Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 2954

The Next Day

Georgia had booked her flight to Y Country for Friday; now it was already Wednesday.

Estelle, Magdalen, and a few others wanted to host a farewell dinner for Old Mr. Quintin before he left the country. However, Old Mr. Quintin firmly refused. He hadn’t told many people about his upcoming trip—he simply invited Albert and a couple of his closest students to his home for a humble meal, where the farewells were filled with warmth and reluctance.

During lunch, Sophia shared a little wine with Old Mr. Quintin. Afterwards, she headed to the backyard to sober up. When Estelle found her, Sophia was sitting alone on a bench, crying like a little girl.

Estelle sat beside her, gently ruffling her hair. “Don’t cry, or people will think I bullied you.”

Sophia leaned against Estelle’s shoulder, clutching the sleeve of her T-shirt to wipe her tears as she sobbed, “I’m okay, I just feel a little down. Before, whenever I missed Old Mr. Quintin, I could always come home and see him. No matter how late I worked, I could still have dinner with him. Now that he’s leaving—what will I do when I miss him?”

Estelle glanced at her now-creased sleeve with a faint smile. “My grandpa said Old Mr. Quintin probably won’t get used to living abroad. Who knows—he might decide to come back before long.”

Sophia sniffled, her voice still shaky with tears. “But maybe it’s better if he stays. All these years, the people he’s missed most are Georgia and Nana. Now that the family is reunited, we really should be happy for him.”

Estelle chuckled. “You came around to that pretty quickly!”

Sophia broke into a tearful smile. “Just pretend I’m acting drunk!”

Estelle raised an eyebrow. “I’m beginning to think your drunken meltdown is just an excuse to torture my shirt.”

Sophia glanced down at the rumpled mess she’d made of Estelle’s T-shirt and started laughing and crying all over again.

At that moment, Magdalen arrived with Sylvia. When Magdalen saw Sophia leaning on Estelle, she smiled. “What’s going on here?”

A little embarrassed, Sophia straightened up and wiped her tears, deliberately making up an excuse. “Estelle was bullying me!”

Magdalen laughed. “Really? And how did she do that? Tell me, so I can try it next time.”

Sophia was speechless.

Sylvia grinned. “You picked the wrong person if you’re going to complain to Magdalen about Estelle!”

Sophia chimed in playfully, “Of course Sylvia will come back. No place is better than J City, right? Look at me—ever since I got here, I never wanted to leave.”

Sylvia’s smile was gentle. “I’ll definitely come back!”

Magdalen turned to Estelle. “Where’s Gabriel?”

Estelle looked up. “I checked with him earlier—he’s spending the day at home with his grandfather. He’ll come to J City tomorrow.”

Magdalen’s smile was bright and lively. “Told you. His own girlfriend is about to leave the country—of course he’ll come see you off!”

She shot a teasing look at Sylvia. “Am I right?”

Sylvia paused for a moment, then smiled, her lips rosy. “You’re right.”

Magdalen laughed. “Whether you’re a girlfriend isn’t decided by what people say—it’s about how you feel about each other. Besides, both Old Mr. Quintin and Old Mr. Jarvis have already acknowledged your relationship, and Gabriel has thought of you as his girlfriend for a long time. At the Winters family’s fiftieth anniversary celebration, I only mentioned in passing that Mrs. Winters was at the party, and Gabriel rushed right over to make sure you were all right. If you weren’t his girlfriend, why would he care so much?”