Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around! novel Chapter 26

”You guys are so opinionated. Why don’t you all be the manager?” Marie lifted her glistening eyes and swept them over the crowd.

The crowd went silent as they lowered their heads, not daring to speak again.

Marie’s gaze fell onto Tiffany’s blood-stained face and she tsked, turning her head to look at Sophia. “You’ve beaten her up so badly. I’ll deduct three months of your salary to cover for her medical expenses, any comments?”

“No.” Sophia hung her eyes, a layer of sweat covering her palms. She was afraid that there would be more to her punishment than just a three months deduction from her salary.

“Just three months of her salary deducted?” Tiffany stopped crying and instead shouted at the top of her voice, “Ms. Marie, I’m not convinced! She beat me up to this state! Just deducting three months of her salary is being too nice to her. I want…”

“What do you want?” Marie interrupted her with a seeming smile.

Tiffany seemed to have been grabbed by the throat. Her face turned red as she struggled to speak. Blood flowed out of the wound on her head, seemingly horrifying yet somehow ridiculous at the same time.

“Two of you take Tiffany to the hospital. The rest of you disperse,” Marie said with a smile.

The onlookers pushed each other. Two women stepped out reluctantly to accompany Tiffany to the hospital while the rest of the crowd went back to their respective dormitories.

Marie passed by Sophia to walk inside the dormitory and laughed when she saw the bloodstains on the floor. “You must have hit her hard.”

Sophia’s heart thudded. Her hand that hung by her pant leg was clutching her clothes tightly before loosening again. “... Yes.”

“Tell me, why did you beat up Tiffany Lawrence?” Marie sat down on the edge of the bed and raised an eyebrow. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “Never mind, don’t tell me. I’m not interested in listening.”

She pulled two tubes of ointment out of her bag and tossed them casually to Sophia.

Catching them, Sophia read the instructions. They were for healing bruises and other external wounds. Holding the ointment, she hesitated a few times before asking, “Are you giving these to me?”

“Of course.” Marie stretched, and with one hand on her chin, she asked her with a wry smile, “Who did you think it was? Mr. Harris?”

“N-no.” Sophia’s face was burning, and she said hurriedly, “Thank you, Ms. Marie. How much does the ointment cost? I’ll go get you the money.”

Marie was one of Charles’ people, so she thought that the ointment was from him… She was truly stupid. He could not wait to exchange her life for Leah’s life, so why would he even care about her injuries?

“It’s alright, it didn’t cost much anyway.” Marie stood up. Avoiding the blood on the floor, she sashayed out of the room.

Dragging her legs that felt as if they had been filled with lead, Sophia followed behind Marie and asked quietly, “Ms. Marie, can I ask you a question?”

Marie stopped and turned around, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Has Mr. Harris ever told you when I can leave this place?” Sophia licked her dry lips, and for the first time, her eyes, which were always filled with fatigue and vicissitudes, lit up with the glimmer of hope.

“No.” Marie tucked her hair behind her ears in a seductive manner. “Mr. Harris has probably never thought about this.”

Never thought about this. Did that mean she would have to stay here for her whole life to make amends to Leah Jones?

The flames in the depths of Sophia’s eyes faded. She was standing underneath a light, yet was unable to see ahead.

Her life was gray everywhere, and no matter where she went, she ended up standing at the edge of a 10,000-foot cliff, looking into the abyss.

“Whew.” Letting out a shaky breath, Sophia wiped away the tears that had made their way out of the corners of her eyes and walked back to the dormitory disappointedly.

*

A week went by in the blink of an eye.

Tiffany was in the hospital, and because they had seen how fierce Sophia could be, no one dared to talk about her in front of her.

“I don’t know. I haven’t been to see her.” Sophia’s nose was sweating, and the tips of her fingers would not stop trembling.

Was Charles Harris here for her after a week had passed?

Would he send her to jail personally, just as he had done two years ago?

Her eyelashes would not stop fluttering. With her throat turning dry, fear overwhelmed her completely. She should have endured it. She should not have hit Tiffany Lawrence…

“I’m just asking, why are you so nervous?” Marie’s affectionate eyes narrowed as she smiled and handed her a cup of tea. “Have a cup of tea to relax. It’s not like I’ll eat you.”

The faint smell of cigarettes wafted through the room. Charles had not said anything, nor had he even moved a muscle, but his scent was everywhere. That made Sophia tense up to the extreme.

She accepted the cup with both hands, but before she even had the chance to say her thanks, Charles swept his gaze over.

Crash!

The teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

“Sorry…” Blood left Sophia’s face as she bent down to pick up the shards on the ground. Not paying attention, the shards cut into her hand and fresh blood flowed out.

She continued to pick up the shards on the floor as if she had not felt anything.

“You can’t even hold a cup of tea properly. Do you still think you’re the daughter of the White family? Hmm?” Charles stood up and walked over to her. His gaze fell on her bleeding hand, a hidden chill flowing under his eyes.

It was her hand that was hurt, but Sophia felt as if it was her heart that was bleeding. She lowered her head as she said quietly, “Sorry.”

Her downcast and obedient appearance made Charles feel even more inexplicably annoyed. Furrowing his brows, he said to Marie, “Get her wounds tended to so that no one thinks that I’m abusing my staff.”