Leah winced internally, and right when the two turned to look at her, she quickly recomposed herself and flashed them a smile. "Lucky you, it seems that you didn't injure yourself too badly. What happened, why are you always so reckless?"
She deliberately hardened her tone when she said the word 'reckless', and she casually glanced at Charles to check his reaction.
He stood up and placed the bowl of soup aside on the table, seemingly uninterested.
"How is this reckless?" Sophia sat up, but the bandages wrapped around her head made her look too funny to be taken seriously. "They had sticks and were about to beat my boy up, how can I just watch and... Ouch, what are you doing?"
She clutched her head that Charles had just smacked and turned to glare at him.
"Maybe if you know how much it hurts, you'll remember not to do something so stupid again." Charles frowned slightly as he lowered his gaze at her.
If they had aimed the blow a little bit to the side, she could have lost her life!
Unconcerned, Sophia squirmed in bed as she refuted.
Leah stood in the corner and watched as the two bickered. She could not help but feel that she was an outsider and she just did not fit in.
Although Charles had never said anything about being together with Sophia, the look in his eyes did not deceive anyone: he only saw Sophia and there was no more space in his heart!
"Sophia, let me cut you an apple." Leah picked up an apple from her fruit basket and asked gently, "Charles, do you want some?"
Charles handed Sophia the bowl of soup. "Eat it yourself."
Then, he glanced at Leah and said coldly, "She doesn't like apples."
At the same time, he stood up and reached for a kiwi. Then, he peeled the skin and cut it into small pieces before he gave it to Sophia.
"See, you even know what I like to eat. Come on, just admit that you like me!" Sophia sniggered as she switched the bowl of soup for the plate of kiwi. "I don't want this anymore, it tastes like nothing!"
Charles did not push her to finish it either. Instead, she handed the spoon to her and lifted the bowl before gulping down the remaining soup in the bowl.
With a fruit knife in one hand and an apple in the other, Leah felt like a fool standing there watching the two of them.
She forced a stiff smile as she slowly put the fruit knife down.
After staying for a short while, she could not bring herself to stay any longer. "Sophia, I think I'm going to leave now. It's getting late now and there's still school tomorrow."
"Oh, alright," Sophia replied, "Be careful on your way back and text me when you're home!"
"Got it." Leah hesitated slightly before she continued with a smile, "Charles, my driver is still waiting downstairs, do you need a lift?â
Charles took a bite of the kiwi that Sophia fed him on a fork and wiped his mouth with a tissue. "I'm not going to school tomorrow."
Sophia took another bite of the same piece of kiwi and nodded. "He's not going back tonight, he's staying at the hospital with me!"
"Is that so?" Leah's lips twitched. "There's no place for him to sleep at night though, won't you feel bad if he sits here the entire night?"
Sophia wiped the corner of her lips with the back of her palm and patted the bed. "He can sleep with me!"
The hospital beds were small and she could only imagine how close the two of them had to sleep together in order to squeeze both of them in.
Charles had always been sort of a clean freak, yet he was willing to share the same food as Sophia and even finished the food that she could not finish herself; he never liked physical contact with people, yet he did not mind sleeping with Sophia on such a small bed...
No matter how she looked at it, Sophia certainly held a special place in Charles' heart.
Leah felt like a mess. She did not know how did she make it out of the hospital, but by the time she recovered, she was already back in her car.
"Miss, where would you like to go now?" The driver asked.
Just as Leah was about to say that it was time to go home, she noticed her brother from the corner of her eyes. "Please wait a minute, I think I see my brother."
She gave the driver a few orders before she ran out of the car to catch up with William, who was lugging a handful of things.
William was wearing a light grey sports jacket that made him look crisp and handsome. When he saw her, he quickly asked, "Hey, have you seen Sophia?"
"Yeah."
"How is she? Are her injuries severe?" William kept looking behind at the hospital building when he asked, and worry was written all over his face.
Leah was already used to this behavior. "Nothing too serious."
After contemplating for a moment, she added, "Will, you don't have to be too worried. Charles is keeping her company now and he's staying over tonight too."
"Sophia had gotten herself hurt all because of him, it's only right if he
stays here and takes care of her!" How can a grown man like him let a girl protect him, how ridiculous! William frowned and continued, "Anyway, be careful on your way back, I'm heading up now." Content
He had brought Sophia her favorite snacks and they would not be as tasty when
they got cold.
With that, he turned and left.
Leah called out from behind, "Will-
"Ah? What is it?" William asked.
Leah batted her eyes and asked softly, "Sophia had always liked Charles, do you
think it's worth it, doing all this? Is Sophia... really that great?"
William stared at her quietly and did not answer right away.
"I'm not implying that Sophia isn't good, but she's my best friend, and you're my brother. I don't want the two of you to turn against each other because of this matter.
vel.n
Honestly, if it's possible, I really hope
that you can like someone else
instead." Content belongs to
Will was an exceptional guy, and he should never humble himself so much for a girl
that he liked.
William freed a hand and rubbed her head fondly. "I know you don't mean anything else, but I can't control how I feel. It's not up to me to decide who to like, you know?"
"Will, can't you at least try not to... not to like Sophia?" She was better in Sophia in every way possible and she had plenty of boys at her heels too, but none of them were as outstanding as Will and Charles.
Although Justin was not too bad, he was still slightly inferior if compared to her brother and Charles.
"I did, but it didn't work!" William continued ruffling her hair.
"I promise you that if Sophia gets a boyfriend, I won't ever intrude and try to butt in, and if she ever rejects me, I wouldn't turn against her either. There you go, can you
stop worrying now?"
Leah bit her lip. "You know that she likes Charles though, can't you.....â
"The heart is a fickle thing. Who knows, she might just end up falling for me one day.
If I don't fight for what I want, how will I ever get what I want?"
Worried that the food was getting cold, William hurriedly reminded her to be careful
and quickly jogged into the hospital.
Leah stared at his figure and something flashed in her eyes.
He was right, the heart was a fickle thing.
She was better than Sophia in all aspects. As long as she tried harder, Charles
would certainly fall for her...
In prison, Leah crumpled to the ground as she wandered in and out of her
memories.
Her limbs were broken now, but her clothes were clean and her hair neatly combed
through; she was covered with purple and black bruises all over her body, but there were no wounds on her face.
The inmates found her beautiful so they avoided hitting her face when they beat her up. Instead, they even took turns to bathe her and wash her clothes. However, this was not exactly a good thing for Leah. In fact, she would much rather remain in an unkempt state
In prisons where men were jailed up with men and women were locked up with
women, they only had themselves to turn to when they had certain physical needs.
For someone as pretty as her, she had become the best choice for everyone to vent
their desires.
Perhaps if she was dirtier and smellier, nobody might want to touch her.
Those people would hit her and curse at her, but at the same time,
they would hover over her and pant heavily as their faces twisted ferociously while getting their sexual releases. She desperately wanted to resist and fight back, she was unable to do so because she could
not move her limbs. She had no choice but to let these disgusting people do whatever they wanted to her.
However, she knew very well that even if she had the ability to fight back, she would
still be unable to do anything because of the many people who took advantage of
her.
No wonder Sophia loathed her, life in prison was truly torturing... Still, she was kinder than Sophia. At least she only bribed people to beat Sophia up and not have
them rape her.
Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around!
Chapter 490 Leah Jones' POV 1