Five years had passed, and Sophia had grown much thinner.
When she knelt earlier, her right leg had given out, leaving her weight on her left. Clearly, her right leg was ruined.
I swallowed the sting in my eyes and pulled the coat tighter around me.
“Grant her request.”
I looked at the man beside her.
“And you? Should I call you brother-in-law?”
Hearing that, Sophia’s eyes lit with relief. She bowed her head heavily to me.
“Thank you for letting me go, young master!”
I said no more. I simply turned and left the hall.
Not long after, my father came into my room.
“Ethan, don’t force yourself. The organization has plenty of excellent mercenaries besides Sophia Lane. All I care about is that my son is happy.”
I raised my head and looked at him.
“Dad, go to the Hart family. I’ll marry Emily Hart.”
My father frowned.
“The Harts are a top-tier family. Marrying into them would help us clean our name, but their daughter is… not right in the head. Ethan, I don’t want you marrying out of spite.”
I cut him off.
“This has nothing to do with spite. At least a fool won’t betray me.”
My father sighed deeply but said nothing more.
That night, in the silence of my room, I felt someone enter and stop by my bedside. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was.
After five years, her scent was still the same.
In the darkness, Sophia’s voice whispered.
“Ethan, I’m back. I finally came back to you.”
She placed something on my pillow.
“This is what I got for you five years ago at St. Mary’s Church in Alaska. My greatest wish was for you to be safe. I meant to give it to you back then, but I never imagined our separation would last this long…”
I couldn’t keep up the pretense of sleep. My voice cut through the air.
“Sophia Lane, do you think I’m that easy to fool?”
I flicked on the lamp. In its dim glow, I could barely read her expression. On my pillow lay a small charm of protection.
She didn’t answer me directly. She only followed my gaze to the charm and smiled faintly.
“Whether it was taking on that mission or bringing you this charm, my purpose was the same. Ethan, I want to stand at the top of the underground world. I want to be the woman worthy of you. I want us to live in peace.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“You did reach the top. But the one standing beside you now isn’t me.”
Finally, she looked straight at me. There was something in her eyes I couldn’t understand.
“It’s my fault. Ethan, you don’t have to forgive me. But Daniel did nothing wrong. These five years, he’s been with me. Without him, I’d have died in the cold of Alaska long ago. He isn’t like you. You have everything. He only has me. I can’t abandon him.”
I snatched up the charm and hurled it at her face.
“I told you I’d go with you! Sophia Lane, it was you who refused me!”
The words tore out of me in a roar, the ache in my chest so sharp I could hardly breathe.
Five years ago, when she insisted on going to Alaska, I had clutched her hand and told her with all the conviction I had—
