Elliot smiled and nodded indulgently. "Hmm, makes sense. Can you tell me what your master taught?”“Kickboxing! Didn't you hear her praising me?" Sophia declared.Elliot smiled wryly. "It seems your master is quite formidable.""Of course! It's a pity I've only learned half of what my master knows. Otherwise, defeating you would be a piece of cake." Elliot chuckled. "Then why don't you take your lessons seriously?" Xena added, "It's not that she doesn't take her lessons seriously. She just learns a variety of things. Because of that, her training time is less than ours. Although her skills may not be advanced, she knows the most techniques."Sophia grinned. "Thanks for the compliment.""I wasn’t praising you. Why would I praise someone who does things half-assedly?""Then why are you insulting me?""How’d I insult you?""You said I do things half-assedly."Xena laughed. "It depends on how you interpret it.”Elliot ruffled Sophia’s hair. "All right, we are guests. Let's ha
Elliot said, "He disagreed, but when they found and brought Mary back, she seemed to have suffered some abuse. She was in a bad mental state. The Carsons felt sorry for her. They took Mary to several psychologists. It took almost two years for her to get better.“Xena and Hamish accompanied her to undergo psychological treatment. Mary fell in love with Hamish during that time. She relied on him a lot. Although Hamish didn't love her, he dared not hurt her because of her condition. He feared she would relapse if he rejected her."Sophia was not light-hearted, saying, "Since he is so afraid of everything, why not marry Mary and spoil her? Why worry about others?"Elliot remained silent while Sophia waited for his response. She could not control her temper as she looked at him and said, “I'm not mad at you. I'm just annoyed at the situation."Elliot patted her head. "I know. I talked to him today, too. Hamish is just indecisive regarding people’s feelings and emotions. He has been fin
Hamish pounced onto the office desk. "Bro, I was wrong! I will apologize to Sophia. I won't say you prioritize romance over friendship anymore. Just tell me!"Elliot disdainfully replied, "If Sophia knew you were so two-faced, she wouldn't help you.""I'm just troubled. Don't argue with me. What did you two say? Did you speak up for me to Xena?""No, Xena is sensitive to you now. I was afraid it would backfire, so I said nothing. But I told Sophia it would be much easier if she helped you, but—"Elliot looked at him. "I think it's unlikely she'll help you based on your performance. Kicking you out is more probable.""Why kick me out? We're good friends, after all.""But you have so many problems. You dragged me into trouble yesterday. Sophia scolded me several times.""I'm trying to change, aren’t I? Ask Sophia to help me. I'll do whatever she says as long as she helps me."Elliot smiled and told him everything that happened yesterday, including triggering Xena’s traps. Hamish
Black Den was about to recruit new members, and Andrew asked Sophia to set the test questions. She spent the last few days designing a set of assessment plans. She then sent the questions to Andrew in the evening.Soon after, Andrew started a video call. “Do you think anyone can pass this level?”Sophia was puzzled. “Why wouldn’t they be able to pass? We can all handle it, can’t we?”“That’s us, but what about the new recruits? If they all can, then they can all enter the management level.”“Isn’t that a good thing?”“What’s good about passing Xena’s mechanisms without losing anything? What kind of problems are these? How many can pass the levels you’ve set?”“You said just five. Isn’t that enough? How do we filter them if it’s not challenging?”“Is this filtering? It’s an absolute selection! Are you planning to leave none for me?”Sophia muttered, “You’re difficult to please.”Andrew growled, “What did you say?”“Nothing. How about you let Xena make the final round of questi
Sophia looked confused and aggrieved, saying, "I'm afraid I won't be able to control my heart. I'm afraid of only loving my biological mother one day. How sad would my mother and grandmother be? Would they think they wasted their love on me?"Xena smiled and pulled Sophia into her arms. "With you being so partial, what are you afraid of? You're already worrying about this before even meeting them. The ones you favor are always the ones who treat you best, don’t you think?"Sophia nodded vigorously. "Mhm."Xena continued, "If your heart is out of your control one day, just go with the flow. The people who occupy your heart must be the ones who love you. Those who love you only want you to be happy.“They won't mind who holds a larger part of your heart. If you can’t favor someone, it's because they haven't done enough. Why should you feel guilty?"Sophia furrowed her brows, looking bewildered. "So, are you saying I can acknowledge all of them?""That’s up to you. Don't torture you
Hamish said, “I never stopped waiting for you, Xena. I’ve never slept with Mary.”Xena chuckled. "Didn't you see the breakup letter I left before I left? Was I not clear enough? Hamish, you can be with whoever you want. I haven't liked you for a long time."Hamish sighed helplessly. "I know you blame me for hesitating. You know how Mary was back then. I always wanted to find a way to break it to her without upsetting her. Elliot scolded me today.“I’ll stop being hesitant. Just give me a chance. I’ll break off the engagement with Mary and explain it to your parents. I love you!"Xena sneered and kicked him out, saying, "Love? That word is cheap and annoying. Can't you understand what I’m saying?"Hamish could have avoided her kick, but he allowed it instead.Xena snarled, "If you're afraid of hurting her, just take good care of her. I don’t care about who you love or who you want to hurt. Don't come to me like I asked you to!" With that, she walked into the house, and the gate
Elliot took Sophia’s hand and said, "Let's redo our marriage certificate tomorrow.""Why do we need to redo it?" After some thought, Elliot said, "I want to take wedding pictures with you. We didn't take any last time. Don't you regret it?"Sophia squinted and forced a smile. "A marriage certificate we weren't present for wouldn't count anyway."Elliot was surprised. It turned out she knew everything. He sounded anxious, asking, “You guessed it, huh?”Sophia remained calm. "Guessed what?""The Morgans.""What about them?"Elliot gave up resisting, "You found out you're Christine, right?""Hmph!" She turned over in annoyance, not wanting to talk to him.Elliot was disappointed. He knew she would eventually figure it out since the Morgans were so enthusiastic. He hugged her, saying, "Soph, I didn't mean to hide it from you. I knew you were grieving when Grandma Dorothy passed away.“I didn't want them to come and recognize you. I feared it’d startle you or burden you psycholo
Hamish felt frustrated initially but knew Elliot had a point. After all, Hamish could not expect anything from others if he had not done anything. he received a call from Savannah as he dragged himself back home.He already moved out and did not expect anything important, so his parents would not ask him to come back. However, it was also an opportunity to inform them about the divorce. Soon, he drove to the Carson family's house.When he entered, he heard Vanessa’s surprised and delighted voice, "Mary, you made it to the Black Den’s finals, too?"Hamish subconsciously stopped. No wonder they wanted him to come back. It turned out Mary was here.Mary responded softly, "Yeah, I did. Are you participating, too?"Vanessa nodded with a smile. "Yeah! The finals are in a week, and I'm feeling a little nervous. Still, I feel much better with you around. We'll go together then."Mary replied, "Okay."The Carsons were involved in politics. After Egbert retired, he became the principal of