After Sophia left the cafe, she took a taxi to get home. Enjoying the breezy evening wind swaying her face, she was concurrently searching for an answer in her blank mind.
He agreed that he’s not interested in me. That’s impossible to be a lie, she thought.
At that moment, her cell phone notified her of a new message. She checked her phone to read it and found a message from Arthur with only two words.
She gaped at the message. Damn! He sent me a message only to scold me!
‘Mr. Weiss. Please remember you’re a decent man,’ she replied to him immediately.
Arthur then sent a reply message. ‘You don’t have any conscience.’
‘You’re right, I don’t. You’ve seen through my disguise and shall stop seeing people like me from now on.’ Sophia had given up on saving her image.
He asked again, ‘Do you think falling for you is what a fool would do?’
Meanwhile, Emily was gazing at the scenery outside in the car heading back to the villa. Beside her was Arthur typing messages on his phone. The corners of his lips turned up from time to time to indicate his good mood, even though his fingers betrayed that he was terrible at replying to text messages.
“Artie?” When she turned and found him smiling, she asked, “Who are you chatting with?”
“A friend.” His answer was simple.
Emily noticed a hint of amusement in Arthur’s expression as if he was having fun from the interaction, so she mustered her courage and asked for further information. “Who is your friend?”
“You don’t know them,” he answered as he checked the phone and broke into a wide smile at the message content.
Sophia’s reply read, ‘I said the wrong thing just now. Please forgive me.’
Sophia was riding in a taxi; the sunset view could no longer catch her attention as she felt nervous waiting to receive his response. What’s wrong with me? Am I having fun now?
‘I’m home. Gotta go.’ She typed on her phone and sent the message before shoving her cell phone back into her bag.
However, her determination only lasted for a while. When she heard a message notification, she looked for her cell phone in the bag and checked the message.
‘It isn’t a bad thing to become likable. At least be honored by it.’
Sophia was taken aback. What does he mean? Does he have feelings for me?
Deciding that it was a wise choice to let the topic end here, she replied with a message. ‘I’m home.’
Arthur stopped sending her any messages, so she paid for the ride and got out of the taxi. As she walked home while staring at her phone, someone halted her.
“Miss Goodwin, Old Madam Weiss would like to see you.” Sophia raised her head and found the middle-aged bodyguard from the last time addressing her. She hid her phone behind her involuntarily when she heard Martha was looking for her.
“Sure.” Sophia nodded and followed him into the car. It was when they eventually arrived at a nearby cafe that he let her off.
As usual, Martha was waiting for her in a private room. The moment she saw Martha, the guilt washed over her as she had been spending time with Arthur not long ago.
Sophia greeted her politely, “Old Madam Weiss.”
“Take a seat.” Martha gestured at the sofa.
As she took a seat, Martha asked her without mincing her words. “I heard that you lost our family heirloom that Artie gifted to you?”
Sophia nodded. “Yes, I lost it. He didn’t give it to me, though. I’m the one who snatched it from his neck accidentally and lost it later.”
“Arthur didn’t give it to you as a gift?” Martha asked in surprise.
Sophia explained in detail how she had the necklace in the first place, brought the necklace with her to a foreign country, and lost it on a return trip home. Lastly, she apologized, “Old Madam Weiss, I’m sorry about what happened. Please don’t blame Mr. Weiss for it. He’s trying to retrieve the necklace too.”
“He took over your father’s company to force you to return to the country. That’s so him.” After hearing her explanation, Martha remarked with mixed emotions.
“Indeed. Mr. Weiss now has returned my father’s company and I’ll help him to look for the lost necklace.” Sophia revealed everything to Martha with full honesty.
