Elena's trembling hand reached for the door handle, her heart racing as she turned the knob and cautiously pushed the door open. Her expression, a delicate mask hiding turbulent emotions, revealed nothing of her intentions.Inside, her gaze fixed on the meticulously made bed, the curtains drawn tightly shut, and a black purse resting on the pristine sheets. Just why?Why is he suddenly after Sophia?There was nothing wrong over the past years, he was leaving his life normal and okay, pulling himself out of the social circle and not mingling with women, but why now all of a sudden?Everything felt out of place, and it was giving her a pounding headache. Of course, she is happy for Alex. But is this what she wants? And is this the best for him? Probably not. For him to reconcile and rekindle his love for Sophia. He might get hurt again. 'I want Alex to be delighted, or rather pleased and happy'. Elena internally reminded herself to wade the fact that she was growing nuts recalling
Seeing her father after so many years filled her insides with a feeling she despised—and a father she had begun to despise.Sophia stood straight, not allowing the man before her to see her waver in his presence, not even a little bit, "What are you doing here, Father-" she paused, a smile pulled up her lips before she opened up to speak again, her words sliced through the tranquility of the atmosphere, "Oh, that was a mistake. What are you going here, Mr Smith?" she rephrased her words, and the flicker of emotions that flashed through his eyes didn't go unnoticed by her—nothing about him right now could go unnoticed by her.He was aging, a sliver of gray hair ran down his smoothly brushed hair, and the wrinkle by the edge of his eyes was obvious—too obvious, Sophia noted. And lastly, she didn't fail to notice that her father now walked with a stick, one that staked through his majestic charm."I didn't come here to repeat myself, Aliyah. I'm here to see your rumored twins. The one yo
"Yes, you are speaking with the right person," her heart sank, and her fingers instinctively tightened on the steering wheel."There are a few other numbers, but this one was starred as a favorite. Are you someone close?" The question hung heavy in the air.A subtle ache nagged at her as she asked, "What happened?""The patient has been moved to the hospital already. The car crashed with another; both drivers survived with fatal injuries, but the man sitting in the rear seat of the second car had more injuries and a cut on the head—it seemed to be more than just a cut," the person on the other end of the line said breathlessly. Each word filled Sophia with heavy worry; her gaze darted to the other car as it slowly drove outside the gates, and she immediately asked."Which hospital is it?" The car geared on, and her hands trembled on the wheel as the man finally answered."Greenwood Hospital,""Okay, thank you," Sophia was about to end the call but then suddenly inquired, "Sorry, do yo
"What's our course of action? She's putting everyone in a tight spot. The woman is refusing assistance from the nurses, making threats of self-harm. She's currently holding a shard of a broken glass to her stomach and also has another knife—I don't even know where she got it from. I rushed here as soon as I was instructed to look for you," Arielle explained when Sophia remained still for a moment.One. Two. Three. Four. Five seconds before Sophia finally breathed and said, "Let's go," she walked past Arielle almost missing a step and staggering but was fast enough to compose herself.Arielle limped behind her cause she had to run down here and ended up spraining her ankle, "Doc Soph, are you okay?" she asked as she noticed a tear sliding out of Sophia's eyes which she wiped off immediately."Yes, I'm okay. Please lead me to the room fast," Sophia said and glanced behind her—she glanced down and saw that Arielle was limping behind her, "You strained your ankle?" Arielle nodded and winc
In the dimly lit room, Sophia felt a surge of relief, the newborn's first cries echoed. With a sigh, she placed the second baby on the mother's chest, Patricia looked exhausted as sweat and tears trickled down her cheeks—they had used regional anesthesia, keeping her awake and aware but not feeling any pain from the lower region. She glanced down at her babies but then suddenly frowned when her gaze lowered to the baby's navel.Sophia watched as Patricia immediately checked the second child in fear—her gaze trailed to the lower part of both babies in fright. "Record the time of birth for the two. Drop the details needed and hand it over to me when you are done," Sophia muttered to Isabella before she walked over to the mother and babies and then she gently checked their vital signs."Are you okay?" she asked Patricia who entered a trance, tears trickling down her eyes, continuously and not stopping.Worried, Sophia checked for closure of incisions, after delicately handling that, her
"Why is she here?" a voice asked, it was Fiona Russell's voice, Sophia pursed her lips and her gaze fell on Elena who was leaning by the wall close to the door, her eyes puffed and red with a tinge of tears at the corners. She seemed devastated. Sophia and Elena were never close, although her relationship with Alex wasn't new to Sophia.Sophia stood unsure of how to react or what to do. The air seemed to be still for a moment. She wasn't reacting and their eyes were on her. While Ginn stood behind her.The door to the operating room was suddenly opened and the surgeons stepped out, Sophia's legs instinctively moved forward and she walked over to one of the doctors, "How is he? The patient," she inquired, trying not to seem overly worried or agitated."For now, he is alright," the doctor answered and Sophia frowned, but just before she could open her mouth to ask what he meant by that, Mrs Carter beat her to it."What do you mean for now? Is my son okay?" She asked and stepped closer,
