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
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
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
Did you try to get in again today?” Sophia asked, pressing the phone between her cheeks and her shoulder as she typed something on her laptop. Her shoulders felt tense, and her eyes were drowsy. Her gaze flicked to the table clock beside her, and a frown curved up her brows when she realized it was already late at 11 P.M., yet she was still awake, despite knowing she had a morning shift the next day, which would start by nine. She couldn’t sleep knowing that her hands were still tied to her back because she had no idea what to do about the issue with Patricia’s husband.It’s been almost a week since Patricia’s husband and mother-in-law barged into their hospital with threats on their lips.At first, she was confident they wouldn’t be able to do anything. She had taken their threats as empty threats only. Because she was confident in the beginning that the moment she got the chance to have a conversation with Patricia, then everything would be alright.But, it’s been days now, and an
Sophia’s eyes fell on the wet towel in his hand; she raised a brow at him and stepped out of his way so he could enter the room and shut the bathroom door close.“What’s that for?” she asked.“It’s a wet towel," he answered, raising it up so she could see it clearly.“I know. But what’s it for?” she asked him softly.Aiden didn't answer her question; rather, he avoided her sharp stare at him. When he didn’t respond immediately, she asked him instead, “First of all, why are you still awake by this time? It’s almost midnight.”He didn't answer, and that made her feel uneasy.Sophia crouched down to his length, kneeling in front of him, “Are you going to answer my questions? Or will you prefer to get punished for staying up late till this time?” She turned him to face her, but instead of looking straight into her eyes, he stared down.“Aiden, what’s wrong?” A frown curved up her brows. He didn’t respond to her until she added, “Please can you talk to me instead of being quiet with me? I’
The next morning, Sophia was woken up by the soft knock on her door. Her eyes fluttered open as the door was slowly opened from outside.A small smile played on her lips when she heard the soft footsteps; from how fast the steps sounded, she knew it was definitely Addie. Because while Addie was always in a rush to get somewhere, Aiden was never in a rush. His footsteps were usually low and not so hard on the floor.The edge of the bed dipped, and she turned around to meet Adeline’s warm eyes on her as she climbed up the bed to meet her.“Good morning, Mommy!” she exclaimed softly as she nestled into Sophia’s arms and pressed a wet kiss on her cheeks. A low laugh rippled through Sophia’s chest, and she pulled Adeline in. “Is this some sort of ruse?” she asked.“Oh no, mommy,” Addie was quick to answer, which only made Sophia laugh. “Then I believe Aiden mentioned it to you already that he told me what happened. And now you feel bad for hiding it, right?” She could already see through
Close to two hours later, they arrived at the hospital. Sophia led them into her office and picked up her white coat from the hanger before wearing it. She turned back to the duo sitting on the couch, “Would you prefer I take you to him myself, or actually... I’ll call Arielle to help me—” before she could complete her sentence, she noticed Aiden and Adeline spare each other a glance, and the latter interrupted her. “Why don’t you just take us there, Mummy?” Adeline’s eyes twinkled, and her lips tipped up into a bright smile. The overly bright attitude caused a frown to curve Sophia's brows. It was suspicious enough. Adeline dropped herself from the couch and pulled her small brown bag, sliding it up her shoulders. “What are we waiting for?” she asked, heading to the door. Aiden spared his sister a look, and then turned to glance at his mom before he dropped from the couch also. Unsure what to say anymore since Adeline had already taken the lead, Sophia just nodded s
Sophia felt her throat tighten as her gaze slid to each and every one of them. She contemplated taking a step back and just leaving, but that wouldn't make any sense. Her gaze fell on Alex, who was staring at her. Alex had a blank expression on his face, and he was reading through a file in his hand, but as soon as he saw the twins and Sophia enter the room, his eyes lit up in surprise, and he kept the files away. Adeline didn't like how quiet the room was; neither did she like the way they were being stared at. She stood on her toes and settled down again before her lips pulled into a big smile. “Hi daddy,” she pursed her lips and turned her attention to her father, whose gaze fell on her; a small smile tipped his lips. Even Aiden was also feeling off with the air in the room. He realized that this wasn't exactly the right time to have come around. “Hi, princess,” Alex greeted Addie back, and her expression immediately lit up; a gummy smile tipped up her lips, and sh
The Next Day. “One of the security officers helped me to send the footage of that night to this flash drive,” Arielle said as she stepped into Sophia's office, looking fairly frantic. With a small sigh, she added, “This really is our last option. I’ve thought through everything we could do to have this issue die down before the next couple of hours. I couldn't come up with anything.” She finally looked up, and her gaze fell on Sophia, who was staring blankly at a file in her hand. After a moment, she finally looked up from the file and brushed her fingers through her hair as she let the paper slip from her fingers and fall to her office table. All these would have been easily avoided if she had paid attention and made sure Patricia signed the consent form that night. But how could she have paid attention when Patricia’s screams stabbed through her senses and closely reminded her of the time she was in labor too, when she feared she was going to lose her babies? Shaking he
Feeling faint and lost, Sophia stared down at her scrunchie, pulling it slightly and rubbing her fingers against it, her thoughts straying off. Alex's words played in her mind again and again. And each time it did, it sent her back to a pool of memories she thought she had forgotten. A sigh escaped her lips, and she brushed her fingers through her hair. Sophia stopped in front of a hospital room, and when she glanced in through the window, she noticed Patricia wasn't alone; her mother-in-law was present. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she took in the scene. One of the twins was wailing in Patricia’s arms, red-faced and crying, while the other cried just as loudly from the bed. But what irked her was the sight of Patricia’s mother-in-law, who lay sprawled on the couch, sleeping as if she had no care in the world. Sophia clenched and unclenched her fists, swallowing down the frustration that climbed in her throat. It wasn’t that she expected much from the woman, but se
