Hearing such apprehensive words from Artem, Sofia furrowed her brows slightly in surprise. Lifting her head a bit from his bare chest, she sat up slightly and looked straight into his eyes with a deep, inquisitive gaze
"Why are you saying that, Artem? You already know everything about my personal life and my husband. Why are these doubts suddenly crossing your mind?"
Artem let out a quiet sigh as he looked back at Sofia. Gently wrapping one arm around her back, he answered in a serious and thoughtful tone
"It's not doubt, Sofia... it's the experience of a professional. That man whose power and influence you take so lightly if he ever finds out that someone has stepped past his shadow and gotten close to his wife..." He paused, looking intently into her eyes, "I can do anything to protect you, but my only worry is that the complexity of the situation shouldn't end up hurting you." Artem's serious and cautious words, Sofia didn't look scared at all; instead, a faint, mysterious, and confident smile played on her lips. Reaching out, she gently touched Artem's chin and said in a soft voice
"Why do you worry so much, Artem? My life has been like a cage for so long, and you are the only one who gave me the courage to break it. We'll deal with the rest when the time comes."
Finishing her sentence, Sofia suddenly shifted her gaze and looked into Artem's eyes with a playful smile. Then, with a hint of curiosity, she asked
"Alright, now answer me this... how old are you really, Artem?" Sofia suddenly ask about his age, a faint, playful smile broke across Artem's serious face. Reaching around her waist to pull her even closer against him, he looked into her eyes with a mischievous glint and replied in a low, captivating voice
"Age? It's just a number, Sofia. But if you really want to know, I'm exactly at that age... where a man can forget all his duties and take any risk in the world. Or to put it simply old enough to forget my own age just by looking into your eyes."
Finishing his sentence, he ran a hand softly through her hair with a gentle smile, as if trying to brush away all the dangers of the outside world with a single breath. A playful smile still lingered on Sofia's lips. Resting one hand against Artem's chest, she leaned in slightly and, without blinking, playfully urged him on
"No, poetic words won't cut it! No hiding allowed, Mr. Bodyguard. Give it to me straight what's your actual age?"
Seeing Sofia's stubborn and playful persistence, Artem let out a soft chuckle. Defeated by her captivating gaze and relentless attitude, he finally smiled and revealed his real age
"Alright, fine, I surrender! No point in hiding it anymore... I am thirty-one (31) years old. Now that you know Your Highness's age, tell me, Your Majesty, do you have any objections to that?" Hearing that Artem was thirty-one, Sofia smiled faintly and shifted slightly. Stroking her hand across Artem's chest, she revealed her husband's age in a casual and light tone
"You know, my husband is only twenty-eight (28) years old. He's younger than you, yet the way he acts, you'd think he was a stone from the ancient world!"
Hearing Sofia compare her husband's age and demeanor brought a soft smile to Artem's face. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he looked down at her with a curious glint and asked
"Is that so? Younger or not, wrapped in his arrogance of power and blind rules, he's trapped himself in a different world entirely. But anyway... why waste this beautiful moment of ours talking about him, Sofia?" In the middle of Artem's sentence, Sofia sat up in bed. A strange look of resolve appeared on her face in the soft light. Looking directly into Artem's eyes, she said in a very calm voice
"No, Artem. This moment of ours will not be wasted in any way. And today, I don't want to keep any more secrets. You have always seen my fake facade, but today, I want you to remove this false layer with your own hands."
Artem looked at Sofia in surprise. Sofia brought his hand close to her eyes. Very slowly, right in front of Artem's eyes, she removed the blue contact lens from her right eye.
In an instant, the atmosphere of the room changed. After removing the lens, Sofia's true iris was revealed which was a deep, brilliant golden color! Her golden eyes seemed to shine even in the darkness. Artem stared in astonishment. He had never imagined that the true color of Sofia's eyes could be so enchanting and unusual.
Sofia then removed the lens from her left eye as well. Now, both her eyes were wide open, gazing intently into Artem's. She smiled faintly and said
"Behold, Artem. This is my true identity. Behind the blue eyes, I have hidden this golden color for a long time, which is a symbol of my power. I don't know if this frightens you, but this is who I am." Staring into Sofia's mesmerizing, luminous golden eyes radiant like moonlight piercing through a dark night Artem was utterly struck dumb. As a professional bodyguard, he had witnessed countless secrets and unmasked the deceptions of powerful and dangerous people across the world, but he had never imagined anything so supernatural and breathtaking. Words failed him entirely. He remained completely spellbound, gazing into those golden depths that instantly cast a magical, surreal aura over the entire room.
Right at that precise moment just as all their unspoken secrets and raw truths were melting into one another the profound silence of the room was violently shattered by a sharp, piercing ringtone.
The sound was so sudden and jarring that both of them flinched. The source was Sofia's designer handbag resting on the bedside table, where her phone blared relentlessly like an alarm warning of impending doom. Across the glowing screen, flashing in bold letters, was a name that instantly turned the warm air in the room ice-cold.
Blinking brightly on the display was the name of Sofia's husband that same ruthless, immensely powerful young man!
When Artem's eyes caught sight of the screen, his jaw tightened instantly. He realized that the very danger he had been trying to keep at bay had chosen this exact second to strike.
Sofia, however, didn't flinch in the slightest. A chilling, confident smile flickered across her golden eyes. Gently slipping her hand away from Artem's tight grip, she looked down at the phone and whispered in an eerily calm and indifferent voice
"See? No matter how tightly you try to lock the cage door, when the time comes to break the chains, the master himself comes looking for you. But the problem is... there's no turning back anymore."
The ringtone kept echoing through the room. In the shadowy, dimly lit space, the glow from Sofia's golden eyes blended with the pale blue light of the phone screen, casting an eerie, mysterious shadow. Placing a firm hand on Sofia's shoulder, Artem said in a grave, serious tone, "Sofia, this is only the beginning... do you have any idea what the consequences of this might be?"
Picking up the phone and staring down at the screen with a cold smile, Sofia replied, "Whatever the consequences may be, Artem... I revealed my true face to you tonight precisely because I am ready to walk straight into that fire."
The depth of the night outside continued to grow, and the fading gusts of the storm brushed against the windowpanes like a silent, ominous warning of the brewing tempest yet to come.