Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around! novel Chapter 50

Sophia froze and followed the crowd’s line of sight.

Charles’ emerged from the crowd with a blank expression. Sunlight showered upon him as his shirt collar casted a shadow onto his collarbones. There was a look of self-restraint on his face with a hint of sex appeal.

She subconsciously looked toward the middle of his suit pants. It was not apparent whether he was seriously injured or not, but on closer inspection, one could tell that his walking gait was unnatural.

“Have you seen enough? Hmm?” Charles walked straight up to Sophia, bending slightly to whisper into her ear.

Sophia shifted her gaze somewhat naturally and lowered her voice to a level only the two of them could hear. “I’m sorry…”

People around them had no idea what the two of them were saying to each other. However, they could see that they were whispering to each other intimately as though no one was around.

Suddenly, people could not help but wonder.

Was it not rumored that Mr. Harris and Sophia had a terrible relationship?

This was not like what it seemed!

Leah bit her lip, subconsciously withdrawing her hands which rested upon the wheelchair.

“Charles, what do you mean by this?”

Madam Jones blanked out for a long while before she reacted in shock and fury. “Sophia nearly killed Leah, and you actually invited her to the birthday celebration?”

James stared at Charles thoughtfully.

Charles’ lips moved upward. “Aunty, are you trying to dictate who gets invited to my mother’s birthday celebration? Your family truly likes getting involved in others’ business.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean it like that.” Even though he was younger, Madam Jones did not dare play the elder card. “I just felt…”

“It’s good that Aunty didn’t mean it like that.” Charles cut her off coolly, turning to leave but pausing after taking two steps. He gave a sideways glance at Sophia who was still rooted to the spot. His brows furrowed slightly. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll excuse myself,” Sophia announced quietly, about to take off, but she then planted her feet back onto the ground.

She smoothed down her evening dress and scanned the crowd, saying sarcastically, “Oh, by the way, my dress was prepared by Madam Harris. In the future, I hope that Miss and Madam Jones can speak with a basis. If it were someone else, I’m afraid they will sue you for defamation.”

The crowd looked at each other, slightly embarrassed.

Mr. and Madam Jones’ faces flushed red and green alternatively, vibrant like a color palette.

“My apologies, I misunderstood.” Leah placed both hands upon her knees, apologizing sincerely. “I was just worried you were going astray. I hope you don’t take it to heart.”

“If I say I do mind, I’m afraid other people will say that I’m biting the hand that feeds me.” Sophia eyed James whose face was still flushed red before hurrying to catch up to Charles, worried that he would grow impatient from waiting.

The image of the two of them walking away side by side was reflected in Leah’s eyes. The light in her eyes were flickering.

“Next time, when you see Sophia, remember to avoid her. If we aren’t by your side, there’s no saying what kind of harmful things she’ll do.” Mr. Jones instructed gravely.

Leah sighed, saying helplessly, “Dad, you’ve repeated yourself so many times. I probably have it memorized by heart.”

“If you can memorize it, why don’t you obey it?” Madam Jones jabbed at Leah’s forehead, turning to James and Jenny, “I’d say, don’t you both agree that you need to watch over your daughter properly?”

Before they could respond, she continued saying, “I have to call a spade a spade. If that murderer hurts my daughter again, I will definitely sue her and make sure she rots in jail for the rest of her life! Our business relationship will be discontinued right there and then!”

“Your girlfriends are here, so have fun with them. I’ll look for a few of your aunts.” Embarrassment flashed across Madam Jones’ face. She got up and left.

Leah massaged the throbbing space between her eyes, sighing imperceptibly.

On the other side, at the spiral staircase.

Sophia trailed behind Charles, wanting to say something but stopping herself each time.

She wanted to thank him but feared he would say that she was flattering herself. She wanted to ask how his injuries were but did not dare utter those words.

“Why are you still following me?” Charles stopped suddenly, asking nonchalantly.

Sophia stopped just in time before she crashed into him. The proximity made her feel suffocated. She took a step back to put some space between the both of them before saying, “Just now… Thank you.”

“You think I’m helping you?” Charles laughed lightly, tipping her chin up to force her to look at him. “I just didn’t want my mom’s birthday celebration to be ruined by you.”

They were very close to each other. Her image was the only one reflected in his eyes.

Sophia lowered her eyes, forcing down the emotions threatening to break free from her heart. “No matter what reason you had for saying those words just now, the truth is you were the one who helped me out of that tight spot. I should thank you.”

“If I had known that I was helping you, I wouldn’t have said what I said.” Two years ago, her eyes were only filled with passion and adoration, but now all that was left were vicissitudes and weariness.

Charles felt strangely uncomfortable. His brows drew together slightly, and he let go of her chin.

At the same time, Yvette’s playful voice sounded aloud, “Did I come at an inappropriate time?”