“I’ll take care of it.” Charles walked to her and planted her kiss on her forehead. “I’m here for you, don’t worry.”
The more he acted this way, the more upset Sophia felt. She felt the urge to tell him everything but as soon as the words reached her throat, she swallowed them back down.
“Charles, you do know that I can handle these things without you, right?” Sophia asked.
She did not want him to be the one always solving her problems for her, leaving her unaware of everything that he did. It was this lack of knowledge that made it hard for her to fully trust him.
“... Alright then. Once you have our baby, I’ll discuss everything I do beforehand with you and don’t you dare complain that I’m annoying then.” Charles poked her nose affectionately before slipping on his coat and left through the door.
Sophia stared on until his car disappeared around the corner and called Sterling.
“What’s up, Soph?” Ster answered the phone almost immediately. Sophia could make out bustling sounds from his end of the call that sounded like people arguing.
Just as Sophia was about to reply, someone spoke first in an angry tone. “Mr. White, we’re in a meeting here, can you please be a bit more serious? Are you aware of how much our stock price has dropped? Why are you not taking it…”
“It’s nothing, you should go ahead with what you’re doing first, Ster,” Sophia said.
Sterling was not as immature as before either. “I’m sorry, I’m kind of in the middle of something here right now. If it’s nothing urgent, I can call you back after the meeting, alright? By the way, remember to come by my office later this afternoon, don’t forget that we’re splitting the company shares!”
Sophia mumbled a vague response before hanging up the phone.
Not long after she ended the call, someone knocked on the door.
Who could it possibly be at this time of the day? Did Charles forget something?
Sophia went to the door and glanced at the display screen —— it was Madam Johnson and Shawn.
Her body immediately stiffened and her fists curled unconsciously.
Back when she was still unclear about the situation, she had invited Madam Johnson into her house. Besides, there were various factors in Mom’s death so she could not just blame it on one person.
However… She was still unable to stop herself. She blamed Madam Johnson for what happened. If this last straw had not fallen, Mom might not have committed suicide so soon…
Sophia closed her eyes and calmed herself down as she walked to the sofa and sat down.
“Soph, did you encounter something upsetting? Tell me about it, it’s not good for your health to keep everything bottled up in your heart.”
Her mother’s voice suddenly sounded and she turned around instinctively. She wanted to call out to her mother but all she could see was nothing.
There was no sign of her mother.
If her mother was still alive, would she be able to tolerate her mother? Definitely not.
However, now that her mother was gone, she finally learned how to appreciate what she once found annoying but it was still too late for regrets now.
That was how humans were.
The annoying knocking sound rang again.
Sophia frowned and got up to open the door. “Is there anything, Madam Johnson?”
With no intention of inviting Madam Johnson in, it was clear that Madam Johnson was not welcome in her home.
Madam Johnson looked haggard, and her fox eyes that usually curved upwards were red and swollen today. She opened her mouth several times to talk but no words came out as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Sophia merely stared at Madam Johnson, completely unaffected by this image of her.
Sophia felt as if her chest was stuffed full of cotton and every breath she took pained her. “It because she thinks that her indecisiveness cost her best friend’s life and she’s too embarrassed to face her.”
“Besides, there’s nobody else in this world that she wants to see anymore aside from me and my brother.”
Madam Johnson was shocked at Sophia’s response. After being stunned for a second, she raised her voice and responded, “That’s impossible! Jenny and I have been friends for over ten years now, why wouldn’t she want to see me after she’s dead? Don’t simply speak on your mother’s behalf, there’s no way she wouldn’t want to see me!”
This was the same reaction as James when he was told that Jenny did not want to see him.
“Excuse me, please give me a moment.” Sophia headed upstairs to get Jenny’s suicide note and came back to hand it to Madam Johnson. “If you don’t believe me, you can take a look at it yourself.”
Jenny accepted the note with a trembling hand and a suspicious heart, and she slowly unfolded the piece of paper.
Sophia continued, “Although my mother did not explicitly say that she doesn’t want to see you, she mentioned several times that both of you aren’t on the same path in life anymore and she shouldn’t have befriended someone like you. Now that she has passed away, you…”
“That’s impossible!” Madam Johnson's eyes reddened as she staggered backward. Judging from the hysterical look on her face, she looked as if she was about to tear the note up.
Sophia’s eyes immediately widened and rushed forward to snatch the note back. “What are you trying to do?” she shouted fiercely.
This suicide note was the only thing her mother had left!
“This suicide note must be fake!” With tears streaming down her face, Madam Johnson shrieked heartbreakingly, “You know how soft your mother was! Back in the days, I was always the one getting even for her and protecting her whenever someone bullied her!”
“Even when she told me that she liked Mr. White and didn’t have the courage to confess her feelings, I was the one who helped her! I helped her so many times in the past and I treated her like my very best friend! How could she speak of me this way because of Hellen?!”
She really could not understand. Both her and Hellen were Jenny’s friends but why had Jenny always sided with Hellen more?
She always had Jenny first in her mind and never allowed Jenny to be wronged by anyone else, but at the end of the day, this was how Jenny treated her in return?
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around!