasta in front of her.
She arched a brow. “Do you want to order some delivery, too?”
“Yeah,” he admitted, then fished his phone out right away. He glanced at her and questioned, “Where did you get that from?”
“You shouldn’t eat seafood pasta while you have a fever,” she nagged.
“It smells really good,” protested Alexander.
His words caused her to involuntarily remember how pitiful Katherine was every time she longed to eat meat even though she was on a diet.
She couldn’t deny that she found him to be pitiful right then.
Even so, she wasn’t a very sympathetic person. “Suit yourself.”
If he wants to eat it, then so be it. That’s none of my business.
Alexander had his lips pursed for a while before piping up, “What can I eat, then?”
He lowered his gaze to peer at her with a blank look in his pitch-black eyes. It was clear that he was giving her his full attention.
“Get something light. Oatmeal, maybe,” she suggested.
“Okay.” Thus, he ordered a bowl of oatmeal and sat there while quietly drinking his water.
In the meantime, Sophia devoured her seafood pasta, which had a mouth-watering smell to it. Truthfully speaking, he didn’t have much of an appetite, nor did he feel especially hungry. He just wanted to have a taste after seeing her eat.
By the time she was done eating, Alexander’s oatmeal had arrived. On the other hand, Samuel, who had said he was going to pick Alexander up, was nowhere to be seen.
Half an hour had passed.
She put the oatmeal in front of him and asked, “When is Samuel going to come?”