“Lucas?” Sophia turned to face him, surprised to see him here. He didn't tell her he was coming over, and this was his first time visiting her at the hospital. Before she could approach him, he made his way to where she was standing. A small smile tugged at his lips as he came to stand in front of her. “I didn't know you were coming over,” Sophia told him, sparing him a small smile. “I came around to check up on my uncle. Thought I should check up on you too,” he told her, and Sophia muttered a silent ‘oh.’ Lucas tilted his head slightly, and that was when his gaze fell on the person Sophia had been conversing with. Lucas spared him a nod in greeting, but to his utmost surprise, the patient only spared him a look, not bothering to answer his greeting. Lucas cleared his throat, brushing his fingers through his hair. “I see you were busy,” he said to Sophia, who immediately realized what he meant. He must have seen her feeding Alex. “Oh, yeah,” she muttered, glancing o
Sophia was silenced by Alex's words; she wasn't sure what to say to him anymore. Hesitation blared through her veins at his request, and she swallowed the lump stuck in her throat. There was no way she was going to accept feeding him; what was he even thinking of making such a suggestion? “You don't really expect that I'll agree to that, do you?” She raised a brow at him, gauging his reaction to see whether he was indeed serious. Alex brushed a thumb across his lower lip. “So you wouldn't do it then?” he asked instead of responding to her question. “Of course not. I have work to do, and I can't sit down to feed a patient.” She was quick to answer. Alex gave her a small nod; he turned his gaze from her and stared down at his bandaged hand. “That sounds like an excuse to me.” “It's not an excuse. It's simply not appropriate,” she said clearly, instinctively taking a step back as he slowly looked up from his hand to her. His gaze was warm and hot, burning through her skin.
Sophia stood at the door to Alex’s room, contemplating whether to actually go inside and ask if he had a hand in everything being wiped out all of a sudden. She had a feeling it must have been him because there was no one else who could have done such a thing. She just wanted to confirm, Sophia reminded herself. It wasn’t like she had come up to his room for another reason; it was only to confirm if he had a hand in all the media outlets suddenly dropping the topic about the allegations. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. Knock. Knock. After a couple of minutes, no one answered. She couldn't hear any movement from inside, either. Frowning in confusion, she knocked once again but was only met with silence. Without another thought, she slowly pushed the door open, and as soon as she stepped inside, she was met with an empty room. Her brows creased, and she glanced over at the bathroom door. “Alex?” she called out after a moment, but no answer came. Wher
The hospital was buzzing with gossips and rumours, and in just a span of a little past 42 hours since the news was out, every single room in Greenwood hospital was talking about the same incident. Sophia couldn't simply act deaf to every single thing, but she was trying to. She had much more on her plate to be bothered about the rumors. “Good morning, Doc Soph!” She walked past a couple of nurses who were standing around together and whispering something to themselves, but as soon as they saw her, they simply spared her warm smiles and greeted her. “Good morning,” Choosing to ignore whatever they might have been saying, Sophia returned the smile and kept on walking. Her gaze dropped to her watch, and a frown curved up her brows when she noticed the time was already as late as 10 A.M. It was a very unusual time for her to come to work. But she couldn't help it; the director had urged her to stay back at home till the reporters trooping out of the hospital were sent away. D
Patricia let out a shaky breath, and she didn't realize when tears started streaming out of her eyes slowly. Sophia could clearly see through her distress, but they needed to get this done with, because she was just as determined to help Patricia. Right from the day she met her in the hospital, heavily pregnant with fear shimmering in her eyes. Patricia pressed her lips into a thin line, thinking it through thoroughly. She wanted a way out. She was tired of living in a family where her husband didn't care about her. Where her husband was just like a pawn to his mother. She wanted a better life for her daughters, a life where them being females aren't pointed out as a disappointment, a disadvantage, or even a flaw. She looked back up at Sophia, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I... I don’t even know where I’d go,” she admitted in a low voice. “I don’t have anyone else, no family, no friends. I don't have anyone,” her shoulders dropped, and her gaze lowered. Sophia’s expre
Sophia stepped out of the elevator, and she glanced around. Rather than make her way straight to the security office to confirm the footage Ariella had mentioned about, she came this way instead. She turned around the hall and stopped in front of a room, staring inside through the window. Her eyes squinted at the young mother who was standing by the window, with both of her babies cradled on each arm. A frown curved up Sophia's expression when she noticed Patricia was alone. Something that hardly happens, because her mother-in-law was usually there. With one glance around the hallway, she knocked slightly on the door, and when she didn't get a response, she was just about to open the door, but the footsteps approaching the door from inside made her stay still for a moment. Knock. Knock. She knocked on the door again and opened it slowly; at the same time, Patricia got to the door, and before Sophia could push it open, the young mother slammed it closed. Beyond shoc
Sophia walked down the hallway absentmindedly; she wasn't certain about what to think of anymore. And despite trying to shove all thoughts of Alex away, it proved difficult to. A tired sigh escaped from her lips, and she brushed her blonde, silky hair to the back with her fingers before making another turn and entering the elevator. Her gaze slid to the time on her wristwatch, and a frown curved her expression when she noticed something amiss. She turned rigid on the spot and looked up from her wristwatch when she realized she had forgotten her bag in his room. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she contemplated going back to get it, but she didn't want to go back to his room. At least not today anymore. She wasn't certain where they stood; after hearing all he said, she would be lying if she said the walls around her heart didn't shatter the slightest. He didn't submit the divorce papers, which meant… They were still legally married. Her throat tightened at the thought.