The car ahead moved slowly, Charles put the car in gear and drove along. "You are the lady of the Harris family, so you really don't need to seek other peopleâs opinions when you want to do something, mine included."
"Then what if... I ask you to spare Soph?" Yvette just found out today that his son had forced Sophia to work in Dream Club. She felt conflicted. "She has suffered enough in the past two years. Can you spare her?â
There was silence in the car.
The car finally sped up after the congested section.
Yvette opened up her purse, closed it, then opened it up again. The rattling sound of her purse sounded particularly clear in the car.
She turned her head to look at him. "I don't think you like Leah either, so it really doesnât concern you that Soph had hit her with a car and broke her leg. Why are you still...â
"Momâ" Charles cut her off and said in a deep voice, "I won't question anything that happened between you and Dad as well as Aunt Lewis and the rest, so please donât interfere in my affairs either."
There was a flash of bewilderment on Yvette's face, but she quickly regained her composure. She closed her purse, clutched it in her hand, and stopped talking.
James and his wife arrived less than half an hour after Sterling left. Jennyâs gaze swept across the ward. There was no sign of Sterling. She asked anxiously, "Where's Sterling? Someone told us that he came to the hospital to visit you!"
As it turned out, they were not here to visit her. They were just here to look for Sterling. Sophia's eyes dimmed a little. "Sterling..."
She had just opened her mouth when Jamesâ face turned crimson with anger. "I donât care what other people are saying about Sterling behind his back, he has never talked back to me. After your release from prison, Sterling has not only talked back to me, but he has also run away from home.
Are you the one whoâs been egging him on?"
"Me?" Sophia pointed at herself and snorted. "Iâm the one egging him on?"
"Who else? Ever since you were a child, youâve been full of bad ideas. Sterling mustâve been fooling around with you! I can forget about your usual minor mischiefs, but I canât believe that you actually encouraged him to run away from home! He has always adored and indulged you since childhood. Donât you feel guilty at all for doing these things?" James screamed. He was so agitated that his face looked extremely ferocious.
Sophia fixed her steady gaze on him. He suddenly felt like a stranger to her. It felt as though she had never known him.
"James, Soph is your daughter too. Donât sound so harsh." Jennyâs eyes revealed her distress as well as her anxiety. "Tell me, Soph, where are you hiding Sterling?"
Sophia's lips trembled. She lowered her head and mumbled, "Iâm not hiding him."
"And you think Iâm being harsh?" James pointed at Sophia and said to Jenny, "Look, do you think she will tell you the truth if you talk to her nicely?!"
Jenny let out a long sigh. She took Sophia's hand, and her tears started clattering down. "Soph, you need to think about us. Youâre not a member of the Whites anymore. What will others say about our family if Sterling doesnât come home?"
Sophiaâs body was tense. She gritted her teeth to stifle the stinging sensation in her eyes.
Jenny did her best to convince her. "Even if you hate your dad and me, you have to think about Sterling and Nicole. Sterling knows nothing. How can he survive without White Industries? Also, your niece and nephew are still so young, only a little more than a year old. Do you really have the heart to watch them suffer because of your own selfishness..."
"Thatâs enough!" Sophia let out a suppressed roar. Her mother was asking her to think about this and think about that, but why did they not think about her?!
Jenny was stunned for a moment after getting yelled at. When she snapped back to her senses, anguish was written all over her face as tears gushed out like the current.
"A fond mother spoils the child. Youâre to blame for how these two siblings have turned out today!" James exclaimed with a sullen expression and a sonorous voice.
Jenny wiped her tears from the corner of her eyes, choking with sobs. "It's all my fault. If I had listened to you and was stricter to them, then things wouldn't have turned out..." âThis way.â
"Sterling has already gone home. Also, he will have nothing to do with me from now on." Sophia clutched the hem of her shirt. Her eyes were bloodshot the moment she raised her head. "Are you satisfied now?"
"So he has already gone home, huh..." Jenny said, embarrassed.
James wanted to say something, but Sophia was one step ahead of him. "You can both go home now, Mr. White, Madam White."
"Soph, Mom and Dad were just a little anxious just now and might not have chosen our words wisely. We mean no harm." The indifference in her gaze pierced Jenny to the point that her heart was aching.
Sophia lowered her eyes. The sunlight streamed into the ward through the window, shrouding her in a halo and making her appear particularly thin.
"You should hurry up and go home. If anyone sees us together and this reaches Mr. Harrisâ ears, youâll start putting the blame on me again."
Her voice was very soft, carrying a hint of sarcasm with it.
"You think I would have come here if not for Sterling?" After getting driven out by her over and over again, James could not stand the humiliation any longer and stomped out with a grim look on his face.
Jenny stood in front of the hospital bed. There were a bunch of things running through her head, but she was unsure of what to say. She darted Sophia an uneasy glance before taking out her wallet and drawing out a bank card. She stuffed the card into Sophia's hand. "Take it."
"I am neither your kin nor your relative, Madam White. I am unworthy of your gift." Sophia put on a straight face and stuffed the card back in her hands.
Jenny felt terribly uncomfortable. She muttered the words âLook at this childâ and attempted to stuff the bank card into Sophiaâs hands again.
"Momâ" Sophia raised her head and peered into her eyes, her figure reflected in her tawny-colored pupils. "This will be the last time I call you Mom.
Iâm not the same Sophia from the White family anymore. Pocket money can no longer cheer me up when Iâm sad."
Under Jenny's doleful gaze, she mumbled, "Why donât we do this? Letâs treat it as though Iâve never had a mother like you and youâve never had a daughter like me."
"Soph, you..." Jenny wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She was choking with sobs for a moment that she could hardly speak.
At this moment, James' impatient voice rang out outside the ward, rushing her to go back. She stared at Sophia with a strong reluctance to part from her, then responded to Jamesâ calling before trotting out to find him.
"Be obedient to your father at home, obey your husband after you get married, and submit yourself to your son when your husband dies." Sophia smiled. As she smiled, tears started streaming down her face.
She wiped the corners of her eyes, removed the blanket, and took out the gift box lying beneath it. No one could help her, so she could only rely on herself now!
Sophia stayed in the hospital for two more days before Yvette took her to Harrisâ residence.
She had been looking for opportunities to seduce Charles. However, during the two and a half days at Harrisâ residence, she only saw him at dinner the first night and never saw him again after that.
Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around!
ï¤Chapter 84 Iâll Remain Kneeling Here At lunch on the third day, Yvette was talking to her about trivial matters when she suddenly said, "Itâs your birthday tomorrow. Iâd like to throw you a birthday party."
"!" Sophia's pupils contracted. Her chopsticks fell to the ground with a click.
Scenes of the conversation she had with Leah under the Chinese parasol tree, of Leah walking into her car in front of the Whiteâs villa, of the accusations celebrities threw at her during the birthday party, and of Charles breaking her leg in a private villa started flooding in and ripping her heart apart.
28th September was a nightmare for herâa day she had deliberately avoided for the past two years!