Atrophy of Love: Mr. Harris, Stop Fooling Around! novel Chapter 90

"That's her. She's the one who tried to kill Ms. Jones with her car, and they're still trying to save her!"

"Aren't they good friends? Why would Sophia do such a thing?!"

"She can't do that even if they're not friends. Isn't... Isn't that murder?"

"It's no big deal. She's just as ignorant as that brother of hers and bullies her peers at school. They're no good anyway. If the Whites aren't such big shots, the siblings would already be locked away."

A few people were waiting in front of the hotel elevator. They were looking at her like everyone else.

Sophia could not hear what they were saying, but she had a feeling they were criticizing her and laughing at her. With a pale face, she ran past the elevator, took the hem of her dress, and went to the stairwell beside it.

The stairwell was dark. With the clatter of her high heels, the voice-activated lights lit up, but it was dark again as she ran away.

The stairs went on and on, like the nightmare she was having. She could not get to the end no matter what.

Bang!

Sophia sprained her ankle and rolled down the stairs. She only rolled down two or three steps and stopped. There was no serious injury.

There was no more sound, so the lights in the stairwell immediately dimmed. Everything was dark and silent.

There was a faint sound of water dropping to the ground, and then the sound became more rapid.

Sophia crouched in the darkness with her legs folded, tears already streaming down her cheeks. She sniffed, wiped the tears from her face with her skirt, and stared into the darkness ahead, not wanting to move or speak.

Cold.

The stairwell was cold, but it was nothing like disappointment.

Maybe she would die here and it would be a cleaner who found her.

Sophia wrapped her arms around her knees and put her chin on them. Her bones were aching.

It was not that she did not want to reveal Leah's true colors after she got out of prison. It was not that she did not think about how Charles and her parents would guiltily tell her they were sorry after knowing the truth. It was not that she had not thought about how William would apologize to her over and over again...

After she got out, she realized that they were all just thoughts.

She had no evidence against Leah and could only struggle in the shadow of Charles and Leah day after day, hoping it would end one day.

"Soph. Where are you, Soph?" A hurried and anxious male voice rang, and Sophia's tears that had just stopped once again burst. She stubbornly refused to speak.

"Where are you, Soph? Come out quickly. Don't frighten me!"

"Tell me and your brother what's wrong, Soph. Don't make it hard for yourself."

Sterling and Nicole's voice rose and fell, but Sophia nipped her lip until she bit through it.

Click.

As their voices get closer, the voice-activated lights came on.

Sterling looked at Sophia who was squatting in the stairwell and froze. His heart ached like it was being pricked by needles and burnt by fire.

She crouched in a corner, huddled into a small ball. Her hair was disheveled, and the corners of her mouth oozed blood.

From his point of view, she was bending, but she was so thin that her dress accentuated her spine. The scar on her shoulder had a sickly beauty.

Sterling, who was usually the most hot-tempered and talkative person, was quiet as if he had changed into a different person.

"Soph." Nicole finally interrupted. "You haven't met your little niece and nephew. I think they look just like you. Do you want to go and see them?"

Sophia looked up at her. Her eyes lit up but quickly dimmed. Her voice was soft. "I better not."

Maybe when they grew up, they would be ashamed of their ‘murderer’ aunt. They might as well not meet her.

Nicole did not know what to do this time.

"Remember Aunt Lucy?" Sterling turned his head to look at Sophia. "She resigned after you were put in prison. She now runs a small noodle shop near the prison. Let's go to her place and have a bowl of longevity noodles."

Sophia hung her head and said nothing.

Just when Nicole thought she would refuse or remain silent, she said, "I don't want to walk, Sterling."

"The birthday girl should not walk with her precious feet." Sterling crouched on the floor and patted his back graciously as if the gloomy scene earlier had not happened. "Come on up."

Nicole hurried over to help Sophia in fear that she would fall and nagged Sterling. "Will you steady yourself? Can you do it? If you can't, I'll take over!"

"What did I tell you? Don't doubt your man. If I can't do this, then do you think those two children came out of the stone?" Sterling argued.

Sophia hugged Sterling's neck tightly and listened as they bickered in the stairwell.

The three of them were too eye-catching in appearance, dress, and behavior. A few people who were dealing with the hotel business looked over, and some of them were acquaintances.

Ignoring them, the three got into their car and drove to Aunt Lucy's noodle shop.