8
Early the next morning, I was cornered by Aiden at the door.
“Sophia, what exactly do you want? Haven’t you gotten enough revenge?” Aiden made no attempt to hide the impatience in his voice as he punched the wall.
I suddenly remembered the first time Aiden and I met.
In our second year of high school, I was the ‘school delinquent always reciting apologies on stage, while he was the model student giving speeches. Our paths only crossed when we passed each other on those few steps to the stage.
But that day, we met by the school wall. I almost fell as I jumped down from the wall, but he caught me. Without saying a word, we walked off in opposite directions, only to reunite in a dingy arcade.
He asked me: “Even rich princesses come to places like this?”
<
I shot back: “Even good students skip class?”
That afternoon, we exchanged our secrets.
He was the Howard family’s illegitimate son. I was the wretch who caused my sister to go missing and my mother to commit suicide.
We clung to each other like two abandoned puppies, supporting each other. We promised never to abandon one another, but he broke that promise.
I pushed away the memories and returned to the present, shoving him aside: “Who do you think you are to lecture me?”
Aiden grabbed my wrist and continued: “Lucas doesn’t like you. He’s just using you to piss me off. Once he’s had his fun, he’ll dump you. Wake
up.”
“Are you a masochist? Any man will do? If you’re going to find a man, at least find a good one.”
I laughed coldly: “That’s right. I was young and stupid before, masochistic enough to fall for someone like you.”
“Insecure yet arrogant, fickle, afraid of responsibility. Lucas is a thousand, no, ten thousand times better than you.”
“Most importantly, you’re a bastard. He’s not!”
We’d known each other for so long, we knew exactly where to stab to make it hurt the most.
Aiden’s shoulders slumped. He slammed his fist against the door with a thud, blood seeping from his knuckles: “Sophia!”
A familiar figure appeared around the corner of the hallway. It was Isabella.
“You…you two?” Her eyes were brimming with tears, a look of disbelief on her face as if she had caught adulterers in the act.
Right on cue, Lucas showed up too. This was getting ridiculous.
Isabella quickly wiped away her tears, putting on an innocent act that still managed to be suggestive: “Uncle, you…you absolutely mustn’t misunderstand.”
This time her calculations backfired. Lucas said: “I’m not misunderstanding anything! Aren’t you two scumbags just here to provoke my girlfriend?”
Lucas inserted himself between us, shielding me as he pushed Aiden away: “Dear nephew, do you have some issue with me?”
Isabella was at a loss for words. She tugged at Aiden’s sleeve, wanting to leave. Aiden stood motionless, staring at me. Isabella pulled a couple more times before Aiden finally moved.
Lucas noticed my reddened wrist and pointed at Aiden: “Did he do that?”
I nodded. He kicked Aiden hard: “You ill–mannered brat. Don’t you know who this is? How dare you bully her.
Lucas turned to me and said: “Let big brother teach you – next time you hit someone, use your foot. Using your hands hurts. Try it!”
I experimentally kicked Aiden: “Like this?”
Aiden stood stock–still, not even daring to make a sound. He knew that in the Howard household, Lucas was king, while he was just dirt under Lucas’s feet. He suppressed the rage in his heart: “Uncle, I was wrong. Can we go now?”
Lucas held out his arm to stop Aiden: “Aiden, aren’t you going to greet someone before you leave?”
Aiden looked at me, nearly grinding his teeth to dust: “Au…nt.”
I called out: “Take care, little nephew!”
That very day, Aiden left the Howard family’s old mansion.
12:30 PM
<
As for me, if I wasn’t sitting on Lucas’s lap feeding him in front of Mr. Howard Sr., I was standing where the old man could see us, exchanging sweet nothings with Lucas. To make it look more convincing, we even tried on engagement outfits.
The outfits they sent were beautiful, but they were all off–the–shoulder styles. And my back was in no state to be seen.
In the changing room, I turned my back to look in the mirror, touching the scar on my left shoulder. This one was from when I had taken a beating to help Aiden secure the lead role in an international film. At that time, Frank didn’t know Aiden was from the Howard family. He thought Aiden was just some unknown poor boy.
Lucas’s reflection appeared in the mirror. He seemed not to notice the scars on my back, clapping his hands in praise: “Beautiful! Truly worthy of being called the most beautiful heiress in K City.”
I snapped at him irritably: “Are you blind? My back looks awful!”
He nodded repeatedly: “Mm–hmm, okay. If we really do get engaged, I’ll wear a backless outfit with you.”
I tried to imagine what Lucas would look like in a men’s backless outfit. Well, I couldn’t picture it.
Coming back to my senses, I realized Lucas’s hand was touching the deepest scar on my back: “Does it hurt?”
This scar was from when my mom had jumped off the Ferris wheel. I couldn’t tell Lucas whether it hurt, or which part hurt more.
I waved my hand: “Alright, alright, you can go now. That’s enough. Mr. Howard Sr. must be furious by now.”
Lucas even went to discuss the engagement date with Mr. Howard Sr. This time, he angered the old man so much that he was sent hospital.
to
the
I couldn’t hear their conversation in the room clearly, but I could tell Lucas was repeatedly questioning Mr. Howard Sr. about how his mother had died. Was that car accident really as simple as it seemed?
During the days Mr. Howard Sr. was in the hospital, the old mansion was eerily quiet. What caught everyone off guard was that on the third day of his hospitalization, Mr. Howard Sr. passed away. A lawyer came to the house to read his will.
All of Mr. Howard Sr.’s assets were left to Lucas. The main branch of the Howard family only received some cash. William’s face instantly turned black, but the validity of the will was indisputable.
The funeral for the Howard family patriarch was grand. I stood by Lucas’s side as we received the guests. On the day of the burial, I saw him sitting alone in the memorial hall. Two glasses were placed in front of him – one before him, one opposite.
He filled both glasses with alcohol, raised the one in front of him and clinked it against the other: “Old man, you left pretty quickly. I hadn’t gotten my fill of revenge yet!”
I quietly sat down beside him. He wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye. His eyes, usually full of arrogance and willfulness, now held only deep exhaustion. He must have been drunk, because when he saw me, he immediately fell into my arms.
“Sophia, let me tell you a secret!”
“The old man left me a pile of evidence. All that evidence could prove my mom was killed by William. He had this evidence all along, but he…he never brought the person who killed my mom to justice! He never did!”
“Damn it, he even said my mom was the woman he loved most!”
Lucas buried his face in my shoulder, crying like an abandoned puppy – helpless and vulnerable. His tears soaked through my clothes.
He said he was wrong, that he was giving me the right to choose. How dare he think a simple ‘I was wrong‘ can make everything okay! He lied to me my whole life!”
My hand slowly crept up to his shoulder, rubbing his back to comfort him.
He cupped my face with both hands: “Sophia, I’m telling you, you can’t lie to me. If you dare lie to me, I’ll kill you!”
He mumbled incoherently, saying things a normal person couldn’t understand. Later, I realized he had said “I think I’ve fallen for you.”
I can’t be blamed for not catching it. He said it too unclearly, and his feelings weren’t obvious enough.
12:30 PM
<
I just casually placated him: “Mm–hmm, okay, no lies. Let’s go home.”
But that night, Frank came to find me.