"I had no idea that Alex was hospitalized here," Finn suddenly said from beside her. She could feel his eyes as if waiting to see if there would be any flicker of longing at the mention of the name— Sophia opened her eyes and stared at Finn and after a while, he released a deep breath and looked away—cause there was none."He was hospitalized a few days back." "Oh, have the twins met him?" he asked."Yes," she replied."And he didn't say anything?"Sophia laughed, "Aren't you being a little curious now?""Worried, not curious," He rolled his eyes.She nodded."For the sake of my sanity and my children's safety, I love the way things have been for the past six years, and the presence of whoever wasn't there before, wouldn't change a thing. Alex is their father but he was my past. So his presence now doesn't affect me, Finn." Sophia said as the doors of the elevator opened and she stepped out."I have something to attend to right now, so maybe later," that was the last thing she said b
Elena released a deep breath, "Sophia can you forgive, Alex?" she finally asked after a while, the air between them stilled as Sophia's gauging eyes peered at her. The room turned silent—and they both said nothing.Nearly ten seconds later, Sophia let out a low, breathy laugh, her lips pulling into a little smile. "What did he do that deserves forgiveness?" she asked, trying as much as she could to be calm. Just like she had predicted, there was a nagging feeling that Elena might not be here with something she wanted to listen to. But other than that, the young lady did seem apologetic, and it bothered Sophia. After all, Elena had never done anything to her. She was sweet, kind, and known as the sweet heiress to the Russells.Elena and Alex had been friends since childhood, but that was all Sophia knew about them.The duo sitting across from each other attended the same school, just as Alex, but they never cared enough to build any sort of friendship, all that was ever between them wa
Sophia stared at Lucas for a while, before she eventually nodded. The air between them settled into a comfortable silence as they both focused on the food before them. Lucas broke the silence when he suddenly asked, "Although, she never mentioned their names," he sounded interested in the topic about her kids, she realized and glanced up at him. "Aiden and Adeline," she told him, and he smiled, his eyes brightened the slightest. "You love kids?" Sophia couldn't help but ask him. Lucas nodded with a smile curving up his lips, "I love kids," the smile on his lips was so warm, and genuine. "Do you have a sibling?" She asked him, taking a small sip from the water on the table before her. Lucas looked up from his plate, "Oh, I do," he answered, "Two younger sisters," he told her, she noticed a subtle flash of hurt glint in his eyes, "Initially, three. I lost one of them last year to an accident," he had a small smile on his face. And she quickly noticed it was a forced smile. Not
Sophia arrived at the restaurant five minutes early. She stood outside the place for a moment, before eventually walking in after a while.The moment she entered, her eyes traveled across the expanse of the place.The atmosphere was warm, with golden lights casting a soft glow over the polished wooden tables and deep red leather booths. She glanced around, her gaze sweeping over the guests until she spotted a man at the far end of the room. He was waving subtly, with a relaxed posture and an easy grin that drew her attention.She took it to be Lucas, and walked over to the booth he was sitting, slipping into one of the seats, "Hi," she mumbled, giving him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.She wasn't certain on how to feel about this setting yet, and she was quite tired after spending her whole day going through a couple of files."You are early," she told him as she placed her bag beside her on the table."I arrived just a couple minutes back," his voice was deep and lo
The hospital room was silent. Too silent. And as Sophia closed her eyes, calming her nerves to the quietness of the room, she could hear the fast beat of Alex's heart. And with how close they stood, leaning into each other—she could feel his heart beating so fast. Pressing her lips together, she pushed away from him, and took a step back, creating a significant distance between them. She wasn't ready for this, whatever was between them. His gaze burned through her skin, and she was very much aware of it, despite the fact that she wasn't looking at his eyes. Without a word, she created more distance between them, taking a step at a time, before she eventually turned around and reached for the door's handle. Staying here for much longer would do her no good. "Get back to bed. You shouldn't be walking around." She opened the door, ready to step out without another word to him, but she couldn't do that. She couldn't do that to her babies. "The kids have an event in their sch
