The coffee had been scalding hot. Sophia Lo nursed her red and swollen wrist, and grit her teeth.
She had been wearing a white shirt, and now, it was soaked to the skin with coffee. In a word, she looked and felt a mess.
Her face grew even paler, but she ignored Jamie and apologized, "I'm sorry to interrupt. Please continue with the meeting. I'll clean up now."
"Miss Lo, you can't even do a trivial thing like serving coffee well. How can you be a CEO's secretary?" Said Colin primly.
Tears welled up in Sophia's eyes. She raised her head and blinked back the tears.
Sophia Lo! Be strong, don't cry! "I'm sorry Mr. Li, I'll clean it up now. I'm so sorry!"
As Sophia walked away, Colin frowned.
In the bathroom, Sophia put her wrist under cold water. In that moment, she lowered her head and allowed her tears to fall into the sink.
A minute later, she brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. Determined not to show any weakness, she put on a professional appearance and went into the cleaning room.
Despite the painful burn on her wrist, she cleaned the mess at the door of the meeting room.
After she was done, Sophia went to the infirmary on the third floor and sought treatment for her wrist injury. The woman doctor told her, "Here, we can only give you basic first-aid. You still have to go to the hospital later. If you start feeling feverish, you will need to go to the hospital."
Sophia nodded, "I see. Thank you."
After leaving the infirmary, Sophia went to the supervisor of the secretarial department to ask for leave.
According to company policy, she should ask the manager of the secretarial department when she needed time away from work. But the manager was in a conference upstairs, so she asked the supervisor instead.
Hearing that she was going to the hospital and seeing her apparent wrist injury, the supervisor quickly agreed.
Sophia felt very unwell. Without changing clothes, she took her handbag and hurried to the hospital.
Sophia was apprehensive. She was not familiar with Country Z.
She had never been to Z Country before. And ever since her arrival, she had been working at SL group. Sometimes, she even worked nights.
She had no time to go shopping at all. Sophia stopped a taxi and told the driver, "Sir, the nearest hospital, please."
Sitting in the car, she closed her eyes and tried not to focus on the pain.
Two minutes later, her phone rang. Colin was calling.
Sophia didn't want to see his name, let alone see him in person!
But when she thought of Wendy, she let out a sigh and answered the phone call, "Mr. Li."
"Bring me the established contract of our agreement with Lien's Group."
"I'm not in office right now. Would you please ask others to help you with it? It's in the first drawer of my desk." Sophia's voice was low since she felt exhausted.
"Not at the company? Sophia Lo, it's working hours now. Where are you?" Colin asked in disbelief.
Sophia rubbed her throbbing temples and was just about to answer Colin when the taxi stopped. The driver reminded her, "Miss, we've reached the hospital."
Sophia opened her wallet and paid him.
After getting out of the car, Sophia put her mobile phone back to her ear and explained helplessly, "Mr. Li, I have asked the supervisor of the secretarial department for the rest of the day off."
Colin didn't speak. He just hung up.
Sophia shook her head. She found Colin's behavior to be rather rude.
She went in and registered. While waiting for the doctor, she checked her bank balance.
One digit, two digits, three
It all starts on that fateful night.
When Ella, who is the dear sister of Samuel’s best buddy, sneaks into the hotel where the drunken Samuel resides and gets pregnant…
"I don’t want a divorce!"
"I don’t want a divorce!"
"I did no such thing!"
Ella jumped on the bed and cried out. “I don’t want a scheming woman as my wife. Just sign the paper...
digits, four digits, five digits. Ten thousand two hundred and seventy six dollars and eighty.
Sophia looked at the balance. This was the money her mother had saved for her. It was supposed to be fifty thousand. Before the accident, she had bought an expensive shirt for Payne Tai. It had cost her thirty thousand.
She had never worn such expensive clothes!
At the thought of the shirt, Sophia closed her eyes.
In the end, Payne had shredded the shirt with a knife, stamped on it, and then proceeded to throw the remains into the trash-bin in front of Dorothy.
A tear slid down the corner of her eye. Sophia hurriedly wiped the tear away.
To Sophia, it seemed like she was more sentimental than usual. She cried so easily. Perhaps it was because she was sick.
"Sophia Lo, you're next!" a nurse said.
Ten minutes later, Sophia sat in the emergency room. One nurse was caring for her burns, while another was starting an intravenous drip.
When they left, Sophia closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take over.
Sensing movement, she opened her eyes.
It was Colin.
"What now? Mr. Li had to come along in person to see if I was lying?" She knew he was not a generous person and was still angry about what happened in the meeting room.
Hearing her bitter words, Colin frowned slightly and turned away without saying anything.
Sophia held her breath at the lack of his response. Sure enough, he had come to see if she had been lying to him.
This man was unbelievable!
With a mocking smile, Sophia closed her eyes again.
Five minutes later, Sophia heard footsteps at the side of her bed. Before she could open her eyes, she felt herself being lifted into someone's arms. As soon as she saw who had come to her bedside, Sophia's eyes widened with surprise.
It was Colin! And he was holding her in his arms.
"What are you doing?"
Her slightly red and swollen eyes were wide with fright, and her round face made her look cute.
A nearby nurse picked up her IV bottle. She followed Colin and Sophia out of the room.
Colin didn't say anything. Sophia continued to taunt him, "So after seeing me in the hospital, you are taking me back to work?"
"Colin Li, I need to know what you are thinking! I'll tell you what. Unless mother says so, I won't do what you want!" He couldn't wait to divorce her, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual.
For two people who didn't like each other, it was really a kind of invisible torture for them to be bound together.
"Put me down, Colin. I can go back to work after finishing this IV bottle." Before she could finish, Sophia was silenced by what she saw.
She was in an empty room.
Colin put her down on the hospital bed, and the nurse locked the IV bottle onto the stand.
So he had left to complete her admission procedures?
Somewhat embarrassed, she covered her face with the thin quilt he had put over her. When the nurse left, she whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Li."
"Don't flatter yourself. If you can't be home on time, mother will ask questions. And I'm tired of answering her questions."
"......" The mixed feelings Sophia had felt, left along with her gratitude.
Sophia did not speak again, and she found herself too sleepy to keep her eyes open. The room was quiet, and she soon fell asleep.
From the bed came the sound of Sophia's rhythmic breathing, and Colin, with his hands in his pockets, walked from the window to the front of the bed.
Sophia's eyes were closed, her round face was slightly pale from the discomfort she was feeling, and her lips were parted slightly.