The next second, she could feel a bitter taste spreading in her mouth.
She opened her mouth to spit it out, but Alexander pressed his lips against hers to stop her. He only let go after the medicine had fully dissolved. “Drink this. It’s sweet.”
Sophia woke up instantaneously. She pushed him away and took the cup from him.
It was honey water, and it was indeed sweet.
Despite that, the bitterness in her mouth from the medicine remained.
Sophia scrunched her brows and turned to look outside the window.
The curtains were half-open, and she could clearly see that the sky was lit.
The high fever made her uncomfortably hot. She felt as if she was in a fire pit. Her throat was also burning and painful.
It took Sophia several seconds to remember what Alexander was doing there. She redirected her gaze toward Alexander. “Why are you still here?”
“I accidentally fell asleep last night.”
He glossed over his answer. Sophia was sick, but she was still in her right mind. There was no way she would believe in his excuse.
It was not Alexander’s intention for Sophia to believe him. He glanced at the empty cup and asked, “Do you want some more?”
Sophia subconsciously tightened her grip around the cup. “You can go now.”
As if he could not understand her words, he said, “You have a fever. I checked your temperature just now. It was thirty-eight point four degrees Celsius.”
“That’s none of your business.”
Sophia’s voice had completely changed because of her inflamed throat. Her usual gentle voice had turned incredibly raspy.
Sophia had just woken up, and she did not have the energy to argue with him.
She kept quiet, put on a pair of slippers, and entered the bathroom to wash up.
Sophia stared at herself in the mirror. The pain her body was in, plus her annoyance at Alexander, put her in a bad mood.
She had never imagined that Alexander would be such a bully. He had taken advantage of her illness to be a pest.
A splash of cold water stunned Sophia. She immediately returned to her senses.
She stared at herself in a daze for a while. After washing up, she gradually calmed down.
Alexander was no longer in the room. Sophia thought he finally had the decency to leave. But when she went downstairs, she saw the man holding a bag of takeout in his hand.
She stood at the mouth of the stairs and looked at him. “Alexander, are you planning on sticking around here today?”
He carried the takeout and set it down on the dining table. Then he lifted his head to look at her. “You have a fever. I’m worried.”
How honest.
The edge of Sophia’s lips twitched as she poured a glass of warm water.
“There’s oatmeal and pasta. What would you like?”
Sophia had her head down as she drank the glass of water. When she heard him, she looked up slightly and set her gaze on the dining table.
At that moment, Alexander opened the lid, and the aroma from the oatmeal reached her nose.
Sophia suddenly felt hungry.
She took another sip of water, then walked over. She took the box of oatmeal and said, “I’ll have the oatmeal. Thanks.”
It’ll be a waste not to eat it.
It was getting late. Sophia had a meeting that morning, but it was already nine o’clock when she woke up.
She had just sat down when Yvonne called.
Sophia glanced at the caller’s name: Ms. Leighton.
“Are you sick, Ms. Yarrow?”
“Yes. I won’t be attending the morning meeting.”
“All right, I understand.” Yvonne paused, then couldn’t help but ask, “Do you need me to head over?”
Sophia glanced at Alexander, who was sitting opposite her. “No. I’ve already taken my medicine.”
At the mention of medicine, Sophia remembered the kiss from when she was groggy.
She hung up the call, and her facial expression turned cold.
The more she looked at Alexander, the more frustrated she got. Furthermore, he was sitting opposite her, and she could not get rid of him.
Alexander knew Sophia did not want to see him, but last night’s incident had given him considerable confidence.
She was not completely uninterested in him.
To Alexander, this fact was a rallying cry. He was like a soldier at war, and he would continue charging forward no matter how many bullets rained down on him.
The two of them had very different thoughts, but neither spoke.
Sophia was hungry, but she did not have much of an appetite. She could only eat half of the oatmeal. She had a raging fever last night that felt unbearably painful. It made her mind fuzzy, and she felt woozy. She did not have a good night’s sleep. Now that she had satisfied her hunger, all she wanted was to replenish the shuteye she didn’t get.
He can stick around for as long as he wants! I’ll deal with him after I get better!
Sophia shot a glance at Alexander, put down her spoon, then went straight upstairs.
Alexander stared at her back, and his eyes twitched, but he didn’t say anything to avoid upsetting her further.
The mansion was filled with Sophia’s scent. It was completely different from the Xenos residence.
The roses in the garden on the first floor bloomed. The few Ferropenian trees were also towering prosperously. He stood on the second-floor balcony and could imagine Sophia tending the plants during her free time.
That’s nice. Too bad I’ve never seen it.
Sophia fell asleep in no time after she returned to her room. The cold medicine helped, but she still couldn’t sleep well.
She had a lot of fragmented dreams, and they were all related to Alexander.
She also dreamt about that year when she was fifteen. However, Alexander didn’t save her in that dream. He merely stood afar and gazed at her coldly as people dragged her away.
She screamed for help, but all her cries were for naught. Alexander stood there, unmoving.
“Alexander! Please! Help me!”
Suddenly, she was happily attending a banquet with Kristen. It was obvious that she had purposely spilled red wine on Kristen’s dress. However, Kristen shrugged it off and did not blame her. Kristen turned around and told Sophia that she was Alexander’s wife, so she should have a big heart. Sophia had no choice but to bury her dissatisfaction.
However, when Sophia lifted her head, she saw Alexander joyfully chatting with Bethany. Sophia walked toward them. Before she could call out to him, he gave her a look of disdain.
There were many more similar instances over those three years. Sophia didn’t see Alexander often. Most of the time, she saw him because she had shamelessly looked for him.
Each time, he had regarded her with a cold look and mockery. The disdain in his eyes was like needles pricking at her heart. When she didn’t touch them, there was a throbbing pain. Whenever she did touch her wounds, the pain was unbearable.
Sophia, who was lying on the bed, mumbled, “Why are you doing this to me, Alexander?”
Alexander would have thought she was awake if it weren’t for her closed eyes.
A tear trickled down from the edge of her eye. Alexander’s heart wrenched, bringing him great pain.
He had only entered her room to check if her temperature had dropped. He didn’t expect to hear her sleep talking.
She had begged for him to rescue her. Then she had asked him why he treated her that way.
He did not know what her dream was about, but it definitely wasn’t anything good.
What frightened Alexander most was the fact that it was not a dream but an honest recollection of how much of a jerk he had been in those three years.
