Not only had the rain come suddenly, but it was also pouring like a torrent.
As the raindrops fell toward the ground, they hit the stairs, and some splattered onto Sophia’s shoes.
She glanced at Alexander before placing her finger on the fingerprint scanner. Pushing open the door, she entered the mansion.
She was drenched in sweat earlier, so she initially planned to take a shower after returning the cufflink to Alexander. But then, the man had now come into the house with her. As she recalled the incident at the boxing gym earlier, her expression turned chilly. She poured a glass of water and slid it over to him. “Here.”
In other words, she was telling him to get lost after he finished drinking the water.
“Thank you.”
Alexander lifted his head and looked at her before adding, “It’s raining.”
He, on the other hand, was saying that he wanted to stay until the rain stopped.
At that, Sophia let out a chuckle of frustration. “I don’t think you’d like to go to the police station with me today would you, Alexander?”
“No,” Alexander murmured.
Then, he opened the box.
The instant he laid eyes on the cufflink in the box, his gaze darkened imperceptibly. But in the next heartbeat, the shadows in his eyes retreated. He lifted his head and pinned his gaze on her. “Melissa yanked this cufflink off at the airport that day.”
After saying that, he paused for a second before adding, “I’ve already thrown the shirt away.”
As his words fell, he raised his hand and tossed the box into the trash can.
It was a cufflink that cost several thousand, yet he discarded it without the slightest reluctance.
Sophia arched an eyebrow. “I see.”
It has nothing to do with me anyway.
Subsequently, she turned and glanced out the window, only to see that it was raining cats and dogs. “Have you finished drinking the water?”
That was her tactful way of urging him to leave if he was done drinking.
Alexander threw a look at the glass in front of him. “I’ll leave when the rain stops.”
Sophia had already surmised that he would tarry shamelessly. Not wanting to entertain him further, she spun on her heels and stalked up the stairs.
This time, she locked her bedroom door. After going into the bathroom, she also locked the door.
Twenty minutes had passed by the time she finished her shower and stepped out of the bathroom. It was still raining outside, but it had abated significantly.
She glanced at the time, only to see that it was already a little over five o’clock.
Without a doubt, that shameless man downstairs must still be there.
Unplugging the hair dryer, Sophia unlocked the door and went downstairs.
She had just reached the corner of the stairs when Alexander’s voice drifted into her ears from downstairs.
Quirking an eyebrow, she descended the stairs right away.
“Yeah, that’s all for now,” Alexander said to the person on the other end of the phone before hanging up.
Then, he tilted his head and cast his gaze at Sophia. Having just taken a bath, Sophia’s hair hung loosely behind her. She wore a loose, thin sweater, and her slim-fitting black pants rendered her legs long and slender.
Alexander’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Noticing that she was looking at him, he walked over to the couch and sat down. “The clothes in the room are gone.”
Sophia poured herself a glass of water. “I threw them away.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Alexander’s gaze remained fixated on her. All of a sudden, he chuckled softly.
He rarely smiled or laughed. Sophia had known him for many years, but she seldom saw him smile. Instead, he always wore a cold and indifferent expression, looking out of place among everyone else.
As he smiled then, the severity of his features eased. That aside, there was even a hint of gentleness in his usually petrifying ebony eyes.
Thus, Sophia had to admit that he was really good-looking despite his rather unpleasant personality.
She didn’t want to be bewitched by his deceptive countenance anymore, so she lowered her head. Alas, her gaze fell on the neckline of the man’s bathrobe.
After learning that Alexander left his clothes in her guest room without her permission previously, she had the cleaning service come over the next day and throw away all the clothes he left in the wardrobe in the guest room. The only thing left there was a free-size bathrobe for the use of her guests.
Never had she expected him to wear the bathrobe and strut around in it when he had no clothes.
Since he was sitting on the couch, the loose bathrobe gaped widely. Sophia was standing, so she could see almost see his entire upper body at a single glance.
She suspected that it was deliberate on his part.