Alex brushed his fingers through his hair, he closed his eyes and released a deep, long sigh, "Sophia..." he opened his eyes and stared straight at her. "I may not have been a good husband. I may have been the worst one could call a husband for all I did, and for not listening to you." His voice broke with every single word, and she could feel the weight of his regret dripping into the air, "But please... give me a chance to prove to you, and prove to our children that I can be a better father." Sophia swallowed, feeling her eyes grow blurry. Her heart was in tatters. Her mind was in utter chaos. Why couldn't she just hate him completely? why?...why? She looked away from his eyes, unsure of what to say to him. She didn't want to give him any chance. But somehow, she did. She wanted him to prove her wrong. Despite all she had gone through cause of him, she knew there was more to the situation. She knew somewhere small in her heart, that there was more to Alex. Breaking his g
The corridor was dead drop silent and there was no one walking around the room, nor were the security guards outside. It was completely empty.Pursing her lips, Sophia rubbed her clammy hands and released a deep breath. She reached out for the door handle and pulling it down.Before heading to his room, she was hundred percent certain that her emotions would stay in check. How difficult could it be to just check on the patient and leave? she had done it numerous times, so Alex being the patient this time around shouldn't make any difference, she thought.But as soon as she stepped into the room, a wave of uncertainty consumed her.Sophia stared down at Alex who sat on the bed, completely dressed in the hospital attire and typing something in his laptop, his brows were creased into a frown and she wondered what it is that was getting his shoulders worked up and stiff just few hours after he regained consciousness.It took him time to notice her presence as he had thought it was one of
"What the heck. What kind of people are these anyway?" Sophia heard Finn utter from behind her, she had almost forgotten that he was here with her—and just like him, she also found those words stupid. She tilted her head to meet his gaze, Finn's tall frame stood protectively beside her, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, betraying his growing frustration. His jaw clenched, and his eyes darted between Sophia and the agitated family, silently observing, it appeared he was ready to intervene if needed.Sophia decided to play calm, internally reminding herself that 'all situations could be solved amicably' just like Adeline always says, and she asked, "What compensation?"The mother and son glanced at each other before he spoke out, "Seven hundred thousand dollars is what we request. Pay that, and we'll leave.""If you refuse to listen to our demands, we'll file a lawsuit and demand for millions instead." His mother added with a threat.Sophia lifted her brows and suddenly chuckled
Sophia could feel the beads of sweat forming under her skin, she released a deep breath before returning to where the others were seated, gazing up at her as she approached."Mommy, are you okay?" Aiden asked he was about to stand up and hand her water since he couldn't think of what she might need, at least water helped, but Sophia waved him off with a smile."I'm okay," she said."Sophia," Finn called, with creased brows, but just before he could say anything, Sophia flashed him an honest smile."I'm okay for real, everything is alright, I just need to get to the hospital, now." Walking over to where Aiden sat, she gave him a soft peck on his cheeks, before doing the same to Adeline."I'm so sorry, guys, but I've got to leave. We could make arrangements and do this another day, but it can't be today anymore." She explained.Sophia continued, "Oh, Evelyn, and Beth, not sure how long you both intend to stay—" She wanted to ask if they could stay with the kids for a while, but Evelyn co
"Serious, are you going out on a date? A blind date?!" he asked slowly after Sophia didn't respond for a while, his tone was softer.Sophia lifted her brows, was it that surprising to him? "Umm...yes?" she responded."Oh," Finn said, before standing straight, but his eyes were on her, yet she could barely deduce what he was thinking."Thought I should tone down a bit. Does it seem that surprising?" Sophia chuckled, Finn simply shook his head, not saying anything; perhaps keeping his words would be better than stating them, so all he did was smile."You look surprised, confused, and..." Sophia trailed off, unsure of what other expression Finn was giving her, and just before she could point it out, he looked away and brushed his hair to the back; with his fingers, smoothly."Surprised 'cause you didn't mention it to me before and I found out this way," he paused, Sophia lifted her brows at him and he cleared his throat, "I'm not trying to pry, but mentioning it to me wouldn't have been
Nearly two days have gone since Alex underwent the surgery, but yet there was no sign of him waking up soon. More than anything, Sophia wanted him to wake up, not because of anything but her kids.They hadn't said anything since the last time they checked on Alex, but she was certain they wanted to say something but were holding back—maybe she shouldn't have yelled at them days back, cause now they weren't expressing themselves to her and it bothered her.It was the weekend, and she had the day off before her shift resumed later, at night. So, rather than busying herself with other things, she decided to spend the day with Aiden and Adeline. Sophia stared deeply at the mirror, her hands gently fiddled with her hair brush. A while later she stepped out of the room and walked downstairs to see Aiden focused on something in his tablet, while Adeline was nowhere to be found."Where's Addie?" she asked as she stepped into the living room. Aiden looked up immediately when he heard her voic