Retracting her gaze, she drank some water with her head hung low.
By then, the rain outside the window had eased considerably. She put her glass down and started kicking him out of the house, stating, “The rain has let up, so you can leave now.”
“It’s exceedingly ill-mannered to go out in a bathrobe.”
“Oh, is it not ill-mannered to shamelessly tarry at someone else’s house?”
Alexander gazed at her, the look in his eyes tender. “Being ill-mannered in front of the person I love will make me appear more sincere.”
Choking, Sophia had no retort to that.
The man refused to leave, so she couldn’t do anything about it either.
Ignoring him, she took out her phone and started ordering takeaway.
“You’re ordering takeaway?”
Alexander had moved over to sit beside her at some point in time, and that had Sophia frowning. “Alexander.”
“Takeaway isn’t healthy. I’ve already ordered Felix to deliver dinner over, so you don’t need to order takeaway.”
As though unaware of her fury, the man lifted his hand and took her phone away from her, placing it on the table. “Can we talk, Sophia?”
His expression abruptly turned solemn, and he stared right at her.
Unfortunately, Sophia felt differently. “Well, that’s probably your delusion, then.”
“Sophia.”
He called her name out of the blue, his low voice tinged with a hint of exasperation.
For an instant, Sophia seemed to have been struck by a bolt of electricity.
Regretfully, it only lasted for a second. In the next heartbeat, she gathered her wits about her. “I admit that I still have feelings for you now, but I won’t make the same mistake twice, Alexander.”
She had once tried her luck with him, but she lost. Even so, she admitted defeat, for there would always be a loss or win in a bet.
However, if one were to ask her to try again, she really didn’t have the courage to do so anymore.
“I know what you fear, Sophia.”
Alexander’s dark eyes were like a whirlpool, sucking one in during a moment of inattention.
Hence, Sophia averted her eyes. “So, what else is there to talk about?”
While she was speaking, the doorbell rang.
In a flash, Alexander got to his feet. “I’ll go.”
As he spoke, he glanced at her before whirling around and descending the stairs.
“Okay.”
It seems that Felix is here.
Sophia thought that that would be the end of the topic, but little did she know that it was just the beginning.
Alexander took everything from Felix. Other than their dinner, he also held a document in his hand.
He placed the food on the dining table before walking over to the couch and sitting back down beside Sophia. “This is all the shares and properties under my name as well as the full sum of money in my account. If I cause you to lose again, everything will be yours.”
Sophia’s heart jolted, but her expression remained calm and unruffled. “I’m not strapped for cash.”
“I know.”
Alexander knew that, but he was also aware of her fear.
He placed the document on the coffee table. “Sophia, I’m not coercing you this time. I’m just showing you my sincerity.”
Having thought long and hard in the past few days, he realized that he actually had no edge in his pursuit of Sophia.
Ultimately, he could only appear before her time and again because she still had feelings for him.
She didn’t lack money, and she wasn’t a greedy person either.
If she had planned to take any of his wealth back then, she wouldn’t have divorced him so thoroughly a year ago.
She hadn’t asked for anything, and she had no interest in anything he had.
Now that he was pleading with her to turn back again, offering her all these would be considered an act of great sincerity in the eyes of outsiders. But to Sophia, she merely regarded it as his last resort after exhausting all other avenues.
Sophia said nothing.
Back then, he felt that I only married him because of money, and now, he’s offering me all his wealth in an effort to pursue me again. That amount of money is unattainable to most people in their lifetimes, but with a single nod of my head, it would all be mine. It looks like he’s really out of ideas if he’s using such a cliche method.
She continued studying him, but she didn’t answer his question directly. “Does your mother know about this?”
If Kristen were to learn about it, she’d probably kill me, huh?
“She can’t sway me.”
Just as Sophia was about to speak, Alexander suddenly lifted his hand and stroked her hair. “Let’s eat. You don’t need to be so hasty in giving me an answer.”
He hadn’t thought of getting an answer that day anyway.
